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