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Final > Ch 16- Key Transitions in World Pre- History > Flashcards

Ch 16- Key Transitions in World Pre- History Flashcards

1
Q

Evolutionary Paradigm

A

“Over time all species would be moving towards perfection”

  • Traditional model of unilinear cultural evolution
  • Progress was a march towards a 19th century, Western European view of ‘perfection’
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2
Q

Sir John Lubbock

A
  • Modern ‘savages/primitives’ – indigenous peoples of Africa, Asia, Australia & Americas – considered living relics of prehistory
  • Had not evolved sufficiently & doomed to extinction
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3
Q

Social Darwinism

A

“Cultural evolution became an extension of biological evolution”

  • Ideological justification for much of 18th- 19th century European colonization, enslavement, eugenics, and even genocide
  • Darwin himself never held the values that social Darwinism seems to
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4
Q

Frans Boas

- What did he stand for?

A
  • Cultural evolution is tremendously complex – far too many variables
  • Each culture is unique and should be understood by its own values and systems
    • Idea became known as historical particularism
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5
Q

Frans Boas

- What did he stand against?

A
  • Against the ethnocentric idea of progress as defined by the
    European enlightenment
  • Rejected unilateral evolution & sweeping generalizations
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6
Q

Who was “The father of American anthropology”

A

Frans Boas

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7
Q 
Long Term Evolution
Before ~12,000 years ago
- All peoples were?
- Type of government?
- How do they come into power?
A

People were
- Hunter-gatherers
- Larger, more sedentary, still some hunting and gathering
Government?
- Usually egalitarian, lack ascribed status
- Had appearance of tribes too
Power
- Can’t be born into power, but can gain power by doing important things

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8
Q

Long Term Evolution
~5,000 years ago
- How has agriculture changed?
- How do they come into power?

A
  • Now with intensive agriculture

* Can be born into power based on your family

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9
Q

Kingdoms/ Civilizations

- Definition

A

“Generalized political system in complex societies characterized by having a monopoly on the power to coerce”

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10
Q

Kingdoms/ Civilizations
- Components
(type of government? religion? legal system? communication?)

A

Government?
- Strong, centralized government with professional bureaucratic ruling class
Religion?
- State religion
Legal System?
- Legal system gives power to wage war, draft soldiers, force labour, collect taxes, administer punishment
Communication?
- May have writing, calendar, monumental architecture

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11
Q

Why did we Domesticate Plants?

2 General ideas

A
  1. Unilineal Paradigm

2. Materialist Paradigm

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12
Q
  1. Unilineal Paradigm
    - Childe’s Oasis Theory
    (Definition and what it fails to explain)
A

“After the last ice age, in warmer & drier areas, people and animals flocked to oases for water and food”

But… Did not really explain why crop agriculture arose

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13
Q
  1. Unilineal Paradigm

- Braidwood’s Hilly Flanks Theory (Definition)

A

“Agriculture a logical outcome of evolutionary trajectory to specialize”

“Foragers gained knowledge needed to grow rather than just gather “

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14
Q
  1. Unilineal Paradigm

- Braidwood’s Hilly Flanks Theory (Problems with it)

A

• Switch to agriculture very slow in most places
• Many foragers knew about horticulture and had the necessary plants but chose not to pursue it
Why?
- Didn’t need it – no need to bother

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15
Q
  1. Materialist Paradigm

- Definition

A

“Slow population growth in areas with semi-sedentary foragers or mixed foraging & horticulture led to population pressure”

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16
Q

Binford’s density-equilibrium model

- Definition

A

“Agriculture happens when population size outstrips an environment’s carrying capacity”

17
Q

Optimal Foraging Theory

- Definition

A

“People select foods that maximize the overall return rate”

18
Q

Optimal Foraging Theory

- Return Rates (meat vs. seeds)

A
  • Game has high return rates

- Wild seeds have low return rates

19
Q

Why did we Domesticate plants?

“A Selectionist Perspective”

A

Human-plant coevolution
- Some plants became dependent upon humans for survival
- As the plant produces more, humans depend more on it
Eventually the return rate of planted plants exceeds that of wild plants

20
Q

Why did it take so long to domesticate plants?

A

Suggested that the Pleistocene environment not suitable

  • Colder and drier
  • Less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
  • Climate more unpredictable
21
Q

Did we have a goal in mind when we domesticated plants?

“Niche construction theory”

A

Humans alter their environment through intentional efforts to achieve a goal – keen observers of our natural world
- Increase food productivity

22
Q

Did we have a goal in mind when we domesticated plants?

“Prestige and Power”

A

Competitive feasts; ostentatious displays of wealth; exotic trade items including some foods

  • Shows class and power
  • Social reasons???
23
Q 
The Archaic Site
Definition 
- Residential patterns?
- Population size?
- Diversity?
A
  • Very strong, centralized government
  • Highly stratified and internally diversified (occupational specialisation)
  • Residential patterns based on occupation rather than blood or affinal (relatives by marriage) relationship
  • Powerful economic system and market economy
  • Populations in the tens to hundreds of thousands concentrated in cities
24
Q 
Why did The Archaic Site arise?
In General (2)
A
  1. Materialist paradigm
    - Irrigation, warfare, population growth, environment hypotheses
  2. Postprocessual paradigm
    - Ideology hypothesis
25
Q

Why did The Archaic Site arise?

“Irrigation Hypothesis”

A
  • Large irrigation systems require much organization amongst farmers
  • Coordinated labour, massive construction, and political control led to increased wealth and military strength and eventually a ruling bureaucracy
26
Q

Why did The Archaic Site arise?

“Warfare and Circumscription Hypothesis”

A
  • States happen when coercive force involved
  • Warfare is only mechanism powerful enough to impose bureaucratic authority on a large scale
  • Only in areas where agricultural land is limited
  • With population growth there is increased warfare
  • “Keep people off of ‘your’ land”
  • “Protect you from ‘invaders’”
  • May need army to do so which is run by the state
27
Q

Why did The Archaic Site arise?
“Multicausal Hypothesis”
- 3 General Conditions

A
  1. High population density that strains food production
  2. Need for system of integration
  3. Possibility of economic control
28
Q

Why did The Archaic Site arise?

Role of Ideology

A
  • Cultural, religious, or cosmological ideas that rationalize existence
  • Develops as a means to validate new social organization
  • Can mask the fact that one group is exploiting another
29
Q

Problems as a result of population growth

- Drought

A
  • Freshwater sources became filled with silt

- Extensive systems to collect water. i.e., catchment basins built

30
Q

Problems as a result of population growth

- Lack of dietary diversity

A
  • Commoner diet very high in maize – not nutritious on its own
31
Q

Problems as a result of population growth

- Kings competed with one another

A
  • Alternating warfare and alliance between centers
  • By 1300 BP single rivalry between Tikal and Calakmul
    • Tikal won
  • No single Maya centre was ever able to control the entire region nor did control last for more than a few generation

Final (11 decks)

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