Anthro Exam Ii

Front 1

Domestication

Back 1

a coevolutionary process in which any given [species] diverges from an
original gene pool and establishes a symbiotic protection and dispersal relationship with the
animal feeding upon it

Front 2

Agriculture

Back 2

human efforts to modify the environments of plants and animals to increase
their productivity and usefulness

Front 3

Oasis Hypothesis

Back 3

the theory that domestication began as a symbiotic
relationship between humans, plants, and animals at oases during the desiccation of
Southwest Asia at the end of the Pleistocene

Front 4

Natural Habitat Hypothesis

Back 4

the theory that the earliest domesticates
appeared in the area that their wild ancestors inhabited

Front 5

Population Pressure Hypothesis

Back 5

...theory that population increase in
Southwest Asia upset the balance between people and food, forcing people to turn to
agriculture as a way to produce more food

Front 6

Edge-zone Hypothesis

Back 6

the theory that the need for more food was initially
felt at the margins of the natural habitat of the ancestors of domesticated plants and animals;
a revised version of the population pressure hypothesis

Front 7

Quern

Back 7

a stone grinding surface for preparing grains and...other materials

Front 8

Rachis

Back 8

the stem that holds seeds to the stalk in wheat and other pl

Front 9

Glume

Back 9

the tough seed cover of many cereal kernels

Front 10

Tell

Back 10

a mound composed of mudbricks and refuse, accumulated as a result of human activity

Front 11

Diffusion

Back 11

transmission of cultural traits from one society to another

Front 12

Social Complexity

Back 12

1. presence of interlocking economic, social, and political hierarchies
within a society; 2. presence of elite groups having greater access to economic resources,
power, and prestige positions

Front 13

Reciprocity

Back 13

the sharing of food and goods freely and directly among the members of a
community

Front 14

Redistribution

Back 14

the accumulation of food or goods by a particular person or in a particular
place for later sharing among the members of the community

Front 15

Market Exchange

Back 15

the trade of goods and services in which prices are subject to the forces of
supply and demand

Front 16

Band

Back 16

a fairly small, usually nomadic, local group that is politically autonomous

Front 17

Tribe

Back 17

type of political system in which local groups mostly act autonomously, but can be
temporarily and informally integrated into a larger unit

Front 18

Chiefdom

Back 18

political unit permanently integrating a number of local groups, but not
necessarily the entire society or language group

Front 19

State

Back 19

political unit with centralized decision-making affecting a large population and
possessing a governmental monopoly on the legitimate use of force to implement policies

Front 20

Egalitarian Society

Back 20

all persons of a given age-sex category have equal access to economic
resources, power and prestige

Front 21

Rank Society

Back 21

a society in which individuals have equal access to economic resources, but
with social groups that have unequal access to power and prestige

Front 22

Class Society

Back 22

a society containing social groups having unequal access to economic
resources, power and prestige

Front 23

Productivity

Back 23

food calories obtained per unit of land (acre, hectare, etc.)

Front 24

Paleopathology

Back 24

study of signs of disease in the remains of ancient peoples

Front 25

Pastoralists

Back 25

nomadic communities whose livelihood is based primarily on the herding of
domesticated animals

Front 26

Transhumance

Back 26

seasonal movement of people and their herds in response to climatic and
vegetational changes

Front 27

Polytheism

Back 27

belief in many gods

Front 28

Anthropomorphism

Back 28

belief that supernatural beings have human physical characteristics

Front 29

Cylinder Seal

Back 29

a small roller engraved with a design, usually identifying the owner, used to
impress a clay tablet

Front 30

Ziggurat

Back 30

a large pyramid in Mesopotamia consisting of many stepped levels that support a
temple

Front 31

Writing System

Back 31

a conventionalized set of marks or signs that represent spoken language

Front 32

Pictogram

Back 32

a pictorial sign that represents a concrete object; a form of proto-writing

Front 33

Ideogram

Back 33

an outmoded term for a sign that supposedly represents an abstract idea
independently of any particular language

Front 34

Logographic

Back 34

a writing system in which a sign (logogram) represents a word or unit of
meaning (morpheme)

Front 35

Phonographic

Back 35

a writing system in which a sign represents a speech sound (phoneme) or
combination of sounds

Front 36

Rebus

Back 36

a pictorial sign that represents a speech sound or word, often to express a homonym

Front 37

Syllabic

Back 37

a writing system in which a sign (syllabogram) represents a syllable

Front 38

Alphabet

Back 38

a writing system in which signs represent either just consonants or both
consonants and vowels

Front 39

Hieroglyph

Back 39

a vague term that usually refers to a pictorial sign that is incised in
stone and/or brushed onto a surface; glyphs may be logograms or phonograms

Front 40

Bulla

Back 40

solid, oblong piece of clay impressed with a seal to which complex tokens were probably
strung

Front 41

Cuneiform

Back 41

a writing system of ancient Mesopotamia involving a series of wedge-shaped
marks to convey a message or text (447)

Front 42

Nomes

Back 42

geographical provinces of the Egyptian state

Front 43

Nomarchs

Back 43

provincial governors of the Egyptian state

Front 44

Necropolis

Back 44

cemetery

Front 45

Mastaba

Back 45

a rectangular, slope-sided, flat-topped tomb that covered a grave

Front 46

Corbel Arch

Back 46

an overlapping arrangement of bricks or stones in which each course extends
farther out from the vertical of the wall than the course below

Front 47

Stimulis Diffusion

Back 47

diffusion of a basic idea which is then reinterpreted by the receiving
culture

Front 48

Acrophonic Principle

Back 48

representing a sound by a picture of an object whose name begins with
the sound to be represented

Front 49

Determinative

Back 49

in logographic writing, an unpronounced sign conveying meaning only and
indicating the class of words of related meaning to which the referent word belongs

Front 50

Slash-and-Burn

Back 50

a type of shifting cultivation in which the natural vegetation is cut down and
burned off; the cleared ground is used for a short time, then left to regenerate

Front 51

Divination

Back 51

the art of foreseeing future events or discovering hidden knowledge through
supernatural means

Front 52

Omen

Back 52

form of divination in which supernatural powers spontaneously offer clues to the
future or to something unknown in the present; supernatural powers initiate communication

Front 53

Oracle

Back 53

form of divination in which supernatural powers are asked to provide information
about the present or future through the medium of a device, person, animal, or object;
humans initiate communication

Front 54

Scapulimancy

Back 54

the ancient practice of seeking knowledge by reading cracks on...an
animal’s...shoulder blade