The study of the biological and cultural evolution and diversity of human beings, past and present
Anthropology is a comparative
discipline which seeks to
understand what makes
people different and what they all have in common.
Some societies have no regulations surrounding sexual activity.
A) True
B) False
False
Nowhere in the world have anthropologist documented same-sex marriages. In all human societies such unions are deemed inappropriate under any circumstances.
A) True
B) False
B) False
A(n) _______________ is a closely examined and critically checked out explanation of observed reality.
C. theory
Cultural anthropology is the study of patterns of human behavior. These standards
E. focus on humans as culture producing and re-producing creatures
Anthropologists doing fieldwork typically involve themselves in many different experiences. They try to investigate not just one aspect of culture (such as the political system) but how all aspects relate to each other (for example, how the political system fits with economic institutions, religious beliefs, etc.). This approach is called the _______________perspective.
A. holistic
In-depth descriptive studies of specific cultures are called _______________.
E. ethnographies
An ethnologist can be described as someone who _______________.
A. develops a theory of culture by comparing many specific cultures
Ethnographic fieldwork _______________.
D. can also be applied to the study of Western industrialized societies
According to Bronislaw Malinowski, the nature of an institution is determined by its
C. structure
A detailed description of a particular culture based on fieldwork is called
D. ethnography
The belief that one’s own way of life is superior to others is _______________.
B. ethnocentrism
The process in which culture is transmitted from one generation to the next is called
A.enculturation
B.diffusion
C.transmission
D.acculturation
A.enculturation
The first clear and comprehensive definition of culture was made by _______________.
B. Edward B. Tylor
The Garbage Project in Tucson demonstrated that what people say and what they do can differ dramatically. For instance, investigators found that
B. the amount of beer consumed, according to empty cans in the trash, was far higher than people claimed
No known human societies exist, or have existed, that do not exhibit culture.
A.True
B.False
A. True
Anthropology is _______________.
D. the study of humankind everywhere, throughout time
The term “gender” refers to _______________.
C. cultural meanings assigned to the biological differences between the sexes
Because of the objectivity of anthropological training, anthropologists are able to eliminate the biases that might affect their descriptions of culture in the field.
A.True
B. False
A.True
The branch of anthropology that studies human languages is called
A. linguistic anthropology
Gender, in cultural anthropology, refers to cultural elaborations and meanings assigned to the biological differentiation between sexes.
A.True
B.False
A.True
What type of descent is found associated with Trobriand society?
A. Matrilineal
Define Matrilineal Descent is traced exclusively through the_______line of acestry to establish group membership.
A. Male
B. Female
B. Female
___________________ is the term used to refer to what an anthropologist does when they go to a place to observe a cultural activity first hand.
D. Fieldwork
What is the first step in doing ethnographic fieldwork?
A. choosing a research question
(It all begins with selecting a research site and a research problem or question)
The most important anthropological research tool by far is participant observation.
A.True
B.False
A.True
What is a species?
D. a population of individuals able to interbreed and produce fertile offspring
The hypothesis that modern humans originated through a process of simultaneous local transition from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens throughout the inhabited world is called the
A. multiregional hypothesis
The first members of the genus Homo first appeared around _______________ years ago. A.3.5 million
B.4.5 million
C.1.5 million
D.2.5 million
D.2.5 million
Extended on-location research to gather detailed information about a society’s culture is called
C. Ethnographic fieldwork
The primary method in the anthropologist’s toolkit, regardless of the time period, has always been _______________.
B. participant observation
Anthropologists use _______________.
C. both quantitative and qualitative data
Which came first for humans?
B. a large brain
National character studies were most popular during
B. World War II
A tool that researchers rely on to learn about a culture by examining their behaviors and beliefs through social interaction is ________________________.
D. participant observation
Which anthropologist did a “re-study” of the Trobriand Islanders?
B. Annette Weiner
By the late 1800s, which groups were sponsoring anthropologists’ expeditions to collect cultural artifacts?
B. Museums
One of the first U.S. anthropologists to study acculturation was Margaret Mead in her 1932 fieldwork
B. among the Omaha Indians
Qualitative data is data that is ___________________________________.
B. Excellent in quality
When do paleoanthropologists believe that human culture began?
D. 2.5 million years ago
_______________ are typically represented in the popular media as “cave men.”
A. Neandertals
The australopithecine “Lucy” was discovered in _______________.
A. 1974
The agents of enculturation _______________. A.vary, depending on the structure of the family into which a child is born
B.are at first the members of the family into which the child is born
C.are persons involved in transmitting culture to the next generation
D.all of the above
D.all of the above
Human culture as we know it could have easily existed without language.
A.True
B.False
B.False
Kinesics is a method for notating and analyzing _______________.
C. any form of body language.
From the Native American perspective the spirit of a human is superior to the spirit of any other thing.
A.True
B.False
B.False
Standards that define normal behavior for any culture are determined by that culture itself. A.True
B.False
A.True
A system of communication based on symbols is called a _______________.
B. language
All _______________, as systems of communication using sounds or gestures that are put together in meaningful ways according to a set of rules, are organized on the same basic plan.
B. languages
Studies of _______________ were developed during the 1930s and 1940s to explore the idea that basic personality traits were shared by most of the people in modern nations.
C. national character
One way that culture is preserved and shared...
Enculturation : Process whereby culture is passed on from one generation to the next.
The first responsibility of the anthropologist
The (AAA) American Anthropologist Code of Ethics: Do everything in their power to ensure that their research does not harm the safety, dignity, or privacy of the people with whom they work, conduct research, or perform other professional activities.
The extent of regulations surrounding sexual activity from society to society
In some societies sexual intercourse during pregnancy is taboo, whereas in others it is looked upon positively as something that promotes fetus growth.
In several cultures same sex acts are not only accepted but even but even prescribed. Papua societies in New Guinea, male to male sexual acts are part of initiation rituals required for all boys to become respected adult men.
In a Taliban controlled village in Afghanistan, conservative mullahs (priest) found a young couple of guilty of adultery, were buried waist deep and stone to death. (Amnesty International 2010)
Participant observation
The technique of learning a people’s culture through direct participation in their everyday life over an extended period of time.
The most significant aspect of ethnographic research
A research method in which one learns about a group’s beliefs and behaviors through social participation and personal observation within the community, as well as interviews and discussion with individual members of the group over an extended stay in the community.
The encounter that prompted the birth of anthropology in the 19th century
They hayday of colonialism when many Europeans anthropologist focused In the study of traditional peoples and their cultures in the colonies overseas.
Genetic analyses and origin of the human line
The human genome (the genetic design of a species with its complete set of DNA) Closest Primate Relatives-Chimpanzee, Bonobo, Gorilla, and Orangutan. Most DNA shared Chimpanzee 98.3%,
The idea of “gender” in cultural anthropological studies
Anthropologist use the term gender to refer to the cultural elaboration and meanings assigned to the biological differentiation between the sexes. Sex is biologically determined, one's gender is socially constructed within the context of one's particular culture.
Culture is shared
All members of a culture will hold a shared set of values, ideas, perceptions, and standards of behaviors
This does not mean that everyone within a culture will act and think the exact same way.
Culture cannot exist without society- an organized group of people who share a territory, language, and culture
There are no known human societies that do not exhibit culture
Biologists classify humans as
Homo sapiens which are members of the animal order primates.
Mutations in genes are the cause for ?
variation among all living organisms. These are random changes in the genetic coding process
Genes are the basic physical units of heredity that make up ?
make up the physical and biological aspect of all living organisms.
Migrant workers in china
China as 114 million migrant workers that form part of new residential patterns in ever growing numbers. People that left peasant villages and traveled to fast growing cities to work.
Many migrant workers work in factories and live in factory dormitories.
Anthropologists and the idea of “progress”…
Confused with the idea of progress, the notion that humans are moving forward to better, more advance stage in their developmental toward perfection. Not all changes turn out to be positive.
Anthropology
The study of the biological and cultural evolution and diversity of human beings, past and present.
A comparative discipline which seeks to understand what makes people different and what they all have in common
Linguistic anthropology
Studies human languages:
Description of a language the way a sentence is formed or a verb conjugated
History of languages - the way languages change over time.
The study of language in its social setting,
such as discourse – an extended speech act on a particular topic.
The first clear and comprehensive definition of culture
Came from British anthropologist Sir Edward Tylor. In 1871 he defined culture as that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, customs, and any other capabilities and habitts acquired by man as a member of society.
Laura Nader
in 1960 became the 1st woman faculty member in the anthropology department at the University of California, Berkeley.
Term studying up, called out anthropologist to focus on Western elites, government bureaucracies, global corporation, philanthropic, foundations, media empires and business clubs.
Quantitative & Qualitative data
Quant: Statistical or measurable data.
Qual: Non-statistical information, such as personal life stories and customary beliefs and practices.
Trobriand Island descent system
Through women, Matrilineal System
The birth of human culture
Came into existance 2.5mya, Stone flakes and choppers are
the hallmark of early hominid culture. The emergence of these mark the beginning of the Lower Paleolithic, the first part of the Old Stone Age, from about 2.6 million years ago-200,000/ (250,000) years a
Frans Boas
1st to teach anthropology in the United States
Did his 1st ethnographic research among the Inuit (Eskimo) in the Artic Canada in 1883-84.
Professor in Columbia University in New York
As a Jewish immigrant he recognized the Dangers in of ethnocentrism
Jane Goodall
Biological Anthropology
Study great apes in the wild
Born in London
Chimpanzees ans primate conservation
The first members of the genus Homo
Homo habilis
Charles Darwin
The theory of natural selection was first formulated by a 19th century naturalist
In his theory, individuals with characteristics best suited to a particular environment survive and reproduce with greater frequency than individuals without those characteristics
Gregor Mendel
Priest study physics (Father of Genetics)
Experiment in plant Hybridisation was the 1st to formulate the basic laws of biological inheritance
Inheritance of each biological traits is determined by "units" or "factors" (later called genes" that are passed to descendents unchanged
The idea of “leveling mechanism”
Potlatches often compel others in the society to also give away goods by hosting a public feast so that no one person accumulates more wealth than another
market exchange
Buying and selling of goods and services, with prices set by rules of supply and demand
Reciprocity
There are three main forms of reciprocity which one mode of distribution
Generalized - The value of what is given is not calculated and repayment is not specified
Balanced -A direct obligation to reciprocate in equal value for the relationship to continue
Negative - The giver tries to get the better of the deal.
Redistribution
is the form of exchange in which goods flow into a central place where they are sorted, counted, and reallocated.
In societies with a surplus to support some sort of government, goods in the form of gifts, tribute, taxes, and the spoils of war are gathered into storehouses controlled by a chief or some other type of leader.
An example of biological adaptation among the Aymara
Adapt to high altitude with O2 pressure is far lower than most humans are biologically accustomed. (Hypoxia low level of oxygenation of the blood)
