Anthropology: The study of humans, past and present Four-field approach: Cultural, biological, archaeological and linguistic anthropology Cultural anthropology: Study of human societies and cultures Biological anthropology: Study of human evolution and biological variation Archaeology: Study of past peoples through material remains Linguistic anthropology: Study of language in its social and cultural setting Ethnography: Detailed written study of a culture based on fieldwork Ethnology: Comparing cultures to find patterns Participant observation: Living with a community to learn its ways Fieldwork: Research conducted in the community studied Informant: A community member who provides cultural information Emic perspective: Understanding a culture from the insider's point of view Etic perspective: Analysis from an outside observer's viewpoint Cultural relativism: Judging a culture by its own standards Ethnocentrism: Judging other cultures by one's own Franz Boas: Founder of American anthropology; stressed cultural relativism Margaret Mead: Anthropologist of Samoa who studied childhood and adolescence Bronislaw Malinowski: Developed participant observation in the Trobriand Islands Enculturation: Learning one's own culture Acculturation: Change from contact between cultures Cultural diffusion: Spread of cultural traits between societies Kinship: Social relationships based on descent and marriage Descent group: Group tracing ancestry to a common ancestor Patrilineal descent: Tracing descent through the father's line Matrilineal descent: Tracing descent through the mother's line Bilateral descent: Tracing descent through both parents Clan: A descent group claiming a common ancestor Incest taboo: Universal rule against marriage or sex between close kin Bride service: Groom works for the bride's family Dowry: Goods the bride's family give at marriage Reciprocity: Exchange of goods and services among people Potlatch: A feast among Pacific Northwest peoples redistributing wealth and affirming status Kula ring: Trobriand exchange network of shell valuables Foragers: People who live by hunting, gathering and fishing Pastoralism: Livelihood based on herding animals Horticulture: Small-scale farming using simple tools Intensive agriculture: Large-scale farming with plows, irrigation and animals Band: Small, mobile, egalitarian group Tribe: Group of related kin, loosely organized, often with shared language Chiefdom: Society with hereditary leaders ranked above others State: Centralized political system with formal government Rite of passage: Ritual marking change of status; Arnold van Gennep Liminality: The in-between stage in a ritual Totemism: Link between a group and a natural symbol Animism: Belief that spirits inhabit natural things Shaman: A specialist who mediates with the spirit world Myth: A sacred narrative explaining origins or beliefs Ritual: Formal, repeated symbolic action Magic: Rituals aimed at controlling events Primate: Order of mammals including monkeys, apes and humans Hominin: Humans and their extinct bipedal relatives Bipedalism: Walking on two legs Australopithecus: Early bipedal hominin genus of Africa Lucy: A 3.2-million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis skeleton from Ethiopia Homo habilis: Early toolmaking Homo species Homo erectus: Long-lived species that used fire and spread beyond Africa Neanderthals: Extinct relatives of modern humans in Europe and western Asia Homo sapiens: Anatomically modern humans, appeared in Africa roughly 300,000 years ago Out of Africa model: Modern humans originated in Africa and spread worldwide Paleolithic: The Old Stone Age Mesolithic: The Middle Stone Age Neolithic: The New Stone Age, when farming began Neolithic Revolution: Shift from foraging to farming around 10,000 years ago Domestication: Breeding plants or animals for human use Oldowan tools: Earliest simple stone tools Acheulean tools: Hand axes linked to Homo erectus Stratigraphy: Studying layers of earth to determine relative age Radiocarbon dating: Dating organic remains by carbon-14 decay, up to about 50,000 years Artifact: A portable object made or used by humans Feature: A non-portable sign of human activity, like a hearth Midden: An ancient trash heap Cultural resource management: Archaeology done to protect sites ahead of development Site: A place with evidence of past human activity Excavation: Systematic digging and recording of a site Provenience: The exact location where an object was found Material culture: Physical objects created by a society Race as social construct: Human races are not biologically distinct groups Natural selection: Traits that aid survival and reproduction become more common Adaptation: A trait that helps survival in an environment Genetic drift: Random changes in gene frequency Gene flow: Exchange of genes between populations Mutation: Change in DNA that is the source of new variation Fossil: Preserved remains or traces of ancient life Language family: Languages sharing a common ancestor Phoneme: A basic sound unit that distinguishes meaning Morpheme: The smallest meaningful unit of language Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: Language influences how people think Sociolinguistics: Study of language and society Code-switching: Alternating between languages or dialects Applied anthropology: Using anthropological knowledge to solve practical problems Globalization: Growing worldwide interconnection Medical anthropology: Study of health, illness and healing across cultures Free flashcards from Peabody at peabody.kids/flashcards/tp-anthropology