Final Exam Vocab 1

Question 1

Paleoanthropology

Answer 1

• The study of fossil remains of humans, our ancestors, and other ancient primates in order to understand and explain processes of human evolution

Question 2

Cultural Anthropology

Answer 2

• Describing, analyzing, interpreting, and explaining cultural similarities and differences

• Ethnography: fieldwork in a particular culture. (Lives in the culture)
  
  • Ethnology: comparative study of ethnographic data from multiple cultures to a different end

Question 3

Anthropological archaeology

Answer 3

the study of material remains and cultural features in order to describe and explain past human behavior.

Question 4

Biological anthropology

Answer 4

the study of human biological variation – past and present.

Question 5

Linguistics

Answer 5

explores how language shapes… communication, social identity and group membership, cultural beliefs and ideologies, and cultural representations of natural and social worlds.

Question 6

“Mitochondrial Eve”

Answer 6

the matrilineal most recent common ancestor of all currently living humans, traced through the lineage of the mitochondria

Question 7

Genotype

Answer 7

the genetic makeup or constitution of an organism– biological “building blocks.”

Question 8

Phenotype

Answer 8

the physical expression of biological characteristics– part genetic, part adaptation to environmental forces.

Question 9

Natural selection

Answer 9

• Theory by Charles Darwin.
• The selection of favored biological forms through differential reproductive success.
• Individuals with advantageous variations will do better than those without.
  Ex: horses with long necks become giraffes; peppered moth changed over time to adapt to a changing environment.

Question 10

Section 106 of the NHPA

Answer 10

requires that all Federal agencies provide the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation an opportunity to comment on any undertaking which has an effect on a historic property listed on or eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

Question 11

Applied anthropology

Answer 11

application of anthropological data, perspectives, theory, and methods to identify assess, and solve contemporary problems.

Question 12

Development anthropology

Answer 12

focuses on social issues in, and the cultural dimension of, economic development. Development anthropologists help to plan and guide and carry out development policy as well.

Question 13

Cultural Resource Management

Answer 13

managing places of archaeological, architectural, and historical interests. - complies with environmental and historic preservation laws.

Question 14

Forensic anthropology

Answer 14

identify deceased individuals. They look at age, sex, stature, ancestry, trauma, and disease. Goal is to find cause of death. Forensic anthropologists typically work with state and international legal teams.

Question 15

World-Systems Theory

Answer 15

• Basically is an approach to world history and social change that suggests there is a world economic system in which some countries benefit while others are exploited. Hierarchy
• Defined as the idea that a discernible social system, based on wealth and power differentials, transcends individuals countries.
• CORE: dominant position in the world system, nations with advanced systems of production
• SEMI-PERIPHERY: position in the world system intermediate between the core and periphery
• PERIPHERY: weakest structural and economic position in the world

Question 16

Anthropocene

Answer 16

term for the present geological epoch (from the Industrial Revolution onwards)

Question 17

Ethnocentrism

Answer 17

judging other cultures using one’s own cultural standards; the error of viewing one’s culture as superior.

Question 18

Melanin

Answer 18

• DETERMINES HUMAN SKIN COLOR
• a “natural sunscreen” produced by skin cells responsible for pigmentation. It screens out UV radiations from sun, and offers protection against sunburn and skin cancer.

Question 19

Proconsul

Answer 19

• An early Miocene that is a tree-dwelling, fruit-eating hominoid.
• Superfamily to which apes and humans belong

Question 20

Ardipithecus ramidus

Answer 20

• Ethiopia
• 4.4 MYA
• lived in a humid woodland habitat
• The pelvis was transitional between arboreal and terrestrial.
• brain the size of a plum
• long curved fingers
• appeared more ape like
• bipedal on ground but also good at climbing
• could not run or walk long distance

Question 21

Australopithecine

Answer 21

Two indisputable facts: 1. Bipedal with some retention of adaptation to arboreal life. 2. Evolution of erect bipedal position long before acquiring highly enlarged brain.

Question 22

Homo habilis

Answer 22

• Lived 1.9-1.4 MYA
• East Africa.
• Australopithecine body and a larger brain
• Known as “Handy Man”.
• Immediate ancestor of H. Erectus

Question 23

Homo erectus

Answer 23

• Lived 1.9 MYA-300,000 BP
• East Africa, Asia, and Europe
• Had a human like body with a large brain and small jaw. - Hunted and gathered, used fire, could run fast, made systematically produced tools
• first to settle outside of Africa.
• developed seasonal central places

Question 24

Levalloisian technique

Answer 24

• a method of stone tool manufacture using a specially prepared core. It was found in Africa, Europe, Middle East, and China.
• uniform flakes were chipped off a specially prepared core of rock. Additional work on the flakes produced special purpose tools.

Question 25

Cultural relativism

Answer 25

the principle that all behavior should be evaluated in the context of the culture in which it occurs.

Question 26

Law of Superposition

Answer 26

basic law of geochronology that states that in any undisturbed sequence of rock deposits, the youngest layer is on the top and the oldest is on the bottom

Question 27

Theoretical perspective

Answer 27

1) a set of assumptions about reality that underlies the questions we ask & the kind of answers we result in
2) a conceptual framework that informs how we collect and analyze our data and which colors our interpretations

Question 28

Evolutionism

Answer 28

Cultures, like biological organisms, evolve

Question 29

Historical Particularism

Answer 29

based on the principle of cultural relativism; rooted in the notion that each culture is unique and intelligible only in its own terms; rejects the comparative method.

Question 30

Functionalism

Answer 30

Social systems= biological or physiological systems. Any social practice exists because it performs a useful function. All customs and institutions in a society are interrelated. Each aspect of a culture has a function of others (needs functionalism and structural functionalism).