Chapter 1: Introduction To Anthropology Flashcards
What are the four subgroups of anthropology?
Physical anthropology
Archaeology
Linguistic Anthropology
Cultural Anthropology & Ethnology
What does the phrase “first contact” mean in Anthropology?”
Initial encounters between people of different societies.
What are the two main goals of anthropology ?
1) To understand the uniqueness and diversity of human behavior.
2) To discover the fundamental similarities that link human beings throughout the world in both the past and present.
What is anthropology ?
The systematic study of mankind using the four subgroups that bridge the natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities.
What does Anthropos translate to?
Man
What is physical anthropology and what are its five subgroups?
The study of humans within an evolutionary framework.
Also known as biological anthropology.
Paleoanthropology Primatology Osteology Paleopathology Forensic anthropology
What is archeology and its six subgroups?
The study of human past from material remains with an aim of ordering and describing the events of the past and explaining the meaning of those events.
Paleoanthropology
The study of human evolution through the analysis of hominid fossils.
Hominids
Bipedal beings as humans and their ancestors.
Primatology
The study of nonhuman primates.
What three species are considered primates?
Monkeys, apes and humans.
Osteology
The study of bones and skeletons.
Paleopathology
The study of the evidence of disease and injury in human skeletal remains.
Forensic Anthropology
The analysis and identification of human remains In a legal setting, often involving criminal cases.
What are archeological sites?
Places where traces of ancient human activity are found. Ex: Burial sites Habitation sites Kill sites Art sites
What is an artifact?
Any portable object used, modified, or made by humans.
Ex:
Stone tools
Ceramics
What is a feature as defined in archeology?
Non portable artifacts Ex: Walls Road systems Rock art
What is an ecofact?
A non artifactual material remains that have cultural relevance.
Ex:
Wild and domestic plant and animal remains brought into a site: bone, pollen, seeds.
Prehistoric archeology
The study of material remains of past cultures.
Prehistory = before written history
Historical archeology
The study of material remains of past cultures including historical records. (After written history)
Classical Archeology
The study of the ancient Mediterranean civilizations such as ancient Rome and Greece.
Nautical Archeology
The study of human history through the analysis of maritime material culture. The focus is predominately the study of shipwrecks and submerged terrestrial maritime sites.
Ethnoarchaeology
The study of modern people and cultures to understand past people and cultures.
Linguistic Anthropology
The study of human languages throughout the world, including how languages change and evolve throughout time. How sounds are made, basic structure of language, role of language in a culture.
Structural linguistics
The study of how languages work.
Historical linguistics
The study of historical links between languages throughout the comparison and classification of languages.
Sociolinguistics
The study of the connection between language and social behavior in different cultures.
Cultural anthropology
A comparative and analytical study of culture and society.
Ethnography
Description and study of a single culture.
Describe the research method used in cultural anthropology known as “Participant observation”.
Method of intensive participation in a culture to observe and collect data. Usually over a long time 1-1.5 years.
