Chapter 1, Anthropology and Human Diversity Key Terms

Anthropology The comparative study of human societies and cultures. Holistic approach In anthropology, an approach that considers cultures, history, language and biology essential to a complete understanding of human society.

Cultural Anthropology Study of human behavior that is learned rather than genetically transmitted, and that is typical of groups of people.  Society The set of social relationships among people within a given geographical area, including their status and roles.

Culture The learned behaviors and symbols that allow people to live in groups. Primary means by which humans adapt to their environments. The way of life characteristic of a human society. Historical ethnography Description of the cultural past based on written records, interviews and archaeology.

Anthropological linguistics Anthropological linguistics A branch of linguistics concerned with understanding language and its relation to culture. Archaeology Focuses on the reconstruction of past cultures based on their material remains.

Prehistoric Societies for which we have no usable written records. Artifact A material remain of a past culture.

Urban archaeology Archaeological investigation of current-day cities. Cultural resource management Protection and management of archeological, archival, and architectural resources.

Biological Anthropology The study of humankind from a biological perspective. Paleoanthropology Concerned with tracing the evolution of humankind in the fossil record.

Human Variation Concerned with mapping and explaining physical differences among modern human groups. Primate A member of a biological order of mammals that includes human beings, apes, monkeys and prosimians.

Applied Anthropology The application of anthropology to the solution of human problems. Forensic Anthropology Study and identification of skeletized or badly decomposed human remains.

Ethnocentrism The notion that one’s own culture is more beautiful, rational, and nearer to perfection than any other. Racism The belief that some humans are superior because of inherited characteristics.

Biopsychological Equality The fact that all human groups have the same biological and mental capabilities. Racism The belief that some human populations are superior to others because of inherited, genetically transmitted characteristics.

Racialism Ideology that claims there are biologically fixed races with different moral, intellectual, and physical characteristics that determine individual aptitudes and that such races can be ranked on a single hierarchy. Cultural Relativism Understanding values and customs in terms of the culture of which they are a part.

Emic perspective Examining society using concepts, categories, and distinctions that are meaningful to members of that culture. Etic perspective Examining society using concepts, categories, and rules derived from science; an outsider’s perspective which produces analyses that members of the society being studies may not find meaningful.