Comprehensive Anthropology and
Archaeology Key Concepts for
Students
EXAM
1. Q: What is the principle of cultural relativism?
A: Understanding another culture on its own terms, without
judging it by the standards of one’s own culture.
Ration: Critical for avoiding ethnocentrism; enables objective,
empathetic fieldwork and analysis.
2. Q: Define ethnography.
A: A detailed, first-hand written account of a culture based on
long-term fieldwork, typically using participant observation.
Ration: The core research product in cultural anthropology;
provides emic, grounded data.
3. Q: What is the difference between emic and etic perspectives?
A: Emic is the insider’s view (how locals understand their culture);
etic is the outsider’s analytical view (scientific framework).
Ration: Essential for balancing subjective understanding with
objective comparison.
4. Q: Name the four types of political organization in order of
increasing complexity.
A: Band, tribe, chiefdom, state.
,Ration: Classic evolutionary typology; explains how societies
maintain order and allocate power.
5. Q: What is generalized reciprocity?
A: Giving without expectation of immediate return (e.g.,
parent-child sharing).
Ration: Foundation of non-market economies, especially among
foragers and close kin.
6. Q: How does ascribed status differ from achieved status?
A: Ascribed status is assigned at birth (e.g., royalty); achieved
status is earned through actions (e.g., doctor).
Ration: Shapes social stratification; contrasts closed vs. open
societies.
7. Q: What does kinship primarily organize in small-scale
societies?
A: Marriage, residence, inheritance, economic cooperation, and
political alliances.
Ration: Kinship is the backbone of social structure where formal
institutions are absent.
8. Q: Define patrilineal descent.
A: Descent traced through the father’s line only; individuals
belong to their father’s kin group.
Ration: One of the most common descent systems; affects
inheritance, residence, and identity.
9. Q: What is a levirate marriage?
A: A custom where a widow marries her deceased husband’s
brother.
, Ration: Example of how marriage practices maintain lineage
continuity and economic support.
10. Q: Explain bridewealth.
A: Goods or money transferred from the groom’s family to the
bride’s family to legitimize marriage.
Ration: A common form of marital exchange that compensates
for loss of the bride’s labor/children.
11. Q: What is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
A: The hypothesis that language shapes thought and perception
(linguistic relativity).
Ration: Core concept in linguistic anthropology; challenges
universal cognitive categories.
12. Q: Differentiate race from ethnicity.
A: Race is a socially constructed category based on perceived
biological traits; ethnicity is based on shared culture, ancestry,
language.
Ration: Debunks biological racism; clarifies modern identity
politics.
13. Q: What is syncretism?
A: The blending of different cultural or religious elements into a
new, hybrid form.
Ration: Key to understanding post-colonial and globalized
cultural change.
14. Q: Define world systems theory (Wallerstein).
A: A theory that global inequality is structured by a core (wealthy
nations), periphery (poor, resource-extracting nations), and
semi-periphery.
Archaeology Key Concepts for
Students
EXAM
1. Q: What is the principle of cultural relativism?
A: Understanding another culture on its own terms, without
judging it by the standards of one’s own culture.
Ration: Critical for avoiding ethnocentrism; enables objective,
empathetic fieldwork and analysis.
2. Q: Define ethnography.
A: A detailed, first-hand written account of a culture based on
long-term fieldwork, typically using participant observation.
Ration: The core research product in cultural anthropology;
provides emic, grounded data.
3. Q: What is the difference between emic and etic perspectives?
A: Emic is the insider’s view (how locals understand their culture);
etic is the outsider’s analytical view (scientific framework).
Ration: Essential for balancing subjective understanding with
objective comparison.
4. Q: Name the four types of political organization in order of
increasing complexity.
A: Band, tribe, chiefdom, state.
,Ration: Classic evolutionary typology; explains how societies
maintain order and allocate power.
5. Q: What is generalized reciprocity?
A: Giving without expectation of immediate return (e.g.,
parent-child sharing).
Ration: Foundation of non-market economies, especially among
foragers and close kin.
6. Q: How does ascribed status differ from achieved status?
A: Ascribed status is assigned at birth (e.g., royalty); achieved
status is earned through actions (e.g., doctor).
Ration: Shapes social stratification; contrasts closed vs. open
societies.
7. Q: What does kinship primarily organize in small-scale
societies?
A: Marriage, residence, inheritance, economic cooperation, and
political alliances.
Ration: Kinship is the backbone of social structure where formal
institutions are absent.
8. Q: Define patrilineal descent.
A: Descent traced through the father’s line only; individuals
belong to their father’s kin group.
Ration: One of the most common descent systems; affects
inheritance, residence, and identity.
9. Q: What is a levirate marriage?
A: A custom where a widow marries her deceased husband’s
brother.
, Ration: Example of how marriage practices maintain lineage
continuity and economic support.
10. Q: Explain bridewealth.
A: Goods or money transferred from the groom’s family to the
bride’s family to legitimize marriage.
Ration: A common form of marital exchange that compensates
for loss of the bride’s labor/children.
11. Q: What is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
A: The hypothesis that language shapes thought and perception
(linguistic relativity).
Ration: Core concept in linguistic anthropology; challenges
universal cognitive categories.
12. Q: Differentiate race from ethnicity.
A: Race is a socially constructed category based on perceived
biological traits; ethnicity is based on shared culture, ancestry,
language.
Ration: Debunks biological racism; clarifies modern identity
politics.
13. Q: What is syncretism?
A: The blending of different cultural or religious elements into a
new, hybrid form.
Ration: Key to understanding post-colonial and globalized
cultural change.
14. Q: Define world systems theory (Wallerstein).
A: A theory that global inequality is structured by a core (wealthy
nations), periphery (poor, resource-extracting nations), and
semi-periphery.
