ANTHRCUL 101 UMICH EXAM 1 STUDY GUIDE 2025
Four fields of anthropology - Answers :-sociocultural
-archaeology
-biological
-linguistic
Sociocultural anthropology - Answers :-study of human society and culture
-cultural similarities and differences
-based on ethnography (long term field work in one community, participant observation)
Archaeological anthropology - Answers :-reconstructs, describes, interprets human
behavior, history, patterns through material remains
-excavation is a key method
-inference; human behavior reflected in material culture
Biological anthropology - Answers :-examines human diversity over time and space
-human evolution through fossil record, human genetics, human growth and
development, biological plasticity (how our body changes in response to environmental
stresses), non-human primates evolution and behavior
Linguistic anthropology - Answers :-language in social and cultural contexts across time
and space (history, use, evolution)
-sociolinguistics- social and linguistics variation (gender, SES), etc.
Origins of north american anthropology - Answers :-attempts to understand native north
americans
-19th century
Ethnography - Answers :-long term field work in one community
-participant observation
-immersion into local culture
Rapport - Answers :-friendly working relationship with people
-good ethnography requires this
-time, sensitivity, self-awareness
-long term investment
-get "close"
Malinowski - Answers :-functionalism
-emphasized importance in ethnographic fieldwork
Oldowan tools - Answers :-world's oldest formally recognized stone tools
-flakes and cores (rocks from where flakes are struck)
-chopper is tool made from core
-simple reduction technology, but key innovation
, -flakes most common tool, choppers by-products
-breaking, bashing, dismembering
-A. Garhi 2.6a mya Ethiopia, think they were tool-making ancestor, pre-homo, signals
dietary shift
-major cultural innovation that homo erectus expand upon
-by 1 mya all others extinct, homo erectus with tools and culture takes over
Acheulean tools - Answers :-hand axes were common in this tool kit
-used from homo erectus through homo sapiens
Chimps and tool use - Answers :-vary regionally
-learned through social transmission
-incipient cultures
Boas - Answers :-father of four field anthropology
-historical particularism -> histories are unique and not directly comparable, diverse
paths to culture phenomenon
Participant observation - Answers :-direct, firsthand observation of behavior
-wide ranging; can be minute details uninteresting to those who you study
Non-human primate food types - Answers :-leaves
-underground storage organs
-gums
-flowers
-fruit
-meat
Culture - Answers :-innate human capacity to create and transmit traditions beliefs,
symbols that govern behavior (ex. Speech communication)
Culture - Answers :-variation created by geography, environment, history, economics,
politics, people (ex. Tattooing)
Characteristics of culture - Answers :way of life, traditions, and customs
Modes of culture change - Answers :-culture is learned through lessons and observation
and shared/evolves
-diffusion is borrowing though cultural contact
-acculturation is exchange of cultural features after continuous firsthand contact
-independent invention is the process of human innovation
-globalization is the series of processes including diffusion and acculturation
Evolution - Answers :-the process by which different kinds of living organisms are
thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the
earth
Four fields of anthropology - Answers :-sociocultural
-archaeology
-biological
-linguistic
Sociocultural anthropology - Answers :-study of human society and culture
-cultural similarities and differences
-based on ethnography (long term field work in one community, participant observation)
Archaeological anthropology - Answers :-reconstructs, describes, interprets human
behavior, history, patterns through material remains
-excavation is a key method
-inference; human behavior reflected in material culture
Biological anthropology - Answers :-examines human diversity over time and space
-human evolution through fossil record, human genetics, human growth and
development, biological plasticity (how our body changes in response to environmental
stresses), non-human primates evolution and behavior
Linguistic anthropology - Answers :-language in social and cultural contexts across time
and space (history, use, evolution)
-sociolinguistics- social and linguistics variation (gender, SES), etc.
Origins of north american anthropology - Answers :-attempts to understand native north
americans
-19th century
Ethnography - Answers :-long term field work in one community
-participant observation
-immersion into local culture
Rapport - Answers :-friendly working relationship with people
-good ethnography requires this
-time, sensitivity, self-awareness
-long term investment
-get "close"
Malinowski - Answers :-functionalism
-emphasized importance in ethnographic fieldwork
Oldowan tools - Answers :-world's oldest formally recognized stone tools
-flakes and cores (rocks from where flakes are struck)
-chopper is tool made from core
-simple reduction technology, but key innovation
, -flakes most common tool, choppers by-products
-breaking, bashing, dismembering
-A. Garhi 2.6a mya Ethiopia, think they were tool-making ancestor, pre-homo, signals
dietary shift
-major cultural innovation that homo erectus expand upon
-by 1 mya all others extinct, homo erectus with tools and culture takes over
Acheulean tools - Answers :-hand axes were common in this tool kit
-used from homo erectus through homo sapiens
Chimps and tool use - Answers :-vary regionally
-learned through social transmission
-incipient cultures
Boas - Answers :-father of four field anthropology
-historical particularism -> histories are unique and not directly comparable, diverse
paths to culture phenomenon
Participant observation - Answers :-direct, firsthand observation of behavior
-wide ranging; can be minute details uninteresting to those who you study
Non-human primate food types - Answers :-leaves
-underground storage organs
-gums
-flowers
-fruit
-meat
Culture - Answers :-innate human capacity to create and transmit traditions beliefs,
symbols that govern behavior (ex. Speech communication)
Culture - Answers :-variation created by geography, environment, history, economics,
politics, people (ex. Tattooing)
Characteristics of culture - Answers :way of life, traditions, and customs
Modes of culture change - Answers :-culture is learned through lessons and observation
and shared/evolves
-diffusion is borrowing though cultural contact
-acculturation is exchange of cultural features after continuous firsthand contact
-independent invention is the process of human innovation
-globalization is the series of processes including diffusion and acculturation
Evolution - Answers :-the process by which different kinds of living organisms are
thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the
earth
