Cahpter 1 Flashcards
What the Heck is Anthropology?
The study of human culture
Beliefs, language, rituals, kinship, social structure.
Where is Vanuatu?
the study of human beings, and their ancestors through time and space and in relation to physical character, environmental and social relations, and culture.
Traditionally a “four field” discipline— need training in all four fields.
Many different subfields and sub-disciplines, i.e. medical anthropology, Chinese anthropology, environmental anthropology.
Culture
a set of values, beliefs, and behaviours that a group of people; share and pass down to the next generation.
what does anthropology mean
anthropo: human beings
logia: study of
what are the 4 kinds of anthropologists
biological anthropology
archeology
linguistic anthropology
sociocultural anthropology or “cultural anthropology”/ “social anthropology”
biological anthropology
IT IS A SUBFIELD OF ANTHROPOLOGY
the oldest
focuses on the study of the evolution, function and health of the body and closest primates across time and space
specialties in biological anthro
paleoanthropology: study of fossilised remains of both humans and their endevours to understand the history of biological evolution- do excavations and study them in the lab
study mostly fossil records of bipeds. do reconstruction of the physical structure of hominids can also provide evidence of migration
primatology
study of our closest nonhuman relatives- Jane Goodall
forensic anthropology
study of human remains for identification and cause of death. determine the age, sex, health status, height, and cause of death. work in human right tribunals- identify mass graves
archeology
A BRANCH OF ANTHROPOLOGY studies human history and its artifacts- look at the material remains of human groups in order learn how people lived. they map out both horizontal and vertical provenience to understand spatial function as well as time periodes
only has to be 50 years old for it to be archeology
linguistic anthropology
examining the relationship between language and culture- explore how people use language, both in a physical sense with regards to how communication is structured, and in a historical sense in regardsto how different languages have developed and spread throughout history
sociolinguists
interested in how various aspects of culture shape how we use language. they can analyse vocabulary, accents and topics
historical linguists
study the origin of language and changes inlanguage over time
sociocultural anthropologists
look at how societies are structured and how cultural meanings are created. they explore both the universal and the particular , moving back and forth between the two levels . gather data by talking to people and by participating in and observing their day to day lives.
focus on social structure and cultural meaning
A comparative approach to the study of societies and cultures that focuses on difference and similarities in the ways that societies are structured and cultural meanings are created.
Sociocultural Anthropology is…
Holistic- how do factors of social organization fit together?
Comparative- across cultures. How are they different? Similar?
Culture
the system of meaning about the naure of experience that are shared by a people and passed on from one generation to another, including the meaning that people give to things, events, activities, and people.
ethonocentric fallancy
the mistaken notion that the belief and behaviors of other culture can be judged from the perspective of ones own culture
the idea that our beliefs and behaviors are right and true while those of others are wrong and misguided