Introduction to Anthropology - Final Exam Study Guide PDF

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These are my notes that I used to study for my last exam...

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Introduction to Anthropology - Final Exam Study Guide Chapter 2 - Why is the concept of culture important? ❏ What are the five characteristics of human culture? 1. Culture is learned At birth, one does not know what culture they take part in We learn culture with socialization and enculturation Socialization (direct approach) is the process of learning to live as a member of a group interacting appropriately with others Learning how to behave with other people Enculturation is learning the ways of thinking and feeling considered appropriate (with our own inference on reactions) - how to be a member of your culture Learning how to think correctly culturally with your people

2. Culture is shared Culture is shared because it allows us to understand each other's behaviour and anticipate each other's behaviour

3. Culture is patterned Related cultural beliefs and practices show up repeatedly in different areas of life Ex: individualism in North America, collectivism in East Asia (Japan)

4. Culture is adaptive Builds on what was there before and changes; does not stay static Adapts to different circumstances (environment

5. Culture is symbolic

Everything we do, we get involved in… represents our thoughts and beliefs ❏ What is ethnocentrism? - Opinion that one’s way of life is natural or correct, indeed the only way of being fully human - Making judgment on another culture based off your own (Ex: ew, it’s gross that some cultures eat bugs...it’s not right.)

❏ What is cultural relativism? - Understanding another culture in its own terms sympathetically enough so that the culture appears to be coherent and a meaningful design for living - Understanding a culture through their perspective

In-class lecture on patterns of subsistence (how we get food) Pattern of subsistence is the different ways people organize to gather food Hunting and Gathering = foraging

❏ Who hunts, and who gathers? Men were in charge of hunting Women did the gathering: - Gathering supplies about 80% of the food. - That is, it supplies more food than hunting it’s predictable and the sources are consistent ❏ What kind of environments do they live in? Marginal environments. margins of a city (ex: deserts, rain forests, artics) Since they rely mostly on gathering, I would assume that they live in warm, rainforest like environments. Places where land is fertile and soils are best for crop growing.

❏ What kind of division of labour do they usually follow? - They follow an egalitarian division of labour - Every man is primarily a hunter of animals and every woman is mainly a gatherer of plants. Economic roles are mostly based on gender and age. However, it is not unusual for some tasks to be performed by either men or women. Gathering of firewood as well as collecting mollusks, insects, and other small game for food are often non-gender specific activities.

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Everybody's work is equally valued. Nobody’s work is seem more important than others

❏ Why is sharing important? Sharing is important as to avoid spoiled and rotten food. They will share foods with other groups when they have a surplus

❏ Why are they nomadic? Most foraging societies do not establish permanent year-round settlements. Rather, they have relatively temporary encampments with tents, brush huts, or other easily constructed dwellings. The length of time that they stay in any one location is largely determined by the availability of food and water that is readily obtainable. In regions that experience seasonal variations in climate, foragers usually carry out a round of migrations determined by the resources that can be exploited at particular times of the year in different areas of their territories. In this way, they increase the amount of food and can support somewhat larger populations than otherwise. However, their migrations are limited by the fact that most foraging societies travel on foot.

❏ How large are their groups? Groups consist mostly of 50-100 people. The children are further apart in age because parents wanted to avoid needing to carry babies when travelling. Social factors rather than food scarcity usually limit the community size. With increased numbers of people, there is increased potential for social conflict. The result is a splitting of the band. Fissioning of the community into two bands that go their own way has the effect of preventing a large population concentration that could strain the carrying capacity of the environment. ❏ What kind of leadership do they have? Egalitarian, no specific leader (no chief, no specific leader)

Pastoralism: subsistence pattern in which people make their living by tending herds of large animals.

❏ What kinds of animals do they herd? Mainly domesticated herbivores Ex: cattle, goats, sheeps, yacks, alpacas, llamas, reindeers ❏ Why do they raise animals? What are they used for? - Animals are their wealth - They raise herds of animals for products. For example: dairy products, wool, blood… - They can also trade their animals with other groups for products they do not have. - Do not eat the animals (only on occasions) ❏ What are beasts of burden? Beast of burden are “travelling animals”. Their task is to carry the group’s loads from one place to another. Different from the animals that they raise Ex: donkey, camel, horse… ❏ Why are they nomadic? - Take animals to their food - Pastoral nomads follow a seasonal migratory pattern that can vary from year to year. The timing and destinations of migrations are determined primarily by the needs of the herd animals for water and fodder. - Pastoral nomads are usually self-sufficient in terms of food and most other necessities. ❏ What kind of division of labour do they usually follow? Division of labour tends to be sexually segregated ❏ What kinds of shelters do they have? Semi-permanent housings, houses that can be moved like tipis and yurts These nomadic societies do not create permanent settlements, but rather they live in tents or other relatively easily constructed dwellings the year round ❏ How many people can be sustained? Can subtain up 1000 people

Horticulture Horticulture is small scale, low intensity farming. This subsistence pattern involves at least part time planting and tending of domesticated food plants. ❏ How do they plant crops? They plant their crops using simple tools/hand tools They use pointed sticks, hoes, or other hand tools to make holes in the soil to plant their seeds, tubers, and cuttings. ❏ Why are they sedentary? Permanent housing, at mercy of weather which leads to more children ❏ What kind of division of labour do they usually follow? Sexually segregated division of labour = hierarchy Dual sex: work together for a common goal ❏ What is slash and burn horticulture? When production drops due to the inevitable depletion of soil nutrients, horticulturalists move to a new field or a long fallow one to plant their crops. They clear the wild vegetation with a slash and burn technique. Brush and small trees are cut down and allowed to dry out in place. They are then burned. This simultaneously clears the field of all but large trees and adds ash to the soil surface. The ash acts as a fertilizer. No other fertilizer is applied to the field. As a result, soil productivity lasts only for a few years. Clearing areas for new field Clears land and gets rid of pests ❏ How many people can be sustained? Up to 2000 people

Agriculture ❏ What is the difference between agriculture and horticulture? Agriculture uses machinery (tractors, plows…) for crop care and growing. ❏ Why are they sedentary? - Crops and animals needed to be taken care for (usually on one permanent land and need to be taken care of) - Permanent year round settlements became necessary because the food source was immobile. - As a consequence, more time and effort were expended in building houses that would

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last for generations. Surplus crops produced by farmers were sold in village markets. Some of these market centers increased in population over time and became towns and eventually cities.

❏ Why can people specialize in different occupations? - People are producing more food than needed so that they can do other stuff - Do work outside of food production - Making enough food, more than what a family needs - Agriculture is associated with villages / village markets => specialization - There was an evolution of a complex division of labor. - Many new kinds of jobs appeared, including merchants, craftsmen, professional soldiers, priests, rulers, and bureaucrats. - The emerging urban centers were occupied mainly by these non-food-producing specialists and their families. ❏ Why are GMOs a concern? GMO stands for genetically modified organisms, we do not know what effects they have on humans Will it cause cancer, health issues

Chapter 7 - Why do Anthropologists Study Economic Relations? How people make a living - how they gain access to their basic needs

❏ What are the three types of reciprocity? Generalized reciprocity: - Is found when those who exchange do so without expecting an immediate return and without specifying the value of the return - Neither the time nor the value of the return is specified - Value is not calculates - No time limit on exchange (no tally because you will benefit eventually) - Within close groups

Balanced reciprocity: - When those who exchange expect a return of equal value within a specified time limit - Between outsiders usually - Done with people of similar hierarchy

Ex: cousins exchanging gifts during christmas time

Negative reciprocity: - An exchange of goods and services which at least one party attempts to get something for nothing without suffering any penalties - Knowingly getting the better exchange - Exchanging products worth less than claimed for better product

❏ What is redistribution, how does it work? A central person or institution gathers goods and then redistributes them to the community Ex: taxes which are redistributed to society by funding education, health, justice… Potlatch: big feast where the chief who is able to gather an abundance of goods will redistribute to people (more for those closest to them/to the chief) ❏ What is market exchange? The exchange of goods (trade) calculated in terms of a multipurpose medium of exchange and standard of value (money) and carried out by means of supply-demand-price mechanism (the market) - Where goods and services are exchanged - There is a supply and a demand (value is decided by the market) - Relationships do not last beyond the exchange

Chapter 9 - Where Do Our Relatives Come From and Why Do They Matter? Know and understand the following terms: Consanguine Relation by blood

Lineage Cooperative descent group whose members can trace a link to a common ancestor

Patrilocal When a newly married couple move/live near or with the groom’s father

Affine Non-blood relatives; usually by marriage

Clan Non-cooperative descent group whose members may be able to trace a link to a known real or mythical ancestor

Matrilocal When a newly married couple move/live near or with the the bride’s mother

Unilineal Descent/relation is determined through either the mothers or fathers side

Endogamy Marry into a specific group

Neolocal N.w.c move to a new place on their own

Matrilineal Descent through the female line only

Exogamy Marry outside of a specific group

Avunculocal (uncle) N.w.c live with or near the groom’s mother’s brother

Patrilineal Through the male line only

Monogamy Married only to 1 person

Bridewealth Agreed upon gift that the groom, or his family, pays to the bride’s family upon marriage for loss of her labour and childbearing capacities

Double Patrilineal and matrilineal descent (no overlap)

Serial monogamy 1 spouse at a time

Bride service An agreed upon amount of time that the groom works for the bride’s family upon marriage

3 types of unilineal descent

Patrilineal for some things, matrilineal for others Bilateral Descent that is determined through both the male and female line

(most common form of marriage) Polygamy Several spouses at the same time

Dowry A woman’s inheritance paid to her by parents, or to the groom’s family upon marriage

2 types of polygamy Cross cousin Children of your parent’s sibling of opposite sex

Polyandry** 1 woman with 2 or + husbands

Collaterality Difference between kins in direct line (mother, father) and off the side (aunt, uncle)

Polygyny 1 man with 2 or + wives

Bifurcation Kinship term referring to the mother’s side of the family are different from the father’s

Ex: father’s sister and mother’s brother Parallel cousin Children of the siblings (same sex) of your parents

Ex: father’s brother and mother’s sister

side of the family Specific kinship terms differentiating a relative from one side from another Ex: grandma vs mawmaw vs noona

Kinship Kinship systems are social relationships that are prototypically derived from the univera; human experience of mating, birth and nurturance 3 types of relationships: 1. Mating: having sex 2. Birth: descent 3. Nurture: adoption; taking care of/nurturing the child

❏ Eskimo kinship Typical western kin pattern. Only our birth parents are our parents, and their relatives are our aunts and uncles ❏ Iroquois kinship Parallel cousins are brothers and sisters. Hence, parallel aunts and uncles are actually mom and dad ❏ Hawaiian kinship All the consanguineal kin adults are considered as a parent of ego - they take on a parental role/figure

❏ Crow kinship System where you are recognizing matrilineal kins (from both parent’s side)

❏ Omaha kinship System where you are recognizing patrilineal kins (from both parent’s side)

Chapter 6 - How Do We Make Meaning?

❏ What are myths? - Stories that recount how various aspects of the world came to be, the way they are and that make life meaningful for those who accept them - Can explain ideal behaviours: how the world ought to function, how families should organize, how to behave in the world - Myths have to make sense and give sense (even though they are not literal) - When taken literally, they direct people where they have come from and where they are going and, thus, how they should live right now

❏ What is ritual? A repetitive social practice composed of a sequence of symbolic activities that is set off from the social routines of everyday life, adheres to a culturally defined ritual schema, and closely connects to a specific set of ideas that are often encoded in myth ❏ What are the four parts of the definition of ritual? 1. A ritual is a repetitive social practice: - Composed of a sequence of symbolic activities; dance, songs, prayers

2. Rituals are set off from the social routines of everyday life: - You need to make up special time for the ritual; outside the normal routine

3. Rituals adhere to a characteristic culturally defined scheme: - Even if we are not acknowledged about what ritual exist, we are able to recognize them

4. Rituals are closely connected to a specific set of ideas that are often encoded in myth: - Behaviours, the repetition, the stories being told...they are closely connected to the mythology of the people

❏ What is a rite of passage? A rite of passage recognizes a person’s transition form one status to another Marks one’s transition A ritual that serves to mark the movement and transformation of an individual from one social position to another ❏ What are the 3 phases? 1. Separation

2. Transition (liminal phase) - Must go through a physical and psychological ordeal - Gaining new knowledge, new perspective on mythology 3. Reaggregation - When you are reintroduced to your group with your new status

❏ What is a rite of intensification? A ritual that people have to bring people together after a crisis Ex: a funeral, natural disaster, war

❏ What are the kinds of supernatural belief? Supernatural beliefs help explain the inexplicable Animism: - everything and everyone; all items of the universe Ancestral spirits/worship: - Even when a relative passes, their spirit is still connected to you Animatism : - Animation -> supernatural force impersonal, finite

❏ What is magic? Using spells and incantations to compel supernatural visible/invisible forces to work for you (ex: Harry Potter)

❏ What is witchcraft? Witchcraft is a type of magic. It is magic that is used to cause harm - evil (always)...