Intro to Anthropology

Question 1

Artifact

Answer 1

an object that humans have made, altered, or

invested with a cultural purpose

Question 2

Phenomenon

Answer 2

a situation that is observed to exist or happen

Question 3

Anthropology

Answer 3

• the study of humans, both past and
  present
• application of knowledge to the solution of human problems.
• Seeks to produce new knowledge about how humans
  live(ed) through inquiry – look for patterns in
  behaviour

Question 4

Branches of Anthropology

Answer 4

• Archaeology
• Physical Anthropology
• Linguistic Anthropology
• Socio-cultural Anthropology
• Applied Anthropology

Question 5

Archaeology

Answer 5

The study of the lives of past peoples by examining material remains.

Question 6

Physical Anthropology

Answer 6

The study of human and non-human life, past and present

Question 7

Socio-cultural Anthropology

Answer 7

Encompasses all aspects of human behaviour and beliefs - adopts a perspective from “inside” living cultures.

Question 8

Distinctive Features of Cultural Anthropology

Answer 8

• Use of Ethnography and 
Ethnology.
• Focus on understanding and 
application of Cultural Relativism.
• Valuing and sustaining cultural 
diversity.

Question 9

Applied Anthropology

Answer 9

Involves the use or application of anthropological knowledge to help solve social problems.

Question 10

Culture

Answer 10

learned, shared, understandings among a group of people about how to behave and what everything means

Question 11

Potts: Foundation of Culture

Answer 11

1. Transmission – copy behavior by observation
   and instruction
2. Memory – remember new behavior
3. Reiteration – imitate behavior/reproduce info
   after learning
4. Innovation – invent and modify behavior
5. Selection – select which innovations to keep

Question 12

Potts: Foundation of Human Culture

Answer 12

6. Symbolic representation – use symbols to
   represent elements of reality
7. Complex symbolic representation –
   communicate about the past & future as well
   as the invisible & imaginary
8. Institutional development – create social
   organization

Question 13

Basic Characteristics of Culture

Answer 13

1. Cultures are integrated
2. Cultures are products of history
3. Cultures can be changed, and they can cause change
4. Cultures are strengthened by values
5. Cultures are powerful determinants of behaviour
6. Cultures are largely composed of and transmitted by symbols
7. Human culture is unique in complexity and variability

Question 14

Subculture

Answer 14

A mix of shared understandings held by groups within a larger society

Question 15

Small Scale Culture

Answer 15

• Focus on households and local communities of 500-1000 people.
• No authorities above the household level.
• Low density populations are supported by low cost decentralized sustainable technologies such as foraging, gardening, and herding.
• Each household is self-sufficient, controlling the technological and natural resources needed to sustain itself.

Question 16

Large Scale Culture

Answer 16

• Politically organized chiefdoms, states, and ancient
empires, with very large often dense populations.
• Households and villages must surrender their
autonomy to the power of institutionalized political
hierarchies.
• Production is intensive involving plough agriculture,
irrigation and elaborate food storage.
• Full-time specialists producing status-defining wealth
objects for elites.
• Society is divided into social classes with the elites
supported by taxes, tribute and labor extracted from
lower classes.

Question 17

Global Scale Culture

Answer 17

• Encompass the entire globe, drawing all smaller scale
cultures into a vast, evolving network of market exchanges driven by giant multinational profit-seeking
corporations.
• Capitalist market economies compel ever higher levels
of production and consumption requiring new forms of
energy and more intensive technology.
• Hierarchical – wealth concentrated in the hands of few

Question 18

Ethnocentrism

Answer 18

Making value judgments about another culture from perspectives of one’s own cultural system

Question 19

Cultural Relativism

Answer 19

The idea that a culture must first be understood in terms of its own values, beliefs and knowledge, and not by the standards of another culture

Question 20

Xenocentrism

Answer 20

Preferring ideas and things from other cultures over ideas and things from your own culture. At the heart of xenocentrism is an assumption that other cultures are superior to your own

Question 21

Androcentric bias

Answer 21

Placing men and masculine points of view at the center of one’s world view and its culture and history.

Question 22

Gynocentric bias

Answer 22

Placing women and feminine points of view at the center of one’s world view and its culture and history

Question 23

Agency

Answer 23

Refers to the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices

Question 24

Structure

Answer 24

Refers to those factors (such as social class, religion,

gender, ethnicity, subculture, etc.) which seem to limit or influence the opportunities that individuals have.

Question 25

Emic

Answer 25

An “emic” account comes from a person within the culture

Question 26

Etic

Answer 26

An “etic” account is a description of a behavior or

belief by an observer

Question 27

Observer Bias

Answer 27

Given that culture is the central anthropological concept, how one thinks about another culture is a central issue.
• It is impossible to really know any culture except
from the inside as a member.