ANTH 101 Flashcards
What is the definition of Anthropology?
The study of human kind
What are all of the Sub Disciplines of Anthropology?
Cultural, Physical, Archaeology, Linguistic and Applied
Ex: Sanliurfa, Turkey (example of all of the sub disciplines of anthropology) is the area where it is predicted human kind began and all of its societies.
What is the definition of culture?
The total way of life of a society
What are the five defining traits of culture?
- Culture is learned, not genetic
- It is mostly adaptive
- It is integrated, meaning change in one area creates change in all areas
- Constantly changing
- Tacit, meaning it is not formally taught but shared
What is biological determinism?
Behaviour that you are born with and cannot be changed
What is the 1928 Alberta Sterilization Act?
It prevented people from reproducing their unfit genes in society by method of sterilization. First Nations women were sterilized more than any other people. It was repealed in 1972.
What is Epigenetic?
The environment you are born in can change your behaviour
What is ethnocentrism?
The belief that one’s own way of doing things is the only correct way
What is Ethnocide?
Killing of a culture
What is FGM/FGC and why is it significant?
Female Genital Mutilation or Female Genital Cutting refers to the sewing up or mutilation of a girls vagina. In many cases this is done to protect a girl’s virtue and to keep her pure until marriage.
What is Infibulation?
The sewing up of the vagina opening. This is performed in many cultures as a way of ensuring girls remain pure until marriage. When a girl bleeds from being cut back open on her wedding night it is thought as honourable. If a girl is not cut back open or appears to not be a virgin she is killed. This form of FGM can save girls lives.
What is Cultural Relativism?
The understanding that cultures differ and must be viewed objectively in their own context.
What is Absolute Cultural Relativism?
When cultural relativism is taken too far and human rights issues are ignored.
What is an Allele?
The piece of DNA that carries a trait.
What is the difference between dominant and recessive alleles?
Dominant alleles are expressed if present. Recessive alleles are carried but not expressed unless in homozygous form. Ex. aa
What is a genotype?
The total genetic information of an organism including the recessive alleles
What is a phenotype?
The portion of genetic information that is expressed physically and observed (Ex. Brown hair, blue eyes)
What is Polygeny?
Many genes being responsible for one trait
What is pleiotropy?
One gene affecting more than one trait
What is Norm of Reaction?
A table or graph that displays the possible phenotypic outcomes for a genotype in different environments.
What is evolution?
The change in frequency of alleles in a population through time
What were the three building blocks of evolutionary thought?
Transformational evolution (change), Uniformitarianism (time), Competition (pressure)
What is Natural Selection?
The outcome of processes that alter the frequency of alleles over time in a population
What are the three principles of natural selection?
- Variation
- Heritability
- Differential Reproductive Success
What is mutation?
the alteration of DNA that results in new alleles
What is gene flow?
the movement of genes from one population to another
What is Genetic drift?
Random changes in genetic make up due to chance or accidents
What is speciation?
The appearance of a new species
What is geographical isolation?
When a species or sub species is contained to one area and there is no interference by forces which might alter their state of being.
What is a species?
Populations in a specific niche that are reproductively isolated. They normally reproduce to create viable, fertile young.
What is clinal variation?
When a trait gradually appears or disappears over a geographic area
What is discontinuous variation?
Traits appear in patches with little or no gradation between areas.
What is Gloger’s rule?
More heavily pigmented skin is found in more humid environments (closer to the equator)
What can human variation be caused by?
Natural selection, environment, individual development, cultural and ethnic practices
What is adaptation?
Genetic changes that increase favourable genes in population long term
What is balancing selection?
Results in heterozygous traits being more adaptive than homozygous. (ex. Sickle Cell Anemia)
What is Acclimatization?
Short term physiological changes to adjust to changes in environment (ex. shivering, tanning)
What is Bergmann’s rule?
Body size depends on temperature of environment. (Ex. tall people, high temperatures)
What is Allen’s rule?
Length of limbs depends on temperature
What are the five examples of Human adaptation?
Body size and shape, skin colour, sickle cell anemia, susceptibility to infectious diseases, Lactase deficiency
What is ethnicity?
culture, language, clothing, foods, history, religion, geography
What are the six problems with defining the concept of race?
- Difficulty in defining “races”
- Arbitrary boundaries imposed on clinal variation
- Falsely links phenotype, abilities and worth or ability to achieve civilization
- Misuse of the concept of species
- Racism creates and reinforces inequality
- Racism leads to stereotyping, human rights abuses and discrimination
What is an ascribed status?
a social status based on phenotype given at birth (ex. Nuremberg laws)
What is Primatology?
The study of the behaviour, evolution, distribution and classification of non-human primate species
What is Hominoidea?
Apes and Humans
What is a Strepsirhind primate?
Wet nose primate (Ex. Lemurs)
What is a Hapiorhini
Dry noses
What is a Tarsifromes?
Looks like a lemur but has a dry nose
What is Platyrrhini?
New World Anthropoids (Mexico)
What is Catarrhini?
Old world anthropoids (Baboons, etc.)
What are the six primate hallmarks?
- Mammals have hairy bodies, produce milk to offspring and have placentas
- Arboreal adaptation (tree dwelling)
- Omnivorous/ Generalized, reduced dentition
- Large, complex brain relative to body size
- Vision replaces smell as primary sense
- Social structure in life
What are the Arboreal adaptations that primates carry?
- rotating forelimbs and retention of clavicle
- prehensile
- pentadactyly
- opposable thumbs and they have nails
- dermal ridges on grasping surfaces
- plantigrade locomotion (palms)
What is the Great Ape Project? (GAP)
The Great Ape Project aims to secure basic human rights for Gorilla’s and other apes due to their complex culture.
What are the Palaeocene primates?
Occur right after the extinction of the dinosaurs. Mammals begin to adapt to new environment due to lack of predators (Ex. grow in size)
What are Eocene primates?
Occurred 55-38 MYA, the earliest primates and anthropoids. Lemurs are stranded on Madagascar at this time.
What is an anthropoid?
Ancestor to apes, monkeys and humans.
What is the Oligocene?
38-23 MYA, Emergence of hominoids
What is the Miocene?
23-5 MYA, Homin/Hominid line splits from Hominoid line. Humans begin to walk up right
What are the four hominin evolutionary trends?
- Habitual bipedalism
- Dentition/Jaw changes
- Expanding and complex brain
- Appearance of tools and increasing cultural complexity
What is an australopith?
Early hominids; Ardipithecus, Paranthropus, Australopithecus. They have fairly small cranial capacity, smaller canines (which indicates new diet and lack of male conflict)
What is an evolutionary mosaic?
Blend of old traits and new traits
What is the difference between the robust and the gracile species of Australopiths?
Robust have crest on the head, gracile have smooth head with no crest. The crest is used for attaching muscle that would have been used for extreme chewing.
What are some traits of the early Homo Genus species?
- Appeared during a drying trend 2.5-2 MYA
- Likely evolved from gracile Australopiths and lived alongside robust Australopiths
- Had larger brains (increase in brain size means larger social groups, beginnings of tools)
What is Taphonomy?
Processes that affect archaeology sites
What are three ways to study prehistoric tools?
- Ethnographic analogy (Ask ancient civilizations who still use stone tools what they use them for)
- Use Wear Studies (Pattern breakage under a microscope)
- Experimental Archaeology (Use it in the environment and see what its useful for)
What were some of the advantages to having stone tools?
Safety, security, changes how they move around (overhand throwing becomes an adaptation)
What are some defining traits of the Homo Erectus species?
- 1.8-40,000,000 YA
- First to leave Africa
- Cranial capacity increases
- Endurance runners
- Loss of fur
- use percussion flaking, core and flake technology
When did the Homo Erectus first begin using fire, and what were its advantages?
First began using fire 1.4 MYA. Fire keeps you warm, scares away predators, can cook foods which aids in killing parasites and gives you more nutrients, used as a hunting tool, creates a sense of community
What are some defining traits of Homo Neandertalensis?
- Short, more robust
- Elongated skulls, occipital bun
- Large teeth and retromolar space
- Interbreeding between sapiens and neandertalensis
- Much stronger than Homo sapiens
- Nose is much bigger to help warm air before it gets to the lungs
- Probably had red hair gene
- Present in Ice Age period in Europe
- It is unsure how they became extinct. (interbreeding, competition, genocide)
What is the replacement/single origin theory?
Homo Sapiens come from one species and evolved through variation and gene flow out of Africa.
What is the Multiregional/Regional Continuity theory?
-People evolve from separate places and from separate species.
What are some defining traits of Homo Sapiens?
- Domed forehead
- More evolved in frontal lobe
- Chin
- Larger Brain
- Movement across the globe
What is Relative dating?
Relative dating techniques result in a date in relation to another (no exact dates)
What is Chronometric dating?
Chronometric/Absolute Dating results in calendrical dates in years ‘before present’. This includes non radiometric dating methods
What are radiometric dating methods?
Based on measuring the decay of radioactive isotopes (half life)
What is a half life?
Refers to the amount of time it takes for a sample to disappear by a half.
What is Typology?
Classifies artifacts or fossils into categories based on similarity and difference in form
What is radiocarbon dating methods?
Absolute method of dating that is based on the decay of Carbon 14 and its half life which consists of 5730 years. This dating technique works on organic materials but cannot measure very far back in the past.
What is Potassium Argon Dating?
Isotopic, Absolute method. Used for fossil ancestors and can only be used on volcanic ash found in the soil where the fossil was found. Has a half life of over a billion years so is used for much older artifacts.
What is Dendrochronology?
Non-isotopic, absolute method that uses tree ring dating. Provides an idea of climate change and is used as a way of correcting radiocarbon dating.
What is Archaeology?
The study of past human behaviour through material remains
What is prehistoric archaeology?
Dates from the earliest artifacts to the appearance of written records
What is Historic archaeology?
Dates when written records are present, which allows comparison in views.
What is an artifact?
An object that has been modified by humans or is a bi-product of human activities.
What is a Feature?
A large and/or immobile artifact
What is an ecofact?
Natural materials that give evidence for environmental context
What is a site?
A location of remains of past human activity
What does “context” refer to?
information surrounding materials in their original locations and their relationship to other materials
What does provenience mean?
Exact 3D location
What is a pictograph?
Painting on stone
What is a petraglyph?
Carving in stone
Who is Otzi the Iceman?
He was found in a glacier with an arrow head in his side. He was found with a satchel and spear indicating he may have been a soldier who died from battle wounds.
Who is the Tollund Man?
He is a peat bog mummy who was found beheaded with his skull smashed in in the back and a rope around his neck. The injuries he sustained and the noose around his neck suggest ritual activity.
What happened in Pompeii?
Buried under ash and cinders in two days after the erruption of Vesuvius.
What does Excavation mean?
The systematic exposure, recovery and recording of archaeological remains. Excavation destroys the site so you only have one chance to remove artifacts.
What are the steps of the process of Archaeology?
- Pre-field studies (overview)
- Finding and recording sites (survey)
- Excavation
- Analysis (lab work)
- Description and Reporting (Reporting)
- Reconstruction and Education (Reconstruction)
What is Cultural Resource Management? (CRM)
The management of cultural heritage including cultural landscapes, archaeological sites, historical sites and records, artifacts and intangible heritage.
What is mesolithic?
Middle Stone Age.
- Broad Specturm Foraging
- Sedentarism (Permanent Habitation)
- New tool types, microlithic tools
What is Neolithic?
New Stone Age. The era when food production begins (domestication of plants and animals)
What does Domestication mean?
The human modification of species to make them more useful and productive. Results in dependency on people and modifies the environment
What does communication mean?
The transfer of information
What does Language mean?
A symbolic system that expresses experiences and thoughts, past and future (Prairie dogs make different chirps for predators)
What does proxemics mean?
Non verbal communication using spacing and orientation
What does Kinesics mean?
Non verbal communication using motions and gestures.
What does Paralanguage mean?
Non verbal communication using loudness, speed, rhythm and spaces
What is Linguistic Inequality?
Ethnocentrism based on the use of language or dialect
What is an Ethnology?
Compares two or more cultures
What is an ethnography?
Study of one culture
What is Participant Observation?
When an anthropologist will go to another culture to study it and immerse themselves in the culture as if they are a member of that society.
What does field work refer to?
The extended period of time when researchers go into the ‘field’
What does culture shock mean?
Negative feelings or interactions resulting from ignorance of cultural “rules of interaction” which is often worsened if there is not a working understanding of the language.
What is an informant?
Individuals who share their cultural point of view and knowledge.
What are some problems of using informants?
Informants may lie to the Anthropologist. Names change depending on villages which makes research very difficult. Anthropologists may cause political, economic, and social problems by favouring informants, shunning informants or by bringing in outside products.
What does a Social Organization refer to?
Rules or institutions that govern the behaviour of group members
What does wealth mean?
Economic resources (land, water, money, gold)
What does power mean?
The ability to change social situations and other’s actions
What does prestige mean?
Respect or honour
What is an egalitarian society?
They have slight differences in status and roles between individuals. They have fairly equal access to wealth, power and prestige.
What is a ranked society?
Unequal access to prestige and often power depending on the group
What is a stratified society?
Unequal access to wealth, power and prestige depending on the group.
What is a band?
Vary with season and need but are generally a small group (50-100) wo are often foragers
What is a tribe?
Numbers vary less, are more sedimentary and have generally larger groups (up to 5,000 people) who are often horticulturalists or pastoralists.
How are most societies organized?
Kinship, friendship or ability to work together
What is Age Set organization?
Group of people of the same age who go through life’s stages together
What is Sodality organization?
Special purpose group (based on age, sex, interests, kinship, social role)
What is a secret society?
Initiation group, may be a prerequisite for certain life stages
What does leadership refer to in Egalitarian societies?
Often an elder, or head of a kinship group, sodality or age set
What does achieved status refer to in an egalitarian society?
Position earned through personal abilities, cannot be passed on.
What does Extensive pastoralist refer to?
Follows free ranging herds
What does Intensive Horticulturalist refer to?
Uses corrals or fenced herds. Usually is seen in larger groups or related families. Often men herd animals, and women process meats and milk products.
What is a Chiefdom?
Ranked society that is partially stratified. Often more than one community with formal control of leader. There is approximately 5-20,000 people. Organization is based on kinship, age-sets, sodalities, secret societies and ascribed status.
What is a State Society?
Stratified society with multi-ethnic groups under a central government. There are various forms of leadership that are often reinforced through ideology. They use codified law, standing armies and have the highest rates of conflict and war.
What is a Class-based state society?
“open” group wth about the same access to wealth, power and prestige that is often correlated with education, ethnicity, or ownership of key resources.
What is a Caste-based State society?
Highly ascribed “closed” class with little or no vertical mobility. People are born to work and marry, and often are ranked in order of prestige.
What is consumption?
Using up of material goods due to basic needs, availability and choice.
What is affluence?
When resources and production outweigh consumption.
What is a domestic mode of production?
Kin (family) group produces and receives product
What is a tributary mode of production?
Means of production supplied by elite and tribute is extracted in return (Ex. Serfdom)
What is a capitalist/industrialist mode of production?
Means of production are individually owned and labour is sold.
What is reciprocity?
Exchange without money
What is a Sustenance Pattern?
refers to how humans make food/feed themselves.
What is food collection?
A subsistence pattern of gathering wild foods from the environment
What is food production?
A subsistence pattern with a primary dependence on domesticated speices (pastoralism, horticulturalism, agriculture)
What is kinship?
Socially significant relationships based on descent, marriage and friendship or adoption. May exclude some family like cousins,. It is the key to social organization and may determine obligations, alliances, access to economic resources, political authority, inheritance, marriage and sexual partners.
What is bilateral descent?
descent through mother’s and father’s sides equally. Which creates a kindred
What does kindred mean?
ambiguous, flexible set of relatives with a wide range of obligations
What is unilineal descent?
Descent only though the mother’s or the fathers’s side of the family. Creates a lineage.
What is a lineage?
Group descended from common ancestor and is very specific regarding membership and obligations
What is patrilineage?
membership passes from father to all his children regardless of children’s sex. Associated with patriarchy, patrolocality, male primary labour and internal warfare.
What is a dowry?
Transfer of family wealth to the bride from parents
What is a patrilocal post-marital residence?
Bride moves in with or near father of the groom
What is a matrilocal post marital residence?
Man moves in with wife and her mother and the man still has ties to his own mother.
What is a neolocal post marital residence?
Move into own house with out family. Makes it easy to move, but you have no family support or network.
What is an avunculocal post marital residence?
Mother’s brother is the main important guy you live with
What is a ambilocal post marital residence?
Change of patterns
What is a duolocal post marital residence
live apart.
