ANTHR 101 - Unit 3 Notes PDF

Chapter 10 10.1 Concept of culture ~ ○ Discourse of Western world ~ alternative to explaining human differences as result of racial or biological factors Tyler (anthropologist) - using term culture as general phenomenon...

Chapter 10 10.1 Concept of culture ~ ○ Discourse of Western world ~ alternative to explaining human differences as result of racial or biological factors Tyler (anthropologist) - using term culture as general phenomenon for all of humanity ○ Different from physical and biological characteristics 19th century definition - relies on word man to refer to humanity ○ Think of “culture” as equivalent to “civilization” Includes word “society” ○ In past, anthropologists attempted to make simple distinction between society and culture Society: consists of patterns of relationships among people within specified territory, culture was viewed as by-products of these relationships Culture NOT uniform by-product of society Varieties of culture ○ Even in small scale societies, dea that all people share “collective” culture is too simplistic Contemporary definition - shared way of life that includes material products and non-material products (values, beliefs, norms) transmitted within society or social group Sociocultural system ~ basic conceptual framework for analyzing ethnographic research 10.2 We obtain our culture through enculturation ○ Enculturation: process of social interaction through which people learn and acquire their culture Humans acquire culture consciously, through formal learning and unconsciously, through informal learning Situational learning: trial-and-error learning, in which organism adjusts its behavior on the basis of direct experience Social learning: one organism observes another organism respond to a stimulus then adds that response to its own collection of behaviors ○ Wolves learn hunting strategies by observing pack members  ○ Chimpanzees observe other chimps fashioning twigs with which to hunt termites and then imitate Primates do not intentionally or deliberately teach one another as humans do Symbolic learning: based on linguistic capacity and ability to use and understand symbols, meaningful units or models we use to represent reality ○ Ex. colors red, yellow, and green for traffic lights Symbolic communication and language can be used to represent abstract ideas and values ○ Ex. children can learn to distinguish and name coins and to use them as a symbolic medium of exchange Symbols are interconnected with linguistic symbol systems Linguistic capacity we are born with gives us the ability to make and use symbolic distinctions As children mature, they can learn abstract rules and concepts involving symbolic communication ○ Through oral traditions and text, humans can transmit this information across distances and through time Signs: directly associated with concrete physical items or activities ○ Ex. dog can learn to associate ringing of a bell with drinking water ○ Ex. designs and colors of flags of different countries represent symbolic associations with abstract ideas Some flags associate color red with blood while others with revolution Human capacity for culture based on linguistic and cognitive ability to symbolize Through transmission of culture, we learn: ○ How to subsist ○ How to socialize ○ How to govern our society ○ What gods to worship 10.3 Culture consists of shared practices and understandings within society Schemas: cultural models that are internalized by individuals and have an influence on decision making and behavior Culture ~ result of cumulative interactions between our minds and with people around us ○ When anthropologists study a group of people they have to investigate individual cognitive mechanisms and cultural and social contexts and interactions Culture is shared differently by males vs females / young vs old ○ Some individuals have great knowledge of agriculture, medical practices, or religious beliefs  Contemporary anthropologists note culture is “contested” ~ people question and disagree and struggle over specifics of culture ○ Common understandings assumed by individuals to allow members of society to adapt, to communicate, and to interact with one another “Japanese culture”, “German culture”, “African American culture”, “Hispanic culture” ○ This often led to simplistic essentialist generalizations Essentialist stereotypes often create harm and misunderstandings between people and different societies Goal of anthropology ~ to establish approximate truths about culture Varisco emphasizes in his own research in Yemen ~ he was directly observing not Yemeni culture, but representation of that culture based on his lived experience in fieldwork sharing the language with the people Recent anthropological understanding of culture ~ epidemiological approach ~ Dan Sperber ○ Anthropologists draw on fields of cognitive science and cognitive psychology to discuss how culture propagates like a contagious disease from one person to another Chains of communication propagate these ○ Ex. folktales or religious narratives easily maintained within a population in contrast to complex mathematical formulae and narratives based on findings within science 10.4 Most basic aspects of culture: material and nonmaterial culture Material culture: physical products of human society (ranging from weapons to clothing styles) Nonmaterial culture: intangible products of human society (values, beliefs, norms) Values: standards by which members of a society define what is good or bad, holy or unholy, beautiful or ugly ○ Central aspect of nonmaterial culture of a society Beliefs: cultural conventions that concern true or false assumptions, including specific descriptions of the nature of the universe and humanity’s place in it ○ Some beliefs may not be scientifically accepted ○ Ex. our intuitive and common sense understandings lead us to conclude that Earth is flat ○ Cognitive intuitions and common sense beliefs contradicted by knowledge by scientific method Worldview - believed to consist of various beliefs about the nature of reality that provided people with more or less consistent orientation toward the world  ○ Ex. early anthropologists believed, worldviews of Azande of East Africa and Navajos of United States included meaningful beliefs about witches ○ Cultures were very homogenous Ideology: consists of cultural symbols and beliefs that reflect and support interests of specific groups within society Cultural hegemony: ideological control by one dominant group over values, beliefs, norms ○ Ex. 18-19th centuries ~ white Anglo-Saxon Protestants able to impose its language, cultural beliefs, and practices on Native Americans in US society ○ Other cases, subordinate groups begin to resist ideological foundations of dominant group Norms: shared rules or guidelines that define how people “ought” to behave under certain circumstances ○ Society’s rules of right and wrong behavior ○ Ex. Older Americans not supposed to live with their children ○ Self sufficient young adults beyond certain age should not live with parents Folkways: norms guiding ordinary usages and conventions of everyday life ○ Ex. Chinese anthropologist asks American why he/she eats with knives and forks Mores: much stronger than are folkways ○ People who violate mores usually severely punished ○ Ex. If woman violates dress code in Iran or Saudi Arabia she may be arrested by religious police and detained Seven moral rules - loving your family, assisting your group, returning favors, being fair, being brave, deferring to superiors, and respecting others’ property Ideal culture: what people say they do or should do Real culture: their actual behaviors 10.5 Cultural relativism: view that cultural traditions must be understood within context of particular society’s responses to problems and opportunities ○ Method or procedure for explaining and interpreting other people’s cultures ○ Some serious ethical problems ○ Ex. many cultural anthropologists found themselves in societies in which cultural practices may produce physical harm to people Americans repulsed by thought of eating insects and insect larvae ○ 2 billion people eat insects on regular basis ~ entomophagy Africa - people eat insects and insect larvae as local snacks Thailand - street vendors stock trays of deep-fried grasshoppers, cockroaches, water bugs  Mexico - chefs mix ant eggs into omelets and put grasshoppers into guacamole Horsemeat ~ part of continental European diet Jewish people have prohibitions against eating pork ○ Ancient Israelites classified reality by placing things into distinct “mental boxes” ○ Some items anomalous and ambiguous - treated as unclean, impure, unholy, polluting Animals that combined elements of different realms were considered ambiguous, and therefore unclean or unholy ~ Bible ○ Ex. insects unclean ○ Ex. animals with clean hooves and could chew cud ~ considered clean but could not be eaten ○ Pigs have cloven hooves but do not chew cud ~ unclean and polluting ○ Shellfish and eels also unclean because they swim in water but lack fins and scales Rastafarians (Jamaica) - brought to Jamaica by European slave traders to work on plantations in 18-19 century Ethnicity: based on perceived differences in ancestral origins or descent and on shared historical and cultural heritage Ethnic group: collectivity of people who believe they share a common history, culture, or ancestry Old Order Amish ~ descended from group of Anabaptists ○ Live conservative, traditional way of life ○ Children not educated past grade 8 ~ no exposure to modern US culture 10.6 Cultural universals: essential behavioral characteristics of societies, found all over the world Many anthropologists overlooked basic similarities in human behavior and culture ○ This has led to stereotypes For a society to survive: ○ must have mechanisms to care for children ○ adapt to the physical environment ○ produce and distribute goods and services ○ maintain order ○ provide explanations of the natural and social environments Chapter 14 Introduction Anthropologists approach universal features of sociocultural systems as variables Anthropologists use both scientific casual and humanistic interpretations of cultural beliefs 14.1 Core of ethnographic research is participant observation ○ Involves long-term engagement that reveals social relations, social processes, cultural phenomena of group Research design ~ strategy formulated to examine a particular topic that specifies the appropriate methods for gathering the richest possible data Before going into research, anthropologists analyzes archival data Time-allocation analysis - record how much time people in society spend in various activities: work, leisure, recreation, religious ceremonies 14.2 Key informants - offer insight into culture’s patterns Unstructured interviews ~ involve open-ended conversations with informants, to gain insights into a culture Structured interviews ~ involve asking same questions of every individual in given sample ○ More accurate data collection Random sample: representative sample of people of different ages, genders, economic and political statuses Quantitative data: data that can be expressed as numbers Etic perspective: outsider’s objective, quantifiable data that are used to scientifically analyze culture of society  Qualitative data: nonstatistical information that tends to be most important Emic perspective: insider’s view of his or her own society and values Culture shock: severe psychological reaction that results from adjusting to realities of a society radically different from one’s own Life History Projects ~ integrate ethnography and biological explanations to understand connections between individual and family life histories and health conditions in nonindustrial societies ○ contribute toward explanations of evolutionary processes as well as providing community benefits 14.3 Cultural anthropologists conduct research on politically powerless groups dominated by more powerful groups ○ Become familiar with information that might be harmful if made public Cultural anthropologist should give the community a reasonable account of what he or she wants to do American Anthropological Association developed a code of ethics ○ Provides anthropologists with ethical guidelines to help make decisions while in field Human Terrain System (HTS) ~ recent attempt by US military to recruit anthropologists during wards in Afghanistan and Iraq ○ Developed by US Army to integrate social scientists into combat units to assist in understanding cultural contexts of areas in which they were operating ○ Employed to avoid alienating communities that might be friendly to US coalition and local governments Many contemporary anthropologists have grave reservations about undercover research in war zones “Doing no harm” ~ principle ethical guideline by American Anthropological Association HTS mission statement ~ prevention of harm to US troops and local communities in combat zones 14.4 Ethnography - descriptive monograph of results of ethnographic research  Correlation: interaction of two variables ○ Ex. particular society may experience both population increase and high incidence of warfare Independent variable: casual variable that produces an effect on another variable Dependent variable: may depend on or be explained by the independent variable Multivariate or multidimensional ~ variables interact with one another ○ Multidimensional approach linked with holistic perspective 14.5 Contemporary anthropologists aware of considerable problems with a unilineal, ladderlike evolutionary perspective Contemporary anthropologists view cultural evolution as multilineal Categories of sociocultural systems may be viewed as “ideal types” ○ Do not conform to actual realities of people and cultures 14.6 Foraging societies: depends on hunting animals and gathering vegetation for subsistence ○ Also known as hunter-gatherer societies 99 percent of humanity’s life span ~ lived as foragers Egalitarian: to have very small differences in wealth among individuals Band ~ small group of people tied together by close kinship relations ○ Each band politically independent of others and has its own internal leadership ○ Most leaders males, but women also take on important leadership roles Eurasian continent had geographical and ecological advantages Africa had very few species of animals and plants that could be domesticated ○ Major geographical obstacles: large tropical rain forests, deserts, infertile land Tribe ~ non centralized sociocultural system in which authority is diffused among number of kinship groups ○ Used to characterize: horticulturalist and pastoralist Tribes evolve through contacts with other societies Chiefdom ~ political system based on kinship that has formalized and centralized leadership, headed by a chief  ○ Not egalitarian ○ Some consider to be subcategory of tribe / some view it different from bands and tribes Chiefs: own, manage, control basic productive factors of economy and have privileged access to strategic and luxury goods Anthropologists two different forms: ○ Centralized political system with localized chiefs who control economic, social, political, religious affairs ○ More decentralized, centers of political power and authority distributed throughout region and with chiefs having control over different local arenas Intensive agriculture: cultivation of crops by preparing permanent fields year after year, often using irrigation and fertilizers State vs prestate - bureaucratic organization (government) State - political system with centralized bureaucratic institutions to establish power and authority over large populations in clearly defined territories Civilization: complex society with number of characteristics Cause of Industrial Revolution for the states in which it occurred Industrial society: uses sophisticated technology based on machinery powered by advanced fuels to produce material goods Nation-states: political communities that have clearly defined territorial borders diving them from one another Mercantilism: system in which government regulates economy of a state to ensure economic growth, a positive balance of trade, and accumulation of gold and silver Industrialization: adoption of mechanized means of production to transform raw materials into manufactured goods Modernization: economic, social, political, religious changes related to modern industrial and technological change ○ Took more than 400 years ~ remains ongoing process Post industrial society: based on information technology that is interconnected in global network throughout the world 14.7 Cross-cultural research also known as ethnological research Great deal of ethnographic data computerized in Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) Cross-cultural methods have limitations: ○ May not have taken historical circumstances into account when describing particular conditions in a society ○ Faulty ethnographic reporting, can produce unreliable data, contributing to distorted image of society being studied Chapter 15 15.1 Environment affects organisms directly and affects the propagation of adaptive characteristics ○ Those characteristics that enable individuals to survive and reproduce in their environment Adaptation - process in which an organism adjusts to environmental pressures ○ Humans have adapted to specific environments through culture Ecology ~ coined by German biologist Ernst Haeckel - 19th century ○ ~ two words (oikos) and (logos) mean “study of home life” Ecology: study of living organisms in relationship to their environment Environmental niche: given set of ecological conditions that a life-form uses to make a living, survive, and adapt Anthropological perspective ~ ecology includes humans Cultural ecology - systematic study of relationships between environmental niche and culture Biome: an area distinguished by particular climate and certain types of plants and animals ○ May be classified by certain attributes that support certain forms of animal life ~ mean rainfall, temperature, soil conditions, vegetation Subsistence patterns: means by which people in various societies acquire food ○ Ex. Arctic conditions not conducive to agricultural activities nor are arid regions for rice production Earliest type of subsistence pattern - foraging or hunting and gathering ~ 2M years ago ○ Horticulture ○ Pastoralism ○ Intensive agriculture Anthropogenic landscape - created by forgagers and by industrialists though degree and intensity of alteration may vary Another aspect of subsistence relates to ~ use of energy in different societies Leslie White’s attempt to explain sociocultural evolution in terms of energy use ○ Progressed in relationship to harnessing of energy Sociocultural systems divided into two: ○ High-energy culture ○ Low-energy culture  Ian Morris measured energy capture by prehistoric people compared to modern contemporary societies ○ Energy capture ~ range of energy that includes food, fuel, raw materials Measured in kilocalories per capita, per day Morris’s model more comprehensive and quantitatively more sophisticated 15.2 Demography: study of the quantitative and statistical aspects of a population ○ Study changes in size, composition, and distribution of human populations ○ Also study consequences of population increases and decreases for human societies Demographic anthropologists design censuses and surveys to collect population statistics on size, age, gender composition, and increasing or decreasing growth of population of society ○ After collecting these data, focus on three major variables: fertility, mortality, migration Fertility: number of births in society Crude birth rate: number of live births in a given year for every 1K people in population ○ Used to measure fertility Mortality: incidence of death in society’s population Crude death rate: number of deaths in a given year for every 1K people in population ○ Used to measure mortality Migration rate: movement of people into and out of specified territory Demographic anthropologists determine number of people moving into territory and number of people moving out of territory ○ Use these numbers to calculate net migration Net migration: indicates general movement of population in and out of a territory To assess overall population change ○ ~ subtract crude death rate from crude birth rate to arrive at natural growth rate of population Calculate total population change ○ ~ by adding rate of migration to other measures of growth Fecundity: potential number of children that women are capable of bearing ○ Influences fertility rates Life expectancy: number of years an average person can expect to live Infant mortality rate: number of babies per 1K births in any year who die before reaching age of 1 ○ Component in determining life expectancy of given society ○ When infant mortality rate is high, life expectancy decreases  Childhood mortality rate: number of children per 1K per year who die before reaching age of 5 Migration ~ involuntary (can be voluntary) ○ Ex. Cajun people of Louisiana forced out of Canada by British in 1700s Push factors: those that lead people to leave specific territories ○ Ex. poverty, warfare, political instability Pull factors: powerful incentives for people to move to other societies ○ Ex. economic opportunity, peace, political freedom Carrying capacity: maximum population that a specific environment can support, determined by environment’s potential energy and food resources 15.3 Marginal environments: areas that need huge investment in both labor and capital to irrigate deserts, slash down tropical forests for agriculture, or cultivate crops in the Arctic ○ Nonfood energy relatively restricted, foragers have fewer material goods ○ Foragers depend on their own human energy for hunting game and collecting vegetation Anthropologist Robert L. Kelly used ethnographic data from every continent to compare and highlight diversity of foragers who subsists on wild resources !Kung San or Ju/’hoansi San of Kalahari Desert (Africa) ○ Artifacts going back to 40K years ○ Links go back to 200K years to earliest types of modern Homo sapiens ○ Residing in desert before agriculture spread ○ Name of group means “true people” ○ 60-80 percent of diet consisted of nuts, roots, melons, berries ○ 20-30 percent of diet consisted of meat ~ meat from hunting less common ○ Spent between 2 and 3 days each week finding food ○ Women able to gather enough in 1-2 days to feed families for week Enough time for resting, visiting, embroidering - Women Ritual activities - Men Shoshone (Great Basin) ○ Males hunted and trapped game ○ Females gathered seeds, insects, vegetation ○ Both harvested wild pinyon nuts, women mixed with seeds and insects and ground into flour for cooking Arrernte (Australia) ○ Woman and children gathered seeds, roots, snails, insects, reptiles, eggs of birds ○ Males hunted larger game, kangaroo, wallaby, ostrich-like emu, smaller birds ○ Spent 4-5 hours per day per person gathering food  Central africa ~ 10 linguistically distinct groups ○ Major groups been studied - Efe, Mbuti, Aka ○ Spend at least 4 months of year hunting and gathering ○ Main regular contact through trade and exchange with groups outside forest Efe ~ more sustained dependent relationships with outsiders which influences their social organization and culture Mbuti males hunt elephants, buffalo, wild pigs, other game ○ Females gather vegetation ~ females and children often involved in hunting endeavor ○ Older males and youth hunt independently Semang (Malaysia) ○ Abandoned large game hunting when they took up blowgun instead of bow and arrow ○ Males fish and hunt small game ○ Women gather wild fruits and vegetables Eskimos ~ common term for Arctic peoples (used in Alaska) ○ Early inuit culture (2500 B.C.) ○ Eskimo hunt sea mammals - vegetation was scarce ○ Ex. after killing caribou, male hunters ate stomach to obtain undigested vegetation ○ Inuit satisfied basic nutritional requirements from eating berries, green roots, fish, fish oil ○ Ate most food raw ~ boiling food over fires was slow and expensive ○ Women not specialized collectors ~ in summer males and females gathered larvae, caribou flies, maggots, deer droppings that had vegetation Most bands share one characteristic: mobility ○ Move frequently depending on season and resources 15.4 Population size among Ju/’hoansi San controlled carefully in many ways Too many people ~ shortages of resources Too few people ~ ineffective foraging strategies Fissioning: moving of people from one group to another or fragmenting of the group into smaller units when population begins to increase and food or other material resources become scarce ○ Typical response ~ migrate to another geographic region ○ Most likely primary means of population control for Paleolithic foragers ○ Situations where fissioning not possible, conflict between groups becomes likely ○ Sometimes fusion, combining of group occurs  Infanticide: deliberate abandonment or killing of infants, usually immediately after birth ○ Physical anthropologist hypothesized ~ infanticide way of birth spacing ○ Not as common among the San as anthropologists thought it was ○ Practiced only if child was severely deformed or physically challenged or if mother could not sustain another child Geronticide: killing of old people ○ Popular legend about Inuit peoples in Arctic ○ Never universal among Arctic peoples (common in some ranges) ○ Rare except during famines Assisted suicide ~ older Inuit believed they were a burden and asked younger relatives to kill them Nancy Howell’s research on the Ju/’hoansi San indicates low-calorie diet and high energy rate needed for female foraging activities ○ Postpones menstruation at puberty ~ mean age 16.6 years (12.9 in US) ○ Low body weight also influences ○ Slower rate of maturation related to low fertility Breastfeeding contributes to low fertility rates ○ Women breastfeed infants for 3-4 years ~ prolonged nursing produces natural optimal birth interval or spacing of children Fertility control - sexual abstinence, abortion, infanticide, delayed marriage 15.5 Horticulture: form of agriculture in which people use limited non mechanized technology to cultivate plants Swidden agriculture (slash-and-burn agriculture) - involves production of food without intensive use of labor but does involve extensive use of land ○ Once widespread ~ today found in tropical rainforests ○ Begins with clearing tract of land by cutting down trees then setting fire to the brush ○ Burned vegetation and ashes remain, nutrients from them sink into soil ○ Various crops planted ○ Women and children spend time weeding and tending gardens ○ After planted, garden plot left unplanted for 3-15 years ○ If not left unplanted, grasses and weeds may colonize area Swidden agriculturalists less nomadic more sedentary Yanomamo (Amazon) - practices swidden along with hunting and gathering ○ 80-90 percent of diet from gardens ○ Do not work on subsistence activities for food production more than 3-4 hours per day  ○ Garden lasts for 3 years ○ Make small adjustments as soil becomes exhausted - not reason for movement ○ Movements due to warfare and political conflict with nearby groups ~ sedentary life ○ Gather wild foods Tsembaga (Papua New Guinea) - live in two river valley areas surrounded by mountains ○ Cultivate mountain slopes with subsistence gardens ○ Women plant and harvest crops ○ 99 percent diet consists of vegetables ○ Domesticate pigs ~ only consumed during ritual occasions Iroquois (Woodland Forest Areas) - derived from French use of Basque term ~ translates to “killer people” ○ Five major tribes: Mohawk, Seneca, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga ○ Lived in upper New York state ~ rivers drain into area ~ providing fertile ground ○ Practice adopted around 400 A.D. ○ Three sisters ~ corn, beans, squash ~ stored well throughout winter months ○ Left part of primary forest standing so animals available for hunting ○ After harvesting, men would hunt game ○ In spring, while women planted crops, men fished and captured birds Pastoralists: groups whose subsistence activities are based on care of domesticated animals Bedouins (Arabia and North Africa) - use camel for transportation, hair for tents, sometimes consume meat Saami (Scandinavia and Siberia) - reindeer for food and resources South America - bred llamas and alpacas for transportation and wool for clothing Iran - maintain and herd complex of animals for their livelihood Care of herd requires frequent moves Neur reside along Nile River ○ Flatness of region ~ annual flooding of Nile and heavy clay soils = spend season on high, sandy grounds ○ Plant sorghum, cereal grass used for grain ○ Very limited as strong rainfall and animals can destroy crops ○ Depend heavily on blood and milk of their animals ○ Cattle bled by making small incisions that heal quickly - boil blood until it gets thick - roast it and then eat it ○ Slaughter of old cattle calls for ceremonies or sacrifices 15.6 Horticulturalist societies - 100 - 5K people ~ median size  Pastoralists - 2K people ~ median size Tribal societies became much more densely populated ○ Relatively settled within fairly well defined territories ~ somewhat mobile Pastoralist societies ~ nomadic ○ Wanderings limited to specific pastures and grasslands ○ Place less intense population pressure on each area ○ Denser than those of foragers ~ but many cases both spread thinly over land Both societies experience slow population growth due to limited resources Tribal societies adopted same strategies as bands, especially fissioning 15.7 Most chiefdom societies occupied ecological regions that contain abundant resources ○ More abundant than resources in areas inhabited by foraging and tribal societies Polynesia - various chiefdoms existed ○ Arable land on these islands very fertile and rainfall is plentiful Tahitian (Polynesia) - bountiful harvest from sea ○ Fish and shellfish accounted for large portion of diet ○ Practiced intensive horticulture ○ Able to make efficient use of small parcels of arable land ~ demanded labor, time, and energy but produced much greater agricultural yields than slash-and-burn ○ Most important crops ~ taro, yams, sweet potatoes ○ Protein met by consumption of seafood and animals (domesticated pigs, chickens) African chiefdoms - developed in dry forest, woodland savanna, grassy savanna ○ Use of intensive horticulture, including use of hoes produced surplus of crops ○ More decentralized, power diffused by localized leadership Cahokia society (Mississippi River) - contained fertile soil and abundant resources ~ fish, shellfish, game animals Northwest Coast - bounded by Pacific Ocean west and mountain ranges east ○ Do not fit chiefdom pattern as neatly as Polynesian societies Didn’t practice horticulture or agriculture Characterized due to economic, social, political ○ Lived in environments rich with resources Population growth ~ important factor in centralized administration and social complexity associated with chiefdoms Populations ~ 5K to 50K people exceed carrying capacity  15.8 Development of agricultural states ~ began as early as 8000 B.C. Ian Morris rely on material artifacts, estimated crop yields, trade patterns, other comparative evidence to measure energy capture Agricultural states produce more food calories and have wider range of nonfood fuels and raw materials Population increases produced conditions that led to higher mortality rates ○ Disease, warfare, famines contributed to higher mortality rates in agricultural societies than those found in bands, tribes, or chiefdoms Life expectancy decreased with development of intensive agriculture Populations continued to grow because of increased fertility rates Infant mortality rates encouraged parents to have more children ~ ensure some would survive into adulthood ○ Children viewed as future assets who could take care of parents Agricultural states promoted idea of having large families Pronatalist population policies - those favoring high birth rates ○ Backed up by religious ideologies 15.9 Major natural resource requirements for industrial societies based on harnessing new sources of energy, especially fossil fuel energy Before Industrial Revolution ~ no state used more than 25K kilocalories per capita daily ○ Tribal horticulturalists and intensive agriculturalist farmers used between 4K and 25K kilocalories ○ Classified as low-energy cultures Early industrial societies using fossil fuels almost tripled consumption of energy to 70K kilocalories Later phases, energy consumption quadrupled in high-energy cultures such as US as much as 230K kilocalories per day High energy consumption not only creating environmental hazards, causes rapid depletion of resources ○ US consumes largest amount of world's oil - 20 percent ○ US increased its reserves of natural gas from process of hydraulic fracking using pressurized water and sand mixed with chemicals to produce shale gas and petroleum  This may result in environmental problems ~ groundwater pollution and earthquakes 15.10 Demographic-transition theory: assumes close connection between fertility and mortality rates and socioeconomic development Phase 1. Hunter Gathers ○ Fertility rates, high ○ Mortality rates, high ○ Population growth, slow Phase 2. Early Industrial states ○ Fertility rates, high ○ Mortality rates, low ○ Population growth, rapid Phase 3. Advanced Industrial states ○ Fertility rates, low ○ Mortality rates, low ○ Population growth, slow Model seems to have some validity when applied to global population trends ○ Must be used carefully as a hypothesis ○ May not accurately predict population growth elsewhere for Phase 3 ○ Took at least 500 years of historical experience for countries to become fully industrialized and reach Phase 3 Phase 1. Paleolithic Period ○ From 8K to 3K numbers too small to record Phase 2. Neolithic Period ○ From 3K population growth slowly begins and by 1 A, D reaches between 170 and 400 million Phase 3. Industrial Revolution ○ By 1000 A, D the population is estimated between 254 and 345 million. Reaching 6 billion in 2000 A, D Thomas Robert Malthus ~ father of demography Doubling time: period it takes for a population to double ○ To measure exponential growth rate Post Industrial nations of Western europe, US and Japan reached Phase 3 Zero population growth: population is simply replacing itself Chapter 17 17.1 Social structure: the patterns of relationships within a society Status: a recognized position within a society that determines an individual's placement relative to others ○ May be influenced by wealth, power, prestige, or combination Socioeconomic status: relates an individual's status to labor division, political systems, and cultural variables Types of Status ~ ○ Ascribed status: Assigned at birth or assumed involuntarily later in life ○ Achieved status: Based on voluntary actions and choices, such as profession and education Role: consists of expected behaviors, obligations, and norms associated with a specific status Social Stratification: inequality of statuses Small-scale societies less stratified compared to large-scale societies Family: a social group of two or more people related by blood, marriage, or adoption, living together, sharing resources, and caring for children ○ Family of Orientation ~ The family one is born into ○ Family of Procreation ~ The family formed through reproduction or adoption Primary function ~ ○ Nurtures and enculturates children by transmitting cultural norms, values, and beliefs ○ Regulates sexual activity Types of Families: ○ Nuclear family: Composed of two parents and their biological or adopted children; considered a universal feature of societies ○ Extended family: Includes additional relatives beyond the nuclear family and functions as a broader kinship unit Marriage Patterns: ○ Endogamy: Marriage within the same social group ○ Exogamy: Marriage between different social groups ○ Monogamy: Most common form in Western societies, involving two individuals ○ Polygamy: Involves one individual having multiple spouses; includes Polygyny: One husband with multiple wives. Polyandry: One wife with multiple husbands  17.2 Incest: sexual relations or marriage between close relatives Incest avoidance: shunning these relationships, observed across human and animal societies Theories of Incest Taboo ○ Freud proposed that the incest taboo originated from the Oedipus complex, involving rivalry between fathers and sons, leading to guilt and the prohibition of incest ○ While influential, this explanation is no longer widely accepted by anthropologists Historical exceptions exist, such as royal incest among the ancient Egyptians, Hawaiians, and Incas to preserve power and wealth E.B. Tylor proposed that incest taboos promote alliances between different groups, enhancing survival through cooperation ○ This view focuses on social consequences of marrying outside one's group rather than the taboos themselves Childhood Familiarity Hypothesis: suggests that siblings raised together develop a sexual aversion, preventing incestuous relationships 17.3 Aging ~ an inevitable biological process that occurs from birth to death, involving constant changes in the human body ○ Linked to social status and roles within different cultural systems ~ physical and cultural dimensions Cultural meanings associated with different life stages vary by society, impacting how individuals are treated throughout their lives. Enculturation ~ shapes their understanding of societal norms, values, and beliefs Old age is not solely defined by chronological age; it often involves changes in: ○ Social status ○ Work patterns ○ Family roles ○ Reproductive potential Age stratification: the unequal distribution of wealth, power, and prestige among different age groups ○ This stratification varies based on technological development: Preindustrial Societies: Elderly often have higher social status Industrial Societies: Elderly typically experience a decline in status  Age grades: socially defined statuses that individuals occupy as they age, corresponding to different life stages 17.4 Nuclear family (parents and offspring) ~ primary adaptive unit for hunting-gathering societies ~ allowing for flexibility in nomadic lifestyles Bands consist of related clusters of nuclear families (20 to 100 individuals) ○ May temporarily break into smaller groups to gather resources or hunt Frequent nomadic mobility necessitates smaller nuclear family units for effective foraging Band Dynamics ~ can vary in size based on environmental carrying capacity ○ Flexible - members able to move between bands based on personal conflicts or resource availability Most foraging societies primarily practice monogamy, although some, like the Aché, practice polygyny (one male with multiple females) Marriages often cement social relationships ~ many arranged during childhood ○ Common practices include: Cross-Cousin Marriage: A common rule where a male marries his cross-cousin (daughter of his father’s sister or mother’s brother) Patrilocal Residence: Newly married couples typically reside with the husband’s family, which encourages alliances between bands Brideservice: requires the husband to live with his wife's band for a specified time, reinforcing economic and social ties Elders often hold high status due to their accumulated knowledge, cultural significance, and role in decision-making ○ Close kinship ties ensure that elders are not abandoned, and their wisdom is respected Alloparenting: Cooperative breeding through alloparenting involves community members, especially older females, helping care for children, which fosters kinship ties 17.5 Tribal societies rely on (horticulture) and (pastoralism) for subsistence, contrasting with foraging societies ○ More complex social organizations compared to bands  ○ Organized around kinship but have more fixed and permanent social relationships The extended family (three generations or more) most common social unit ○ Cannot meet the intricate demands for cooperation, labor, and reciprocity Descent Groups: Predominant social units in tribal societies, descent groups trace actual or supposed kinship through a known ancestor ○ Lineages: Composed of relatives tracing descent through blood or marriage, where relationships are well-defined Types of Descent Groups: ○ Unilineal Descent Groups: Trace lineage through one sex Patrilineal Descent: Members trace descent through males from a known male ancestor; common in tribal societies Matrilineal Descent: Members trace descent through females; found in some horticultural societies, such as the Iroquois and certain African tribes Double Descent: Members belong to both patrilineal and matrilineal lines; rare but present in some African societies ○ Ambilineal Descent Groups: Individuals can choose to affiliate with either their mother’s or father’s line, allowing for strategic economic and political decisions ○ Bilateral Descent Groups: Relatives are traced through both sides, forming a kindred: an overlapping network of relatives mobilized for various purposes, though less common than other systems ○ Clans: Members trace descent to an unknown ancestor or a sacred figure; clans can consist of lineages and are often larger groupings Phratries: Comprise two or more clans that may share a loose genealogical relationship Moieties: Divide society into two equal groups with specific functions in social organization, requiring exogamous marriages within their divisions. Descent groups can endure beyond individual lives, regulating long-term production, exchange, and distribution of resources Help manage land and resource rights; inheritance patterns may include primogeniture (eldest son) or ultimogeniture (youngest son) Exogamous Marriages ~ Most tribal societies encourage marrying outside lineage or clans to reinforce kinship ties and alliances Cousin Marriages: Different forms exist, including: ○ Bilateral Cross-Cousin Marriage: Facilitates alliances between patrilineages ○ Matrilateral Cross-Cousin Marriage: Males marry their mother’s brothers' daughters, creating marital exchanges between lineages ○ Parallel-Cousin Marriage: Results in endogamy, found among some Middle Eastern tribes Polygyny ~ common in tribal societies Bridewealth Exchange: involves the transfer of some form of wealth from descent group of groom to that of bride ○ Often correlates with polygynous practices, enhancing wealth and economic alliances  Polyandry ~ found in some tribal societies ○ Fraternal Polyandry ~ common type where brothers share a wife, minimizing land division and maximizing resource efficiency Levirate: marriage rule where a widow is expected to marry one of her deceased husband's brothers ○ Seen in societies such as ancient Israelites, Nuer, and Tiv, ensuring that the widow bears children considered to be the deceased husband's ○ Preserves the lineage and corporate rights of the deceased husband even after death ○ Provides women with more security than remaining widows Sororate: dictates that if a wife dies, her husband is expected to marry one of her sisters Both levirate and sororate fulfill obligations between blood relatives (consanguineal kin) and in-laws (affinal kin) after a spouse's death Types of Residence Rules: ○ Most tribal societies practice patrilocal residence, where a married couple lives with or near the husband’s family ○ Less common is matrilocal residence, where the couple lives with the wife’s family ○ Avunculocal residence is another form where a married couple resides with the husband’s maternal uncle Flexibility of Rules: ○ Marriage, residence, and descent rules in tribal societies are not fixed; they adapt to changes ○ Tribal societies often have alternative marriage candidates Divorce Trends: Can be influenced by bridewealth in patrilineal societies, women retain rights to their children and can easily end marriages Age grades ~ groupings of people of the same age Age sets: groups of people of about same age who share specific rights, obligations, duties, privileges Gerontocracy: rule by elders, typically male, who manage material and reproductive resources ○ Ex. The ancient Israelites exemplified gerontocracy, with elders managing property and marriages… Kirghiz of Afghanistan show similar patterns 17.6 Chiefdoms: ○ Societies are divided into different strata (singular: stratum) ○ Strata: groups of equivalent statuses based on ranked divisions  ○ Hierarchical ~ some individuals have greater access to wealth, rank, status, authority, and power than others Sumptuary Rules: cultural norms that differentiate higher-status groups from the rest of society ○ Higher status correlates with more ornate displays (jewelry, costumes, symbols). ○ Ex. Among Natchez, upper-ranking members had full-body tattoos ~ lower-ranking individuals had fewer tattoos Specific rules included: ○ Public speeches by an orator chief instead of the paramount chief ○ Use of noble language by paramount chiefs, which commoners were forbidden to speak ○ Taboos against interacting socially (touching/eating) with higher-ranking individuals ○ Standards for dress, marriage, exchanges, and other practices ○ Social inferiors were expected to demonstrate deference (e.g., prostration) in the presence of superiors. Case Study: Polynesia ○ Detailed descriptions highlight a conical clan structure ~ an extensive descent group tracing lineage through a common ancestor, often patrilineally ○ Rank is based on kinship distance to the founding ancestor; proximity to the highest-ranking senior male enhances status ○ In Hawaiian culture, lineage is traced through ascent rather than descent Descent Groups: ○ While most Polynesian societies are patrilineal, ambilineal descent groups exist, allowing individuals to affiliate with either paternal or maternal lineages for status ○ Little upward social mobility is available for achieved statuses Most marriages were arranged, often involving cousin marriages within descent groups (endogamy) ○ Exogamy was less common but sometimes occurred between higher-status males and lower-status females (hypogynous marriages) ○ Women tended to avoid low-ranking males to secure marriages that enhanced economic and political advantages Example of the Natchez: ○ A matrilineal society with four strata (Great Sun chief, noble lineages, honored lineages, inferior "stinkards") ○ Upper strata members must marry down (hypogamy), allowing for social mobility ○ Children inherit the status of their mother unless she is a stinkard, leading to upward mobility for stinkard children through marriage While marriages might be exogamous, they usually occur within the same stratum (endogamy) ○ Among Hawaiian chiefs, endogamous practices sometimes included sibling marriages to create alliances Polygyny ~ common among ruling families; chiefs could have multiple wives, often from high-ranking lineages  ○ Lesser chiefs would also engage in polygyny, to enhance political connections and accumulate wealth Extended family structures were typical ~ three generations living together Patrilocal, matrilocal, and ambilocal residence rules were observed ○ Ambilocal residence allowed flexibility in tracing descent to ancestors, enabling some status mobility despite restrictions Senior males held more authority and prestige, often leading to gerontocratic systems Warfare and Slavery: ○ Warfare led to the capture of individuals who became slaves; slavery in chiefdoms differed significantly from state societies ○ Most slaves integrated into kin groups through marriage or adoption, performing similar labor as free individuals Ex. Natchez upper strata members were required to marry stinkards, preventing a hereditary slave class 17.7 Agricultural states ~ more complex than prestate societies Land ownership and occupation become primary factors in structuring social hierarchies ○ The state emerges as a central organizing principle, replacing kin groups in integrating society Family and kinship remain significant in social organization, especially among elite and royal families The extended family is the dominant family form in agricultural states ○ Peasant families typically share land and collaborate in agricultural labor, necessitating a larger family unit for intensive farming practices ○ Generalized reciprocal exchanges of goods and labor are common within extended families to promote cooperation The Nayar of Kerala, India, demonstrate a matrilineal society with unique marriage customs, including a ritualized mating system called sambandham ○ This system allows for ritual marriages where males and females from different matrilineages come together without establishing traditional marital bonds ○ Women can marry multiple partners, typically of the same or higher caste, and men have no long-term rights over the women ○ The matrilineal group retains rights over women and children, resulting in a polyandrous and polygynous society Marriage is critically important in agricultural societies and is often arranged by parents for economic and political reasons. ○ Arranged marriages ensure alliances that enhance family wealth and status, especially among political elites.  ○ Peasants generally marry outside their extended families. Agricultural states typically practice dowries (goods from the bride’s family) and bridewealth (goods from the groom’s family) as forms of marital exchange Polygyny is generally rare except among elites, who may have multiple wives or concubines, particularly in royal households ○ Many agricultural states historically allowed elite males to maintain extensive harems, despite religious or cultural norms against such practices ○ For the majority, monogamy is the prevalent form of marriage Divorce is uncommon due to the corporate nature of the extended family and the cooperative labor needed in agriculture Elderly individuals often hold high social and political status in agricultural societies, valued for their experience and wisdom 17.8 Agricultural civilizations are characterized by high levels of social stratification Closed societies: social mobility largely restricted to individuals from elite family or kinship backgrounds ○ Social status is primarily ascribed rather than achieved Individuals born outside the emperor's family had limited options for upward mobility: ○ Gentry Class: Individuals could be born into the landowning gentry class, which comprised about 2% of families ○ Mandarins: males could become mandarins (bureaucrats/scholars) by studying and passing rigorous examinations based on Confucian texts Access to education was often limited to families with financial resources Caste: an endogamous social grouping, meaning individuals remain within the caste into which they are born The Indian caste system originated from four main categories (varnas), ranked from: ○ Brahmins: Priests ○ Kshatriyas: Warriors ○ Vaishyas: Merchants ○ Shudras: Commoners/Laborers Greeks and Romans: Viewed slaves as subhuman tools, lacking status beyond that of a tool ○ Indigenous African Kingdoms: Large-scale slavery existed, with nobles owning hundreds of slaves, some of whom could become advisors or administrators ○ African slavery allowed for incorporation into kinship groups, providing pathways for upward mobility Open Slavery: Common in indigenous African contexts, where slaves could integrate into domestic kinship groups and have opportunities for upward mobility  ○ Closed Slavery: Seen in systems of Greece, Rome, China, and India, where slaves had no upward mobility and could not integrate into kinship groups 17.9 Social status became more dependent on economic performance, merit, and personal achievement rather than ascribed kinship relationships or birthright Families can provide their children with better education and opportunities through nepotism and favoritism The functions of family have transformed in industrial societies, leading to a decline in the extended family and a rise in smaller nuclear families Marriage in industrialized societies has shifted towards a more individualized concept, emphasizing personal choice over family arrangements The contemporary notion of marriage is often based on romantic love, characterized by emotional and physical attraction Societies with arranged marriages for economic and political purposes often have higher birth rates The ideals of romantic love became more prominent in Europe, influenced by cultural expressions from the Islamic world during the medieval period, which eventually reached Renaissance Europe ○ In 1439, the Roman Catholic Church defined marriage as a sacrament based on individual choice Despite individual choice, parents still play a role in guiding their children's marital options, especially in higher socioeconomic classes In Japan, the elderly maintain a higher status due to cultural values and family obligations 17.10 Open Societies: social status can be achieved through individual efforts ~ industrial states The complex division of labor in industrial societies leads to specialized occupational differences. The British Class System:  ○ There exists a symbolic monarchy and nobility based on ascribed statuses passed down through generations, with titles such as prince, knight, and earl ○ The House of Lords historically had inherited membership, contrasting with the freely elected House of Commons ○ Class Structure: Modern British society has a small upper class (maintained through inheritance and elite education), a larger middle class (professionals), and a substantial working class (primary and secondary sector workers) ○ Openness of Social Mobility: Social mobility exists, allowing movement between classes Structural Mobility: This shift allows many children from blue-collar backgrounds to achieve higher social status than their parents. Class Structure in the United States: ○ Research indicates social mobility in the U.S. is similar to that in other industrial states, with about one-third of children from working-class backgrounds remaining in the same class ○ The U.S. does not have an official class system with a titled aristocracy, yet it has a structured class system based on social statuses influenced by occupation, income, and education ○ There is a prevalent belief that anyone can ascend the social ladder through effort and motivation ○ Upper-class individuals often attribute social inequalities to individual abilities and work habits, ignoring other influential factors like family background and systemic inequalities Class Divisions in Japan: ○ Japan, despite valuing group harmony, has identifiable class divisions ○ Classes include bourgeoisie (capitalist class), petty bourgeoisie (small business owners), middle class (professionals), peasantry (rural farmers), and working class (industrial laborers) ○ Education is a primary means of social mobility, with opportunities often reflecting class background ○ Although a rigid class structure is less dominant, many believe that personal effort can lead to upward mobility Stratification in the Former Soviet Union: ○ The Soviet Union claimed to be classless post-1917 revolution due to the absence of private ownership of production ○ Despite claims, it had a stratified system based on occupation with four status groups: upper-level officials, professionals, manual workers, and rural peasants ○ The highest statuses were occupied by government officials and Politburo members, reflecting a class-based society despite ideological claims to the contrary Suya Ornaments Everybody has a body Suya man’s mouth looks and feels different than ours Is that a decoration of the mouth just a difference in aesthetic style? Seeger argues: no Black decoration around his eyes indicates that he is either going hunting or is going to “become” an animal for a ceremony Hearing, speaking, vision Keen vision is animal-like; “strong-eyed” animals are wild, elusive on the hunt Among humans, witches have unusually good eyesight: see things others cannot This is not admirable or trustworthy A good person Listens and hears Children not expected to manage this ~ but at puberty girls and boys have ears pierced Disc inserted is enlarged, painted white ~ a color associated with peaceful behavior To know or to understand Is to hear Suya use “I hear” the way in English we use “I see” When they have learned something they say “it is in my ear” Speech Is a capacity humans and animals share (“kaperni”) There are special forms of oratory only engaged in by men “Everybody listens” speech Means of self-assertion, which only senior chiefs and ritual specialists know how to perform (red is associated with belligerence ~ aggressive behavior) Singing All grown men participate in ritual occasions Goes on through the night - point is not to watch but to be heard In the “high register”, in which men sing different songs ○ Point is for female relatives to be able to distinguish their voice among all other men’s voices ~ Lip disc or tembeta, found elsewhere in lowland South America where oratory is an important male skill Ge-speaking people Body painting of children by mothers and grandmothers ~ important part of becoming a fully socialized human: patterns vary from group to group Why lips and ears and not eyes? “Fundamental features of their society as they perceive it” Anthropologist tries to notice what cannot be asked about directly Clothing and ornamentation As a symbolic language which “unite the poles of ‘natural phenomena’ (the organs and senses) with the components of the moral and social order The Suya might be said to internalize their values by literally “embodying” them