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ANTH 201: Cultural Anthropology Intro

Asst. Professor Stacey L. Rucas


B.A. Anthropology, UTA
M.A. Anthropology, UTA
Ph.D. Anthropology, UNM

Graduate of Human

Evolutionary and Behavior


Science Program, UNM

Fieldwork
Masters Thesis

Research
Cochabamba, Bolivia
Aymara & Quechua
women in Urban Center
Focus:

Reproductive Ecology
Timing of Reproduction
Demographic Transition
Medical Anthropology
Reproductive Medicines

Fieldwork

Dissertation Research
Tsimane
Lowland Bolivia
Focus

Health and Behavior


Womens Social
Dynamics
Competition,
cooperation and social
networking
Time allocation
food production &
consumption
social activities

Evaluation
Two exams

equally weighted at 35%


each
Taken online during
assigned class time
No class on days of exams

Paper or presentation

30% of the grade


Due at end of the
semester
Papers are 6 referenced
pages
Presentations are 15
minutes in front of class

Course Webpage: Blackboard


Contains

.ppt lectures
Exams
Syllabi
Discussions
Calendar
Important Links
And other stuff

Anthropology
Study of humans in all

times and all places


Formulation of testable
hypotheses to describe
and more importantly
explain human
behavior and biology
We are the human
experts

Biology, psychology,
culture, behavior
Interdisciplinary in
nature, thus is holistic

Try to Explain this


You live in a culture where the primary

marriage practice is monogamy. Why


do we have only one spouse at a time?

What is culture to you?

What makes you a stranger when


you are away from home?

Culture and Symbolism


The human ability to use symbols is

the basis of culture

Symbol is something verbal or


nonverbal within a particular
language or culture that comes to
stand for something else).

While human symbol use is

overwhelmingly linguistic, a symbol


is anything that is used to represent
any other thing, when the
relationship between the two is
arbitrary (e.g. a flag).
Other primates rudimentary ability
to use symbols
Only humans have elaborated
cultural abilitiesto learn, to
communicate, to store, to process &
use symbols.

Levels of Culture
National culture refers to the

experiences, beliefs, learned


behavior patterns, and values
shared by citizens of the same
nation.
International culture refers to
cultural practices which are
common to an identifiable
group extending beyond the
boundaries of one culture.
Subcultures are identifiable
cultural patterns existing
within a larger culture.
Cultural practices and
artifacts are transmitted
through diffusion.

Ethnocentrism & Cultural Relativism


Ethnocentrism is the use

of values, ideals, and


mores from ones own
culture to judge the
behavior of someone from
another culture.

Ethnocentrism is a cultural
universal
Ethnocentrism contributes
to social solidarity

Cultural Relativism

asserts that cultural


values are arbitrary, and
therefore the values of
one culture should not be
used as standards to
evaluate the behavior of
persons from outside that
culture

Thai bamboo worms, crickets, grasshoppers


(Right
Taiwan)
Think of all the insects (food) we kill with pesticides
Ponder this: Could you eat raw liver for your next meal?

Ethnocentrism
Our ethnocentrism causes us

to be shocked and even


disgusted at attitudes about
other animals in
different cultures.
This North American woman
considers her dog to be a close
friend and essentially
a member of her own family.
In the Muslim world, dogs are
generally considered to be dirty
animals that are likely to be
kicked if they get in the way.
In some areas of Southeast
Asia, dogs have multiple
functions, including being a
source of food for people.

Human Rights and Culture


The idea of universal,

unalienable, individual
human rights challenges
cultural relativism by
invoking a moral and
ethical code that is superior
to any country, culture, or
religion
Cultural rights are vested in
groups and include a
groups ability to preserve
its cultural tradition
Cultural relativism does not
preclude an anthropologist
from respecting
international standards of
justice and morality

Barrel Model of Culture

BioCultural Connections
are found throughout cultures
Example: height

determined by
genes but
influenced by
access to food,
which is ecological
and culturally
determined
Tikal Mayan burial
skeletons showed
that the richest
burials contained
individuals that
were significantly
taller

Origin and Evolution of Cultures

An Introduction to Cultural
Adaptations by way of Boyd and
Richerson

Modern Culture Model

Two Notions of Culture


Culture essential for understanding human
behavior

1.

Socially transmitted beliefs, attitudes and values


heavily influence behavior

Culture is a product of biology

2.

Capacity to acquire and transmit culture is


derived component of human psychology
Contents of culture are deeply intertwined with
biology

.thus the idea that culture is a pool of information,


stored by the population, transmitted among
individuals by social learning

Human Capacity for Culture

The Five Propositions

Culture is Information
that people acquire from others

by teaching, imitation and other


forms of social learning
Involves acquisition of

Skills, beliefs and values

People are heirs to a pool of

information
Stored information varies among
individuals
Is property of the population in a
statistical sense

Culture Change.
should be modeled as a Darwinian

evolutionary process
Culture changes as some traits/values
become more common or diminish
Those that enhance fitness should be
expected to be retained; examples:
Behaviors to lengthen life
Behaviors to make wealth
Behaviors to increase RS
Migrate when X happens (more complex)

Culture is
a part of biology
The capacity to acquire culture is part of the evolved

human psychological apparatus


Learning, feeling and thinking are shaped by neurology of
our minds and bodies
Capacity for culture (modified MM & Pinker on language)

Is a complex specialized skill


Develops in child spontaneously
Without conscious effort or formal instruction
Is deployed without awareness of its underlying logic
Is qualitatively the same in every individual
Is distinct from some other intelligent skills

Thus capacity for culture is a mental adaptation

Culture makes human


evolution very different from the evolution of

other organisms
Humans have cumulative cultural adaptation
We learn, improve, transmit, etc.
Allowed for incredible adaptability to a variety
of niches thus settlement of the planet
Maladaptive ideas sometimes spread through
this same process, and because individuals
cannot create/evaluate every single piece of
information for themselves

imitators vs. innovators

Genes and Culture.


co-evolve
Culture creates behavioral changes
Human genes evolve in culturally constructed

environment (ie; TFR in USA vs. Vietnam)


Environment always comes into play twice it makes
genotypes into phenotypes and then selects among
the phenotypes (ex; evolution of language)

Complex innate system for speaking/hearing


Process is useless without complex languages
Primitive languages created cultural world where better skills
were favored by selection
Generations of co-evolution produced complex languages
and costly apparatus to operate them

THUS

Most of Human organic evolution


has been about the coevolution of
capacities for culture and adapted
behaviors (aka: cultural traditions)

Culture is
The great engine that powered the

furious pace of change in the human


species over the last few hundred
thousand years
Coevolution of brain-size and
complexity of culture
Lets Review these changes:

A Look at Hominid Brain Evolution


Human Left Ape Right

Modern Human Brain Size


Brain: Opposite to

an overall growth
delay, the brain
develops in
advance of the body
and matures rapidly
so that 90% of
growth occurs by
age 6.
Energetically
expensive organ,
accounts for over
50% of BMR during
first year, and 1/3 or
more during
childhood.
So how did we get
here?

Brain Expansion
Australopithecines (380-

530 cc) slightly bigger


than chimps
2.3 mya around time of
first tools early Homo (630640 cc)
1.8 mya - Homo erectus
(895-1040 cc) 70% human
brain
Some hypotheses are
about warfare, hunting,
language, or longer
lifespans

Hominid Evolution
Australopithecines

did not have tools

Cultural traditions
probably slightly
more advanced
than chimps (so
not much)

Advancement of

technology and
culture from habilis
through sapiens
sapiens

Toolmaking
Not apelike behavior
Indicates complex

cognitive notions

Boundary (bifacial
flaking)
Order (constant
directional movement of
unifacial flaking)
Mental template?
Unlikely in early hominids

Some think it isnt the

tools but the food being


hunted that indicates
increased brain power

Homo habilis
Mary and Louis Leakey

(1961)
Are Homo because of
increase in brain size
Mostly scavengers of
med large sized game
known from leg bones
and skulls (little meat)
Primarily gathered fruits
and vegetables
Lots of sexual
dimorphism: mating
system

Oldowan

Tools of Homo habilis


The first tool technology
2.5 MYA
Gona, Ethiopia
Direct percussion
flaking (stone against
stone), and bipolar
(anvil)
First signs of
consciousness?
Unlikely tools arent
signs

Homo habilis cultural summary

Tools
Home bases
Male-male physical competition
Traveled for food
Polygynous
Short transport of raw materials
Scavenged and (hunted) meat
Ate fruit, insects,roots and tubers
(yams)
Prey to leopards and large birds
of prey (African crowned eagle)
Could still climb well, so spent
some time in trees (maybe sleep)

Homo erectus
1.8 - .4 mya (erect ape

man)
First Hominid to walk out
of Africa
Brain size avg. 1000cc
Made possible by greater
intelligence, technology
and culture
Possibly using hides to
move into colder climates
Decreased sexual
dimorphism (pairbonding?) due to less
male-male competition

Erectus and Fire


Perhaps as old as 1.5mya
Next evidence China 400

250kya controlled use


Possibly not great for warmth
in presence of skins/clothing
Might decrease morbidity due
to cooked foods cooked brains
in Zhoukoudian cave China
Fire drives kill prey
And might provide protection
against predators at night
Not widespread controlled use
of fire

Acheulian Tool Tradition


Erectus tool tradition
Lower Paleolithic culture (1.5mya-200kya)
Compared to Oldowan
More standardized design and shape
Larger tools
Shaped stones due to more flaking
Some percussion flaking soft hammer
Bone or antler
Longer thinner flakes
Sharper tools with complex shapes

Hand-axe: Swiss-army knife


slicing, chopping, rooting, attracting,
projectile
Rarely found in Asia b/c substituted for
bamboo

Erectus- Big game hunting


Greatly increased home

range (need for higher


quality diet for bigger body)
Some sites with multiple
individual prey of same
species (ie; 50 elephants)
Indicates cooperative
hunting- sites
And development of stone
tools for weapons not just
butchery
Possible to hunt larger game
Thus increased food-sharing
Possibly hunted by fire
drives

Erectus cultural summary

Tools (better than habilis)


Systematic hunting
Use of fire
Extended childhood
Larger brains
Less polygyny and male-male
competition
Likely pair-bonding began
Social groups more social
competition and cooperation
Highly ecologically flexible
Probably wore skins
Language? Advanced communication

Homo neandertalensis
V. large brains AMH (avg. 1490)
Possibly capable of language hyoid

bone found in Levant region and had


regions of the brain for language
New evidence from teeth indicate
matured faster (15yrs) Very strong made strenuous use of
their bodies
Burials: less sophisticated than AMH
Wear on teeth indicate use as tools
Cared for young and elderly
Possibly music (four-holed flute from
a bears leg bone 82-43kya)
Evidence for cannibalism (100kya)

Mousterian Tool Tradition


Neandertals (middle

Paleolithic)
Standardized
Levallois technique
Progressive reduction
of larger cores
Larger took kit
Awls and scrapers to
work hide and
puncture holes

Neandertal cultural summary

All of previous
Plus tended their sick
Took care of young
Cooperative hunt drives
Mastered fire for many uses
Occasionally buried dead
Cognitive mapping: Levalloisian technique
Music? (82-43kya)
1st to make spears
Made plates from wood
Worked skins for clothes and (tents?)
Used caves and rock shelters
Ritually buried heads of cave bears
Language (had brain capacity/physiology)

Selection for Larger Brains

Was it technology or sociality?

Brains and Technology


Technology is culturally transmitted behavior it survives the archaeological

record (it is innovated, taught, learned, improved and passed on to others)


Cranial Capacity and Technology
range (cm3) average (cm3)
Chimpanzees

300-500

------

Australopithecines

400-530

------

Homo habilis
Homo erectus
Neandertals
modern Homo Sapiens

550-750
800-1250
1300-1750
900-2300

Tools
Termite fishing
Probably similar to chimps

Language
Capable of taught sign
language
Probably similar to
chimps

631

Oldowan basic choppers,


scrapers; direct percussion

?????

1000

Acheulian; large tools, bifacial


flaking; soft hammer

?????

1400

Mousterian; standardized;
levallois mental mapping

Some data indicates


speech was possible

1345

Aurignacian; highly standardized;


indirect percussion

Most certainly had


complex language

Milton 1993 Ancient hominids used brain power to solve dietary problems and thus relied on ever
increasing complexity of technology a trend that is still seen today

Tool Cultures of Prehistoric Hominids

Comparison of Cranial Capacities

chimpanzees
australopithecines
Homo habilis
Homo erectus
Neandertals
modern Homo sapiens

Oldowan (upper left)


Acheulian (bottom left)
Mousterian (bottom center)
Aurignacian (bottom right

range (cm3)

average (cm3)

300-500
400-530
500-750
800-1250
1300-1750
900-2300

------631
1000
1400
1345

Neolithic: Culture Speeds Up & Diversifies!

Parallel Growth of the Human


Population and Cultural Technology

Consequences of
food production
Agriculture based ancient city
(Thebes, Egypt)

Modern post-industrial city


(New York)

Population growth accelerated


Children became more valuable to food production at younger ages
Animal milk to babies and increased allo-caretaking by others
Thus quantity over quality of offspring occurred
Decline in health (studies of bones and teeth)
Sugar from starches is a likely cause of more rapid tooth decay
Higher infection rates
Decreased life-expectancy and stature
Social stratification and socioeconomic inequality develops
Less egalitarian social structure means more for few, and less for
others
Higher populations faster spread of some diseases
Rapid accumulation of cultural ideas, technology, trade and diffusion

Different types of intelligence


Category
A Abstract Intelligence

Description
Symbolic reasoning

S Social Intelligence

Dealing with people

P Practical Intelligence

Getting things done

E Emotional Intelligence

Self-awareness and self-management

A Aesthetic Intelligence

Sense of form, design, music, art and


literature

K Kinesthetic Intelligence

Whole-body skills like sports, dance or flying


a jet fighter

Other Hypothesized types of intelligence:

Gardner's "multiple smarts. A.S.P.E.A.K.


What about Cultural Intelligence?

Humans are Social Beings


Culture and

Sociality are
major
components of
HE history
SI, MI, Culture,
Sociality, and
Human adapted
behaviors all
operate under
Darwinian
natural
processes

Cultural Universals
1. communicating with a verbal language consisting of a limited set of

sounds and grammatical rules for constructing sentences


2.using age and gender to classify people (e.g., teenager, senior
citizen, woman, man)
3.classifying people based on marriage and descent relationships and
having kinship terms to refer to
them (e.g., wife, mother, uncle, cousin)
4.raising children in some sort of family setting
5.having a sexual division of labor (e.g., men's work versus women's
work)
6.having a concept of privacy
7.having rules to regulate sexual behavior
8.distinguishing between good and bad behavior
9.having some sort of body ornamentation
10.making jokes and playing games
11.having art
12.having some sort of leadership roles for the implementation of
community decisions

Often unaware of our own culture!

What are these?

Spade" bits used to drill holes of


different diameters in wood with an
electric power drill.

Is she wearing makeup? If so, what?

Culture gives us a range of permissible


behavior

Participant Observation
The best way to really get to

know another society and its


culture is to live in it as active
participant rather than observer
By physically and emotionally
participating in the social
interaction of the host society, it
is possible to become accepted
as a member
Learn the language and
establish trusting ties and
friendships
Typically longer term
residences, months to years

If you know nothing of this culture, could you figure

out what is going on? (arrangement, symbols,


flowers, colors, clothing?)

Culture Shock
Any person who

lives in another
different society is
likely to initially
develop culture
shock
Feelings of
confusion, distress,
depression resulting
from psychological
stress
Occurs during the
first weeks or
months of a total
cultural immersion in
an alien society

Re-entry Shock
After growing accustomed

to a new culture then


returning to old one, can
produce similar feelings
Sometimes stronger and
harder to deal with

After Adjustment
Rejecters: cant accept so isolate

themselves from what they


perceive as odd and hostile (60%
of ex-pats behave this way)
Adopters: take on all parts of new
culture, losing original identity.
Normally remain in host country
forever (10% of expats)
Cosmopolitans: Adapt the positive
aspects of host culture while
keeping some of own, creating
unique blend (30% of expats)

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