Chapter 2: Roots and Meaning of Culture

Question 1

Cultural Ecology

Answer 1

interrelations of people to environment of a given area, their perceptions and utilization of it, and their impact on it
- study of relationship between culture group and natural environment it occupies

Question 2

Environment determinism

Answer 2

belief that physical environment exclusively shapes humans and their cultures

Question 3

Guns, Germs, and Steel

Question 4

Cultural hearths

Answer 4

• center of innovation and invention from which key culture traits and elements spread
• place of origin of any culture group whose developed systems of livelihood and life created distinctive cultural landscape

Question 5

Earliest Cultural Hearth

Question 6

Multilinear cultural evolution

Answer 6

• common characteristics of widely separated cultures developed under similar ecological circumstances
• environmental zones tend to induce common adaptive traits in cultures of those who exploit these areas

Question 7

Structure of Culture: Ideological subsystem

Answer 7

• mythologies and theologies, legend, language, literature, philosophy, ethical systems and folk wisdom
• mentifacts

Question 8

Contagious Diffusion

Answer 8

reflects importance of direct contact between those who developed or adopted innovation and those who newly encounter it
- similar to infectious disease, results in continuous spread of innovations (like waves)

Question 9

Diffusion barrier (exception to diffusion)

Question 10

Culture trait

Answer 10

• elementary expression of culture
• building block of complex behavioral patterns of distinctive groups of people
• may be object, technique, or belief

Question 11

Culture complex

Answer 11

• individual cultural traits that are functionally interrelated
• assemblage of these traits
• cultural traits and complexes have areal extent, and can be plotted on maps

Question 12

Culture system

Answer 12

• collection of interaction cultural traits and complexes shared by groups within a territory
• broader generalization than culture complex

Question 13

Culture region

Answer 13

• portion of earth’s surface occupied by populations sharing recognizable and distinctive cultural characteristics

Question 14

Culture realm

Answer 14

• set of culture regions whenever they show related culture complexes and landscapes
• large segment of earth’s surface having assumed fundamental uniformity in culture characteristics and showing significant diff. in them from adjacent realms

Question 15

Zelinsky’s Vernacular (Perceptual) regions

Answer 15

• cultural region
• ex. “Dixie” in the South
• based on regional terms used in names of businesses

Question 16

Environmental possibilism

Answer 16

natural environment constrains or limits culture, making some cultural variants possible than others, but it doesn’t strictly determine culture

Question 17

Cultural autonomy

Answer 17

cultures are equally likely to develop set of cultural traits no matter what environmental circumstances

Question 18

Mentifacts

Answer 18

• psychofacts

- abstract concepts; what to believe, what we value, how we should act

Question 19

Structure of Culture: Technological subsystem

Answer 19

• tools and other instruments that enable us to feed, clothe, house, defend, transport, and amuse ourselves
• artifacts

Question 20

Artifacts

Answer 20

• the objects/tools that enable us to feed, clothe, etc. ourselves
• the material object we use to fill these needs

Question 21

Structure of Culture: Sociological subsystem

Answer 21

• sum of those expected and accepted patterns of interpersonal relations and social rituals that find their outlet in economic, political, military, religious, kinship and mating, etc.
• sociofacts

Question 22

Sociofacts

Answer 22

rules defining social organization

Question 23

Hierarchical Diffusion

Answer 23

pattern of transferring ideas first between larger places or prominent people and later smaller or less important points/people

Question 24

Relocation Diffusion

Answer 24

occurs when innovation is carried to new areas by migrating individuals or populations that possess it

Question 25

Cultural Convergence

Answer 25

sharing of technology, organizational structure, cultural traits, and artifacts