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Anthropology Review 2

Terms

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Ideas and behaviors that are learned and transmitted. Nongenetic means of adaptation. The extra-somatic adaptive process used by hominidae. Total way of life of a group of people.
Culture
Swedish botanist who is the father of modern taxonomy
Carl von Linné (Carolus Linnaeus)
The man who developed a population growth model for world populations that predicted serious crisis level of growth and food shortages, and whose work helped Darwin envision his theory of evolution
Thomas Malthus
The man who developed a theory that stated that any organism would pass on to its offspring any characteristics acquired by it during it efforts in life
Jean Baptiste de Lamarck
The monk who sorted out the process of genetic inheritance, determining such processes as dominance, recessiveness, etc.
Gregor Mendel
The father of modern geology
Charles Lyle
The man who, using the genealogies of the Bible, calculated that the earth was created in the year 4004 B.C.
Archbishop Usher of Armagh
The contemporary of Darwin who formulated a theory of evolution much the same as his
Alfred Russell Wallace
Goal oriented; Evolution is not this
Teleological
A group of people who are organized to live productively together by sharing a common culture
Society
When bisexual animals mate, it can be observed that members of a given species may show marked tendencies to favor certain traits in the opposite sex; when this preference shapes the evolving species’ genotype and in turn phenotype, we call this proces
Sexual selection
The process of conducting scientific inquiry
Scientific Method
The method of inquiry that requires the generation, testing, and acceptance or rejection of hypotheses
Science
Evolutionary change relatively quickly between stable periods
Punctuated equilibrium
A way to explain natural or cultural phenomena in a culture’s context
Myth
In the medieval period, the system by which scholars classified the living animals by ranking them from the simplest at the bottom to the most complex at the top.
Ladder of life (Chain of being)
The process of developing a general explanation from specific observations
Induction
Proposed explanations for natural phenomena
Hypotheses
The notion that evolution is leading onward and upward to some higher and more perfect form
Evolutionary progressionism
The term which describes the attitude held by a person or a group of people that his/her/their own culture is superior to all others
Ethnocentrism
Suggesting specific data that would be found if a hypothesis were true
Deduction
A theory based on Biblical information that held that natural disasters were responsible for the many extinct life forms found in the geological record
Catastrophism
When a new form of adaptive strategy emerges in evolutionary process it often leads to a geologically sudden increase in the number of species evolving from the original form into new and separate species with that new strategy. When this is seen in the
Adaptive radiation
Technically, those portions of the DNA molecules that code for the production of specific proteins
Genes
The cultural categories and characteristics of men and women
Gender
The exchange of genes among populations through interbreeding
Gene flow
The genetic change caused when genes are passed to new generations in frequencies unlike those of the parental generations
Gamete sampling
Genetic differences between populations produced by the fact that genetically different individuals established (founded) the populations
Founder Effect
A system of classification based on the relationships among cultural categories for important items and ideas
Folk taxonomy
Remains of life-forms of the past
Fossils
In nonhuman mammals, the period of female fertility or the signals indicating this condition
Estrus
The evolution of a new species
Speciation
In biology, the idea that species change over time and have a common ancestry
Evolution
The science that studies the network of relationships within environmental systems
Ecology
A specific set of environmental relationships. A unit of study within ecology
Ecosystem
Here, the splitting up of a population to form new populations
Fission
The cells of reproduction, which contain only half the chromosomes of a normal cell
Gametes
Layers; Here, the layers of rock and soil under the surface of the earth
Strata
Three-dimensional vision; depth perception
Stereoscopic
An old term for what we now call biological evolution
Descent with Modification
The geological period from 1.6 millions to 10,000 years ago characterized by a series of glacial advances and retreats
Pleistocene
A chemical substance secreted by an animal that conveys information and stimulates behavior responses
Pheromones
The traditional name for biological anthropologist
Physical Anthropologist
The study of past life-forms using fossil remains and their geological contexts
Paleontology
The period when an egg cell matures and is capable of being fertilized
Ovulation
The chemical or physical results of the genetic code
Phenotype
Physical differences between the sexes of a species not related to reproductive functions
Sexual dimorphism
Any object that has been consciously manufactured
Artifact
Referring to the sense of smell
Olfactory
The ability to touch the thumb to the tips of the other fingers on the same hand
Opposability
The family unit made up of parents and their children
Nuclear family
A classification system based on order of evolutionary branching rather than on present similarities and differences
Cladistics
The environment of an organism and its adaptive response to that environment
Niche
Active at night
Nocturnal
Evolutionary change based on the differential reproductive success of individuals within a species
Natural selection
A specialist in the subfield of anthropology who describes the characteristics of human language and studies the relationships between languages and the cultures that speak them
Linguistic Anthropologist
A mutation with extensive and important physical results
Macromutation
A set of cultural rules for bringing men and women together to create a family unit and for defining their behavior toward one another, their children, and society
Marriage
Any spontaneous change in the genetic code
Mutation
Walking on all fours
Quadrapedal
Native; refers to a group of people with a long history in a particular area
Indigenous
An allele that is only expressed if present in a like pair
Recessive
Having two of the same allele
Homozygous
Moving using arm-over-arm swinging
Brachiating
A cultural rule that prohibits sexual intercourse or marriage between persons defined as being too closely related
Incest taboo
The incorrect idea that traits acquired during an organismÂ’s lifetime can be passed on to its offspring
Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics
The molecule that, in two forms, translates and transcribes the genetic code into proteins
Ribonucleic acid (RNA)
Molecules that make cells and carry out cellular functions
Proteins
Having two different alleles in a gene pair
Heterozygous
To attach a handle or shaft
Haft
The holistic, scientific study of humankind
Anthropology
Having the ability to grasp
Prehensile
Assuming an interrelationship among the parts of a subject
Holistic
Referring to a society in which a man may have multiple wives
Polygynous
A specialist in the subfield of anthropology who studies the human cultural past and the reconstruction of past cultural systems
Archaeologist
Scientifically testable ideas that are taken on faith, even if tested and shown to be false
Pseudoscience
Modern human beings and our ancestors, defined as the primates who walk erect
Hominids
Cleaning the fur of another animal, which promotes social cohesion
Grooming
Adapted to life in the trees
Arboreal
Specialized sweat glands that secrete an odorous substance thought to be sexually stimulating
Apocrine glands
The alleles possessed by an organism
Genotypes
Massive sheets of ice that expand and move
Glaciers
The place occupied by a species; the species’ “address”
Habitat
Selection for reproductive success in plants and animals that is directed by humans (also see selective breeding)
Artificial selection
Genetic change based on random changes within a speciesÂ’ gene pool; includes fission and the founder effect, and gamete sampling
Genetic drift
The chief components of proteins
Amino acids
Ideas that are taken on faith and cannot be scientifically tested
Belief systems
All the genes in a population
Gene pool
Studying another culture from its point of view without imposing our own cultural values
Cultural relativity
The molecule that carries the genetic code
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
Walking on two legs
Bipedal
Variants of a gene that code for different expressions of a trait
Alleles
When both alleles of a pair are expressed in the phenotype
Codominant
Individual differences in power, influence, and access to resources and mating
Dominance hierarchy
When an organism has physical traits and behaviors that allow it to survive in a particular environment
Adapted
A specialist in the subfield of anthropology who focuses on human cultural behavior and cultural systems and the variation in cultural expression among human groups
Cultural Anthropologist
A specialist in the subfield of anthropology who studies humans as a biological species
Biological Anthropologist
The allele that is expressed in a pair of unlike alleles
Dominant
Strands of DNA in the nucleus of a cell
Chromosome
A general idea that explains a large set of factual patterns
Theory
Active during the day
Diurnal
A classification using nested sets of categories
Taxonomy
Reproducing without sex, by fissioning or budding
Asexually
Here, the period after birth during which offspring require the care of adults to survive
Dependency
The study of the earthÂ’s strata
Stratigraphy
A group of organisms that can produce fertile offspring among themselves but not with members of other groups
Species
BrideÂ’s family sends wealth to groom. They occur where location is overpopulated so that the process of marriage may be slowed down. Capitalist birth control.
Dowry
A portion of the brain involved in emotions such as fear, rage, and care for the young
Limbic system
Where money is used for exchange in place of goods and services
Market System
A social unit made up of a societyÂ’s men. Common in highland New Guinea
MenÂ’s associations
A symbolic representation of wealth. Used for exchange in place of actual products or services
Money
A marriage unit made up of only one husband and one wife
Monogamy
Refers to the religious system that recognizes a single supernatural being
Monotheistic
A portion of the brain involved in conscious thought, spatial reasoning, and sensory perception
Neocortex
Referring to societies that move from place to place in search of resources or in response to seasonal fluctuations
Nomadic
Minimal human family unit; Temporary units including the family of orientation as a child, and the family of procreation as an adult
Nuclear family
Belief that “the seed contains the plant”, that the evolution is contained within the original. Under unilinear evolution, civilization was contained in foraging. “In the beginning is the outcome”
Orthogenesis
The subsistence pattern characterized by an emphasis on herding animals
Pastoralism
A unilineal kinship system in which an individual is a member of the fatherÂ’s descent line
Patrilineal
The secular, nonkinship means of organizing the interactions within a society and between one society and others
Political organization
A marriage system with one wife and multiple husbands
Polyandry
A marriage system that allows multiple spouses
Polygamy
A marriage unit made up of one husband and multiple wives
Polygyny
Refers to a religious system that recognizes multiple supernatural beings, technically, multiple gods
Polytheism
The practice of prohibiting sex for a certain period of time after a woman gives birth for purposes of limiting the birthrate
Postpartum sex taboo
Technology developed to make food palatable and digestible by humans, i.e. a millstone
Premastication
A behavior containing most but not all of the characteristics of a cultural behavior; A precursor to culture which can be seen in primate populations
Protocultural
A primitive portion of the brain involved in self-preservation behavior such as mating, aggressiveness, and territoriality
R-Complex
Refers to a society that strives for equal distribution of goods and services but that achieves this through the use of recognized, often temporary, status differences
Rank
Where surplus goods are collected centrally and then given out to those persons in need of them
Redistribution
They share everything according to needs and work according to their abilities. May be seen in foraging communities
Reciprocal economy
A human settlement pattern in which people largely stay in one place year-round, although some members of the population may still be mobile in the search for food and raw materials
Sedentary
The presence of acknowledged differences in social status, political influence, and wealth among the people within a society
Social stratification
Process of learning a culture. Also known as enculturation
Socialization
System under which if a woman dies, her sister may replace her place in a marriage
Sororate
A political organization with one central authority governing all the individual subunits
State
How a society acquires its food
Subsistence pattern
Something that stands for something else, with no necessary link between the symbol and its meaning
Symbol
A political organization with no central leader but in which the subunits may make collective decisions about the entire group
Tribe
Harvest resources from animals that do the work
Unearned Resource Use
A kinship system in which an individual is a member of only one parentÂ’s descent line
Unilineal
Idea that there exists a natural tendency of progression. This progression includes the succession of foragers -> agriculture -> civilization. It is also completely false
Unilinear evolution
The collective interpretation of and response to the natural and cultural environments in which a group of people lives. Their assumptions about these environments and values derived from those assumptions
Worldview
Anthropologist who spent over 40 years studying a large population of chimpanzees in the Gombe Stream Reserve in Tanzania
Jane Goodall
Member of the National Institute of Mental Health that proposed the model for the triune (three-part) brain, consisting of the R-complex, limbic system, and neocortex
Paul MacLean
Author of American Anthropologist, in which he demonstrated how all cultures may be subjected to anthropological scrutiny.
Horace Miner
Soviet agronomist that proposed a method for growing plants not based on evolution and Mendelian genetics, but rather Lamarkian ideas about the inheritance of acquired characteristics. It was adopted by the communist regime and, because of this, the Sovi
Trofim D. Lysenko
A social unit made up of persons of approximately the same age; Groups in highly unilineal systems organized by age. Also, each generation has an identity and a bond from “hazing”. The older the generation, the more powerful
Age sets/Age grades
Farming using animal or mechanical labor and complex technologies
Agriculture
Everything has a soul
Animistic
Any object consciously manufactured. Usually refers to human-made objects, but now includes those made by other primates
Artifact
Giving with expectation of equivalent return; People will get supplies when they need them
Balanced reciprocity
Small autonomous groups, usually associated with foraging societies
Bands
A kinship system in which an individual is a member of both parentsÂ’ descent lines
Bilateral
The exchange of wealth from the groom to the bride’s family, i.e. cattle. Originally termed “bride price”, it was then noticed that marriages occurred even without this exchange and that even with the exchange the woman was free to leave the marriage
Bride wealth
A system of socioeconomic stratification in which strata are closed and a personÂ’s membership is determined by birth
Caste
A political organization made up of groups of interacting units, each of which has a chief or leader
Chiefdom
Cultures with an agricultural surplus, social stratification, labor specialization, a formal governments, rule by power, monumental construction projects, and a system of record keeping
Civilization
A system of socioeconomic stratification in which the strata are open and a person may move to a different stratum
Class
To arrange systematically. To put into words
Codify
The children of your fatherÂ’s sisters or motherÂ’s brothers. Often preferred marriage partners because they are not part of your lineage, but come from a similar family.
Cross cousins
Anew; from nothing
Denovo
Nuclear families that are connected over time
Descent line
When certain individuals within a society perform certain jobs. Usually refers to the different jobs of men and women
Division of labor
You inherit fatherÂ’s patrilineage and motherÂ’s matrilinage, but different trains from each lineage. For example, African culture may dictate that only men may inherit royalty, but royalty is inherited through the mother. Another example is that corpore
Double descent
An unmodified natural object used as a tool
Ecofact
The practice of not recognizing, and even eliminating, differences in social status and wealth
Egalitarianism
Process of learning a culture. Also known as socialization
Enculturation
Marry within kinship
Endogamy
Making value judgments about another culture from the perspective of oneÂ’s own cultural system
Ethnocentrism
Marry outside of nuclear family
Exogamy
The nuclear family to which you belong as a child, consisting of your parents and siblings.
Family of orientation
The nuclear family to which you belong as an adult, consisting of your spouse and offspring
Family of procreation
Another name for hunting-and-gathering
Foraging
Giving with no expectations of equivalent return
General reciprocity
Living in groups
Gregarious
Farming using human labor and simple tools
Horticulture
A subsistence pattern that relies on naturally occurring sources of food
Hunter-gatherer
When one state tries to take the land of another state
Imperialism
Sometimes recognized as a subsistence pattern characterized by a focus on mechanical sources of energy and food production by a small percentage of the population
Industrialism
The killing of infants
Infanticide
Hunting and gathering in an environment that provides a very wide range of food resources
Intensive foraging
Your membership in a family and your relationship to other members of that family. May refer to biological ties but in anthropology usually refers to cultural ties modeled on biological ones
Kinship
You cannot increase production by intensifying labor in a certain area
Labor-extensive
By increasing (intensifying) labor in a certain area, you increase production
Labor-intensive
When certain jobs are performed by particular individuals
Labor specialization
Widow inheritance; the process through which a man inherits his brotherÂ’s widow. The man may also inherit his brotherÂ’s land and is allowed to sleep with the widow, but all children of this relationship belong to the descent line of the deceased brothe
Levirate
Walked around and collected food similar to a hunter-gatherer. Averaged about 100-150 lbs of meat a day.
George Schaller
This society lives in a harsh environment which they cannot pretend to control. This leads to their worldview as being part of nature, not above it. This also contributes to their animistic spiritual beliefs, which can be seen in their begging forgivenes
American Arctic/Eskimo
About 10,000 years ago they discovered agriculture which gradually allowed them to have more control over the environment. As a result, they began to recognize a monotheistic god that has control over all natural phenomena, much like they have control.
Southwest Asia
Found in Angola, Namibia, and Botswana in South Africa, they had been a foraging society until very recently. Their name comes from the use of clicks in the language. They are regularly on the move, so nomadic. They live in small bands that average ten t
San (Bushmen)
Foragers with a large population and sedentary communities. Able to do this b/c of annual salmon runs. Held potlatches to try and get rid of everything to demonstrate how they didnÂ’t need it all.
Kwakiutl of British Columbia
A unilineal kinship system in which an individual is a member of the mother's descent line
Matrilineal
The children of your fatherÂ’s brothers or your motherÂ’s sisters. Under the Omaha kinship system, they are considered equivalent to siblings, and thus cannot be married under the incest taboo
Parallel cousins
Referring to the decay rate of a radioactive substance
Radiometric
A Celtic hill fort in southern England that was attacked by Roman emperor Vaspasian. Studied and recreated by Sir Mortimer Wheeler
Maiden Castle
A deeply stratified location at which Prof. Bellis worked
Koster, IL
Archaeologist and founder of the garbology movement; his project originated in Tucson, Arizona and revolved around the fact that much could be revealed about a person and his or her culture through his or her garbage
William Rathje
A famous linguistic anthropologist who studied the power of the rules on language and developed specific theories of the development of language in children
Noam Chomsky
An archaeologist who has examined many sites in East Africa and manufactured similar tools
Nick Toth
Old World archaeologist who studied Maiden Castle, practically reconstructing every detail.
Mortimer Wheeler
A preserved man found in an Alpine glacier from about 5300 years ago
Ice Man
Anthropologist who claims no correlation between complexity of language and complexity of society.
Jared Diamond
Archaeologists who studied gravestones in New England
James Deetz and Edwin Dethlefsen
Members of the Holiness Church, found mainly in Appalachia and the Southeast. They feel if they believe strongly enough, the Holy Ghost enters their bodies, making them immune to dangers such as ingesting poisons or snakebites.
Holy Ghost People
Anthropologist who said religion is a “distinctive symbolic expression of human life that interprets man himself and his universe, providing motives for human action.” He sees role of religion “as explanatory, and in many ways psychologically reass
Edward Norbeck
Linguists who proposed model of how a closed communication may develop into an open one
Charles Hockett and Robert Ascher
Anthropologist who described the development of cultures and society by their fulfillment of humans’ needs
Bronislaw Malinowski
Psychologists who first taught American Sign Language to a chimp, Washoe.
Beatrix and Allen Gardner
Author of 1969 article “How Much Can We Boost IQ and Scholastic Achievement?”; his article was very controversial as he attempted to explain why American black children on average scored 15 points lower than American white children on IQ tests. He cl
Arthur Jensen
Collective interpretation of, and response to, the natural and cultural environments in which a group of people lives; their assumptions about those environments and the values derived from these assumptions
Worldview
Flow of sound
Vowel
Process of transforming verbal utterances into meaning
Transformational grammar
phonemic; what changes the phonemic value of a word
Tonality
An exploratory, usually small excavation made to establish the presence or absence of an archaeological site.
Test Pits
Rules of word order in a language
Syntax
Something, a force or power or being, that is outside the known laws of nature
Supernatural
Physically distinguishable populations within a species; the concept is falling from use
Subspecies
The study of layers
Stratigraphy
Rituals that attempt to control the supernatural for evil purposes
Sorcery
A part-time, supernaturally chosen religious specialist who can manipulate the supernatural
Shaman
Populations of a species that are completely isolated from one another but have not yet become truly separate species.
Semispecies
A system of ideas and rules for behavior based on supernatural explanations
Religion
Dating that indicates the age of one item in comparison to another.
Relative dating
Translating a complex set of phenomena into a single entity such as a number
Reification
Ritual performed by chimpanzees observed by Jane Goodall that involves them throwing themselves down hills during violent thunderstorms. This ritual demonstrates a possible form of supernatural belief in chimps.
Rain display
Judging an individual solely on his or her racial affiliation
Racism
In biology, the same as subspecies. In culture, cultural categories to classify and account for human diversity
Races
Here, the ability of human languages to generate limitless numbers of meanings
Productivity
If undisturbed, when excavated, the topmost layer is the most recent and the bottommost is oldest
Pristine stratigraph
A full-time, trained religious specialist who can interpret the supernatural and petition the supernatural on behalf of humans
Priest
A radiometric dating technique using the rate at which radioactive potassium, found in volcanic rock, decays into stable argon gas
Potassium/argon (K/Ar) Dating
Variations in phenotypic traits that are the results of genetic variation
Polymorphisms
Languages developed when groups of two cultures come into intimate contact with one another and the two groups need to communicate
Pidgin
A unit of sound in a language; Probably 250 phenomes around the world, although only about 25-30 are used in each language
Phenome
A language that displays duality and productivity, making the system almost infinitely creative
Open communication system
A unit of meaning in a language; it may or may not be a word
Morpheme
Originally applied to King David of the Jews, meaning one who had great holiness and power
Messiah
Specialized skin cells that produce the pigment melanin
Melanocytes
The pigment largely responsible for human skin color
Melanin
A Polynesian word referring to a force possessed by a person, a place, or a nonliving thing.
Mana
Ritual acts through which people attempt to control the supernatural
Magic
A scholar of language, although he or she does not need to speak it
Linguist
A set of secular rules governing the behavior of individuals and institutions within a society
Legal systems

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