ch. 1 Flashcards
application of anthropological knowledge, theory and methods to the solution of specific societal problems
applied anthropology
comparing similar things in different groups to look for similarities and differences
comparative method
rules, standards, and norms shared by a society. is transmitted by learning. largely responsible for human behavior.
culture
A member of the genus Homo and especially of the species H. sapiens, A person
homo sapiens
study of the biological and cultural factors that affect health disease and sickness
medical anthropology
accepted principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of secure knowledge. Established
scientific approach
a group of people who occupy a specific locality, share common cultural traditions, and cooperate for their mutual survival
society
study of life ways of people from the past through the retrieval and analyzing the material remains of past cultures
The branch of anthropology that studies to attempt to understand the cultures of the past
archaeology
sturdy of contemporary cultures and the attempt to understand the general underlying patterns of all human cultures
cultural anthropology
viewing a question from the broadest possible perspective
looking for multiple variables to explain the observed phenomenon
holism
the branch of anthropology which is particularly concerned with language and how different sorts of communication are related to other aspects of culture
linguistic anthropology
attempts to understand what it means to be human from an evolutionary and biological perspective
physical anthropology
a group of interrelated and independent parts forming a whole
systems
emphasis on culture holistic perspective emphasis on systems comparative method scientific approach
shared theoretical concepts
an organized and specific way of asking and trying to answer questions about an understanding the natural world
science
The study of antiquities largely for the sake of the objects themselves and not to understand the people or the cultures that produce them
antiquarianism
an anthropological research orientation first introduced by Marvin Harris
cultural materialism
The act, manner, or practice of managing; handling, supervision, or control
management
The period demonstrates the maturation of anthropological archeology with construction for workable models explain culture processes, research that emphasizes the experimental and far ranging topics of interest
explanatory period
The last part of the stone age (the New)
neolithic
A paradigm that focuses on the humanistic approaches and rejects scientific objectivity; it sees archeology as inherently political and more concerned with interpreting the past than testing hypotheses
postprocessual archaeology
a site’s physical structure produced by the deposition of geological and/or cultural sediment in two layers, or strata
stratigraphic
anything made, modified, or transported by humans and can provide information about behavior of the past
artifacts
?
cultural chronology
?
cultural relativism
the study of contemporary peoples to determine how human behavior is translated into archeological record
ethnoarchaeology
The act or process of excavating
excavation
logical process of inducing general conditions of a whole set of cases from particular circumstances of
one or a few
inductive reasoning
Hypothesis that links archaeological observations with the human behavior or natural processes that produced them.
middle level theory
An occurrence, circumstance, or fact that is perceptible by the senses.
phenomenon
is the study of human adaptations to social and physical environments. Human adaptation refers to both biological and cultural processes that enable a population to survive and reproduce within a given or changing environment
cultural ecology
is a principle that was established as axiomatic in anthropological research by Franz Boas in the first few decades of the 20th century and later popularized by his students.
cultural relativism
Primary research interest was in the documentation of traits of different cultural via collection, classification, and description of cultural remains
descriptive period
Continuation of descriptive studies but now also concerned with chronological order of archeology cultures
historical period
Of or relating to the cultural period of the Stone Age beginning with the earliest chipped stone tools, about 750,000 years ago, until the beginning of the Mesolithic Period, about 15,000 years ago.
paleolithic
A black basalt stone tablet found in 1799 that bear inscriptions in two forms of ancient Greek and ancient Egyptian
Rosetta stone
a paradigm holding that human culture is the expression of unconscious models of thought and reasoning, nobility binary oppositions. Is most closely associated with the French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss
structuralism
?
chronometric date
the systematic description of a culture based on direct, first hand observation and often participation
ethnography
Logical process of deducing the circumstances of particular cases
from conditions specified by general theories
deductive reasoning
A tentative explanation of some phenomenon or related phenomena
hypothesis
A customary manner of living; a way of life
lifeways
Theory
that seeks to answer large “why”
questions
High-level theory
History of humankind in the period before recorded history.
Prehistory
?
cultural evolution
The spread of linguistic or cultural practices or innovations within a community or from one community to another.
diffusion
Physical material within which artifacts are embedded or supported
matrix
an approach that stresses the dynamic relationship between social and economic aspects of culture and the environment as the basis for understanding the process of culture change.
Tends to emphasize scientific method
Processual archaeology
Period in which basic perceptions of the world and how it works were undergoing fundamental changes
speculative period
The science that deals with the determination of dates and the sequence of events.
chronology
study and interpretation of ancient inscriptions
epigraphy
systematic and comparative study of culture, including modern and past cultures.
ethnology
illustrations based on stylized symbolic forms; study and interpretation of such images
iconography
The observations and interpretations that emerge from hands-on archaeological field-work
low-level theory
The overarching framework, often unstated, for understanding a research problem. Its a researcher’s “culture”
paradigms
Scientific explanation of the world that has been widely tested and accepted as more useful than other competing explanations
theory
Relying upon or gained from
experience or direct observation
empirical
A continuing intellectual dialogue in which thinkers strive for increased understanding.
Dialectic
General set of ideas and observations
accepted by most trained
practitioners of a particular field of
science, at a given point in time
Scientific paradigm
