Glossary

Term	Description
acculturation	cultural change that occurs in response to extended firsthand contacts between two or more previously autonomous groups.
anthropological linguistics	the scientific study of human communication within its sociocultural context and the origin and evolution of language.
anthropology	the study of humanity - our physical characteristics as animals, and our unique non-biological characteristics we call culture. The subject is generally broken down into four subdisciplines: biological anthropology, cultural anthropology, linguistics and archaeology.
applied anthropology	the activity of professional anthropologists in programs that have as primary goals changes in human behavior believed to ameliorate contemporary social, economic, and technological problems.
archaeology	a subdiscipline of anthropology involving the study of the human past through its material remains.
artifact	any physical remains of human activity.
Australopithecus	a collective name for the earliest known hominids emerging about 5 million years ago in East Africa.
bands	a small territorially-based social group consisting of 2 or more nuclear families. A loosely integrated population sharing a sense of common identity but few specialized institutions....the kind of political system found among most foraging societies. It consists of a few families living together without formal leadership. As a result, bands are referred to as headless societies. There are no special integrative mechanisms other than those available to all types of societies--i.e., kinship and personal persuasion. Political power is diffused or dissipated and decision making is highly democratic. There is a horizontal status relationship between all adults of the same sex--i.e, they are all equal as far as decision making is concerned. As a result, there is no individual who can speak for the community on all matters in dealing with outsiders.
chiefdom	a term used to describe a society that operates on the principle of ranking, i.e. differential social status. Different lineages are graded on a scale of prestige, calculated by how closely related one is to the chief. The chiefdom generally has a permanent ritual and ceremonial center, as well as being characterized by local specialization in crafts.
clan	a unilineal descent group usually comprising more than ten generations consisting of members who claim a common ancestry even though they cannot trace step-by-step their exact connection to a common ancestor.