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Anthropology Unit 3
Chapter 12 from text & Sociocultural Human Variation
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Anthropology
Undergraduate 1
10/14/2015

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Term
Variation is...
Definition
inherent in the natural world (plants, animals, clouds) and the social world (humans, human groups, social roles)
Term
What do human groups order variation into and what is done with them?
Definition
Order variation into categories. They are named, discussed, and sometimes studied.
Term
Why do humans put each other into groups?
Definition
they attempt order on complex natural and social pheno
mena is NECESSARY oversimplification
Term
Salient Features
Definition
the most frequently used criteria for ordering variation
Term
After humans assign VALUES to categories then do what?
Definition
Rank them.
Term
All categories of humans are social constructs, so why are they still around?
Definition
People still believe it is intrinsic order and "the way things actually are"
Term
Racism
Definition
A result of the tendency to classify and value
Term
The Great Chain of Being
Definition
a value ranking of human groups
*know diagram*
Term
how were humans ranked?
Definition
from best/most human to worst/least human
Term
Noah and his 3 sons
Definition
Homme saw Noah passed out naked and brought disgrace on his father and was cursed. When him and his 3 brothers were given continents. Since Homme was cursed the people of his continent (Africa) had to sever the peoples of his brothers continents (Europe & Asia)
Term
How Homo europeanus (Europeans) were classified based on Linnaeus
Definition
Fair, optimistic, brawny, yellow/brown and flowing hair, blue eyes, gentle, acute, inventive. Covered with closed clothing. Governed by laws.
Term
How Homo asiaticus (Asians) were classified based on Linnaeus
Definition
Sooty, sad, rigid. Black hair. dark eyes. Severe, haughty, covetous. Covered in loose garments. Governed by opinions.
Term
How Homo afer (Africans) were classified by Linnaeus
Definition
Black, clam, unemotional, relaxed. Black frizzled hair. Silky skin. Flat nose. Anoints himself with grease. Governed by mood/behavior.
Term
How Homo americanus (Indian Americans) are classified by Linnaeus
Definition
Copped colored skin, bad tempered, irritable, erect. Black, straight, thick, hair. Wide nostrils. harsh face with small beard. Stubborn, content free. Paints himself with fine red lines. Regulated by customs.
Term
How did racial taxonomies define and what were they believed to be?
Definition
Defined based off of biological and cultural characteristics. They were believed to be unique to particular groups and uniformly expressed within them.
Term
Why is it impossible to draw distinct boundaries between populations?
Definition
characteristics that were used to define race are continuous in their range of expression
Term
Franz Boaz
Definition
first white social scientist to minimize the importance of race as a determinant of human behavior.
Term
Louis Henry Morgan
Definition
Believed that human groups all started as savages. They are only different now because some groups went through the lower levels of culture faster than others. The faster they went the higher on the hierarchy they were and vise versa.
Term
Society is a group of people who
Definition
depend on one another for survival/well-being
though obligation privileges & rights
who view themselves as being distinct physically, culturally, or both from other groups of people
Term
What are the four things societies tend to have in common?
Definition
a territory, a history, a language, and a culture
Term
How do humans differ?
Definition
race, sex, age/generation, nationality/citizenship, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, religion, region of residence, recurrent social situations, hobbies, voluntary associations
Term
How do humans differ under socioeconomic status?
Definition
wealth: income, education, occupation, opportunity
Term
Race
Definition
a social category based on distinguishing physical/cultural characteristics
Term
Ethnic Group
Definition
a social category based on distinguishing cultural characteristics
Term
How are minority groups characterized?
Definition
collective discrimination/unequal treatment, less wealth, less power, fewer privileges, less prestige, lower status, numerical minority,cultural dissimilarities, and distinctive appearance
Term
All societies must determine how to...
Definition
feed, clothe, and shelter themselves
determine rights and responsibilities
give meaning and significance to their lives
live peacefully with each other
deal with those who live differently
Term
Culture is (3)...
Definition
the way of life of a society
is a consensus of norms
is made possible by language/symbolic communication
Term
Elements of culture
Definition
material culture/artifacts
values, attitudes & beliefs
behaviors
*what we value affects our behavior*
Term
non-material culture
Definition
values, attitudes & beliefs
behaviors
Term
Norms
Definition
that which most people do, think, feel or say most of the times
norms are codified rules
Term
what are most elements of non-material culture?
Definition
They are normative: they are widely shared by most members of society
Term
what are the two kinds of norms?
Definition
ideal norms: what everyone should do
real norms: what everyone actually does
Term
When people report on norms what do they do?
Definition
over report the good
under report the bad
Term
culture is made possible by...
Definition
language or symbolic communications
Term
symbols
Definition
things that stand for or represent something else
Term
what does language allow?
Definition
human experiences to be cumulative: cook books, phone contacts, gps
shard perspectives/understandings of the past and future:political parties
the exchange of perspectives: debates
complex shared goal-directed behaviors
Term
what are the three characteristics of culture?
Definition

Culture is: learned not genetic

learned through observation, inquiry, & participation shared by the dominant culture

Term
subculture
Definition
a variant of a dominant culture usually occurring within societies with large populations
ex) goths
you can take off the subculture and put i ton when you choose
don't threaten the dominant culture
Term
counterculture
Definition
a variant culture, often consciously constructed or contrived that challenges society's norms especially it's values
ex) American Nazi Party
Threaten dominant cultures views
Term
culture is adaptive to...
Definition
the physical environments
to other societies
to a society's own history
Term
why is unchanging culture important?
Definition
it is the way we organize our world and make it predictable
Term
social institutions
Definition
the way in which a community meets their basic needs: the law, family, technology
Tend to support each other but they don't change a the same rate
Term
Ethnocentrism definition
Definition
judging other cultures, their behaviors, and beliefs, from the perspective of one's own culture. The idea that one's own culture is more beautiful, rational, or nearer to perfection than others
Term
Ethnocentrism: how people react
Definition
what seems logical, sensible, important, and reasonable to one person in one culture may seem stupid and unimportant to another
Feelings of apprehension, loneliness, and lack of confidence when visiting another culture
when people talk about another culture they describe the differences not the similarities
Differences between cultures are generally seen as threatening & described negatively
Requires experiences as well as study to understand the subtleties of another culture
Term
cultural relativism
Definition
the idea that cultures should be analyzed with reference to their own histories and values in terms of the cultural whole rather than according to the values of another culture. The position that the values and standards of cultures differ and deserve respect.
Term
Enculturation
Definition
the process through which culture is leaned & transmitted across generations:
observation
inquiry
participation
Term
Assimilation
Definition
the process through which an immigrant abandons some or most of their culture in favor of the new one. It has occurred when an immigrant knows enough of the new culture to meet his or her basic needs
Term
Acculturation
Definition
borrowing elements of culture between two cultures, often in a dominant-subordinate relationship
ex) Europeans & Native Americans
Term
Invention
Definition
Creating an original device, process of culture pattern. An invention should make possible what was previously impossible or difficult.
Term
Innovation
Definition
A new variation on an existing device, process, or cultural pattern that is subsequently accepted by other members of the society.
Term
Diffusion
Definition
the spread of cultural elements from one culture to another through cultural contact.
Term
Rebellion
Definition
An attempt by a group within society to force a redistribution of recourses and power.
Term
Revolution
Definition
an attempt to overthrow an existing form of political organization and put another type of political structure in its place.
Term
Tools
Definition
reflections of the thoughts of the people (or chimps) who made them, they are tangible ideas
Term
the ideas of tools
Definition
idea of the proper form of an object exists in the mind of the maker
the idea is the mental template from which the crafts person makes the object
when an idea is expressed in tangible form and artifact results
many useful tools and inventions were made through tinkering
Term
Earliest unnamed tool tradition
Definition
3.3 million years old
discovered in Kenya
predates human genus
possibly associated with australopithecus afarensis
Term
Oldowan tools
bp = before present
Definition
2.6-1.5 million bp
make by percussion flaking
unifacial
associated with the first hominins to leave africa
individual design
used for skinning, cutting joints/meat, breaking bones, cutting plants
retained for future use
traveled to find the right rocks
chimps cannot be taught to make these
Term
Percussion Flaking
Definition
take another rock and hit it repeatedly knocking off flakes and working the rock
Term
Acheulian tools
Definition
1.5-125,000 bp, made by homo erectus, migration to eurpose and southwest asia, bifacial tools, the handaxe, high degree of standardization implying a well-defined mental image of the end product, no composite artifacts (made of several parts)
Term
Homo erectus
Definition
1.89 million-143,000 bp
sophisticated social organization, clothing, & controlled use of fire
shared tools by more than one person which implies speech, well developed hypoglossal canal (under tongue), higher level of technical intelligence than oldawan
Term
Mousterian tools
Definition
made by homo sapiens
125,000-28,000 bp
shows continuity
more sophisticated that acheulian
levallois stone flaking technique
Term
Late Palaolithic fine stone-blade technology
Definition
made by homo sapiens, soft hammer technique, pressure flaking,
Term
Homo Sapiens
Definition
196,000 +/- 5,000 years old
brain size 1300cc
rapid expanision to all corners of the world
cognitive fluidity
linked social, spiritual, & natural worlds though symbolism
make houses out of mammoth bones & covered it with hides
lived in the mouth of caves & rocks
venus figurines: fertility symbols, figures of women, very small
Term
Multi-regional origin
Definition
homo erectus left africa about 1.8 million years ago, dispersed throughout the old world and evolved into homo sapiens. Gene flow prevented regional speciation
Term
what are tools mainly made of?
Definition
flint, chert, obsidian
Term
Cleavage
Definition
breaking apart cleanly with the grain without shattering
all rocks have
Term
Conchodial Fracture
Definition
a piece of rick that comes off in the shape of a shell
Term
Single origin
Definition
homo erectus left afica 1.8 million years ago but homo sapiens evolved only in africa. Homo sapiens left africa 100-200,000 years ago. Repleaced all other species of homo living outside africa
Term
Fossil evidence supporting the single origin
Definition
forms transitional archaic homo sapiens and anatomically modern homo sapiens are found only in Africa
archaics and moderns over lap in some areas
sophiticated tools first appear in africa their spread out is associated with sapiens
Term
Fossil evidence supporting multi-regional
Definition
continuity of regional traits over long periods, into contemporary times--especially strong in china
tool kits can be quickly borrowed
Term
Genetic evidence of the single origin theory
Definition
homo sapiens are genetically homogeneous, less variation than in any species of great apes
mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome DNA suggest a young species caused by bottlenecking
Term
Genetic evidence that supports the multi-regional theory
Definition
Africa had the largest human population until very recently so it should have the greatest genetic diversity
neanderthal DNA is present in ~5% concentration in some human DNA
Term
Debra L. Fridekn site
Definition
may be the earliest place of demonstrable human habitation in the Western Hemisphere
15,000 ybp
Term
when was the Clovis culture first discovered?
Definition
11,500-10,900 ybp
Term
Clovis point spear head characteristics
Definition
fine grained stone
lanceolate shape
concave base
ground edges near base
central flute on both sides
Term
From Asia by Land
Definition
migration occured over the land bridge (no ice)
Full Paleo-Indian genome sequenced in 2014-ancestors of Native Americans originated from Asian Pop
A lot of the water now was in a glacier so the sea levels were a lot lower
Land bridge submereged by 10,000 ybp
Term
From Asia by Boat
Definition
Evidence is likely all underwater in shark terrioty
possible rapid advance south along continental shelf's kelp forest ecosystem
best alternative hypothesis from Asia by land
Term
From Europe by Boat
Definition
Migration from Spain to the Americas along the edges of glacial sea ice
association of Clovis and soluteran tools
Term
From Ploynesia by Boat
Definition
supported by historical occurance: Easter Islanders came to soudth americana nd amted with native americans between A.D. 1280 & 1495
Term
From west africa by boat
Definition
1600 miless across open waters
long way riding just currents.
unlikely
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