Comprehensive Anthropology and
Archaeology Key Concepts for
Students
EXAM
1. Q: What is the definition of anthropology?
A: The holistic, comparative, and field-based study of human
beings, past and present, across all geographic and temporal
contexts.
Rationale: Holism (studying all aspects), comparison (cross-
cultural), and fieldwork are the discipline’s core pillars.
2. Q: Name the four traditional subfields of anthropology in
the US.
A: Cultural anthropology, archaeology, biological (physical)
anthropology, and linguistic anthropology.
Rationale: This four-field approach reflects the American tradition
of studying humanity as a whole, integrating social, material,
biological, and linguistic dimensions.
3. Q: What is cultural relativism?
A: The principle that a culture should be understood on its own
terms, not judged by the standards of another culture (usually the
observer’s).
Rationale: It opposes ethnocentrism and is a methodological
necessity for objective ethnographic research.
4. Q: Define ethnocentrism.
A: The tendency to view one’s own culture as superior and to use
its norms to judge other cultures.
,Rationale: Anthropologists actively try to avoid ethnocentrism
through cultural relativism, though it remains a cognitive bias.
5. Q: What is ethnography?
A: A detailed descriptive account of a particular culture or
community, typically based on long-term fieldwork.
Rationale: Ethnography is the primary product of cultural
anthropology, distinct from ethnology (cross-cultural comparison).
6. Q: What is participant observation?
A: A research method where the anthropologist lives with and
participates in the daily life of the community being studied while
also observing.
Rationale: It provides insider (emic) and outsider (etic) perspectives,
generating rich, contextual data.
7. Q: What is the difference between emic and etic
perspectives?
A: Emic is the insider’s view (culturally specific); etic is the
outsider’s, scientific, cross-culturally comparable perspective.
Rationale: Good anthropology requires balancing both:
understanding internal logic (emic) while making objective
comparisons (etic).
8. Q: Define applied anthropology.
A: The use of anthropological knowledge, methods, and theory to
identify and solve practical problems (e.g., public health,
development).
Rationale: It addresses real-world issues, often working with
communities to implement culturally sensitive solutions.
,9. Q: What is holism in anthropology?
A: The approach of studying human biology, culture, history, and
language together to understand a complete picture of humanity.
Rationale: Isolating one aspect (e.g., only economics) would miss
the interconnections that define human existence.
10. Q: Who is considered the “father of American
anthropology”?
A: Franz Boas.
Rationale: Boas rejected racial hierarchies, championed cultural
relativism, and established the four-field approach at Columbia
University.
11. Q: What is historical particularism?
A: Boas’s theory that each society has its own unique historical
development, not a single universal evolutionary path.
*Rationale: It argued against 19th-century unilinear evolution by
emphasizing diffusion and contingency.*
12. Q: Define armchair anthropology.
A: The 19th-century practice of theorizing about other cultures
without direct fieldwork, using travelers’ reports.
Rationale: Boas and Malinowski critiqued this, establishing
fieldwork as essential to anthropology.
13. Q: What is the concept of “culture”?
A: The learned, shared, symbolic system of beliefs, values,
customs, and material objects that shape human behavior.
Rationale: Culture is not biological; it is transmitted through
learning and is symbolic (e.g., language, money, flags).
, 14. Q: What is enculturation?
A: The process by which individuals learn the culture of their own
society from childhood.
Rationale: It distinguishes human development from mere
conditioning; it is active, not passive.
15. Q: Define agency in anthropological context.
A: The ability of individuals to act independently, make choices,
and affect their culture and society.
Rationale: It counters deterministic views that treat people as
passive bearers of cultural rules.
Part 2: Cultural Anthropology (Q 16–40)
16. Q: What is a kinship system?
A: The social organization of family relationships, including
descent, marriage, and terminology for relatives.
Rationale: Kinship is the primary social structure in many small-
scale societies, governing residence, inheritance, and obligations.
17. Q: Distinguish between matrilineal and patrilineal descent.
A: Matrilineal traces descent through the mother’s line; patrilineal
through the father’s line.
Rationale: Descent groups (lineages, clans) often control property
and political power.
18. Q: What is a bilateral descent system?
A: A system where individuals trace kinship equally through both
Archaeology Key Concepts for
Students
EXAM
1. Q: What is the definition of anthropology?
A: The holistic, comparative, and field-based study of human
beings, past and present, across all geographic and temporal
contexts.
Rationale: Holism (studying all aspects), comparison (cross-
cultural), and fieldwork are the discipline’s core pillars.
2. Q: Name the four traditional subfields of anthropology in
the US.
A: Cultural anthropology, archaeology, biological (physical)
anthropology, and linguistic anthropology.
Rationale: This four-field approach reflects the American tradition
of studying humanity as a whole, integrating social, material,
biological, and linguistic dimensions.
3. Q: What is cultural relativism?
A: The principle that a culture should be understood on its own
terms, not judged by the standards of another culture (usually the
observer’s).
Rationale: It opposes ethnocentrism and is a methodological
necessity for objective ethnographic research.
4. Q: Define ethnocentrism.
A: The tendency to view one’s own culture as superior and to use
its norms to judge other cultures.
,Rationale: Anthropologists actively try to avoid ethnocentrism
through cultural relativism, though it remains a cognitive bias.
5. Q: What is ethnography?
A: A detailed descriptive account of a particular culture or
community, typically based on long-term fieldwork.
Rationale: Ethnography is the primary product of cultural
anthropology, distinct from ethnology (cross-cultural comparison).
6. Q: What is participant observation?
A: A research method where the anthropologist lives with and
participates in the daily life of the community being studied while
also observing.
Rationale: It provides insider (emic) and outsider (etic) perspectives,
generating rich, contextual data.
7. Q: What is the difference between emic and etic
perspectives?
A: Emic is the insider’s view (culturally specific); etic is the
outsider’s, scientific, cross-culturally comparable perspective.
Rationale: Good anthropology requires balancing both:
understanding internal logic (emic) while making objective
comparisons (etic).
8. Q: Define applied anthropology.
A: The use of anthropological knowledge, methods, and theory to
identify and solve practical problems (e.g., public health,
development).
Rationale: It addresses real-world issues, often working with
communities to implement culturally sensitive solutions.
,9. Q: What is holism in anthropology?
A: The approach of studying human biology, culture, history, and
language together to understand a complete picture of humanity.
Rationale: Isolating one aspect (e.g., only economics) would miss
the interconnections that define human existence.
10. Q: Who is considered the “father of American
anthropology”?
A: Franz Boas.
Rationale: Boas rejected racial hierarchies, championed cultural
relativism, and established the four-field approach at Columbia
University.
11. Q: What is historical particularism?
A: Boas’s theory that each society has its own unique historical
development, not a single universal evolutionary path.
*Rationale: It argued against 19th-century unilinear evolution by
emphasizing diffusion and contingency.*
12. Q: Define armchair anthropology.
A: The 19th-century practice of theorizing about other cultures
without direct fieldwork, using travelers’ reports.
Rationale: Boas and Malinowski critiqued this, establishing
fieldwork as essential to anthropology.
13. Q: What is the concept of “culture”?
A: The learned, shared, symbolic system of beliefs, values,
customs, and material objects that shape human behavior.
Rationale: Culture is not biological; it is transmitted through
learning and is symbolic (e.g., language, money, flags).
, 14. Q: What is enculturation?
A: The process by which individuals learn the culture of their own
society from childhood.
Rationale: It distinguishes human development from mere
conditioning; it is active, not passive.
15. Q: Define agency in anthropological context.
A: The ability of individuals to act independently, make choices,
and affect their culture and society.
Rationale: It counters deterministic views that treat people as
passive bearers of cultural rules.
Part 2: Cultural Anthropology (Q 16–40)
16. Q: What is a kinship system?
A: The social organization of family relationships, including
descent, marriage, and terminology for relatives.
Rationale: Kinship is the primary social structure in many small-
scale societies, governing residence, inheritance, and obligations.
17. Q: Distinguish between matrilineal and patrilineal descent.
A: Matrilineal traces descent through the mother’s line; patrilineal
through the father’s line.
Rationale: Descent groups (lineages, clans) often control property
and political power.
18. Q: What is a bilateral descent system?
A: A system where individuals trace kinship equally through both
