#separator:tab #html:false #tags column:4 Anthropology The study of humans, past and present, including biology and culture anthropology-intro-terms Four fields Cultural, biological (physical), archaeological and linguistic anthropology anthropology-intro-terms Cultural anthropology Study of human societies and cultures anthropology-intro-terms Biological anthropology Study of human biology, evolution and primates anthropology-intro-terms Archaeology Study of the human past through material remains anthropology-intro-terms Linguistic anthropology Study of language in its social and cultural context anthropology-intro-terms Culture Learned, shared beliefs, values and behaviors of a group anthropology-intro-terms Society A group of people who share territory and culture anthropology-intro-terms Ethnography A detailed written study of a culture, based on fieldwork anthropology-intro-terms Fieldwork Research done by living among and observing people anthropology-intro-terms Participant observation Learning about a group by taking part in its daily life anthropology-intro-terms Informant A person who teaches a researcher about their culture anthropology-intro-terms Emic perspective Understanding a culture from the insider's point of view anthropology-intro-terms Etic perspective Describing a culture from an outsider's, more objective viewpoint anthropology-intro-terms Ethnocentrism Judging other cultures by the standards of your own anthropology-intro-terms Cultural relativism Understanding a culture on its own terms without judging it by outside standards anthropology-intro-terms Enculturation The process of learning your culture anthropology-intro-terms Acculturation Change when cultures come into contact anthropology-intro-terms Cultural diffusion Spread of cultural traits from one society to another anthropology-intro-terms Material culture Physical objects made by a culture anthropology-intro-terms Nonmaterial culture Ideas, beliefs and values anthropology-intro-terms Norm A shared expectation about behavior anthropology-intro-terms Value A shared belief about what is good or important anthropology-intro-terms Ritual A repeated, symbolic action anthropology-intro-terms Rite of passage Ritual marking a change in status, like adulthood anthropology-intro-terms Symbol Something that stands for something else anthropology-intro-terms Kinship Relationships based on blood, marriage or adoption anthropology-intro-terms Nuclear family Parents and their children anthropology-intro-terms Extended family Family that includes other relatives anthropology-intro-terms Descent How people trace family ties anthropology-intro-terms Patrilineal descent Tracing descent through the father's line anthropology-intro-terms Matrilineal descent Tracing descent through the mother's line anthropology-intro-terms Marriage A socially recognized union, with different forms across cultures anthropology-intro-terms Exogamy Marrying outside one's group anthropology-intro-terms Endogamy Marrying within one's group anthropology-intro-terms Band Small, mobile group of hunter-gatherers anthropology-intro-terms Tribe Group of related bands or clans with shared culture anthropology-intro-terms Chiefdom Society led by a chief with inherited rank anthropology-intro-terms State Society with centralized government and social classes anthropology-intro-terms Hunter-gatherers People who live by hunting animals and gathering plants anthropology-intro-terms Pastoralism Livelihood based on herding animals anthropology-intro-terms Horticulture Small-scale farming with simple tools anthropology-intro-terms Agriculture Large-scale farming anthropology-intro-terms Neolithic Revolution Shift to farming about 10,000 years ago anthropology-intro-terms Reciprocity Exchange of goods and favors based on mutual obligation anthropology-intro-terms Potlatch Feast with gift-giving practiced on the Northwest Coast anthropology-intro-terms Kula ring Exchange system among islands near Papua New Guinea studied by Malinowski anthropology-intro-terms Bronislaw Malinowski Anthropologist who pioneered fieldwork in the Trobriand Islands anthropology-intro-terms Franz Boas Father of American anthropology; stressed cultural relativism anthropology-intro-terms Margaret Mead Anthropologist who studied adolescence in Samoa anthropology-intro-terms Ruth Benedict Anthropologist who wrote Patterns of Culture anthropology-intro-terms Claude Levi-Strauss French anthropologist who studied myth and kinship anthropology-intro-terms Clifford Geertz Anthropologist who described culture as webs of meaning anthropology-intro-terms Hominin Humans and their extinct close relatives anthropology-intro-terms Australopithecus Early bipedal hominins that lived in Africa millions of years ago anthropology-intro-terms Lucy A 3.2-million-year-old Australopithecus skeleton found in Ethiopia in 1974 anthropology-intro-terms Homo habilis Early Homo species associated with stone tools anthropology-intro-terms Homo erectus Early human relative that used fire and spread out of Africa anthropology-intro-terms Neanderthals Close human relatives who lived in Europe and Asia until about 40,000 years ago anthropology-intro-terms Homo sapiens Modern humans, who first appeared in Africa about 300,000 years ago anthropology-intro-terms Bipedalism Walking on two legs anthropology-intro-terms Primate Group of mammals including monkeys, apes and humans anthropology-intro-terms Out of Africa Evidence that modern humans originated in Africa and spread worldwide anthropology-intro-terms Paleolithic Old Stone Age anthropology-intro-terms Artifact An object made or used by people in the past anthropology-intro-terms Excavation Careful digging at an archaeological site anthropology-intro-terms Stratigraphy Layers of earth that help date finds anthropology-intro-terms Radiocarbon dating Method that measures carbon-14 to date organic remains anthropology-intro-terms Linguistic relativity Idea that language influences thought (Sapir-Whorf) anthropology-intro-terms Globalization Growing connections among cultures worldwide anthropology-intro-terms