Carrying Capacity
Largest number of individuals of a population that a environment can support
Optimal foraging theory
Organisms forage in such a way to maximize their energy intake per unit. They behave in a way to find and consume food containing the most calories while expending the least amount of time.
foraging
A subsistence strategy based on gathering plants that grow wild in the environment and hunting available animals
Neolithic Revolution
(10,000 - 8,000 BCE) The development of agriculture and the domestication of animals as a food source. This led to the development of permanent settlements and the start of civilization.
Horticulture
small scale crop cultivation characterized by the use of simple tech & absence of irrigation
Shifting cultivation
Cultivation of crops in tropical forest clearings in which the forest vegetation has been removed by cutting and burning. They are usually abandoned after a few years in favor of newly cleared forestland. Also known as slash-and-burn agri. & swidden culti
Pastoralism
A food-getting strategy based on animal husbandry; found in regions of the world that are generally unsuited for agriculture.
Transhumance
A seasonal periodic movement of pastoralists and their livestock between highland and lowland pastures, usually according to seasons.
Nomadism
Migratory movement of herders and their animals in search of food and pasture for livestock
Stock friendship
A gift of livestock from one man to another to strengthen their friendship
intensive agriculture
Plant domestication using the plow, draft animals, irrigation, crop rotation, and fertilizers.
peasantry
rural peoples, usually on the lowest wring of society's latter who provide urban inhabitants with farm products but have little access to wealth and power
industrialization
A process resulting in the economic change from home production of goods to large scale mechanized factory production
balanced reciprocity
Exchange of goods of equal value, with an obligation to return them
silent trade
a form of product exchange in which mutually distrusting ethnic groups avoid direct personal contact
kula ring
A form of balanced reciprocity that reinforces trade relations among the seafaring Trobriand Islanders and other Melanesians.
negative reciprocity
Mode of exchange in which the aim is to get something for as little as possible. Neither fair nor balanced, it may involve hard bargaining, manipulation, outright cheating or theft.
redistribution
A system of exchange in which a centralized authority collects goods and services from a group of people and redistributes them
bridewealth
Custom in which a prospective groom and his relatives are required to transfer goods to the relatives of the bride to validate the marriage
chiefly redistribution/tribute
when goods are given to a chief (as a symbol of allegiance), who returns them, usually in the form of a feast
big men/big women
Self-made leaders, found widely in Melanesia and New Guinea, who gain prominence by convincing their followers to contribute excess food to provide lavish feasts for the followers of other big men or big women
potlach
(among North American Indian peoples of the northwest coast) An opulent ceremonial feast at which possessions are given away or destroyed to display wealth or enhance prestige
prestige economies
A category of economic institutions, such as the potlatch and big men/big women, in which wealth is distributed and prestige and status are thereby conferred
market exchange
The buying and selling of goods and services, with prices set by rules of supply and demand
barter
Exchange goods without involving money.
economics
Production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services
economic anthropology
A branch of the discipline of anthropology that looks at systems of production, distribution, and consumption, wherever they may be found, but most often in the non-industralized world.
formal economic theory
assumptions about economic behavior based on the experience of Western, industrialized economies
formalism
A school of economic anthropology that argues that the broad ideas of formal economic theory can serve as analytical tools to study any economic system.
substantivism
A school of economic anthropology that seeks to understand economic processes in their role of maintaining an entire cultural order, often used when examining non-industrial cultures.
allocation of resources
A society's regulation and control of such resources as land, water, and their by-products
property rights
western concept of individual ownership in wihch rights and obligations to land, livestock or material possessions reside with the individual rather than a larger group
production
the process whereby goods are obtained from the natural environment and altered to become consumable goods for society
division of labor
aka labor specialization
the assignment of day to day tasks to the various members of society
organic solidarity
type of social integration based on mutual interdependence, found in societies with a relatively elaborate division of labor
mechanical solidarity
mode of distribution characterized by the exchange of goods and services of approximately equal value between parties
reciprocity
mode of distribution characterized by the exchange of goods and services of approximately equal value between parties
generalized reciprocity
the practice of giving a gift with out expecting a gift in return; creates moral obligation
arranged marriage
a marriage in which the parents choose the marriage partners
dowry
Money or property brought by a bride to her husband at marriage
cross cousins
The children of a parent's siblings of the opposite sex (mother's brothers, father's sisters).
bride service
- work or services done by a groom for his wife's family instead of paying a bride price - usually for a set period of time, often years
endogamy
Marriage between people of the same social group
exogamy
Marriage outside a defined social group.
incest taboo
A norm forbidding sexual relations or marriage between certain relatives
kibbutz
a communal farm or settlement in israel
levirate
A custom whereby a man is obliged to marry his brother's widow
monogamy
Marriage to a single mate
nuclear family
most basic family unit, composed of wife and husband & children
parallel cousins
Your father's brother's children, or your mother's sister's children.
polyandry
A polygamous mating system involving one female and many males.
polygny
the practice of having multiple wives simultaneously
post partum sex taboo
..., customary period of celebacy for a woman after giving birth, up to 3 years or until mother is done breastfeeding
preferential cousin marriage
a preferred form of marriage between either parallel or cross cousins
reciprocal exchange
the equal exchange of gifts between the families of both the bride and groom to legitimize a marriage
role ambiguity
Uncertainty about what behaviors are expected of a person in a particular role.
serial monogamy
A form of marriage in which a person may have several spouses in his or her lifetime but only one spouse at a time.
sororate
Custom by which a widower marries the sister of the deceased wife
occupational segregation
The sparation of different occupations in society along gender lines.
kindred
A unique kin network made up of all the people related to a specific individual in a bilateral kinship system.
patrilocal residence
a residence pattern in which a married couple lives with the relatives of the husbands father
matrilocal residence
a residence pattern in which a married couple lives with the relatives of the wife
avunculocal residence
system under which a married couple lives with the husband's mother's brother
ambilocal residence
a residence pattern in which a married couple may choose either matrilocal or patrilocal residence
neolocal residence
system under which a couple establishes an independent household after marriage
iroquois system
kinship system with unilineal descent with father & father's brother same, also mother & mother's sister
sexual dimoprhism
the condition in which males and females of the same species show pronounced sex differences in appearances
sex
biological/genetic differences between males and females
gender
the roles, behaviors, and attributes a society considers appropriate for members of the two sexes
masculanity
social definition of maleness, which varies from society to society
femininity
social definition of femaleness, varies from society to society
human sexuality
sexual practices of humans, usually varying from culture to culture
extramarital sexual activity
Sexual activity outside of marriage
homosexual
Attracted to the same sex
gender roles
Expectations about what is appropriate behavior for each sex.
sexual asymmetry
the universal tendency of women to be in a subordinate position in their social relationships with men
genderlects
Linguistic differences in the way in which men and women may speak within their culture
gender stratification
Men's and women's unequal access power, wealth, and prestige
purdah
Hindu or Muslim system of sex segregation which keeps women in seclusion and/or requires clothing that conceals them completely
universal male dominance
The notion that men are more powerful and influential than women in all societies
feminization of poverty
The increasing concentration of poverty among women, especially unmarried women and their children
gender ideology
Ideas about sex, gender, the natures of men and women, including their sexuality and the relations between genders
male gender bias
a preference found in some societies for sons rather than daughters
honor killing
A euphemism referring to a practice found in various Middle Eastern cultures whereby women are killed by their own family members because they are thought to have dishonored the family
dowry death
In the context of arranged marriages in India, disputes over the price to be paid by the family of the bride to the father of the groom (the dowry) have, in some extreme cases, led to the death of the bride.
consanguineal relatives
Blood relative
affinal relatives
kinship ties formed through marriage (that is, in-laws)
fictive kinship
Condition in which people who are not biologically related behave as if they are relatives of a certain type
vertical function of kinship
the ways in which all kinship systems tend to provide social continuity by binding together different generations
horizontal function of kinship
the ways in which all kinships systems, by requiring people to marry outside their own small kinship group, function to integrate the total society through marriage bonds between otherwise unrelated kin groups.
EGO
the person in kinship diagrams from whose point of view the relationships are traced
lineality
kin related in a single line such as son, father, and grandfather
collaterality
kin relationships traced through a linking relative such as uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, and cousins
kinship system
The complexity of a culture's rules governing the relationships between af?nal and consanguineal kin.
descent
a persons kinship connections traced back through a number of generations
unilineal descent
descent that establishes group membership exclusively through either the male or female line
matrilinial descent
descent system in which kinship is traced through the mothers family.
patrilineal descent
A system of tracing descent through the father's side of the family
cognatic descent
form of descent in which relationships may be traced through both females and males
lineage
A unilineal kinship group descended from a common ancestor or founde
segmentation
the process that occurs with in a lineage where small subdivisions of a lineage oppose one another in some social situations but become allies in others
clans
unilineal descent group comprised of ten or more generations, consist of members who claim common ancestor
phratries
unilineal descent groups composed of related clans
moieties
complementary descent groups that result from the division of a society into halves
double descent
a system of descent in which individuals receive some rights and obligations from the father's side of the family and others from the mother's side
ambilineal descent
a form of bilateral descent in which an individual may choose to affiliate with either the father's or mother's descent group
bilateral descent
A kinship system in which both sides of a person's family are regarded as equally important.