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28 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What problems exist with Lewis Henry Morgan's unilineal theory of evolution?
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It isn't fluid, and many societies at the "top" have not lasted (e.g. Rome). It worked on a global scale, but not a local one.
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What is the alternate system of societies?
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Mobile foragers, segmentary societies, chiefdoms, and states.
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What are the characteristics of mobile foragers?
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The !Kung people are modern foragers, gathering a wide range of plant food and taking game as each is in season. Mobile foragers are amongst the most egalitarian of groups. The !Kung, however, are losing egalitarianism due to warfare and illness.
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What are the characteristics of segmentary societies?
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The people of Catalhoyuk of central Anatolia were a segmentary society. They lived 7500 - 5700 BCE in a city of a few thousand egalitarian farmers. Not one person was more important than others. Kinship was very important. Barley and wheat were staple crops. Goddess figurines suggest ancestor worship and rich home spiritual life (not in the city). There were no formal leaders. There was some animal domestication.
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What proof is there for egalitarianism in segmentary societies?
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The graves are equal.
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The cultivation of barley and wheat shows what?
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Domestication.
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What are the characteristics of chiefdoms?
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Kwakiutl in the pacific northwest was one. The people were hunter-gatherers but had an abundance of salmon. This farming from the sea allowed them to settle. Totem poles illustrated family lineages, and family ties were important to status. The chiefdom is very hierarchical, with the wealth of the chiefs displayed ostentatiously. Specialization occurred in crafts, and raiding and trading were common as power struggles developed.
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Who is the father of modern anthropology?
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Franz Boaz.
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What did Boaz propose?
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Cultural relativism.
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What is cultural relativism?
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The idea that each culture must be understood on its own terms.
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What is the potlatch system?
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A chief threw a party, gave gifts away (e.g. food, copper), creating a social debt and allowing a chief to elevate his status regardless of family ties.
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What happened to the potlatch system?
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It was outlawed by colonizers and eventually moved underground. It became more complex as trade goods were added to the economy.
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What are the characteristics of states?
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The Maya civilization was a state. It existed from 250 - 900 CE and had a writing system to record births, deaths, and deeds of dynastic rulers. It was comprised of thousands of hierarchically organized sites surrounded by smaller agricultural villages. The products farmed there were seized and sold back. The state is characterized by a power disparity.
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What is the relationship between Tikal and Chichen Itza and Tulum?
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Tikal and Chichen Itza were major urban and religious centers, while Tulum was a small center of honey production and trade.
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What is the goal of anthropologists in looking at social organizations?
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They seek patterned relationships in types of social and economic organization, settlement plans, religious organization, etc, which leads to correlations between type of society and characteristics.
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How do archaeologists infer social organization?
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They inspect site types and hierarchy, monuments and public works, burials, and use ethnoarchaeology.
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Why are monuments and public works indicative of a certain type of society?
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They did not exist in egalitarian societies, paying homage to leaders or serving religious purposes. In many cases, powerful leaders forced their construction.
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What do foreign items in graves indicate?
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Prestige.
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What are the two types of status?
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Achieved status and ascribed status.
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How does one tell the difference between achieved and ascribed statuses?
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Children who are buried with wealth definitely have ascribed status.
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Why study ancient exchange systems?
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Exchange played a fundamental role in the development of power networks.
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What questions are asked in relation to exchange systems?
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Who got the items?
What items? Where? |
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What is hyperdiffusionism?
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The idea that all cultures evolved from a single place. Early generations of scholars believed that there were very few centers of innovation on the planets.
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Belief that Maya temples and Egyptian pyramids are relatives demonstrates what theory?
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Hyperdiffusionism.
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Describe the case of Great Zimbabwe.
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This was a center of large exchange networks where farmers traded ivory, gold, and cattle. It was occupied by indigenous Africans, but archaeologists had attributed the site to Celts or Arabs.
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What is the problem with hyperdiffusionism?
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It promotes generally racist ideas.
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What is the opposite of hyperdiffusionism?
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The theory that societies exchange very little between them.
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What did the Silk Road trade?
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Materials and philosophical systems.
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