Midterm Flashcards
1
Q
Ten major South American physiographic regions
A
- Llanos
- Amazonia
- Sertao
- Chaco
- pampas
- Patagonia
- coastal plains
- atacama desert
- Andean mountains
- altiplano
2
Q
Llanos
A
- (plains or campos)
- vast stretches of undulating grasslands and savannah
- thinly populated
- reach 700ft ask
- dry and rainy periods (often flooding during rainy)
- cattle ranching
- northern dry Illanos northern Venezuela and southeastern Colombia
reach to their highest elevation along foothills of the Andes - llanos de mojos in NE Bolivia - wet, seasonally inundated savannas
3
Q
Amazonia (amazon basin)
A
- mainly tropical rainforests primarily drained by amazon river
- large parts of Brazil, eastern Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, SE Venezuela and Colombia; south Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana
- accounts for almost 1/3 of tropical rainforest
- divided into terra firmer and vareza
4
Q
Terra firme
A
A subdivision of the amazon that is an interior, upland, and slightly elevated area meaning firm or solid ground; comprises 98% of Amazonians land mass
5
Q
Varzea
A
A subdivision of Amazonia which is a narrow strip of seasonally flooded alluvial plains
- heavy rainfall, soils productive because of flooding, wide spread dispersal of plant and animal species, lush vegetation, and high humidity
- once believed thinly populated seminomadic societies horticulture and hunting and gathering
- now believed economically and politically complex societies were widespread in upland interior before European conquest
- can have permanent agriculture because of soil
6
Q
Sertao
A
- Brazilian region severely arid
- bush, backwoods or wasteland
- droughts, famines and poverty
- NE Brazil
7
Q
Chaco
A
- arid and very hot tropical savannahs, scrub vegetation, and scattered grasslands SE of Brazilian highlands
- western Paraguay, SE Bolivia, northern Argentina, and western Brazil
- during summer rainy season large parts flooded
- climate, soils, and vegetative cover work against development of large complex societies
- sparsely populated
- oil deposits
8
Q
Pampas
A
- almost treeless flat plains and grasslands with a moderate Mediterranean type climate and extraordinarily rich souls
- arc like direction. Around Buenos Airea and part of SW Uruguay
- prior Europeans populated by small scale nomadic societies -> hunting of camelids
- after core of cattle and agricultural industries of Argentina and Uruguay ; cowboy culture
9
Q
Patagonia
A
- arid desert like landscape in Central and southeastern Argentina extending in eastern and southeastern direction from pampas to western Andean mountains
- Pryor European colonization sparsely populated
- since European conquest grazing of sheep
- small pockets of irrigated agriculture appear near its three major rivers
10
Q
Coastal plains
A
- because direction Pacific Ocean streams western coasts much drier than eastern ones
- perus pacific coast have been sites intensive agriculture, dense settlements, and large complex societies
- aridity decrease from south to north, Ecuador and college Maia characterized by high rainfall and lush vegetation
11
Q
Attacama desert
A
- on chiles pacific coast
- one of driest places on earth - years without any rain
- copper deposits
- nitrate deposits
12
Q
Andean Mountains
A
- highest mountain ranges of western alpine system present in chile, Bolivia, and Peru
- many 18,000-20,00ft ask
- intensive, irrigated agriculture &a large highly complex state level societies (ex Incas)
13
Q
Altiplano
A
Between eastern and western branches of Andes and entirely in Bolivia
- high, semi arid plateau, virtually deployed of trees
- bordered by Lake Titicaca
- prior European conquest, was center of large scale Aymara speaking chiefdoms -> intensive irrigated agriculture and pastoralist revolved around native South American camelids
14
Q
Mexico physiographic regions
A
- central plateau
- southern highlands
- gulf coastal plains: gulf region
- yucatan peninsula
15
Q
Central plateau
A
- 3000-7000ft asl
- volcanic basins & ringed by two mountain ranges (western and eastern Sienna Madre)
- northernmost section = mesa del Norte - arid and hot, populated by nomadic people resisted Aztec rule
- south more humid and cooler region = mesa Central
- Aztec capital
16
Q
Southern highlands
A
- rugged and volcanic area, interspersed by deep valleys with rich soils
- historically centre of intensive high yielding agriculture & large densely settled highly complex societies
- best soils
- part of neovolcanic range of Eje volcanico
- Maya culture in southern Mexico & Central Guatemalan range of regions
- thee broad climatic zones: the Tierra Templada, Tierra fria, and Tierra caliente (with diff elevations)
17
Q
Gulf coastal plains/ gulf region
A
- include stretches of tropical forest terrain and low lying coastal plains facing Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic Ocean, extending from central Mexico through most Central America.
- gulf region- north and northeastern lowlands :
- humid, rainfall, predominantly tropical rainforest
- Maya
18
Q
Yucatan peninsula
A
- northernmost is flat, arid plain scrub first
- humidity increases southwards –> change to tropical forest
- southern part Maya
19
Q
Physiographic regions in Central America
A
- Central American volcanic axis
- coastal plains
20
Q
Central American volcanic axis
A
- massive string of volcanic ranges, plateaus, and valleys that make up the greater part of Central America
21
Q
Coastal plains
A
- facing the pacific, the coastal plains are narrow and relatively arid, in Caribbean wider and more humid
22
Q
Caribbean physiographic regions
A
- interior mountain ranges
- coastal plains
23
Q
Interior mountain ranges
A
- cordilleras
- prolongation of western alpine system
- moment European co equestrian small scale sedimentary societies practice horticulture and intensive agriculture, coastal maritime resources
24
Q
Caribbean coastal plains
A
- after conquest sugar plantations
25
Q
Culture area
A
- noted culturally analogous societies clustered over areas sharing broad environmental features
- an assemblage of cultural, social, and economic traits associated with a geographic or environmental region
26
Q
Bands
A
- small scale and highly mobile societies
- several dozen households related through kinship
- foraging subsistence mode (hunting and gathering)
- egalitarian
- moment European conquest some in Mexico, more in Amazonia, southern chile and southern Argentina
27
Q
Tribes
A
- demographically larger and less mobile
- usually distinct groups members claim kinship
- some domestication plants and animals
- agriculture and pastoralism/ animal husbandry
- signs of incipient inequality - political leaders
- economic differentiation
28
Q
Cheifdoms
A
- larger societies - hundreds or thousands of households
- higher population densities & larger landscapes
- more intense extraction resources and reliance on domestication
- more complete transition to political and economical inequality
- coercive power
- widespread and moment of contact
29
Q
State
A
- extreme end of deepening political and economic inequality
- huge populations divided into distinct groups
- example Incas
30
Q
Prehistory of Latin America can be generally divided into 4 phases:
A
- paleo- Indian
- archaic
- formative
- horizon
31
Q
Paleo- Indian period
A
- in mesoamerica, Central America & South America 13,000-9,000 years ago
- SA - sites in Peru, Ecuador &a chile
- Small foraging groups with maritime coastal adaptation
- band like
32
Q
Archaic period
A
11,000 - 3,500 years ago
- in Andes to Middle to late preceramic and in Mesoamerica t o incipient agricultural phase
- during this period people of Caribbean first populated
- 6 social transformations
33
Q
6 social transformations of archaic period
A
- Increasing sedentary lifestyle (precedes existence agriculture)
- Rise in population
- Reliance on a broader resource base
- Emergence of pottery
- Domestication of plants or incipient agriculture
- Rise of complex, chiefdom level societies
34
Q
3 issues with relationship between emergence of agriculture and societal complexity:
A
- The origins of agriculture
- Agricultural potential of lowland environments
- Importance of agriculture vs the role of the concentration of subsistence resources
35
Q
Formative period
A
- 4,000 - 1,800 years ago
- more or less overlaps with Andean Initial, Early Horizo & Early Intermediate periods and Mesoamerican preclassic or formative periods
- phase economic, political, and social consolidation
- permanent settlements, rise population. Intensive agriculture, presence large and powerful chiefdoms
- states began to emerge
- regional and transregional economic ties and flows
36
Q
Horizon period
A
1,800- 500 years ago (up to European conquest)
- Andean middle horizon, late intermediate, and late horizon & mesoamerican classic and postclassic
- rise & demise of Incas and Aztecs
- characterized by spread of culture across and control over diverse ecological & cultural areas
- “era of integration”
- large scale states
- technological advances
37
Q
4 factors enables tiny Spanish expeditions to quickly overwhelm the Incas and the Aztecs:
A
1) lack of political consolidation of indigenous states
2) tactical and military advantages
3) cultural differences
4) disease
38
Q
5 important mechanisms of rule in colonial times that altered indigenous societies:
A
1) establishment of encomiendas, repartimientos, and a variety tribute obligations
2) concentration of dispersed communities into irbanlike settlements
3) expansion of the state bureaucracy
4) reliance on indigenous elites as power and cultural brokers
5) public rituals and ceremonies
39
Q
Plantations differ from haciendas in that they:
A
- Plantations required more capital and technological advancements
- Slaves or full time wage labourers
- Plantations produced commodities
40
Q
What is anthropology?
A
- the study of humankind in all places and throughout time
- insiders POV. Feel and think as members of their society. Vision of his world
- comparative
- descriptive
- holistic
- evolutionary
41
Q
Culture
A
What we do, think, and believe as part of a group
42
Q
Ethnography
A
- fieldwork
- participant observation
- informants
