ANTH 210 1st Edition Exam 2 Study Guide Weeks 7 9 Week 7 March 2 4 6 What is an adaptive strategy An adaptive strategy is the way a culture uses its particular physical environment and includes those aspects of culture that serve to provide the necessities of life food clothing shelter and defense What are the different types of adaptive strategies It s very important to understand the characteristics of the different adaptive strategies The four ones needed to know for the test are Foraging Hunting gathering Reliance on hunted fished or gathered foods Oldest adaptive strategy Has been present everywhere in the world at some point in history Utilizes different hunting technologies o Spear o Atlatl aka spear thrower o Bow and arrow o Blowgun Usually organized in bands of around 25 related members o Move around a lot o Few possessions o Often break apart or join with other bands o Egalitarian no leader every member of the band is equal Sexual division of labor men do some tasks women do others Wide range of foods are foraged Few purely foraging civilizations remain due to globalization Horticulture Cultivation that does not make intensive use of land labor or capital Small scale subsistence farming growing only as much as you need to survive Often supplemented with domesticated animals fishing and gathering Uses slash and burn method a way of clearing land that gets rid of unwanted plants and adds nutrients to the soil More sedentary than foraging An example of this adaptive strategy are the Yanomamo people of South America Marshall Sahlins called horticulture society the original affluent society because horticulturalists work only a few hours per day and generally have few desires Pastoralism Tending herds of animals Often found in semi arid habitats where raising crops is difficult Based on using animals to turn inedible plants into edible meat Uses animals in different ways o Meat o Wool o Milk o Pack animals o Riding Two subtypes of pastoralism o Nomadic Entire groups move with the herds o Transhumance Permanent settlements shepherds take animals out to graze every day and bring them back at night Pastoralist cultures often get attached to their animals Agriculture Intensive cultivation Boosts productivity per acre per hour Began roughly 5 000 years ago Usually organized in large dense populations such as cities o Complex formal social systems o Highly stratified many levels of rank o Society uses specialization individuals are specialized in one trade Example Agriculture in Southeast China Agricultural societies in southeast China are based on lineage descent groups that can trace their ancestry to one male ancestor The person to which the lineage traces back is called the apical ancestor The lineages form villages of 40 70 households which are both patriarchal males are the leaders and patrilineal land and the family name is passed through sons The villagers have several classifications including peasants and gentry elites The gentry include the elderly wealthy and intellectuals What is globalization Globalization is the ever increasing flow of goods services money people technology information and other cultural items across political borders Globalization has had a massive effect on the world including increased industrialization industrial development in which countries evolve economically from producing basic primary goods to using modern factories for mass producing goods Example Cocaine Trade in Bolivia In Bolivia increased globalization and the demand for cocaine from Europe and America has created a huge cocaine industry in which the field and production workers see only a ridiculously small percentage of the profit Example Factory Girls in China Increased industrialization in China has led many girls to leave their family farms and go to work in factories These girls often find more independence and opportunity for education than they would have at home Week 8 March 9 11 13 What is religion Religion is a shared belief system of the world aka more than just a few people characterized by supernatural beliefs held by faith rather than evidence Religion tends to include Deities supernatural anthropomorphic beings often considered holy Spirituality belief in spirits or a higher power that guides universe Magic using supernatural techniques to accomplish specific aims o Contagious magic using someone s hair nails personal belongings etc to cause an effect on them o Imitative used to produce desired effect by imitating it e g voodoo dolls Superstition Belief that particular object or action will have effects on events without foundation in or in contravention of scientific and logical knowledge o Examples of superstition Four leaf clover unlucky 13 crossing fingers for luck broken mirror etc Religion also often includes moral codes prescribed rules regarding behavior particularly with regards to others Moral codes differ from philosophical treatments in that moral codes are based on belief The Ten Commandments is an example of a moral code in religion Rituals structured and repetitive activities at defined locations and times are an important part of many religions Examples of rituals include Gatherings including church services masses Prayer Offerings items offered in worship or devotion to a deity Pilgrimages journeys in which pilgrims seek spiritual enlightenment o Example Buddhists to Tibet Muslims to Mecca and Hindus to the Ganges River These rituals are often performed to influence events health weather warfare or maintain good standing with deities spirits The adaptive strategy of a culture can affect the way its religion is practiced In foraging societies such as the Yanomamo religious specialists are called shamans Societies with productive economies and large populations can support full time religious specialists Different categories of religion include Animism belief that objects such as plants and stones or natural events like thunderstorms and earthquakes have a discrete spirit and conscious life Totemism a people group is associated with a particular animal or object which is their totem o Example Northwest Native Americans Australian aborigines Ancestor worship belief that deceased family members have a continued existence take an interest in the affairs of the world and possess the ability to influence the fortune of the living o Very common in China related to Confucianism Polytheism belief in multiple gods o Example Hinduism Greek and Roman beliefs