Test #1 Flashcards
ethnology
comparison of different cultures based on the ethnographies about them
archaeology
study of prehistory (times before writing)
culture
learned and shared behaviors that can and do change with time
hominin
bipedal primates/ tribe that includes humans
allophone
variant of a phoneme
parallel cousins
children of siblings of the same sex
cross cousins
children of siblings of opposite sexes
sororal polygamy
type of polygamy where a man is married to a woman and her sisters
exogamy
marriage outside group
totem
emblem of a clan
participant observation
main method of ethnography
ethnography
written description of a culture and work required to get data to write monograph
ethnohistory
refers to old writings about cultures??? Or study of the past of people who don’t have writing systems or histories of their own?
artifacts
things people make
sites
places where people made things
hominid
human family; includes humans, fossil humans, and our ape relatives
primates
order that includes humans
4 types of anthropology
1) Biological (physical) anthropology
cultural anthropology
study of contemporary peoples and their culture
holism
what anthropology aspires to be; trying to understand the human species in its entirety
classics
anthropology dealing with Egypt, Greece, etc
Biological anthropology
study of evolution and how humans are related to other primates; how primates relate to human behaviors
Homo sapiens
member of hominin tribe (us + our ancestors going back 4 MYA)
bipedalism
walking on 2 legs
Ardipithecus
first hominin discovered, was bipedal and had prehensile hands and feet, lived in trees
prehensile
able to grasp things
spinal cord in center of skull
identifying mark of bipedalism
spinal cord toward back of skull
indicates not having bipedalism
Australopithecus
bipedal primate found in Laetoli, had larger brains, lived on African savannah
Laetoli
volcanic valley in Africa where Australopithecus was found
Homo habilis
first genus to be found with tools, had larger brains than Australopithecus, only lived in Africa
Homo erectus
first hominin to leave Africa, double the brain size of Australopithecus, used fire to cook and hunt, like had spears, likely had sophisticated level of communication