Midterm 1 Flashcards
1
Q
4 basic anthropological concepts
A
- culture
- political organization
- economic systems
- kinship and social organization
2
Q
Culture
A
- shared and learned ideas and patterns of behaviour
3
Q
4 forms of political organization
A
- bands
- tribes
- chiefdoms
- states
4
Q
Bands
A
- small egalitarian/ equitable groups (25 to 50 people)
- mechanical solidarity (individuals and families are self- sufficient)
- informal leadership (influence and conflict resolutions)
- maximal bands
- example Hadza of Tanzania
5
Q
Tribes
A
- made up of two or more communities
- formal leadership (authority and influence in local communities)
- redistribution
- example Masai of Kenya
6
Q
Chiefdoms
A
- two or more communities united under a single ruler (paramount chiefs and centralized authority)
- rank based societies with little social mobility
- redistribution (chief and aristocracy consume more of what they collect from the consumer class)
- example Bawkunaba
7
Q
States
A
- a number of regional communities united under a centralized authority
- at least 3 levels of administration
- administrative bureaucracy
- ultimate political power
- example Ashanti empire
8
Q
Economic systems
A
- hunting and gathering
- horticulture
- pastoralism
- intensive agriculture
9
Q
Hunting and gathering
A
- exploitation of natural resources
- mobile settlement patterns
- age and sex based division of labour
- nuclear family = the basic social unit
- band societies
- example Khoisan hunters
10
Q
Horticulture
A
- farming based solely on human labour
- semi- sedentary or sedentary settlement patterns
- age and sex based division of labour with some specialization
- tribes if chiefdoms
- example tan farmer of Nigeria
11
Q
Pastoralism
A
- herding of domesticated animals
- seasonal pattern of mobility (transhumance highland/ lowland)
- age and sex based division of labour with some specialization
- tribes and chiefdoms
- example boy herding goats in Burkina Faso
12
Q
Intensive agriculture
A
- farming using methods of intensification (artificial fertile, irrigation, fraught animals, machines, terracing)
- states - economic surplus
- division of labour (age, sex, class, SES) and specialization
- example terrace farming in Rwanda
13
Q
descent groups
A
- manage durable rights
- based on descent from a common ancestor
- fixed boundaries
14
Q
Unilinear descent
A
- options restricted to the maternal (matrilineal) or paternal (patrilineal) line
- forms two kinds of larger group (lineages and clans)
- lineages and orders of segmentation
- clans - moieties and phratries
15
Q
Cognitive descent
A
- group membership through either the maternal of paternal line
- individuals can belong to more than one group
- Group membership decided at marriage
16
Q
Marriage
A
- an economic and social relationship
- positive and negative marriage rules
- polygyny & polyandry
17
Q
Polygyny
A
A man can have more than one wife at a time
18
Q
Polyandry
A
A woman can have more than one husband at a time
19
Q
Post- marital residence
A
Where a couple resides following marriage (dictates the composition of households)
20
Q
Neolocal
A
- couple finds their own home
21
Q
Patrilocal
A
- reside with the father
22
Q
Matrilocal
A
Resides with the mother
23
Q
Acunculocal
A
- resides with an uncle
24
Q
Virilocal
A
Residence from the perspective of the husband
25
Q
Uxorilocal
A
- residence from the perspective of the wife
26
Q
Africa geography facts
A
- 11 700 000 m2
- 80% continents surface lies within the tropics
- 5200 miles N-S
- 4600 mile E- W
27
Q
African continent geology
A
- huge block of rock of marine origin
- a land area since about 500 million years ago
- minor amounts of faulting and few mountains
- largely a series of level plateaus located at over 500m above sea level
28
Q
Volcanoes and rift valleys
A
- plateau landscape is broken in east Africa by extinct volcanoes and the rift valleys
- formed from a series of north to south vaults resulting from the uplift of the continent (helps with finding fossils because splitting is causing sediments to be exposed)
- Ruwenzori mountains
- mount Elgon
29
Q
Rivers Africa
A
- not navigable to the sea because if scarps (steep slopes of cliffs created by erosion)
- inland drainage creates large bodies of water
- Nile river - major form of irrigation that allows for intensive agriculture
30
Q
Africa simplified vegetation zones (top to bottom)
A
- Mediterranean scrub: milder, frost at times
- desert
- savana (grasses and trees)
- tropical rainforest (humid)
- savanna
- desert
- wind and intertropical convergent zone determine climate (intertropical convergent zone moves north with sun &a brings rain with it)
31
Q
Climate at the end of the Pleistocene
A
- 18 to 14 tya - more arid and cool then at present
- Sahara larger, extended 500 km south of present boundary
- arid period persists until about 10 tya
32
Q
Early Holocene climate
A
- the last African pluvial period occurs about 9500 years ago
- lake shorelines much higher than at present
- wet period caused by increased rainfall
- a lot more water
33
Q
Middle holocene climate
A
- an arid period around 7500 years ago
- major regression of lake shorelines
- another major wet period begins at around 6500 years ago
- considerable variation across the continent as to onset, nature, and duration
34
Q
Late Holocene climate
A
- wet period lasts until about 4500 years ago
- increased aridity leads to major regression of lake shorelines about 3000 years ago
- lake shoreline reach their current levels around 1800 years ago
- broad spectrum revolutions - foragers take wide array of species
35
Q
General climate change through holocene
A
- wet seasons became shorter and dry seasons became longer
- Africa is more arid now than it ever was during the Holocene
36
Q
Language general trends
A
- the defining feature of culture?
- anthropological classifications of populations on the basis of linguistic similarities and differences
- shared language = shared history?
37
Q
4 types of language phyla
A
- afroasiatic or afrasian languages
- Nilosaharan languages
- Niger- Congo or Congo - Kordofian languages
- Khoisan languages
38
Q
Language phyla
A
- the largest language groupings (language taxonomy based on shared vocabulary)
- language change and continuity
- languages change slowly unless marked degree of social disruption (ex cultural contact)
- in archaeolonguistic contexts glottochronology (basic estimation after 1000 years of divergence, 74% common vocabulary will be retained) - Shared sound and meaning
- languages belonging to the phyla will more closely resemble each other than language from different phyla
39
Q
Language taxonomy
A
Phylum Family Subfamily Branch Group Language
40
Q
African language phyla
A
- Africa has at least 1400 different languages grouped into 6 phyla (4 indigenous, 2 introduced)
- Can trace to about 10 tya
- language networks and consolidation into phyla
41
Q
African phyla geographical difference between 8000-3000 B.C. And 3000-0 B.C.
A
Afroasiatic spread NW and SE
Niger- Congo spread up and south
42
Q
Afroasiatic languages
A
- Semitic
- ancient egyptian
- Berber
- Cushitic
- Omotic
- Chadic
43
Q
Nilo - Saharan languages
A
- Chari Nile
- Fur
- Saharan
- Songhai
44
Q
Congo - Kordofanian languages
A
- Kordofanian
- Niger- Congo
45
Q
Food production and climate change
A
- climate change between the Pleistocene and Holocene compelled the emergence of food production in select parts of the world (e.g. SW Asia)
- In Africa climate change in early Holocene mitigated against the adoption or development of food production
- African pop. Ultimately do become herders and farmers in response to climate change at a later point in the holocene
46
Q
Late Stone Age populations
A
- dry period
- toolkits reflect a riparian adaptation suitable to the practice of agriculture
- the diagnostic site is Wadi Kubbaniya, in Southern part of the Nike Valley
- people fished, hunted game, and processed seeds into flour
47
Q
Holocene wet phase food production
A
- 10 tya to 6.5 tya
- Saharan and sub sharan climate shifts from extreme aridity to extreme humidity
- main effect felt within first 20 north latitude and as far west as Niger bend
- increase humidity turns desert into savanna
- major accumulation of water in Sudanic belt
- late Stone Age pop. Spread into desert
- preadapted to a riparian way if life; major prosperity
- population increase, increase in number and size of settlements
- economic surpluses lead to economic specialization (pottery for food preparation and storage)
- culinary revolution (soup, porridge, and fish stew)
- rich environment diminished likelihood of food production
- aquatic economic adaptation was disposed to the development of food production
- at end of period, as arid conditions began to prevail, food production emerged
48
Q
Nike valley food production
A
- definitive evidence for food production by 7tya
- domesticated introduced from SW Asia
- material culture suggests cultural continuity from hunter gatherers to early farmers
- early farmers practiced flood based form agriculture based seasonal fluctuations of Nile river
- mixed farming - domesticated plants and animals
- food production set the stage for rapid cultural development
- Einkorn wheat, flax, barley
49
Q
Nike Valley - Nubia
A
- 7 tya farmers with livestock and sorghum cultivation at Kadeeo and Esh Shaneinab
- 5500 years ago farmers moved downstream and encountered a Stone Age culture
50
Q
North Africa and the Sahara food production
A
- sheep and goat herding st Haya Fteah 7tya
- cattle herding by 5tya - inward spread of transhumance pattern of herding
- spread of herding correlated with the spread of proto- Berber speaking populations
- playas in the desert west of Nike yield evidence cereal farming 8tya
- cattle herding was in place 7tya
- populations were proto- niolosaharan speakers - connections to populations fron Sudan and Sahel
51
Q
Highland Ethiopia
A
- two major areas of early domestication (5tya)
- grassy northern & eastern margins & forest uplands of southwest highlands
- domesticated animals introduced by 5tya
- barley and wheat introduced by 3 tya
- teff, ensente, sesame, coffee, finger miller
52
Q
The Sahel and the Sudan
A
- agricultural complexes develop within a cereal belt and a yam belt
- cereal belt includes two major complexes : 1. Rice and 2. Millet and sorghum
- aquatic lifeway given way to agro-pastoralism
- cereal belt includes series of seasonally flooded lakes
- sowing time with seasonal flooding
53
Q
Food production and language families
A
Nilosahrans: sorghums, millets, and livestock
Niger- Congo: rice and donut farming; yam and oil palm in yam belt
Afrasian- riparian substances, SW Asian domesticates and pastoralism
54
Q
Pastoralism
A
- in west Africa, initial spread of cattle herding is associated with afroasiatic speakers (come into contact with nilosahran speaking intensive cereal gatherers)
- spread of cattle limited in west Africa by tse raw fly
- East African highlands provide a corridor for cattle herding to diffuse south of the equator
55
Q
Independent hunters
A
- until 10tya, all human societies were foraging societies
- contemporary and historically recent foraging societies occupy marginal environments from the perspective of food producers
- most contemporary hunter- gathered societies are intimately connected with food producers
56
Q
7 features of hunting and gathering societies:
A
- Low populations densities
- Large home ranges
- Small social units (bands)
- Highly mobile
- Omnivorous
- Age and sex based division of labour
- Significant social flexibility
57
Q
Hadza
A
- a population of about 1000 people living in the savanna to the south and east of lake Eyasi in Tanzania
58
Q
Hadza society
A
- socially egalitarian characterized by reciprocal sharing
- status in society is achieved rather than ascribes
- basic unit is the band - comprised of about 18 adults with their children
59
Q
Hadza bands and camps
A
- bands are highly mobile and may break up or aggregate depending on availability of resources
- central camps are temporary settlements if grass huts or are located in dry caves
- central camps are occupied for about 2 weeks at a time
60
Q
Hadza sexual division of labour
A
- men are hunters
- men hunt small animals and forage for plant foods
- the weapon of choice is the bow, arrows are dipped in poison
- by the age of 10 most boys will have made their own bow for hunting small game
- all children learn to gather plant foods at an early age
- women are primary gatherers and are responsible for domestic duties
- women are responsible for setting up central camps and building huts
61
Q
Hadza technology
A
- animal skin sleeping mats
- scavenged iron for arrow heads
- tools for sharpening arrows and scraping skins
- wooden fire drills
- fire for warmth and cooking
62
Q
Hadza diet and subsistence
A
- primary plant foods include edible roots, berries, seeds and pulp from baobab trees
- plant foods supply 80% diet by weight, other 20% is made up of meat and honey
- hunters eat at the kill site - if there is a surplus they bring it to central camp or notify others and the group settles at the kill site until the surplus is consumed
63
Q
Concluding thoughts hadza
A
- high nobility a response to available resources in the natural environment
- need for mobility precludes the acquisition of property (temporary hits, animal skins, a limited selection of tools)
- shifting resource availability and mobility demands flexible social relations
64
Q
Aka (bayaka - Baka)
A
- HG society in the western equatorial fringe
- first came into contact with Savanna people’s around 2400 BC (FPs are immigrant farmers from the yam belt)
- the FPs and HGs develop a symbiotic relationship
- prehistorically pygmies in Congo basin in contact with Bantu and oubangian eastern speaking FPs
65
Q
Anthro tidbits of Aka
A
- highly egalitarian
- women hunt
- men spend a lot of time with children
- filing of teeth
66
Q
Aka refer to Bantu neighbours as
A
“Tall Blacks” - stranger or non- Pygmy (racial), villager, sedentary, master, boss
67
Q
Bantu reference to aka
A
- Bantu semantically oppose concepts if men and villagers with Pygmies
- village = cultural space; forest = natural spaces
- pygmies connected to but also different from natural world
- aka are interstitial from Bantu perspective, explains Bantu ambivalence toward Aka
68
Q
Two factors of the natural environment that act as ecological constraints on the Aka:
A
- the heterogeneity of the forest
- modalities in relations with the FPs that result from forest heterogeneity
69
Q
Heterogeneity in the forest milieu
A
Solid ground forest and wet zone forest
- solid ground forest: semi- deciduous and evergreen forest
- wet zone forest: marsh forest,
Flood zone forest, and wet- slope forest - each first type has distinct qualities
70
Q
Aka exchange with the tall blacks
A
- aka provide labour and meat for metal, salt, and attach foods
- initially Aka would only exchange surplus resources for FPs surplus goods (villagers did not determine when hunting occurred nor what species Aka hunted)
- pattern changes with dawn of colonial era - aka begin to hunt for express purpose of exchange
71
Q
Aka colonial trade
A
- 1899 - European companies divide Congo basin into separate monopolies or showered
- company activities leads to a new era if contact between aka and FPs, as well as colonial powers
- three period of note: ivory trade, wild rubber, duiker hunters
72
Q
Ivory trade (1898-1910)
A
- aka we’re principal producers while villagers controlled trade with whites
- consequences:
- new hunting techniques
- intensification and increase on interaction
- depletion of elephant populations
- reinforcement of the power of the Tuma
73
Q
Wild rubber (1910-1940)
A
- corporate monopoly over Aka territory
- villagers faces forced labour and rubber tax
- the aka begin focusing on duiker sand other forest products for European markets
74
Q
Duiker hunters - 1940 onwards
A
- social consequences of alteration in hunting practices (larger settlements and group sizes; decrease in power of tuna increase power if Ngana)
- external demand for forest products grows and forced labour migration into areas increases local demand
75
Q
The taming policy
A
- colonial administration seeks to socialize the Aka
- slow assimilation with goal of dependence on the administration
- Stabilization policy - settlement change; Taxing the aka
- effect differs from intended goals
76
Q
Aka integration into talk black production activities
A
- 1950-1974 agriculture increases in Aka territory
- the Aka become sources of labour in the tall black economy
- decrease in nomadism, territorial restriction, decrease in natural forest resources
77
Q
Conclusions and consequences Aka
A
- increased dependence on FPs
- indebtedness and the credit system
- end of economic self - sufficiency
- rise of polygamy and decline egalitarianism
- no longer able to socially reproduce themselves
