Anthro of Food exam 2

Question 1

Hunting and Gathering

Answer 1

Opportunistic omnivores, using a wide variety of plants and animals including fish,
shellfish, and insects. Requires large ranges and low population density. Hadza – Tanzanian, 3000 kilo calories
daily. Adequate and balanced diet.

Question 2

Horticulture

Answer 2

Raise a broad range of crops and rely on wild plants to some degree. Smaller crop but typically better
diets.

Question 3

Agriculture

Answer 3

Tend to concentrate on production of a high yield staple. Wheat, corn, rice. Higher population,
poorer nutrition.

Question 4

Herding

Answer 4

Subsistence revolves around herds (cattle, sheep, goats, llamas, camels, reindeer). Nomadic or
sedentary, no major growing of crops. Basseri – Iran, sheep and goat herding. Formerly nomadic and forced to settle by gov.

Question 5

Small scale hunter/gatherers, “Immediate Return”

Answer 5

Smaller populations (>1000 people). Organized into smaller, mobile egalitarian bands which are based on equality and cooperation. Bands are the domestic group compromised of kin (blood or marriage).
2. Move by season
3. fewer surpluses
4. relatively equal social order and sharing

Question 6

Large scale hunter/gatherers, “Delayed Return”

Answer 6

Seasonal movements to camps with return to permanent villages.
2. -many surpluses: food processed and domestically stored for later use
3. -constant sharing but also gift giving to enhance prestige
4. -equality in food access, but surpluses allow differences of social standing
5. -Tribal/chiefly political organization; ascribed and achieved leadership makes decisions and keeps order

Question 7

Which would be able to produce food surpluses?

Answer 7

Large Scale

Question 8

What do we know about the behavior of contemporary hunter-gatherers, such as the San?

Answer 8

1. 80% of diet from plants, principally from mongongo nuts.
2. Adequate balance of vitamins and minerals.
3. 30-50 grams of animal protein daily.
4. ~2000-2100 kilocalories per day, though. This may reduce fertility and stunt growth.

Question 9

Is there one type of hunter/gatherer group?

Answer 9

No. They are based on the environment

Question 10

Transhumance

Answer 10

Where people move with herds to uplands in summer and lowlands in winter

Question 11

What are the different theories of plant domestication?

Answer 11

1. Horticulture
2. Agriculture

Question 12

What effect has plant domestication had on global population and health?

Answer 12

Higher population but lower nutrition.

Question 13

How does Crowther define Industrial Agriculture?

Answer 13

Industrial agriculture is the large-scale, intensive production of crops and animals, often involving chemical fertilizers on crops or the routine, harmful use of antibiotics in animals

Question 14

Are non-industrial agricultural societies better off than hunter-gatherers in diet and health?

Answer 14

NO

Question 15

Malthusian dilemma

Answer 15

Population growth can become exponential while agriculture production is linear

Question 16

Capitalism

Answer 16

An economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for
profit, rather than by the state

Question 17

Proletarian diet

Answer 17

The Atkins diet is a proletarian diet: meat, eggs and other high-protein sources along with usually forbidden fats, especially butter and cream

Question 18

Green Revolution

Answer 18

A great increase of grain production in the 50’s and 60’s

Question 19

Commercial food industry

Answer 19

For profit food production and distribution

Question 20

The humoral system of Hippocrates and Galen, and how it relates to diets

Answer 20

For physical and emotional health, a person’s body had to be balanced for four resultant humors
2. Food flavors associated with different humors:
3. Blood—salt for healing
4. Phlegm—sweet for nutrition
5. Yellow Bile—bitter for energy
6. Black Bile—sour to reduce fevers, calming

Question 21

How and why did Romans cooks ‘balance’ flavors of main dishes?

Answer 21

The Romans ensured that main dishes were balanced for all four flavors.
2. Vinegar for sourness
3. Salt and fish sauce for saltiness.
4. Honey and reduced grape juice syrup for sweetness.
5. Herbs and spices for bitterness.

Question 22

Has belief in the humoral system vanished?

Answer 22

Yes, germ theory has basically eliminated the humoral system

Question 23

Major food taboos of early religions

Answer 23

1. Christians – No animals of land or sky during fasting. Catholic, no meat on Fridays,
2. Buddhists – no meat, some will not eat plant roots.
3. Hindus – vegetarians ideal, many eat small amounts of meat. No beef.
4. Jews – kosher, can’t cook milk and meat together or served together. No no shellfish, can’t eat certain
   mammals with cloven feet. (pigs, camels)
5. Muslims – halal, can’t eat if died naturally or prepared incorrectly. No pork. No intoxicants
6. Jainists – no animal by products, no plant roots, nothing fermented (micro organisms)

Question 24

How did Marvin Harris explain the Hindu exclusion of beef from the diet?

Answer 24

Are cattle not killed because they are economically important? Cultural Materialism.

Question 25

How would other anthropologists critique Marvin Harris’ theory?

Answer 25

Are cattle not killed because of religious values–Spread of non-violence in Indian religions began with the
prohibition of killing cattle and horses

Question 26

What did Levi-Strauss argue about food preparation and serving?

Answer 26

A society’s foodways have a ‘grammar,’ a set of rules underlying it—courses or ingredients in a meal

Question 27

What are Endocannibals and Exocannibals?

Answer 27

1. Endo – Mortuary cannibalism or compassionate cannibalism.
2. Exo – “Conventional” cannibalism

Question 28

What has been the scholarly debate over cannibalism?

Answer 28

Accusation of cannibalism usually are cultural insults rather than accurate. Popular stories of cannibalism typically are fabrications.
Cannibalism is rare and results from near-starvation emergencies, not valued cultural practices.
Claims that no anthropologist has ever witnessed cannibalism.

Question 29

What is ‘compassionate cannibalism?

Answer 29

Conklin argued that the transformation and removal of bodies aided in resolving grief

Question 30

What are prion diseases

Answer 30

Prion diseases, such as Mad Cow Disease, spread through the consumption of infected brain tissues.
The disease leads to an accumulation of prion proteins in the brain, leading to loss of coordination, dementia, and
eventually death.

Question 31

How does research of prion diseases relate to the possible antiquity of cannibalism?

Answer 31

The connection between cannibalism and prion diseases

Question 32

A feast

Answer 32

Abundance of food and other gifts given to guests

Question 33

What are potlatches, and what explanations have been suggested for them?

Answer 33

Potlatches are huge events, with feasting and distribution of gifts. Big Men gather food, blankets, masks,
copper items, etc. to give away.
The more food and gifts the Big Men give away, the greater their prestige

Question 34

Fasting

Answer 34

Avoidance of food or avoidance of certain foods or times of
eating

Question 35

Be able to explain Bynum’s arguments about how and why religious fasting (or only eating the sacrament)
became tied to women in Medieval Europe

Answer 35

Eating only the sacrament as a sign of great piety appears more important for women then men, along with
visions from abstinence, stigmata and other body changes, production of sacred body fluids

Question 36

Did the women who fasted gain any social advantages?

Answer 36

Influence over other family members and clergy

Question 37

How did Mary Douglas compare meals to rituals, and what did she consider ‘proper meals?’

Answer 37

The proper meal comprises of specific food, dishes, and courses deemed culturally appropriate for the time of day, occasion, and gathering of people.

Question 38

Commensality

Answer 38

The practice of eating together

Question 39

Generalized reciprocity

Answer 39

Is gift giving without the expectation of an immediate return

Question 40

Balanced reciprocity

Answer 40

Obligates the recipient to return, within a specific time limit, items understood to be of equal value

Question 41

In ancient societies of Greece and Rome, how did food and food preparation differentiate the civilized world from the barbarian world?

Answer 41

To be civilized meant to live in towns, consuming bread, stews, and beer, made from various grains

Question 42

What were the most important food and drinks for the Romans and Greeks?

Answer 42

Red meat more important to the Romans, especially meat of pigs. Wealthy Romans frequently used exotic
meats as well

Question 43

Why and how did Greek men ritualize wine drinking?

Answer 43

Beer and undiluted wine drinking was considered barbaric. Proper wine was diluted with water

Question 44

How did Greek and Roman ideas of feasts compare?

Answer 44

They both involved laying out with the higher ranking individuals closer to the food

Question 45

How did guests generally sit at elite Greek and Roman feasts?

Answer 45

Away from the food in the back

Question 46

According to Montanari, how do banquets reflect hierarchy and power relationships?

Answer 46

The elite sit up more towards where all the action is and they get the best food there is

Question 47

How did the medieval European diets of elite and commoner differ usually?

Answer 47

Elite individuals ate more meat, larger quantities, more diversity

Question 48

What did spoonmeat, trenchermeat, sweetmeat, and mess mean?

Answer 48

Soups/stews. Meat served on bread. Dessert. A portion of food.

Question 49

How did guests generally sit at elite medieval feasts?

Answer 49

Around tables

Question 50

How did hosts display their wealth at feasts?

Answer 50

Large quantities and decorative desserts. Gold plated plates

Question 51

What are subtleties and salt cellars?

Answer 51

Extravagant desserts castles, churches, etc. Salt cellars are highly decorated containers for salt

Question 52

How is Makah whaling valuable to their society?

Answer 52

Whales were hunted for their meat and blubber, and nearly every part of the whale was designated for use.
Humpback, right, sperm, gray, fin and blue whales were among the species traditionally hunted by the Makah.
Oil rendered from the whale’s blubber was a valuable commodity

Question 53

Why has fry bread become an important symbol, and what is the current controversy over it?

Answer 53

High in calories, is linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.