Ch. 1: What Is Anthropology?

Question 1

Archaeology

Answer 1

Study the life ways of people from the past by excavating and analyzing the material culture they have left behind.

Question 2

Artifacts

Answer 2

Objects that have been made or modified by humans and that can be removed from the site and taken to the lab for further analysis.

Question 3

Cultural anthropology

Answer 3

The study of specific contemporary cultures and the more general underlying patterns of human culture derived through cultural comparisons.

Question 4

Cultural relativism

Answer 4

Any part of a culture (such as an idea, a thing, or a behavior pattern) must be viewed in its proper cultural context rather than from the viewpoint of the observer’s culture.

Question 5

Cultural resource management

Answer 5

A form of applied archaeology that involves identifying, evaluating, and sometimes excavating sites before roads, dams, and buildings are constructed.

Goal is to ensure that the laws are properly followed, that high-quality research is conducted, and that the data from archaeological sites are not destroyed by federally funded building projects.

Question 6

Descriptive linguistics

Answer 6

The study of sound systems, grammatical systems, and the meanings attached to words in specific languages.

Question 7

Ecofacts

Answer 7

Objects found in the natural environment (such as bones, seeds, and wood) that were not made or altered by humans but we’re used by them. – provide important data concerning the environment and how people used natural resources.

Question 8

Ethnocentrism

Answer 8

The belief that one’s own culture is superior to all others.

Viewing the rest of the world through the narrow lens of one’s own cultural perspectives.

Question 9

Ethnography

Answer 9

Study of specific contemporary cultures.

Question 10

Ethnolinguistics

Answer 10

(Cultural linguistics) examines the relationship between language and culture.

(Cultural aspects that are emphasized are reflected in the vocabulary)
(How people organize their experiences, how they think, and how they perceive the world around them)

Question 11

Ethnology

Answer 11

Comparative study of cultural differences and similarities.

Question 12

Features

Answer 12

Objects that are made or modified by people, but cannot be readily carried away from the dig site.

Question 13

Historical linguistics

Answer 13

Study of the emergence of language in general and how specific languages have diverged over time.

Question 14

Holism

Answer 14

A perspective in anthropology that attempts to study a culture by looking at all parts of the system and how those parts are interrelated.

Question 15

Human variation

Answer 15

Studies how and why the physical traits (skin color, body proportions, head shape, and facial features) of contemporary human populations vary throughout the world.

Question 16

Paleoanthropology

Answer 16

The study of human evolution through fossil remains

Question 17

Physical anthropology

Answer 17

Subfield of anthropology that studies both human biological evolution and contemporary physical variations among peoples of the world.

Question 18

Primatologist

Answer 18

Study of nonhuman primates in their natural environments for the purpose of gaining insights into the human evolutionary process.

Question 19

Race

Answer 19

A subgroup of the human population whose members share a greater number of genes and physical traits with one another than they do with members of other subgroups.

Question 20

Sociolinguistics

Answer 20

The branch of anthropological linguistics that studies how language and culture are related and how language is used in different social contexts.

Question 21

Anthropological linguistics

Answer 21

The scientific study of human communication within its sociocultural context.

Question 22

Paleopathology

Answer 22

The analysis of disease in ancient populations.