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Anthropology: Intro Terms
Key terms from introductory anthropology: culture, fieldwork, human origins and kinship.
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- AnthropologyTermThe study of humans, past and present, including biology and culture
- Four fieldsTermCultural, biological (physical), archaeological and linguistic anthropology
- Cultural anthropologyTermStudy of human societies and cultures
- Biological anthropologyTermStudy of human biology, evolution and primates
- ArchaeologyTermStudy of the human past through material remains
- Linguistic anthropologyTermStudy of language in its social and cultural context
- CultureTermLearned, shared beliefs, values and behaviors of a group
- SocietyTermA group of people who share territory and culture
- EthnographyTermA detailed written study of a culture, based on fieldwork
- FieldworkTermResearch done by living among and observing people
- Participant observationTermLearning about a group by taking part in its daily life
- InformantTermA person who teaches a researcher about their culture
- Emic perspectiveTermUnderstanding a culture from the insider's point of view
- Etic perspectiveTermDescribing a culture from an outsider's, more objective viewpoint
- EthnocentrismTermJudging other cultures by the standards of your own
- Cultural relativismTermUnderstanding a culture on its own terms without judging it by outside standards
- EnculturationTermThe process of learning your culture
- AcculturationTermChange when cultures come into contact
- Cultural diffusionTermSpread of cultural traits from one society to another
- Material cultureTermPhysical objects made by a culture
- Nonmaterial cultureTermIdeas, beliefs and values
- NormTermA shared expectation about behavior
- ValueTermA shared belief about what is good or important
- RitualTermA repeated, symbolic action
- Rite of passageTermRitual marking a change in status, like adulthood
- SymbolTermSomething that stands for something else
- KinshipTermRelationships based on blood, marriage or adoption
- Nuclear familyTermParents and their children
- Extended familyTermFamily that includes other relatives
- DescentTermHow people trace family ties
- Patrilineal descentTermTracing descent through the father's line
- Matrilineal descentTermTracing descent through the mother's line
- MarriageTermA socially recognized union, with different forms across cultures
- ExogamyTermMarrying outside one's group
- EndogamyTermMarrying within one's group
- BandTermSmall, mobile group of hunter-gatherers
- TribeTermGroup of related bands or clans with shared culture
- ChiefdomTermSociety led by a chief with inherited rank
- StateTermSociety with centralized government and social classes
- Hunter-gatherersTermPeople who live by hunting animals and gathering plants
- PastoralismTermLivelihood based on herding animals
- HorticultureTermSmall-scale farming with simple tools
- AgricultureTermLarge-scale farming
- Neolithic RevolutionTermShift to farming about 10,000 years ago
- ReciprocityTermExchange of goods and favors based on mutual obligation
- PotlatchTermFeast with gift-giving practiced on the Northwest Coast
- Kula ringTermExchange system among islands near Papua New Guinea studied by Malinowski
- Bronislaw MalinowskiTermAnthropologist who pioneered fieldwork in the Trobriand Islands
- Franz BoasTermFather of American anthropology; stressed cultural relativism
- Margaret MeadTermAnthropologist who studied adolescence in Samoa
- Ruth BenedictTermAnthropologist who wrote Patterns of Culture
- Claude Levi-StraussTermFrench anthropologist who studied myth and kinship
- Clifford GeertzTermAnthropologist who described culture as webs of meaning
- HomininTermHumans and their extinct close relatives
- AustralopithecusTermEarly bipedal hominins that lived in Africa millions of years ago
- LucyTermA 3.2-million-year-old Australopithecus skeleton found in Ethiopia in 1974
- Homo habilisTermEarly Homo species associated with stone tools
- Homo erectusTermEarly human relative that used fire and spread out of Africa
- NeanderthalsTermClose human relatives who lived in Europe and Asia until about 40,000 years ago
- Homo sapiensTermModern humans, who first appeared in Africa about 300,000 years ago
- BipedalismTermWalking on two legs
- PrimateTermGroup of mammals including monkeys, apes and humans
- Out of AfricaTermEvidence that modern humans originated in Africa and spread worldwide
- PaleolithicTermOld Stone Age
- ArtifactTermAn object made or used by people in the past
- ExcavationTermCareful digging at an archaeological site
- StratigraphyTermLayers of earth that help date finds
- Radiocarbon datingTermMethod that measures carbon-14 to date organic remains
- Linguistic relativityTermIdea that language influences thought (Sapir-Whorf)
- GlobalizationTermGrowing connections among cultures worldwide
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