Biological Anthro
Who is referred to as the father of genetics?
Medical anthropology studies health, illness, and healing in the context of both biology and ______.
What is culture?
This is the general term for the shared beliefs, practices, and symbols of a group — what anthropologists call the “way of life” of a group.
What is culture?
Humans have a special symbolic system that lets us communicate — what is this system called?
What is human language?
In archaeology, before digging, researchers often perform this to search for surface artifacts or cultural debris — sometimes by walking across a field or using remote tools.
What is a survey?
Biological anthropology is the scientific study of this - how humans have evolved and how we vary biologically.
What is human evolution and biological variation?
A disease caused by germs, viruses, or bacteria is called a ______ disease.
What is an infectious disease?
This method involves the anthropologist living among the people they study — participating in daily life while observing.
What is participant observation?
The smallest unit of meaning in a language is called what?
What is a morpheme?
When archaeologists divide a dig site into measured square units to map artifacts and features accurately, they are using this layout system.
What is a grid system?
This subfield studies living and extinct nonhuman primates — their anatomy, behavior, and genetics — to help us understand human origins.
What is primatology?
When a disease is thought to result from natural forces — like imbalance of heat, cold, winds, or body elements — rather than a spirit or agent, the explanation is referred to as a ______ ethno‑etiology.
What is a naturalistic ethno‑etiology?
This technique maps out family relations, descent, marriage, and social ties in communities.
What is kinship charting?
Human languages are “____ systems,” meaning speakers can create new messages that have never been said before. This is contrasted with the “closed systems” of most animals.
What is open system?
Materials produced by humans - like tools, pottery, or structures - are called this:
What are artifacts?
This subfield focuses on the study of fossil remains, ancient hominins, and the physical evidence of our ancestors.
What is paleoanthropology?
This term refers to illnesses that are recognized only within certain cultures — often with physical spiritual symptoms — and may not correspond to any “disease” in Western biomedicine.
What is a culture‑bound syndrome?
The tendency to view one’s own culture as better or more correct than others — often leading to bias or misunderstanding.
What is ethnocentrism?
The study of how people’s speech differs depending on social factors — such as region, class, ethnicity, gender — is called what?
What is sociolinguistics?
Remains of natural origin - like seeds, bones, shells - are called what?
What are ecofacts?
Biological anthropologists rely on this approach — combining biology, evolution, ecology, and more — to understand what it means to be human.
What is a scientific approach?
In some cultures, illnesses are believed to result from spiritual agents, sorcery, or supernatural beings rather than germs or body dysfunction. This kind of explanation is called a ______ ethno‑etiology.
What is a personalistic ethno‑etiology?
This outdated approach studied cultures from afar — relying only on secondhand accounts like travelers’ stories — rather than living among the people.
What is armchair anthropology?
This hypothesis suggests there is a genetically embedded underlying structure common to all human languages, often referred to as what?
What is Universal Grammar?
When archaeologists use chemical or physical analysis to date artifacts they are using this kind of dating.
What are absolute dating methods?