Cultural Antrhopology Vocabulary

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anthropology

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The study of humankind in all times and places.

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holistic perspective

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A fundamental principle of anthropology: that the various parts of human culture and biology must be viewed in the broadest possible context in order to understand their interconnections and interdependence.

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ethnocentrism

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The belief that the ways of one's own culture are the only proper ones.

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culture-bound

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Looking at the world an reality based on the asumptions and vlues of one's own culture.

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applied anthropology

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The use of anthropological knowledge and methods to solve practical problems, often for a specific client

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The 4 fields of anthropology

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Cultural Anthropology
Linguistic Anthropology
Archeology
Physical Anthropology

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applied anthropology

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The use of anthropological knowledge and methods to solve practical problems, often for a specific client.

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medical anthropology

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a specialization in anthropology that combines theoretical and applied approaches from cultural and biological anthropology with teh study of human health and disease

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physical anthropology

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The systematic study of humans as biological organisms; also known as biological anthropology

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molecular anthropology

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a branch of biological anthropology that uses genetic and biochemical techniques to test hypotheses about human evolution, adaptation, and variation.

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paleoanthropology

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The study of the origins and predecessors of the present human species, the study of human evolution.

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biocultural

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Focusing on the interaction of biology and culture.

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primatology

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The study of living and fossil non-human primates.

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forensic anthropology

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An applied subfield of physical anthropology that specializes in the identification of human remains for legal purposes.

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cultural anthropology

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Also known as social or sociocultural anthropology. the study of customary patterns in human behavior, thought, and feelings. It focuses on humans as culture-producing and culture-reproducing creatures.

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Culture definition

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A society's share ans socially transmitted ideas, values, and perceptions, which are used to make sense of experience and generate behavior and are reflected in that behavior.

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Culture traits

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Changes (Dynamic)
Learned,
Integrated
Pluralistic
Shared,
Based on Symbols

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ethnography

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A detailed description of a particular culture primarily based on fieldwork.

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fieldwork

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on-location research

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participant observation

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In ethnography, the technique of learning a people's culture thruogh social participation and personal observation within the community being studied, as well as interviews and discussion with individual members of the group over an extended period of time.

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ethnology

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The study and analysis of different cultures from a comparative or historical point of view, utilizing ethnographic accounts and developing anthropological theories that help explain why certain important differences or similarities occur among groups.

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linguistic anthropology

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The study of human languages -- looking at their structure, history, and relation to social and cultural contexts.

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discourse

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An extended communication on a particular subject

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archeology

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The study of human cultures through the recovery and analysis of material remains and environmental data.

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bioarcheology

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The archaeological study of human remains, emphasizing the preservation of cultural and social processes in the skeleton.

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cultural resource management

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A branch of archaeology tied to government policies for the protection of cultural resources and involving surveying and/or excavating archaeological and historical remains threatened by construction or development.

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empirical

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Based on observations of the world rather than on intuition or faith.

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hypothesis

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A tentative explanation of the relationships between certain phenomena.

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theory

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In science, an aexplanation of natural phenomena, supported by a reliable body of data.

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doctrine

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An assertion of opinion or belief formally handed down by an authroity as true and indisputable.

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informed consent

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Formal recorded agreement to participate in research; federally mandated for all research in the United States and Europe.

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globalization

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Worldwide interconnectedness, evidenced in global movements of natural resources, trade goods, human labor, finance capital, information, and infectious diseases.

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enculturation

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The process by which a society's culture is passed on from one generation to the next and individuals become members of their society.

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society

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An organized group or groups of interdependent people who generally share a common territory, language, and culture who act together for collective survival and well-being.

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gender

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The cultural elaborations and meanings assigned to the biological differentiation between the sexes.

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subculture

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A distinctive set of ideas, values, and behavior patterns by which a group within a larger society operates, while still sharing common standards with that larger society.

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ethnic group

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People who collectively and publicly identify themselves as a distinct group based on cultural features such as common origin, language, customs, and traditional beliefs.

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ethnicity

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This term, rooted in the Greek word "ethnikos" ("nation") and related to "ethnos" ("custom"), is the expression for the set of cultural ideas held by an ethnic group.

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pluralistic society

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A society in which two or more ethnic groups or nationalities are politically organized into one territorial state but maintain their cultural differences.

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symbol

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A sign, sound, emblem, or other thing that is arbitrarily linked to something else and represents it in a meaningful way.

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social structure

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The rule-governed relationships - with all their rights and obligations - that hold members of a society together. This includes households, families, associations, and power relations, including politics.

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infrastructure

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The economic foundations of a society, including its subsistence practices and the tools and other material equipment used to make a living.

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superstructure.

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A society's share send of identity and worldview. Teh collective body of ideas, beliefs, and values by which members of a society make sense of the world - its shape, challenges, and opportunities - and understand their place in it. This includes religion and national ideology.

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cultural adaptation

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A complex of ideas, activities, and technologies that enables people to survive and even thrive in their environment.

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cultural relativism

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The idea that one must suspend judgment of other people's practices in order to understand them in their own cultural terms.

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urgent anthropology

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Ethnographic research that documents endangered cultures; also known as salvage ethnography.

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advocacy anthropology

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Research that is community based and politically involved.

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muti-sited ethnography

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The investigation and documentation of people and cultures embedded in the larger structures of a globalizing world, utilizing a range of methods in various locations of time and space.

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ethnographic fieldwork

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Extended on-location research to gather detailed and in-depth information on a society's customary ideas, values, and practices through participation in its collective social life.

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key consultant

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a member of the society being studied who provides information that helps researchers understand the meaning of what they observe; early anthropologists referred to such individuals as informants

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quantitative data

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Statistical or measurable information, such as demographic composition, the types and quantities of crops grown, or the ratio of spouses born and raised within or outside the community.

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qualitative data

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Nonstatistical information such as personal life stories and customary beliefs and practices.

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informal interview

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An unstructured, open-ended conversation in everyday life.

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formal interview

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A structures question/answer session carefully notated as it occurs and based on prepared questions.

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eliciting device

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An activity or object used to draw out individuals and encourage them to recall and shafre information.

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digital ethnography

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The use of digital technologies (audio and visual) for the colleciton, analysis, and representation of ethnographic data.

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ethnohistory

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A study of cultures of the recent past through oral histories, accounts of explorers, missionaries, and traders; and analysis of record such as land titles, birth and deather records, and other archival materials.

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Human Relations Area Files (HRAF)

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A vast collection of cross-indexed ethnographic and archeological data catalogued by cultural characteristics and geographical locations; archived in about 300 libraries (on microfiche or online).

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idealist perspective.

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A theoretical approach stressing the primacy of superstructure (a society's ideas) in cultural research and analysis.

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materialistic perspective

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A theoretical approach stressing the primacy of infrastructure (material conditions) in cultural research and analysis.

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evolution

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Changes in the genetic makeup of a population over generations.

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genes

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The basic physical units of heredity that specify the biological traits and characteristics of each organism.

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adaptation

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A series of beneficial adjustments of organisms to their environment.

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natural selection

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The principle or mechanism by which individuals having biological characteristics best suited to a particular environment survive and reproduce with greater frequency than individual without those characteristics.

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species

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A population or group of populations having common attributes and the ability to interbreed and produce live, fertile offspring. Different species are reproductively isolated from one another.

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primate

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The subgroup of mammals that includes lemurs, lorises, tarsiers, monkeys, apes, and humans.

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hominid

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The broad-shouldered tailless group of primates that includes all living and extinct apes and humans.

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bipedalism

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"Two-footed" -- walking upright on both hind legs - a characteristic of humans and their ancestors.

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Australopithiecus

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The genus including several species of early bipeds from southern, eastern, and Central Africa (Chad) living between about 1.1M and 4.4M years ago, one of whom was directly ancestral to humans.

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Lower Paleolithic

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The first part of the Old Stone Age spanning from about 200k or 250k to 2.6M years ago.

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Oldowan tool tradition

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The first stone tool industry, beginning between 2.5M and 2.6M years ago at the start of the Lower Paleolithic.

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/Homo habilis/

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"Handy man" The first fossil members of the genus /Homo/ appearing 2.5M to 2.6M years ago, with larger brains and smaller faces than australopithecines.

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/Homo erectus/

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"Upright man" A species within the genus /Homo/ first appearing just after 2M years ago in Africa and ultimately spreading throughout the Old World.

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Neandertals

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A distinct group within the genus /Homo/ inhabiting Europe and Southwest Asia from approximately 30k to 125k years ago.

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Mounterian tool tradition

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The tool industry found amon Neandertals in Europe and Southwest Asia, and their human contemporaries in northern Africa, during the Middle Paleolithic, generally dating from about 40k to 125k years ago.

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Upper Paleolithic

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The last part (10k - 40k years ago) of the Old Stone Age, featuring tool industries characterized by long slim blades and an explosion of creative symbolic forms.

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multiregional hypothesis

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Teh hypothesis that modern humans originated through a process of simultaneous local transition from /Homo erectus/ to /Homo sapiens/ throughout the inhabited world.

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recent African origin hypothesis

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The hypothesis that all modern people are derived from one single population of archaic /Homo sapiens/ form Africa who migrated out of Africa after 100k years ago, replacing all other archaic forms due to their superior cultural capabilities; also called the Eve or "out of Africa" hypothesis.

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race

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In biology, a subgroup within a species, not scientifically applicable to humans because there exist no subspecies within modern /Homo sapiens/.

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language

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A mark, sound, gesture, motion, or other sign that is arbitrarily linked to something else and represents it in a meaningful way.

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signal

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An instinctive sound or gesture that has a natural or self-evident meaning.

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linguistics

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The modern scientific study of all aspects of language.

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phonetics

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The systematic identification and description of distinctive speech sounds in a language.

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phonology

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The study of language sounds.

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phonemes

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The smallest units of sound that make a difference in meaning in a language.

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morphology

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The study of patterns or rules of word formation in a language (including such things as rules concerning verb tense, pluralization, and compound words).

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morphemes

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The smallest units of sound that carry a meaning in language. They are distinct from phonemes, which can alter meaning but have n meaning by themselves.

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syntax

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The patterns or rules by which words are arranged into phrases and sentences.

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grammar

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The entire formal structure of a langauge, including morphology and syntax.

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language family

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A group of languages descended from a single ancestral language.

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glottochronology

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In linguistics, a method for identifying the approximate time that languages branched off from a common ancestor; based on analyzing core vocabularies.

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core vocabulary

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The most basic and long-lasting words in any language -- pronouns, lower numerals, and names for body parts and natural objects.

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linguistic nationalism

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The attempt by ethnic minorities and even countries to proclaim independence by purding their language of foreign terms. (See France)

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sociolinguistics

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The study of the relationship between language and society through examining how social categories (such as age, gender, ethnicity, religion, occupation, and class) influence the sue and significance of distinctive styles of speech.

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gendered speech

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Distinct male and female speech patterns, which vary across social and cultural settings.

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dialects

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varying forms of a langauge that reflect particular regions, occupations, or social classes and that are similar enough to be mutually intelligible.

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code switching

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Changing from one mode of speech to another as the situation demands, whether from one language to another or from one dialect of a language to another.

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ethnolinguistics

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A branch of linguistics that studies the relationships between language and culture and how they mutually influence and inform each other.

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linguistic relativity

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The idea that distinctions encoded in one language are unique to that language.

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linguistic determinism

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The idea that language to some extent shapes the way in which we view and think about the world around us.

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gestures

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Facial expressions and body postures and motions that convey intended as well as subconscious messages.

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kinesics

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A system of notating and analyzing postures, facial expressions, and body motions that convey messages.

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proxemics

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The cross-cultural study of people's perception and use of space.

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paralanguage

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Voice effects that accompany language and convey meaning. These include vocalizations such as giggling, groaning, or sighin, as well as voice qualities such as pitch and tempo.

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tonal language

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A language in which the sound pitch of a spoken word is an essential part of its pronounciation and meaning.

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whistled speech or
whistled language.

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An exchange of whistled words using a phonetic emulation of the sounds produced in spoken voice.

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displacement

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Referring to things and events removed in time and/or space.

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writing system

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A set of visible or tactile signs used to represent units of language in a systematic way.

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alphabet

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A series of symbols representing the sounds of a language arranged in a traditional order.