Details Title: Anthropology Test 3 Description: Important Terms Total Flash Cards: 49 Created: 03/16/2009 12:16:39		New Users: To study from this flashcard set, or to create your own your own study flash cards, REGISTER HERE. Existing Users: CLICK HERE. Additional Anthropology Flashcards
Cards in this set: Term achieved status Definition social position based on a person's demonastrated personal abilities apart from social status ascribed from birth Term agricultural intensification Definition Changes in farming technologies, such as shortened fallow periods, use of new fertilizers or crops, or irrigation in order to produce more food per year in a given area often at greater energy costs. Term ascribed status Definition The social status that one is born into; includes gender, birth order, lineage, clan affiliation, and connection with elite ancestors. Term circumscription Definition development of political centralization, villagers may be forced to surrender their autonomy if unable to escape authorities. Term glottochronology Definition a way to determine when certain languages separated from the common ancestral language, by calculated how many cognates are shared between related languages Term mana Definition an impersonal supernatural force thought to reside in certain people and objects. In the Pacific Islands it is the chiefly power Term political economy Definition a cultural pattern in which central authority intervenes with the production and distribution of goods and services. Term primogeniture Definition preferring a couples first born child, or oldest living child, basis for establishing social rank. Term rank Definition social position in a status hierarchy Term redistribution Definition authority distributing goods Term social class Definition a group of people in a stratisfied community in which people have similar access to power and resources Term social status Definition a position that an individual occupies within a social class Term social stratification Definition a ranking of social statuses in which individuals have different access to power and resources Term specialist Definition an individual who provides goods and services to elites, but aquires his or her goods from surpluses extracted by the authorities Term subsistence economy Definition production and distribution at a community level for local consumption Term Tabu Definition forbidden actions Term city states Definition political scaled cultures based on that states surrounding Term staple economy Definition The state distributing goods and state controlled production to support non-food producing groups (Inca) Term superstructure Definition mental, idealogical belief systems Term village states Definition politically centralized societies drawing support from villagers, or peasants spread over a vast area of land Term wealth economy Definition State controlled distribution of goods and wealth, as well as storage that support the status hierarchy Term adaptation Definition maintaining balance between population levels and the natural resources Term diminishing returns Definition output value declines as the effort is increased in any production system Term marginal returns Definition the increase in total output as a result of increased additional input Term ancestor worship Definition a religious system based on reverance for certani ancestors involving shrines, rituals and sacrifice Term filial piety Definition the obligation of children to respects thier elders, especially the duty for sons to care for thier patrilineal ancestors Term great tradition Definition the culture of an elite in state organized society with a written tradition that is not fully shared by villafge level commoners Term immiseration Definition a declining standard of living attributed to continuous population growth on a limited resource base Term little tradition Definition practices followed by nonliterate commoners, especially villagers who were part of a large state level society Term liturgical government Definition the use of ritually perscribed interpersonal relations and religous moral authority as a primary means of social control Term peasantry Definition village farmers who provide most of thier own substinance but have to pay taxes and who are politically and economically dependant on the central form of government Term theocracy Definition state government based on religious authorituy or devine guidance (Chinese emporer). Term hypergamy Definition marraige to someone of a higher rank Term hypogamy Definition marraige to someone of lower rank Term geomancy Definition method of divination that interprets markings on the ground or the patterns formed by tossed handfuls of soil, rocks, or sand. Term joint family Definition any family structure involving more than two adults. The term can refer to any extended family or to a polygamy of any type. It is often used to refer to the group marriage form of polygamy. Term li Definition a Chinese species of plum? <- probably not Term mandate of heaven Definition Chinese philosophical concept concerning the legitimacy of rulers. Heaven would bless the authority of a just ruler Term meritocracy Definition organization wherein appointments are made and responsibilities are given based on demonstrated talent and ability (merit), rather than by wealth Term Tao Definition philosophy to signify the fundamental or true nature of the world. Term Yin-Yang concept Definition used to describe how seemingly disjunct or opposing forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, giving rise to each other in turn. Term dowry Definition the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her new husband Term Islam Definition is a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Term purdah Definition the practice of preventing women from being seen by their spouses Term split inheritance Definition the process in which a ruler's chosen successor obtained all political power and rights, while the ruler's other male descendants received all the monetary treasures Term tyranny Definition a single ruler holding absolute power over a state or within an organization Term usurpation Definition term used to describe either an illegitimate or controversial claimant to the throne in a monarchy, or a person who succeeds in establishing himself as a monarch without inheriting the throne Term quipu Definition recording devices used in the Inca Empire and its predecessor societies in the Andean region. A quipu usually consisted of colored spun and plied thread or strings from llama or alpaca hair. Term Austronesian languages Definition a language family widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia.