Exam 1 Flashcards
(36 cards)
Feild that uses excavation of sites and analysis of material remains to investigate cultures that existed before the development of writing
Prehistoric Archaology
Field that investigates the past of literate peoples through excavation of sites and analysis of artifacts and other material remains
Historic archaeology
Physical differences among human poplulations; an interest of physical anthropologists
Human Variation
The assumtion that any aspect of a culture is integrated with other aspects, so that no dimension of culture can be understood in isolation
Holistic perspective
Theoretical orientation that rejects attemps to explain culture in general in favor of achieving an empathetic understanding of particulat cultures
Humanistic approach
The attitude or opinion that the morals, values, and customs of one’s own culture are superior to those of other peoples
Ethnocentrism
A written description of the way of life of some human populations
Ethnography
The transmission ( by means of social learning ) of a cultural knowledge to the next generation
Enculturation
Scientific approach emphasizing that humans are animals and so are subject to similar evolutionary forces as other animals; associated with the hypothesis that behavior patterns enhance inclusive fitness.
Evolutionary Psychology
The study of past cultures using witten accounts and other documents
Ethnohistoric research
The study of human cultures from a comparitive perspective; often used as a synonym for cultural anthropology
Ethnology
The idea that biologically (genetically) inherited differences between populations are important influences on cultural differences between them
Biological determinism
The insistence by anthropologists that valid hypotheses and theories about humanity be tested with informtion from a wide range of cultures
Comparitive Perspective
The notion that one should not judge the behavior of other peoples using the standards of one’s own culture.
Cultural relativism
The notion that the beliefs and behaviors of individuals are largely programmed by their culture
Cultural determinism
Ways in which the members of a culture divide up the natural and social world into categories, usually linguistically encoded.
Classifications of reality
Theoretical idea that each culture historically develops its own unique thematic patterns around which beliefs, values, and behavioers are oriented.
Configurationalism
The feeling of uncertainty and anxiety an individual experiences when placed in a strange cultural setting.
Culture Shock
Ethnographic research that involves observing and interviewing the members of a culture to describe their current way of life.
Fieldwork
Shared ideals and/or expectations about how certain people ought to act in given situations
Norms
“New Evolutionism” or the mid-twentieth-century rebirth of evolutionary approaches to the theoretical study of culture.
Neo-Evolutionism
Within a single culture, the behavior most people perform when they are in cerain culturally defined situations
Patterns of Behavior
The specialization of physical anthropology that investigates the biological evolution of the human species
Paleoanthropology
Rights and duties that individuals assume because of their perceived personal identity or membership in a social group. Also, the social and/or economic position a field researcher defines fo him- or herself in the community studied.
Role
