Cultural Anthropology Review Questions
Course Introduction
Cultural Anthropology is the study of human cultures, beliefs, practices, values, ideas, technologies, economies, and other domains of social and cognitive organization. This course explores how cultures are shaped and how cultural practices influence individuals and societies globally. Through comparative analyses and ethnographic case studies, students examine themes such as kinship, religion, language, gender roles, power structures, globalization, and cultural change, gaining critical insights into the diversity and complexity of human experience. The course emphasizes ethical engagement and cultural relativism, fostering an appreciation for the ways people make meaning in their everyday lives.
Recommended Textbook
The Essence of Anthropology 3rd Edition by William A. Haviland
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16 Chapters
1823 Verified Questions
1823 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: The Essence of Anthropology
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117 Verified Questions
117 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Name the four fields of Anthropology.
Answer: Physical Anthropology, Archaeology, Linguistic Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology
Q2) Which of the following is not studied by primatologists?
A) living and fossil primates
B) socio-economic status
C) primate anatomy
D) tool use
Answer: B
Q3) What is reflexivity and why do anthropologists utilize it?
Answer: They use self-reflection as a part of their observations in order to constantly check for their own biases and assumptions while they work.
Q4) In the United States, most archaeological fieldwork is carried out as __________ . Answer: cultural resource management
Q5) The period of time before the advent of the written record is known as
Answer: prehistory
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Chapter 2: Biology and Evolution
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138 Verified Questions
138 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Speciation can occur without branching.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) In evolutionary terms, what kind of force is mutation?
A) negative because mutation decreases chances for survival
B) positive because it provides variation for selection
C) neutral because variation does not matter in the long run
D) mutation cannot be evaluated in these terms
Answer: B
Q3) What was unique about the "system of nature" classification when it was first proposed?
A) Aristotle classified humans just below angels
B) von Linné classified humans just below angels
C) Linnaeus classified humans with other primates
D) Aristotle classified humans with other primates
Answer: C
Q4) _______________ is responsible for the creation of new species over time. Answer: Evolution
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Chapter 3: Living Primates
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119 Verified Questions
119 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Approximately what percentage of the primate species is considered to be endangered today?
A) 25
B) 40
C) 50
D) 100
Answer: C
Q2) Chimpanzees throw objects as weapons.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) What does Stephen Jay Gould mean by the term "golden barriers"?
A) geographical areas that are set apart for conservation of non-human primates
B) tendency to separate humans from the rest of the primate order as unique
C) enclosures used in zoos to facilitate communication between apes and humans
D) the set of communication skills that pertain only to apes and humans
Answer: B
Q4) _______________ is locomotion by swinging from tree to tree.
Answer: Brachiation
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Chapter 4: Human Evolution
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106 Verified Questions
106 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which hypothesis argues that Neandertals were simply a regional variation of anatomically modern humans?
A) multiregional hypothesis
B) recent Africa origins hypothesis
C) Eve hypothesis
D) out of Africa hypothesis
Q2) ________________ is the most controversial ancient member of the genus Homo.
Q3) While all of the following may have been critical to the development of an expanding brain; which of the following would have contributed most directly to brain growth?
A) the migration into colder and less known areas placing a premium on learning
B) a genetic mutation resulting in a smaller jawbone and smaller facial muscles
C) the detoxification of foods, allowing humans to live to significantly older ages
D) the ability to conquer predators, allowing humans higher meat consumption levels
Q4) Describe the two different hypotheses associated with the modern human origins debate.
Q5) How can paleontologists tell whether two sets of bones represent the same or different species?
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Chapter 5: The Neolithic Revolution: The Domestication of
Plants and Animals
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137 Verified Questions
137 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Each of the following is common skeletal evidence from human Neolithic remains except:
A) less robust bones
B) increased mechanical stress on human bodies
C) less marked osteoarthritis
D) increased nutritional stress
Q2) Enamel hypoplasia indicates:
A) arrested growth caused by famine
B) high levels of nutrition
C) increasing calcium consumption
D) consumption of soft foods
Q3) All of the following cultural adaptations have presented serious biological consequences since the Neolithic era except:
A) a limited human diet due to reliance on a single crop
B) injury due to increased big game hunting
C) the spread of infectious disease due to crowded living conditions
D) the intensification of competition for critical resources
Q4) Jared Diamond argues that domestication is not unique to humans because in the American tropics _______________ also domesticate when they grow fungi in their nests.
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Chapter 6: The Emergence of Cities and States
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112 Verified Questions
112 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Discuss some of the reasons that states may collapse. Many of the problems that states contended with in the past are still present. However, are there new problems that threaten states' survival?
Q2) How was the Inca Empire politically organized?
Q3) What was the Tikal Project? What did archaeologists learn from this work? How do these types of experiences change the way in which scientists approach excavation?
Q4) Lagash was an ancient city in _____________ that listed specialized workers in public records.
A) Rome
B) Babylon
C) Jericho
D) Egypt
Q5) What is the primary problem with the hydraulic theory?
A) it does not explain every cultural case
B) irrigation was not essential to the earliest civilizations
C) some civilizations developed without farming
D) it is skewed to Western case studies
Q6) What role did infectious diseases play in the European colonization of the Americas?
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Chapter 7: Modern Human Diversity: Race and Racism
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124 Verified Questions
124 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) There is a genetic basis for certain abilities in different populations. For example, some populations are genetically endowed to play sports, others for specific professions like law enforcement or education.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The expression of genes always occurs from within a/an _______________.
Q3) In tropical regions of the world, natural selection has favored lighter-skinned people.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The thrifty genotype characterized humans until about:
A) 50 years ago
B) 500 years ago
C) 6,000 years ago
D) 8,000 years ago
Q5) Fava beans are a dietary staple in the countries around the Mediterranean Sea where they provide some protection against malaria.
A)True
B)False
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Page 9
Chapter 8: The Characteristics of Culture
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118 Verified Questions
118 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The rule-governed relationships that hold members of a society together are called its:
A) ethnicity
B) subculture
C) culture
D) social structure
Q2) Gender is defined as:
A) cultural meanings assigned to social differences
B) biological differences between men and woman
C) sexual differences between men and women
D) cultural meanings assigned to sexually related biological differences
Q3) Kapauku culture defines the caring of pigs as _______________ work.
Q4) Why do Muslims and Jews have religious prohibitions against eating pork?
Q5) English is a set of symbols.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Sexuality and sexual behavior are primarily biological rules.
A)True
B)False
Q7) In the barrel model of culture subsistence is part of the _______________.
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Chapter 9: Language and Communication
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111 Verified Questions
111 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Humans are biologically programmed for language.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The smallest unit of sound that carries a meaning in a language is called a:
A) morpheme
B) phonology
C) phone
D) phoneme
Q3) The United Nations has proclaimed the period 2003 to 2012 as the _______________ Decade.
Q4) How many adults worldwide cannot read or write?
A) 1 million
B) 8 million
C) 100 million
D) 800 million
Q5) American Sign Language is a fully developed language.
A)True
B)False
Q6) The systematic identification and description of the distinctive sounds of a language is called _______________.
Page 11
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Chapter 10: Social Identity, Personality, and Gender
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102 Verified Questions
102 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The ability to identify oneself as an individual is called:
A) personality
B) self-awareness
C) temporal orientation
D) normative orientation
Q2) Industrial societies have some of the earliest ages for the development of self-awareness in children.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What Native American group was associated with R.K. Williamson's "blessed curse"?
A) Assiniboin
B) Cheyenne
C) Ojibwa
D) Cherokee
Q4) How cultures define deviant behavior is an interesting topic. Explore the definition of deviance in American culture. For example, why were some behaviors historically considered deviant and then later accepted as normal? What events and histories have led to the emergence of new concepts of deviance?
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Page 12
Chapter 11: Subsistence and Exchange
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104 Verified Questions
104 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Kula ring is an example of:
A) potlatch reciprocity
B) generalized reciprocity
C) negative reciprocity
D) balanced reciprocity
Q2) The unit of adaptation includes both:
A) technology and commerce
B) organisms and their environment
C) people and animals
D) environment and climatic conditions
Q3) Which of the following is not an example of a food-producing society?
A) horticultural
B) foraging
C) pastoralist
D) agricultural
Q4) For humans, culture is the primary means of adapting to environmental limitations.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Describe the division of labor by age among the Ju/'hoansi.
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Chapter 12: Sex, Marriage, and Family
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108 Verified Questions
108 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The marriage of one woman to two or more men simultaneously is called
Q2) Under what conditions did we find group marriage among the Eskimos of northern Alaska?
Q3) Bridewealth (bride-price) is associated with patrilineal societies.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which form of residence is traditional among urban, upper-middle class Indian couples?
A) patrilocal
B) matrilocal
C) neolocal
D) bilocal
Q5) In most polygynous societies, women:
A) have bargaining power and some independence
B) are extremely subordinated
C) enjoy equal status with men
D) are in the highest social positions
Q6) Distinguish between bride-price and bride service.
Q7) How is same-sex marriage culturally adaptive among the Nandi?
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Chapter 13: Kinship and Other Methods of Grouping
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110 Verified Questions
110 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Maori are known as great:
A) agriculturalists
B) hunters
C) seafarers
D) commercialists
Q2) How do new reproductive technologies challenge kinship terminology systems?
Q3) The Hindu caste system is based on the sacred text known as:
A) Bagavad Ghita
B) Laws of Manu
C) Hindu Vedas
D) Manor Castes
Q4) The African captives that were unearthed in New York City had arrived to New York during the:
A) 17th and 18th centuries
B) 16th century
C) 18th and 19th centuries
D) 18th century
Q5) Often archaeologists can detect social organization from material structure.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 14: Politics, Power, and Violence
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112 Verified Questions
112 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/20442
Sample Questions
Q1) In an uncentralized political system the principal means of social organization is:
A) institutions
B) class strata
C) inheritance
D) kinship
Q2) The prevalence of patriarchal societies and the seeming absence of matriarchal societies have at times perplexed anthropologists. How do anthropologists handle the issue of power and gender? What are some of the arguments to explain this disparity?
Q3) War is a universal phenomenon.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Band societies may have a headwoman as a leader.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What is civil disobedience? Give an example of it.
Q6) Describe the two ways that disputes can be settled among two parties.
Q7) A _______________ society is one which has within its borders people of more than one nation.
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Spirituality, Religion, and the Supernatural
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104 Verified Questions
104 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Some groups have deities to whom they pay almost no attention.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The Ibibio make a distinction between:
A) sorcerers and priestesses
B) evil and benign witches
C) benign sorcerers and witches
D) sorcerers and benign witches
Q3) A part-time religious specialist that generally serves as a healer and spiritual mediator is called a:
A) shaman
B) priest
C) spiritual guide
D) holy father
Q4) Clitoridectomy is sometimes referred to as:
A) birth rites of passage
B) female geniture mutilation
C) female genital mutilation
D) female genital imitation
Q5) How do the Ibibio of Nigeria identify witches?
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Chapter 16: Global Changes and the Role of Anthropology
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101 Verified Questions
101 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which country has the most hard power at their disposal?
A) Japan
B) England
C) United States
D) China
Q2) The physical and psychological harm caused by an exploitative system is called
Q3) Canadian Inuit face health problems related to high levels of what contaminant in sea mammals?
A) methane
B) mercurial triphenyls
C) polychlorinated biphenyls
D) diestrogen polychromate
Q4) The movement within a country from rural to urban areas is called:
A) internal emigration
B) emigration
C) internal migration
D) external migration
Q5) Pressing others through attraction and persuasion to change their beliefs is called
18
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