Anthropology Midterm 2 Flashcards
Goals of Archeology
Archaeologists employ
scientific methods to label and persevere artifacts for future study
Steps in the Archeological process
-Purpose for the dig
-look at historical documents
-Survey the site
-map by creating a site plan
-Dig for artifacts
-Analyze and sort artifacts
-Preserve the artifacts for later study
Types of surveys (Pedestrian Survey)
archaeologists walk
over area, select sites based on previous
research, ask local people for information
Types of surveys (Ground Truthing)
test pits (3x3x3ft) are
dug at random or systematic intervals
Earthworks(Aerial Reconnaissance)
mounds or lines
Soil marks(Aerial Reconnaissance)
discolorations
Crop marks(Aerial Reconnaissance)
remnants of features, e.g.,
walls or roads
Archaeological Record
Goal is to understand how
humans lived and survived in the
past.
Processual Archaeology
Views culture as another natural system.The perspective that they believe they can understand past cultural systems through the remains they left behind.
Post-Processual Archaeology
Emphasize human agency and
the power of ideas and values
when studying past cultures
Feminist Archaeology
Recognizes that traditional approaches have
often ignored the presence of women.
What roles are traditionally ascribed to women
in modern populations?
Gender Archaeology
Questions about the binary male–female
distinction
Western heteronormative beliefs do not apply
to the entirety of the human species
Ethical considerations
Potential repercussions of study
(environmental, political, local,
etc.)
Obligation to share their
findings in an appropriate
mano
Cosmopolitan approach
Being able to move
comfortably between cultural settings.
Domestication
Humans began to intervene in the
reproduction of other species to fulfil
their needs (domestication)
When did domestication start to happen
Holocene epoch 12k years ago
Cultivation
as activities of
preparing fields, sowing,
weeding, harvesting, and
storing products
Hunter-gatherers
Hunter-gatherers access
more variety of food stuffs
and are less affected by
malnutrition
The general timeline of subsistence styles
Human subsistence shifted from
large mammals to a broad
spectrum of foods
-Wild grains
-Hunting smaller animals
-Which led to domestication
Theories for why subsistence changed(Ice age mammals)
The Large Ice Age mammals
died out, and
smaller mammals became
more prevalent.
Niche construction
-Buffers against selection for
morphological changes
-Absent: grow fur in colder climate
(alteration in phenotype)
-Present: humans build shelters and make
clothing to protect themselves from cold
Stages of animal domestication
- Random hunting: no attempt at human control
- Controlled hunting: targeting certain
age/sex/physicality - Herd following: movement with an animal group
- Loose herding: control a herd’s movements,
often seasonally; selective breeding/culling - Close herding: animal mobility is limited, and
breeding is controlled - Factory farming: complete control of animals’
lives
Evidence of animal domestication
Presence of animal species
outside its natural range
* Morphological changes
* Abrupt increase in population
relative to other species
* Age and sex of animals, especially
more males is evidence they were
killed for meat
Social effects of domestication
Sedentism: increasingly permanent human
habitations
* Land no longer free, territories owned
* Graves, housing, fields and herds connected
people to specific places
* Human footprint on the environment
* Nutritional deficiencies
* Altered physiology
* Spread of disease
* Attraction of pests
* More physical labour
* Emergence hierarchical societies
Wild vs. domesticated wheat
Wild wheat has a tough glume around it-domesticated wheat has a slow glume around it
Social stratification
Prestige: honour or respect within
societies
Wealth: economic resources; land,
tools, money and goods
Power: enforce individuals to do
certain behaviors
Egalitarian vs Trans egalitarian
Egalitarian (when everyone’s position or status is the same)
“trans egalitarian”
Class societies transitioning to a hierarchy
Sedentism and its effects
: Domestication +
Sedentism = more leisure time and
ability to increase
social/technological complexity
Band
Less than 100 individuals
* Typically, related kin groups are egalitarian(very little difference in status and wealth between people )
Tribes
Small populations, mostly independent
* Sometimes interact with groups
linked through customs or kinship(food producers)
Chiefdom
More political structure
Chiefs highly respected
authorities, responsible for
various leadership tasks
* Privileged access to wealth,
power and prestige
States
Regional settlement patterns
often show at least three levels
in hierarchy of social complexity
* Laws and taxes enforced by an
Evidence/traits of complex societies
Greater stratification within
now larger populations
* Surplus in resources
* Occupational specialization
with new or luxury goods
* Trade increasing with external
individuals
Power facts
Items usually found in graves which show that the person had a high position in life and were fit to rule
institutions
Three institutions have
developed independently
in many different societies
-Trade: the exchange of
goods
-Money a medium of
exchange that assigns
values to goods
Market the supply–
demand price mechanism
for regulating exchange
Phases of economic activity
Economic activity: Production, Distribution and consumption.
Feudalism
resources distributed
according to social status or rank.
Capitalism
resources distributed
in a “free” market where price is
dependent upon supply and
demand.
Patterns of reciprocity
- General reciprocity: exchange without stating the time or value of the return
- Balanced reciprocity: when the exchange is something of equal value
- Negative reciprocity: when one party tries to get something while offering something of less value
Consumption patterns & theories
- Internal explanation:
-Malinowski and Basic Human
Needs - External explanations (cultural ecology)
-cultural ecologists explain patterns of consumption
based on available resources
3 Cultural explanations of consumption
-people are actively constructing their niches using cultural inventions and not only using what available to
them.
Affluence
having more
then what is required to
satisfy consumption needs
– achieved by: foraging too much
Power vs social power
-Power can be
understood as the
ability to transform a
given situation.
Organizational power,
whereby individuals or social
units limit the actions of others
* Authoritative
Status
social status is the honor or prestige attached to one’s position in society
Agency
Free agents make decisions
for personal gain, not
based on:
* Collective beliefs
* Greater good
* Historical obligation
Ideology
A world view that
justifies social arrangements
and legitimates power
Domination
Expensive to
continue
* Unstable
* Requires constant
maintenance
Hegemony( Divine right of kings)
- Sustained through
institutions or
traditions - Rulers and subjects
linked - Maintains the ruler’s
position of privilege
Coercion
Power is seen as coercion the ability it make others do what you want
Nation-state
Nation-state: viewed as an ideal
political unit (single government) in
which national identity and political
territory coincided
nation
groups of people believed
to share the same history, beliefs,
language, and even the same
physical substance.
Nationality
a sense of identification
with loyalty to the nation-state
Citizenship
Legal citizenship: accorded
by state laws and may be
difficult for migrants to
obtain
Substantive citizenship:
defined by actions people
take, regardless of legal
status, to assert
membership and bring
about political changes
globalization
Movements and mixing of
peoples
