ANTH 1000 - Ch. 21

Question 1

kinship

Answer 1

a network of relatives within which individuals possess certain mutual rights and obligations

Question 2

descent group

Answer 2

any kin-ordered social group with a membership in the direct line of descent from a real (historical) or fictional common ancestor

Question 3

unilineal descent

Answer 3

descent that establishes group membership exclusively through either the male or female line; also knowns as unlateral descent

Question 4

matrilineal descent

Answer 4

descent traced excluseively through the female line to establish group membership

Question 5

patrilineal descent

Answer 5

descent traced exclusively through the male line to establish group membership; also known as agnatic or male descent

Question 6

lineage

Answer 6

a unilineal kinship group descended from a common ancestor or founder who lived four to six generations ago, and in which relationships among members can be exactly stated in genealogical terms

Question 7

clan

Answer 7

an extended unilineal kinship group, often consisting of several lineages, whose members claim common descent from a remote ancestor, usually legendary or mythological

Question 8

fission

Answer 8

the splitting of a descent group into two or more new descent groups

Question 9

totemism

Answer 9

the belief that people are related to particular animals, plants, or natural objects by virtue of descent from common ancestral spirits

Question 10

phratry

Answer 10

a unilineal descent group composed of at least two clans that supposedly share a common ancestry, whether or not they really do

Question 11

moiety

Answer 11

each group that results from a division of a society into two halves on the basis of descent

Question 12

kindred

Answer 12

an individual’s close blood relatives on the maternal and paternal sides of his or her family

Question 13

EGO

Answer 13

the central person from whom the degree of each relationship is traced

Question 14

Eskimo system

Answer 14

Kinship reckoning in which the nuclear family is emphasized by specifically identifying the mother, father, brother, and sister, while lumping together all other relatives into broad categories such as uncle, aunt, and cousin; also known as lineal system

Question 15

Hawaiian system

Answer 15

kinship reckoning in which all relatives of the same sex and generation are referred to by the same term

Question 16

Iroquois system

Answer 16

kinship reckoning in which a father and father’s brother are referred to by a single term, as are a mother and mother’s sister, but a father’s sister and mother’s brother are given separate terms. Parallel cousins are classified with brothers and sisters, while cross cousins are classified separately but not equated with relatives of some other generation