Test 1 Flashcards
a field that encompasses what it means to be human. It is a field for people who are curious about why people act the way they do.
Anthropology
view that stresses development through time
diachronic
synchronic
View that emphasizes the contemporary state of human societies with little or no time depth
Linguistic Anthropology
the study of human languages throughout the world individually and comparatively(synchronic)
Cultural Relativism
ideal that culture must be understood on their own terms and based on their own context instead of being judged by the standards of a different culture
Aristole
Greek philosopher and scientist
Great Chain of Being
a linear hierarchy that ranks all organisms in terms of their intelligence and perfection. Humans are near the tops close to God and worms and rocks closer to the bottom.
The “other”
a term for people who are different whether it is based on where they live, their appearance, or their customs.
Barbarians
used by Greeks that are Non-Greek, illustrates “us vs. them” mentality.
Ussher and Lightfoot
Calculated when the earth was created based on Genesis. Thought the universe was created in 4004 BC
Physical/Biological Anthropology
a study of human cultures based on the biology and behavior of human, their explicit ancestors, and non-human primates
Cultural Anthropology
a study of human cultures in the present through participation, observation, and interview of living people
4 sub-directories of Anthropology
Physical/Biological, Cultural, Linguistic, Archeology
Ethnography
description/ interception of a society written by an anthropologist who conducted field research in that society
ethnology
analysis/interception of the articulation and structure of social institutions
Archeology
the study of human cultures in the past using artifacts and other objects
Culture
the collection of learned behaviors, ideas, languages, and traditions that characterize a social group
Emic
perspective incorporates a subjective/ informed perspective in which the anthropologist participates and observes (insider point of view)
Etic
refers to an objective and detachment that can only be achieved after an emic awareness if gained( outsider point of view
Ethnocentrism
the practice of judging another culture by the standards of one’s own culture
Issac de la Peyere
argued that stone tools belonged to an older civilization. Adam was not the first man.
Thomas Hobbs
The Leviathan “nasty, brutish, and short”
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
“Savages”-living without social contract(no social inequality)
Christian Thomsen
3 age system (stone, bronze, iron)
Catastrophism
big events, short amount of time that cause extinctions
Cuvier
Uniformitarianism
Geologic processes observed in the present are the same as those that occurred in the past(small processes, big period of time)
cultural imperialism
the rapid spread or advance of one culture at the expense of others
1859
1.Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species
2. Report on excavations at Brixham, Devonshire,UK
Brixham Cave
Four levels were found. Man’s flint implements were lying with the remains of mammoths, rhinoceros, and cave lions in the third level.
These convinced geologists of the antiquity of man and his coexistence with extinct animals.
Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace
theory of evolution by natural selection
natural selection
-struggle for existence
-Under these circumstances favorable variations would tend to be preserved, and unfavorable ones to be destroyed
Adam Smith
Wealth of Nations
Best bussiness will continue at the expense of others
Thomas Malthus
Carrying capacity(limited amount of resources to feed the people)
Charles Lyell
effectively discredited the long-standing view that the earth’s surface had been formed by short-lived cataclysms, such as biblical floods and earthquakes-his principle: uniformitarianism: same geological processes that are at work today slowly formed the earth’s surface over an immensely long time
La Chapelle-aux-Saints
This fossil was categorized as a “Neanderthal” and was discovered to be elderly, Missing post canine teeth, Alveoli resorbed, and Arthritic. It was discovered in France in 1908. It showed us that human ancestors lived longer than we thought they did.
Neanderthals
Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, a European variant of Homo sapiens that died out about 25,000 years ago.
Tylor and Spencer
All equipped with the same capacity for knowledge
Difference is acquired knowledge(culture)
Social Darwinist
Lewis Henry Morgan
-stage model: Savagery, Barbarism, Civilization
Social Dawinism
a philisophical application of Darwin’s theory of natural selection, states that some races or people are more fit for survival than others and are therefore designed by natue to dominate inferior races
Unilineal Social Evolution
progress of society through successively more complex stages(culture evolves in a straight line)
Samuel Morton
Ranked intelligence by measuring skull capacity (size, volume). Implies connection between race and intelligence. Caucasian, Mongoloid, Malaysian, American, Ethiopian
Phrenology
Phrenology
the detailed study of the shape and size of the cranium as a supposed indication of character and mental abilities.
Scientific Racism
the pseudoscientific belief that empirical evidence exists to su
Myth of the Moundbuilders
Ancient monuments in the Mississippi Valley.
Myth was that the Native Americans could not have built this site but rather an ancient European race had.
Thomas Jefferson
First stratigraphic evcations in America
E.G. Squier and E.H. Davis
first classifications to distinguish burial mounds, temple mounds, and effigy mounds, inferring that each served different functions
However, they refused to believe that Native Americans or their ancestors could be the builders.
Cyrus Thomas
debunked the theory that mounded landscapes were created by outside civilizations, because Natives were not advanced enough to build such mounds.
Bureau of American Ethnology
established by an act of Congress for the purpose of transferring archives, records, and materials relating to the Indians of North America from the Interior Department to the Smithsonian Institution
salvage ethnography
salvage ethnography
Bronsilaw Malinowski
· Poland and the US
· Taught at the London School of Economics
· Explored the Trobriand Island and Kula ring
· Anthography and Participation Observation
Founder of modern cultural anthropology
Franz Boas
Big proponent of cultural relativism
Founder of American Anthropology
Argued for HISTORICAL PARTICULARISM- in order to understand a people, you have have to understand the history of the people
Critique of Cultural Evolution
o The Immigrant Study
Ethnocentrism
Belief in the superiority of one’s nation or ethnic group.
The Immigrant Study
-spencerian notions of cultural evolution pervasive in U.S. immigration policy
-measured 17,821 first & second generation immigrants in 7 ethnic groups
-could immigrants be assimilated into the American type?
-found significant variation in cranial morphology between 1st & 2nd generations
-argued that environment & history matter, & “races” are not static
-critique of cultural evolution
Historical Particularism
in order to understand a people, you have have to understand the history of the people
Margaret Mead
United States anthropologist noted for her claims about adolescence and sexual behavior in Polynesian cultures
Patterns of Culture
Ruth Benedict (1887-1948)
Coming of Age in Samoa
Zora Neale Hurston
African American writer and folklore scholar who played a key role in the Harlem Renaissance
Mules and Men
Alfred Kroeber
Worked with Ishi
“Culture Area” concept
Culture Area Concept
individuals living within a geographic area will have shared cultural traits(geography matter)
Julian Steward
Environment matters(How was human using the resources that are available/How do they fit in the ecosystem
Leslie White
- Clarify society on how they can extract energy from the environment
- Technology matters
Lewis Binford
PROCESSUAL ARCHAEOLOGY- archaeology as a science
Processual Archaeology
archaeology as a science
National Historic Preservation Act
legislation intended to preserve historical & archaeological sites in the U.S. The act created the National Register of Historic Places, the list of National Historic Landmarks, & the State Historic Preservation Offices.The act requires Federal agencies to evaluate the impact of all Federally funded or permitted projects on historic properties (buildings, archaeological sites, etc.)
Post-Processual Archaeology
archeology as a history
Post-Processual Archaeology
archeology as a history
The Post-Modern Critique
There’s more to cultural change than ecological explanations
Native American Graves Protection and Reparation Act
was passed in 1991 and dictated that museums and other ferally funded organizations must return Native American skeletal remains and associated graves goods back to the appropriate nation.
Structure of a scientific paper
Introduction, Background, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion
Problem-Orientated Research
Ethnographic research often focuses on investigating a particular issue or conflict
ethnography research
research
research strategy to observe and analyze the actions and intersections of societies, to create a description of a society written by an anthropologist who conducted field research in that society
qualitative methods
stories
Quantitative methods
numbers
mixed methods
An approach in which both quantitative and qualitative procedures are used
cultural consultant
People, such as community leaders, who became central to ethnographic research as cultural guides, mentors, and translators
Life Histories
a method ethnographers use that focuses on individual stories, in which a person is asked to recollect their experiences across various time periods, providing an intimate insight into past and current events
Survey
asking the same set of questions to a selected group often in the form of a questionnaire
informed consent
an ethical and necessary step in a study where anthropologists explain their goals, methods, funding, outcomes, and potential risks and benefits to all potential study participants to ensure that their participation is voluntary and fully informed.
Direct Historical Approach
an archaeological technique of working backward in time from historic-period sites of known age to earlier times; usually only used where little (working known to unknown)
artifact
An object made by human beings; often refers to a primitive tool or other relic from an earlier period
Stratigraphy
the study of rock LAYERS and the sequence of events they reflect
law of superstition
the law that a sedimentary rock layer is older than the layers above it and younger than the layers below it if the layers are not disturbed.
Deeper is older
Relative dating
way to relatively age artifacts and arrange them in sequences from oldest to youngest
when things go in and out of style
Radiometric dating
the process of measuring the absolute age of geologic material by measuring the concentrations of radioactive isotopes and their decay products
Experimental Archology
subfield of archaeology that attempts to generate and test archaeological hypotheses, most often, by replicating or approximating the feasibility of ancient technologies and activities
- not all archeology is observing people making the tools so you have to reverse engineering
Historic archeology
the exploration of the more recent past through an examination of physical remains and artifacts as well as written or oral records
Indigenous Archaeology
native Americans archeologist studying their past
Ethnoarchaeology
going out and studying people in the present and seeing what archeological record can they are creating
