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Anthro 100 Exam 1
Lecture and Textbook Study Guides 1 and 2
129
Anthropology
Undergraduate 1
10/11/2011

Additional Anthropology Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Subfields of Anthropology
Definition
Biological, Archeology, Linguistic, Cultural (Ethnology)
Term
Fossils
Definition
fragmentary remains of bones and living materials preserved from earlier periods
Term
Artifacts
Definition
material products of former societies provides clues to the past
Term
Middens
Definition
ancient trash piles
Term
Participant Observation
Definition
research strategy where researcher conducts fieldwork in different settings; learn by participating in group's daily activities
Term
Ethnography
Definition
description of culture within a society; reports on environmental setting, economic patterns, social organization, political system, ideology
Term
Holistic
Definition
a comprehensive account that draws on all four subfields of anthropology
Term
Scientific Method
Definition
system of logic used to evaluate data derived from systematic observation
Term
Data, Hypothesis, Theory
Definition

data: collected research

hypothesis: testable idea that looks at relationship between sets of DATA

theory: statement that explains HYPOTHESES and observations

Term
Objective vs. Subjective
Definition

objective: knowledge that cannot be refuted; facts

subjective: one's opinion or point of view based on experiences, info, beliefs, values, etc.

Term
Book's Definition of Culture
Definition
shared way of life that includes material products and nonmaterial products that are transmitted within a society from generation to generation
Term
Paynter's Definition of Culture
Definition
human extrasomatic means of adaptation passed on by symbolic learning
Term
Society
Definition
patterns of relationships among people within a specific territory
Term
Sociocultural System
Definition
hybrid term of society and culture that is basic conceptual framework for analyzing ethnographic research
Term
World View
Definition
consists of various beliefs about the nature of reality that provides people with a consistent orientation toward the world
Term
Ideology
Definition
combination of different beliefs; consists of cultural symbols and beliefs that reflect and supportive interests of specific groups within society
Term
Cultural Hegemony
Definition
in complex societies with different groups ideologies produce cultural hegemonies; ideological control by one group over values, beliefs, norms
Term
Ideal vs. Real Culture
Definition

ideal culture: what people say they do

real culture: what people actually do

Term
Cultural Relativism
Definition
view that cultural traditoins must be understood with context of particular society's response to problems and opportunities; no one society is better than other, all just different
Term
Ethnocentrism
Definition
practice of judging another society by values and standards of own society
Term
Cultural Universals
Definition
essential behavioral characteristics of societies found all over the world (language, marriage, food, hair, name, etc)
Term
Universal People
Definition
have all traits of any people in any society throughout world; people with cultural universals
Term
Biome
Definition
area distinguished by particular climate and certain types of plants and animals
Term
Massacusetts Biome
Definition
temperate deciduous forest
Term
Subsistence Patterns
Definition
hwo diferent societies obtain food supplies; depends on biome/environmental conditions
Term
Demography
Definition
study of population and its relationship to society
Term
Carrying Capacity
Definition
maximum population that a specific environment can support; determined by energy and food sources
Term
Technology
Definition
consists of all human techniques and methods of reaching a specific subsistence goal or of modifying the natural environment; not just tools/tangible items, can be the methods of manipulating, etc
Term
Economy
Definition
social relationships that organize production, exchange, and consumption of goods and services
Term
Division of Labor
Definition
consists of specialized economic roles and activities
Term
Social Structure
Definition
pattern of relationships within society, framework for all human societies
Term
Ascribed vs. Achieved Status
Definition

ascribed status: status that is inherited at birth or assumes involunarily (king, prince, etc)

achieved status: based in part on a person's voluntary actions (will you run for president)

Term
Family
Definition
social group of two or more people related by blood, marriage, or adoption who reside together for an extended period of time
Term
Orientation vs. Procreation Family
Definition

orientation family: family born into

procreation family: family one starts on own

Term
Nuclear vs. Extended Family
Definition

nuclear family: two parents and immediate biological or adopted children

extended family: composed of parents, children and other kin relations bound in a social unit

Term
Function of Family
Definition
serve basic human needs; nurture and exculture children (basic norms, values, knowledge, etc), regulation of sexual activity, protect/support family physically, emotionally, provide social environment of warmth, food and shelter
Term
Sex vs. Gender
Definition

sex: biological differences between males and females

gender: specific human traits attached to each SEX by a society

Term
Age Grades
Definition
statuses defined by age through which a person moves as  they age (infant, preschool, adult, etc)
Term
Types of Political Systems
Definition

band: simplest; based on kinship relations in small group

tribe: unite larger groups into poltical system; not centralized

chiefdom: formalized and centralized; establish authority over many communities through economic, social and religious institutions; still organized by kinship

states: centralized bureaucratic instiutitions to establish power over large populations; not based on kinship

Term
War vs. Feud
Definition

war: armed combat among different communities

feud: armed combat within a community, usually one kin group taking revenge against another kin group

Term
Myths
Definition
people's assumed knowledge about the universe and (super)natural worlds and about humanity's place in the world
Term
Rituals
Definition
repetitive behaviors that communicate sacred symbols to members of society; do not have to be religious
Term
Religion
Definition
analyzing and interpreting myths
Term
Shamans vs. Priests
Definition

shamans: part time religious practictioners who are believed to have contact with supernatural beings; no formalized status; participate in same everyday activities as others in society

priests: full time religious specialists who serve official capacity; trained through formal education to maintain religious traditions/rituals

Term
Two Goals when Studying Sociocultural Systems
Definition

1. improve understanding of a particular sociocultural system

2. provide a basis for comparing different societies and to offer general explanations for human behavior

Term
Unilineal Evolution
Definition
view that societies evolve in a single direction toward complexity, progess and civilization; ethnocentric view
Term
Historical Particularism 
Definition
Franz Boas came up with idea that every society has own unique development, did fieldwork among Inuits; no one society is more civlized than other
Term
Leslie White's Hypothesis of Cultural Evolution
Definition
explained differences in societal development by examining differences in technology and energy production; believed culture evolved in relation to amount of energy captured and used by members of society
Term
Juliam Steward on Cultural Ecology
Definition
looked at cultural ecology which stresses inter-relationship among natural conditions in evironment and technology, social organization, and attitudes within particular sociocultural system
Term
Karl Marx
Definition
belived mode of production in material life determined general character of social, political and spiritual processes of life; materialist
Term
Feminist Perspective
Definition
challenged tendency to concentrate on male role and underestimate the position of women in different studies; before 70s few women anthropologists so often were overlooked in ethnographic studies
Term
Postmodernists' Criticism
Definition
believbed anthropologists could not be completely emotionally removed from ethnographic studies
Term
Anthropologists' Response
Definition
ethnographers now include relationships and interactions with people n their studies; are not emotionally attached but are empathetic 
Term
Cosmologies
Definition
conceptual frameworks that present universe as orderly system
Term
Western Cosmological Tradition
Definition
most important cosmological tradition affecting Western views is Book of Genesis; God greated all of earth and life on it in six days
Term
Evolution
Definition
process of change in the genetic makeup of a species over time
Term
People Assocated with Ideas of Evolution
Definition
Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace came up with plausible mechanism for evolutionary change; noticed variation in living species and interaction with environment
Term
Lamarck
Definition
believed a physical trait acquired during organism's lifestime could be inherited by organism's offspring (not true)
Term
Gene
Definition
discrete units of hereditary information that determine specific physical traits of organisms; DNA sequence that encodes production of a particular protein and determines physical traits of organism
Term
Geneotype vs. Phenotype
Definition

genotype: actual genetic makeup of an organism

phenotype: external characteristics of organism that are shaped by genetics and environment

Term
Mutation
Definition
alterations of genetic material at cellular level; can occur spontaneously during cell replication or can be induced by environment
Term
Gene Flow
Definition
exchange of alleles between populations as a result of interbreeding; introduces new genetic material to population; prevents populations from becoming too different and creating new species
Term
Genetic Drift
Definition
evolutionary change resulting from random sampling phenomena that eliminate or maintain certain alleles in gene pool (founder effect)
Term
Natural Selection
Definition
genetic change in a population as reflected in allele frequencies as a result of differential reproductive success
Term
Ecological Niche
Definition
specific environmental conditions to which species is adapted to
Term
Species
Definition
groups of organisms with similar physical characteristcs that can potentially interbreed successfully
Term
Gradualism vs. Punctuated Equilibrium
Definition

speciation: a gradual process of evolution occurring very slowly as different populations become isolated

punctuated equilibrium: long periods of equilibrium between plants/animals and their habitat with little change until there is a major change that leads to rapid speciation

Term
The Nemesis Theory
Definition
meteorite is cause of extinction of dinsoarus and rise of mammals; there is competing star that crossed sun's path and blocked it
Term
Continental Drift
Definition
plate tectonics cause continents to drive together and apart
Term
Science vs. Scientific Creationism
Definition

scientific creationism: believe there is a biblically based explanation for origins of universe and life; reject moden science; believe universe was created in six days, forty day flood is reason for extinction of animals

science does not back up these ideas

Term
Hemoglobin and Melanin
Definition

hemoglobin: contains iron and gives red blood cells their colour

melanin: pigment in skin that determines its colour

 

very little melanin causes skin to be pink because red blood cells show through skin (hemoglobin)

Term
Allen's Rule
Definition
individuals living in colder areas have shorter, stockier limbs; longer limbs lose heat faster and are more likely to be found in warmer climates 
Term
Sickling Trait
Definition
adventageous in areas with malaria; someone is heterozygous are carriers and will not die, also prevent person from contracting deadly disease malaria
Term
lactose-intolerant
Definition

people among populations that have pastoralism are more likely to create enzyme lactase

natural selection favored individuals that could use all available sources of nutrition

Term
Race
Definition
similar to species or kind; different species of plant/animals
Term
Racism
Definition
ideology that advocates the superiority of certain races and inferiority of others
Term
Human Races
Definition
scientists don't agree on number; between 3-30
Term
Clines
Definition
zones on maps that show distribution of individual traits; may shed light on genetic, environmental, and cultural factors that influenced their distribution; researchers describe variation within species in terms of clinal distribution instead of trying to delineate distinctive races
Term
Multivariate Analysis
Definition
examines interrelationships among number of different traits; can show traits that are used to identify race that do not reflect human variation accurately
Term
IQ Differences Among "Race"
Definition
most documented differences in IQ among races is due to environmental reasons; new culture and environment can affect IQ
Term
Intelligence
Definition
people have multiple intelligences; intelligence test is not necessarily accurate because intelligence is not determined by one thing
Term
Research Design
Definition
a proposal in which objectives of a project are set out and the strategy for recoving relevant data is outlined
Term
Archaelogical Sites
Definition
places of human activity that are preserved in the ground
Term
Feature
Definition
non-movable artifacts or traces of past human activity suck as fire hearth, or pit dug into the ground
Term
Context
Definition
specific location in ground of an artical or fossil
Term
Common Ancestor
Definition
humans did NOT descent from apes; have a common ancestor but evolved into different line
Term
Cranium and Post-Cranium
Definition

cranium: skull

post-cranium: all bones excluding skull

Term
Primates First Evolved
Definition
during radiation of placental mammals during Paleocene epoch ofTertiary period; oldest clearly primate dates to Eocene epoch; Promisian primates are earliest followed by anthropoids
Term
Primate Social Life
Definition
cornerstone of social life is relationship between mothers and children; long periods of maturation cause bond
Term
Troops
Definition
most primates congregate in social groups/communities
Term
Advantage of Troops
Definition
defense against predators, enhanced food gathering, social learning, help raising children, more chances to reproduce
Term
Social Grooming
Definition
social activity of many primates that involves removing ticks fron one another; helps maintain socialbility
Term
Order of Social Relations
Definition

male dominates over female

older/stronger over younger/weaker

females may dominate over others because able to acquire food and enhance reproductive success

Term
Dominance
Definition
relative social status or rank of a primate; determined by ability to compete successfully with peers for objects of value
Term
Dominance Hierarchy
Definition
reduces chaotic behaviors and promotes orderly conduct, inhibits outright aggression and conflict
Term
Piltdown
Definition
fraud; found in 1972 in England; skull had large cranial capacity but ape-like dentition which went against evidence that showed large cranial capacity was one of last things to change over evolution
Term
Taung
Definition
Taung child was first Australopithecus africanus; ape-like features, foramen magnum was farther foward so it was bipedal, small brain but highly developed brain, teeth closer to size of human than ape
Term
Olduvai Gorge
Definition
in Northern Tanzania, site with many fossil finds; undisturbed area so fossils are in strata where they were deposited; area was volcanically active so layers of ash cretaed distinct layers that could be dated; first animal of genus Homo found here
Term
Lake Turkana
Definition
located in Northern Kenya, lots of fossils at this site that give information to transition to bipedalism during evolution of hominids; some of earliest hominids found here
Term
Lucy
Definition
found by Johanson's team at Hdar; fossilized skeleton of ancient hominid; one of earliest and most complete fossil huminids uncovered; small cranium, large canines, bipedal
Term
Laetoli Footprints
Definition
thousands of fossilized footprints of different species of animals; preserved in layer of mud covered by ash, trail 75 ft long proving bipedal creatures roamed earth 3.5mya
Term
Lumper vs. Splitter
Definition

lumper: believe current taxanomic designations place too much empahsis on differences among individuals and do not sufficiently consider variations within species

splitter: argue that some species designations do not refelct all species represented

Term
Populationist vs. Typological
Definition

populationist: stress uniqueness of everything in organic world and that no two living thins are exactly the same (lumpers)

typological: believe variation is abnormal and believe species follow a specific norm (splitter)

Term
Multiregional Evolutionary Model
Definition
gradual evolution of Homo erectus into modern Homo sapiens took place in many regions at same time; H. erectus populations developed particular traits that varied from region to region, but gene flow between different populations prevented separate species from forming
Term
Replacement Model
Definition
single-source model; believes Homo sapiens evolved in one area of the world first and migrated to other regions; Homo sapiens were contemporaries of earlier Homo erectus, but eventually replaced them
Term
Partial Replacement Model
Definition
Homo sapiens may have emerged in southern Africa first and then migrated outward, in the Near East they met and interbred with earlier archaic populations; interbreeding led to anatomically modern humans hybridized with earlier archaic populations, eventually replacing them
Term
Neandertals
Definition
large cranial capacity that could accomodate a brain as large as ours; structure and intellectual capacities of Neandertal brain mirror those of modern huams; artifacts used by these populations have more complex range of adaptive skills than pre-Homo sapien hominids
Term
Oldowan Industry
Definition
oldest stone tool industry, Lower Paleolithic, includes simple choppers and flakes
Term
Chopper Tools
Definition
angular blocks of stone with intentionally sharpened edges; used another rock as hammer to break off pieces of rock
Term
Oldowan Tools
Definition

flaking in manufactured tools follows more regular pattern than a stone that has a sharp edge due to natural process; tools were used to cut meat, bore plants, dig

location: Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Eurasia, Indonesia, China

Term
Acheulian Hand Ax
Definition
sharp, bifacially flaked tool shaped like a large almond; effective for chopping/cutting; fashioned by removing many flakes to get shape
Term
Three Questions Anthropologists Try to Answer
Definition

1) What is the range of cultural varaition across all space and time?

2) What is the range of variation of human biologicalv ariation across all space and time?

3) Why are there these ranges of variation?

Term
Extrasomatic Adaptation
Definition

out of body response to environment/change

ie: mosquito net, long pants, learning english

Term
Somatic Adaptation
Definition

change within the body in response to environment

ie: tail bone, heterozygous for sickle cell

Term
Three Types of Learning
Definition

individual: one being has a stimulus and response and learns

social: one being watches another individual go through a stimulus and response

symbolic: direct passing on of results of individual stimulus and response

Term
Components of Model of Culture
Definition
subsistence, technology, population, settlement pattern, social organization, economic organization, political organization, ieology
Term
Three Systemic Issues
Definition

How does energy flow?

How is power exercised?

What meaning do the people give to energy and power exercise?

Term
Energy
Definition
ability to do work; production and distribution of technology
Term
Social Power
Definition
ability to get others to do work, prestigious people have social power and exer through force
Term
Range of Variation in Human Cultures (Energy and Power)
Definition

egalitarian: equal access to energy, as many positions of prestige as people filling them

ranked: equal access to energy, fewer positions of prestige than people capable of filling them

stratified: unequal access to energy, fewer positions of prestige than people capable of filling them

Term
Three Levels of Somatic Adaptation
Definition

short term/reversible (ie: warming up)

developmental (ie: growing)

genetic (ie: melatonin)

Term
Evolution
Definition
change in gene frequencies in a population over time, non-directional
Term
Creationism
Definition
non-material, directional, discontinuous
Term
Six Trends in Biological and Cultural Evolution
Definition
bipedalism, cranial capacity, dentition, egalitarian, agriculture, stratified
Term
Geological and Cultural Periods
Definition

Meiocene (25 mya), Pliocene (5 mya), Pleistocene (3 mya), Middle (1.5 mya), Upper (125,000-3500 ya)

Paleolithic Lower (5mya-124,000ya), Paleolithic Middle (125,000 ya), Paleolithic Upper (35,000 ya) Neolithic Early States (10,000-5000 ya)

Term
Plio-Pleistocene
Definition
bipedal, cranial capacity of 400-750cc, fairly larger anterior dentition
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