Chapter 1 Vocabulary From Humanity: An Intro To Cultural Anthropology

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archaeology

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the investigation of past cultures through excavation of material remains

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prehistoric archaeology

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field that uses excavation of sites and analysis of material remains to investigate cultures that existed before the development of writing

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historic archaeology

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field that investigates the past of literate peoples through excavation of sites and analysis of artifacts and other material remains

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biological (physical) anthropology

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major subfield of anthropology that studies the biological dimensions of humans and other primates

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primatology

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the study of primates; including monkeys and apes; subfield of biological anthropology

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human variation

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physical differences among human populations; an interest of physical anthropologists

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paleoanthropology

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the specialization of physical anthropology that investigates the biological evolution of the human species

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forensic anthropology

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a specialization with physical anthropology that analyzes and identifies human remains

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cultural anthropology (social anthropology, sociocultural anthropology, ethnology)

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the subfield that studies the way of life of contemporary and historically recent peoples

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fieldwork

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ethnographic research that involves observing and interviewing the members of a culture to describe their way of life

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ethnography

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a written description of the way of life of some human population

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anthropological linguistics

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subfield that focuses on the interrelationships between language and other aspects of a peoples culture

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applied anthropology

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subfield whose practitioners use anthropological methods, theories, and concepts to solve practical, real world problems; practitioners are often employed by a government agency or private organization

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medical anthropology

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the specialization that researches the connections between cultural beliefs and habits and the spread and treatment of diseases and illnesses

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holstic perspective

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the assumption that any aspect of a culture is integrated with other aspects, so that no dimension of culture can be understood in isolation

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comparative perspective

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the insistence by anthropologists that valid hypotheses and theories about humanity be tested with information from a wide range of cultures

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cultural relativism

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the notion that one should not judge the behavior of other peoples using the standard of one's own culture

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ethnocentrism

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the attitude or opinion that the morals, values, and customs of one's own culture are superior to those of other peoples