ANTH 1102 FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE
1) Anthropology
a. understand what anthropology does and what the focus of research is
-the study of the origins and development of people and their societies (and their immediate
ancestors)
b. know the four subfields as well as the two orientations - academic versus applied research
1) Cultural Anthropology
2) Biological Anthropology
3) Linguistic Anthropology
4) Archaeology
Academic Research: university research; propose research -> given $ to answer this research
question
Applied Research: rarely $ is requested; practical application; uses research collected to answer
these questions; you are given the question and are paid to find the answer
c. understand what anthropological fieldwork is, the techniques, the role in research
- going to the source of the information -> primary data collection
-personal involvement, on-location research, problem oriented, longitudinal, long term
studies, coordinated with several researchers
2) Culture
a. know how we define and understand what culture is in anthropology
Culture: traditions and customs transmitted through learning that form and guide the beliefs and
behaviors of people -> this is a distinctly human feature
b. identify and describe the different attributes of culture
-learned -> passed between generations
-shared -> located in groups
-symbolic -> something that has meaning
-culture/nature -> converts natural urges and acts into cultural customs
-all encompassing -> includes all aspects of human group behavior
-integrated -> patterned systems that are related
-levels -> international, national and subcultures
-adaptive strategy
-individual practice -> humans have the ability to avoid, manipulate or change
c. understand the different aspects of cultural behavior and three ways that societies share or
do not share cultural traits between themselves
1) Boundaries between cultures are usually unclear
2) Cultural beliefs can be contradictory
3) We still understand specific cultures as coherent wholes to explain the world; shaping the
individual and social behaviors
d. be able to explain the different forms of culture change
Universals: learned behaviors shared by all humans (ie. living in a social group, incest taboo)
Generalities: learned behaviors existing in most cultures (ie. life/death events)
Particularities: specific behaviors that identify a culture
e. understand what cultural relativism is, its purpose, and how it is used in anthropology
, Cultural Relativism: a technique used to understand the incomprehensible; counteracts
ethnocentrism
-it is not justifying cultural behaviors as right/wrong; is not morality
-balances understanding with ethical responsibility
f. think about the different ways anthropologists theorize about culture (specifically look at
the textbook readings for this one)
3) Language and culture
a. What do we think about defining what human language is?
Language: a communication system based on meaningful signs, sounds, gestures or marks
i. in comparison to non-human communication
Human language uses the creative and complex manipulation of sounds and gestures;
non-humans use “call systems” (simple use of symbolism)
ii. and given the three traits of human language
1) Productivity -> creating new expressions, humans are not born with language
2) Displacement -> speaking of abstract ideas (ie. “love”)
3) Culturally transmitted -> it is learned, shared and taught
b. What are the nonverbal components of language?
1) Gestures -> facial expressions, body postures and motions that convey messages
2) Space -> the interpretation of personal distance
c. What is the relationship between language and culture?
Human language is both shared through and shaped by individual cultures
i. What does the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis say?
-language shapes the way people see the world
ii. think about what focal vocabularies are and how they reflect the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis
-focal vocabularies frame how people experience daily activities; influences culture and
thought
iii. How does change impact the language and culture relationship?
-they have a reciprocal relationship; culture changes language and language changes culture
d. think about how a language reflects cultural beliefs and social organization
i. social status and language
-some languages/dialects are viewed as ‘higher/better’ than others
4) Modern Theory of Evolution
a. What does the theory of evolution assert?
-it asserts how humans were evolutionarily developed; species change over time that formed
humans
i. understand the evolution and intelligent design controversy from both sides.
-intelligent design argues that humans were placed on earth by a “designer” rather than
evolving from ancient hominins
, ii. think about how the theory of evolution developed from pre evolutionary ideas
1) Essentialism: the world today has always been like this, and has never changed
2) Great Chain of Being: different species being grouped based on similarities and
differences (Aristotle)
3) Catastrophism: Charles Cuviere; acknowledges biological change, there are multiple ages
and each one ends in a catastrophe, forming new species (does not account for the fossil
record)
4) Transformism: biology changes over time; unsure why (Erasmus Darwin)
5) Uniformitarianism: Charles Lyell; focuses on geology, earth processes are uniform and
have not changed
iii. know what Darwinian Evolution is, particularly by understanding the Principle of
Natural Selection as well as what Darwin missed in it.
-observes variation; no two individuals are the same and “hereditary” (offspring resemble
their parents)
-Natural Selection: “superior fitness” describes that variant individuals occur and given a
certain environment they reproduce more, and inherit more useful traits
b. understand what Mendelian Genetics added to the Theory of Evolution
-Gregor Mendel introduced the idea of “genes” which are traits that are determined by
discrete inherited particles; it explained how trait inheritance worked; occurs in pairs -> 2
alleles, 1 from each parent
i. understand segregation, dominance and recessiveness, as well as independent
assortment and recombination
-The Principle of Segregation describes how pairs of gene variants are separated into
reproductive cells. The segregation of gene variants, called alleles, and their corresponding
traits was first observed by Gregor Mendel in 1865.
-The Principle of Independent Assortment describes how different genes independently
separate from one another when reproductive cells develop.
Recombination is a process by which pieces of DNA are broken and recombined to
produce new combinations of alleles. This recombination process creates genetic diversity at
the level of genes that reflects differences in the DNA sequences of different organisms.
c. What does Biochemical Genetics add to the Theory of Evolution?
-Biochemical Genetics adds the ideas of “crossing over,” “mutations” and “base substitutions”
d. identify the different ways Population Genetic frequencies can change in terms of natural
selection,genetic drift, and gene flow
-Natural Selection: those with desirable traits reproduce more, and produce more viable
offspring, they have higher frequencies of certain genes
-Genetic Drift: gene frequency changes due to chance, increases chances of speciation
-Gene Flow: evolutionary rate of change is directly related to the rate of environmental
change
, e. How does evolution happen? slowly? quickly? What is Punctuated Equilibrium?
-Punctuated Equilibrium: relatively slow or no change with occasional bursts of change ->
due to mass extinctions
f. name and describe the five different parts that together make up the synthesis of the
Modern Theory of Evolution
1) Crossing Over
2) Mutations
3) Natural Selection
4) Random Genetic Drift
5) Gene Flow
5) Primate Evolution and Primatology
a. Know how anthropologists place fossils into evolutionary order based on the dating
techniques that determine age and shared homologies that define species.
1) Relative Dating: (stratigraphy) the sediment layers on the bottom are older than the ones
on the top; defines age of one thing relative to another thing (ie. younger vs older)
2) Absolute Dating: methods that give an exact/absolute date
Ie. Molecular mtDNA dating -> counts mutations
Radiometric techniques -> measures the loss of unstable radioactive isotopes
b. Be able to list and explain the shared traits that define primates as an Order, the specific
environment in which primates evolved, and when the primate line first appeared.
The cenozoic period began 65 million years ago with a meteorite that led to the end of the
mesozoic era. Primates evolved from arboreal/tree-living econiches. Shared traits include
grasping, sight-oriented (rather than smell), hand-oriented (rather than relying on nose), brain to
body size ratio, parental investment, and sociality.
c. Be mostly knowledgeable of the evolutionary chart for primates, particularly the paths leading
to the human species and when the human and chimpanzee lines split.
i. Within the cenozoic era, primates evolved starting with the paleocene 64-54 mya
(split between strepsirrhines and haplorhines), then eocene 54-38 mya (dominated
by strep., hap. split into 2 infraorders- tarsiers and anthropoids), then oligocene
38-23 mya (anthropoid infraorder- protomonkeys become the most prominent
primate which includes all monkeys and apes today. There is an evolutionary split
into 2 parvorders- new world monkeys and old world monkeys and apes
[catarrhines]). During the miocene era 23-5 mya, the catarrhine order splits
between old world monkeys and old world apes (apes- live in forests and
woodlands, no tail, more upright, bigger body size and shortened faces).
ii. miocene hominoids: Euro-- oreopithecus (bipedal), Asia-- gigantopithecus
(largest primate), Africa-- proconsul (ancestor of modern apes, sexually
dimorphic)
1) Anthropology
a. understand what anthropology does and what the focus of research is
-the study of the origins and development of people and their societies (and their immediate
ancestors)
b. know the four subfields as well as the two orientations - academic versus applied research
1) Cultural Anthropology
2) Biological Anthropology
3) Linguistic Anthropology
4) Archaeology
Academic Research: university research; propose research -> given $ to answer this research
question
Applied Research: rarely $ is requested; practical application; uses research collected to answer
these questions; you are given the question and are paid to find the answer
c. understand what anthropological fieldwork is, the techniques, the role in research
- going to the source of the information -> primary data collection
-personal involvement, on-location research, problem oriented, longitudinal, long term
studies, coordinated with several researchers
2) Culture
a. know how we define and understand what culture is in anthropology
Culture: traditions and customs transmitted through learning that form and guide the beliefs and
behaviors of people -> this is a distinctly human feature
b. identify and describe the different attributes of culture
-learned -> passed between generations
-shared -> located in groups
-symbolic -> something that has meaning
-culture/nature -> converts natural urges and acts into cultural customs
-all encompassing -> includes all aspects of human group behavior
-integrated -> patterned systems that are related
-levels -> international, national and subcultures
-adaptive strategy
-individual practice -> humans have the ability to avoid, manipulate or change
c. understand the different aspects of cultural behavior and three ways that societies share or
do not share cultural traits between themselves
1) Boundaries between cultures are usually unclear
2) Cultural beliefs can be contradictory
3) We still understand specific cultures as coherent wholes to explain the world; shaping the
individual and social behaviors
d. be able to explain the different forms of culture change
Universals: learned behaviors shared by all humans (ie. living in a social group, incest taboo)
Generalities: learned behaviors existing in most cultures (ie. life/death events)
Particularities: specific behaviors that identify a culture
e. understand what cultural relativism is, its purpose, and how it is used in anthropology
, Cultural Relativism: a technique used to understand the incomprehensible; counteracts
ethnocentrism
-it is not justifying cultural behaviors as right/wrong; is not morality
-balances understanding with ethical responsibility
f. think about the different ways anthropologists theorize about culture (specifically look at
the textbook readings for this one)
3) Language and culture
a. What do we think about defining what human language is?
Language: a communication system based on meaningful signs, sounds, gestures or marks
i. in comparison to non-human communication
Human language uses the creative and complex manipulation of sounds and gestures;
non-humans use “call systems” (simple use of symbolism)
ii. and given the three traits of human language
1) Productivity -> creating new expressions, humans are not born with language
2) Displacement -> speaking of abstract ideas (ie. “love”)
3) Culturally transmitted -> it is learned, shared and taught
b. What are the nonverbal components of language?
1) Gestures -> facial expressions, body postures and motions that convey messages
2) Space -> the interpretation of personal distance
c. What is the relationship between language and culture?
Human language is both shared through and shaped by individual cultures
i. What does the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis say?
-language shapes the way people see the world
ii. think about what focal vocabularies are and how they reflect the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis
-focal vocabularies frame how people experience daily activities; influences culture and
thought
iii. How does change impact the language and culture relationship?
-they have a reciprocal relationship; culture changes language and language changes culture
d. think about how a language reflects cultural beliefs and social organization
i. social status and language
-some languages/dialects are viewed as ‘higher/better’ than others
4) Modern Theory of Evolution
a. What does the theory of evolution assert?
-it asserts how humans were evolutionarily developed; species change over time that formed
humans
i. understand the evolution and intelligent design controversy from both sides.
-intelligent design argues that humans were placed on earth by a “designer” rather than
evolving from ancient hominins
, ii. think about how the theory of evolution developed from pre evolutionary ideas
1) Essentialism: the world today has always been like this, and has never changed
2) Great Chain of Being: different species being grouped based on similarities and
differences (Aristotle)
3) Catastrophism: Charles Cuviere; acknowledges biological change, there are multiple ages
and each one ends in a catastrophe, forming new species (does not account for the fossil
record)
4) Transformism: biology changes over time; unsure why (Erasmus Darwin)
5) Uniformitarianism: Charles Lyell; focuses on geology, earth processes are uniform and
have not changed
iii. know what Darwinian Evolution is, particularly by understanding the Principle of
Natural Selection as well as what Darwin missed in it.
-observes variation; no two individuals are the same and “hereditary” (offspring resemble
their parents)
-Natural Selection: “superior fitness” describes that variant individuals occur and given a
certain environment they reproduce more, and inherit more useful traits
b. understand what Mendelian Genetics added to the Theory of Evolution
-Gregor Mendel introduced the idea of “genes” which are traits that are determined by
discrete inherited particles; it explained how trait inheritance worked; occurs in pairs -> 2
alleles, 1 from each parent
i. understand segregation, dominance and recessiveness, as well as independent
assortment and recombination
-The Principle of Segregation describes how pairs of gene variants are separated into
reproductive cells. The segregation of gene variants, called alleles, and their corresponding
traits was first observed by Gregor Mendel in 1865.
-The Principle of Independent Assortment describes how different genes independently
separate from one another when reproductive cells develop.
Recombination is a process by which pieces of DNA are broken and recombined to
produce new combinations of alleles. This recombination process creates genetic diversity at
the level of genes that reflects differences in the DNA sequences of different organisms.
c. What does Biochemical Genetics add to the Theory of Evolution?
-Biochemical Genetics adds the ideas of “crossing over,” “mutations” and “base substitutions”
d. identify the different ways Population Genetic frequencies can change in terms of natural
selection,genetic drift, and gene flow
-Natural Selection: those with desirable traits reproduce more, and produce more viable
offspring, they have higher frequencies of certain genes
-Genetic Drift: gene frequency changes due to chance, increases chances of speciation
-Gene Flow: evolutionary rate of change is directly related to the rate of environmental
change
, e. How does evolution happen? slowly? quickly? What is Punctuated Equilibrium?
-Punctuated Equilibrium: relatively slow or no change with occasional bursts of change ->
due to mass extinctions
f. name and describe the five different parts that together make up the synthesis of the
Modern Theory of Evolution
1) Crossing Over
2) Mutations
3) Natural Selection
4) Random Genetic Drift
5) Gene Flow
5) Primate Evolution and Primatology
a. Know how anthropologists place fossils into evolutionary order based on the dating
techniques that determine age and shared homologies that define species.
1) Relative Dating: (stratigraphy) the sediment layers on the bottom are older than the ones
on the top; defines age of one thing relative to another thing (ie. younger vs older)
2) Absolute Dating: methods that give an exact/absolute date
Ie. Molecular mtDNA dating -> counts mutations
Radiometric techniques -> measures the loss of unstable radioactive isotopes
b. Be able to list and explain the shared traits that define primates as an Order, the specific
environment in which primates evolved, and when the primate line first appeared.
The cenozoic period began 65 million years ago with a meteorite that led to the end of the
mesozoic era. Primates evolved from arboreal/tree-living econiches. Shared traits include
grasping, sight-oriented (rather than smell), hand-oriented (rather than relying on nose), brain to
body size ratio, parental investment, and sociality.
c. Be mostly knowledgeable of the evolutionary chart for primates, particularly the paths leading
to the human species and when the human and chimpanzee lines split.
i. Within the cenozoic era, primates evolved starting with the paleocene 64-54 mya
(split between strepsirrhines and haplorhines), then eocene 54-38 mya (dominated
by strep., hap. split into 2 infraorders- tarsiers and anthropoids), then oligocene
38-23 mya (anthropoid infraorder- protomonkeys become the most prominent
primate which includes all monkeys and apes today. There is an evolutionary split
into 2 parvorders- new world monkeys and old world monkeys and apes
[catarrhines]). During the miocene era 23-5 mya, the catarrhine order splits
between old world monkeys and old world apes (apes- live in forests and
woodlands, no tail, more upright, bigger body size and shortened faces).
ii. miocene hominoids: Euro-- oreopithecus (bipedal), Asia-- gigantopithecus
(largest primate), Africa-- proconsul (ancestor of modern apes, sexually
dimorphic)
