DSST General Anthropology — Questions and Answers

Question 1: Which famous American archaeological site, located in New Mexico, is known for its ancient Ancestral Puebloan great house structures?

Mesa Verde
Chaco Canyon (Correct answer)
Poverty Point
Cahokia

Correct answer: Chaco Canyon

Chaco Canyon in New Mexico features massive great houses built by Ancestral Puebloans between about 850 and 1150 CE.

Question 2: Which feminist anthropologist challenged male-centered accounts of human evolution with the 'Woman the Gatherer' model?

Sally Slocum (Correct answer)
Ruth Benedict
Margaret Mead
Sherry Ortner

Correct answer: Sally Slocum

Sally Slocum's 1975 essay 'Woman the Gatherer' critiqued androcentric 'Man the Hunter' narratives by emphasizing women's gathering activities in early human subsistence.

Question 3: Clifford Geertz argued that culture is best studied as a system of:

Biological adaptations
Genetic instincts
Economic exchanges
Shared symbols and meanings (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Shared symbols and meanings

Geertz viewed culture as webs of significance interpreted through 'thick description.'

Question 4: Gene flow between populations tends to have what effect on genetic differences?

It increases differences between populations
It reduces differences between populations (Correct answer)
It has no effect on allele frequencies
It always creates new species

Correct answer: It reduces differences between populations

Gene flow mixes alleles between populations, making them more genetically similar.

Question 5: The discovery of Homo naledi remains in the Rising Star cave system is notable for what reason?

Preserving soft tissue
Showing evidence of agriculture
A large number of individuals in a deep chamber (Correct answer)
Being the oldest hominin ever found

Correct answer: A large number of individuals in a deep chamber

Homo naledi is known from many individuals recovered deep within the Rising Star cave.

Question 6: What subfield of anthropology examines the relationships between human cultures and their natural environments?

Human geography
Biocultural anthropology
Ecological anthropology (Correct answer)
Environmental sociology

Correct answer: Ecological anthropology

Ecological anthropology studies how human groups adapt to their environments and how cultural practices relate to ecological conditions.

Question 7: A ritual marking an individual's transition from one social status to another is a:

Rite of passage (Correct answer)
Taboo
Sanction
Totem

Correct answer: Rite of passage

A rite of passage marks a change in social status, such as birth, puberty, marriage, or death.

Question 8: What branch of anthropology examines how culture, social conditions, and biology interact to shape health, illness, and medical practices?

Biological anthropology
Applied anthropology
Cognitive anthropology
Medical anthropology (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Medical anthropology

Medical anthropology is a subfield that studies how biological, cultural, social, and environmental factors influence health and healing across cultures.

Question 9: Arnold van Gennep identified three sequential phases in rites of passage. Which order is correct?

Separation, liminality, incorporation (Correct answer)
Initiation, transition, completion
Departure, ordeal, return
Purification, transformation, celebration

Correct answer: Separation, liminality, incorporation

Van Gennep's 1909 framework describes individuals being separated from their prior status, passing through a liminal threshold, then being incorporated into their new social identity.

Question 10: In anthropology, 'reflexivity' refers to:

The ability of cultural practices to adapt and change over time
The practice of examining how the researcher's own identity and position influence the research process (Correct answer)
Comparing findings across multiple field sites
The process of returning to a field site for follow-up research

Correct answer: The practice of examining how the researcher's own identity and position influence the research process

Reflexivity requires researchers to critically examine how their own cultural background, power position, and subjectivity shape their observations and interpretations.

Question 11: A researcher lives in a village for a year, learning the language and participating in daily life. This method is called:

Content analysis
Controlled experiment
Participant observation (Correct answer)
Survey sampling

Correct answer: Participant observation

Participant observation involves the ethnographer immersing themselves in a community while both observing and taking part in its activities.

Question 12: A researcher living among a community for a year to observe daily life is using which method?

Survey sampling
Controlled experiment
Participant observation (Correct answer)
Content analysis

Correct answer: Participant observation

Participant observation involves living with and taking part in the daily activities of a group being studied.

Question 13: An object, activity, or word that stands for something else within a culture is a:

Sanction
Taboo
Norm
Symbol (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Symbol

A symbol is something that represents or stands for a shared meaning, forming the basis of culture and language.

Question 14: A kinship system in which descent is traced through the mother's line is called:

Matrilineal (Correct answer)
Ambilineal
Bilateral
Patrilineal

Correct answer: Matrilineal

In matrilineal descent, group membership and inheritance pass through female ancestors.

Question 15: The study of human skeletal remains to determine identity, cause of death, and time since death is called what?

Linguistic anthropology
Ethnography
Forensic anthropology (Correct answer)
Primatology

Correct answer: Forensic anthropology

Forensic anthropology applies skeletal analysis to medico-legal investigations.

Question 16: The Kwakwaka'wakw ceremony in which a host gains status by giving away or destroying wealth is the:

Kula
Potlatch (Correct answer)
Powwow
Moka

Correct answer: Potlatch

The potlatch is a Pacific Northwest Coast feast in which hosts gain prestige by lavishly distributing goods.

Question 17: What term describes the use of traditional plant-based remedies and the anthropological study of indigenous pharmaceutical knowledge?

Phytotherapy
Herbal anthropology
Ethnopharmacology (Correct answer)
Bioprospecting

Correct answer: Ethnopharmacology

Ethnopharmacology studies the traditional use of plants and other substances for medicinal purposes across different cultures.

Question 18: The concept of 'medicalization' in medical anthropology refers to:

The use of medication to replace traditional healing
The process by which non-medical problems come to be defined and treated as medical conditions (Correct answer)
The adoption of Western medicine by traditional societies
The expansion of health insurance to cover more conditions

Correct answer: The process by which non-medical problems come to be defined and treated as medical conditions

Medicalization describes how conditions previously not considered medical (like childbirth or aging) become reframed as medical problems requiring professional intervention.

Question 19: Which trait is most associated with Neanderthals compared to modern humans?

Fully arboreal lifestyle
Robust body build and large nasal cavity (Correct answer)
Small brain size
Complete lack of tool use

Correct answer: Robust body build and large nasal cavity

Neanderthals had robust, cold-adapted bodies with large nasal openings.

Question 20: Which of the following is a subfield of anthropology?

Cultural anthropology (Correct answer)
Botany
Chemistry
Astrology

Correct answer: Cultural anthropology

Anthropology is traditionally divided into four main subfields: cultural anthropology, archaeology, linguistic anthropology, and biological (or physical) anthropology. Cultural anthropology specifically studies human societies and cultures, including their development, variations, and similarities. Botany, chemistry, and astrology are distinct academic disciplines unrelated to anthropology's core subfields.

Question 21: A society in which people acquire status through personal achievement rather than birth is described as:

Caste-based
Endogamous
Achieved (Correct answer)
Ascribed

Correct answer: Achieved

Achieved status is earned through individual effort or accomplishment rather than assigned at birth.

Question 22: Durkheim's concept of 'collective effervescence' refers to:

The charismatic authority of a prophet who transforms social norms
The intense emotional energy and social solidarity generated when people gather for communal rituals (Correct answer)
The contagious spread of religious beliefs through missionary contact
The gradual erosion of religious belief in modernizing societies

Correct answer: The intense emotional energy and social solidarity generated when people gather for communal rituals

Durkheim observed that group rituals create a heightened emotional state that binds participants together and reinforces their sense of shared identity and moral community.

Question 23: The system of religious belief involving spirits inhabiting natural objects and phenomena is called:

Atheism
Secularism
Animism (Correct answer)
Monotheism

Correct answer: Animism

Animism is the belief that natural objects, places, and creatures possess a spiritual essence.

Question 24: 'Enculturation' refers to the process by which a person:

Studies another culture professionally
Loses their native traditions
Adopts a second culture as an adult migrant
Learns the culture of their own society while growing up (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Learns the culture of their own society while growing up

Enculturation is the lifelong learning of one's own culture, especially during childhood.

Question 25: Potassium-argon dating is especially useful for dating what type of material?

Tree rings
Volcanic rock layers (Correct answer)
Pottery fragments
Bone collagen

Correct answer: Volcanic rock layers

Potassium-argon dating measures decay in volcanic rock, ideal for old geological layers.

Question 26: The anthropological principle that all parts of a culture are interconnected is called:

Determinism
Reductionism
Holism (Correct answer)
Positivism

Correct answer: Holism

Holism is the perspective that the parts of a culture must be understood in relation to the whole.

Question 27: Anne Fadiman's book 'The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down' illustrates conflicts between biomedical and traditional Hmong beliefs about which condition?

Diabetes
Schizophrenia
Epilepsy (Correct answer)
Tuberculosis

Correct answer: Epilepsy

Fadiman's book documents how a Hmong family and American doctors clashed over the treatment of a child with epilepsy, which the Hmong understood as spiritual possession.

Question 28: What is 'ethnomedical' knowledge?

Scientific knowledge about ethnic health disparities
Traditional healing knowledge and practices specific to a particular cultural group (Correct answer)
Modern biomedical knowledge applied cross-culturally
Pharmaceutical knowledge derived from indigenous plants

Correct answer: Traditional healing knowledge and practices specific to a particular cultural group

Ethnomedical knowledge encompasses the healing beliefs, practices, and systems developed within specific cultural traditions.

Question 29: Paul Farmer's concept of 'structural violence' in medical anthropology refers to:

Conflict between traditional and modern medical systems
Physical violence perpetrated by government institutions
Social structures that harm people by preventing them from meeting their basic needs (Correct answer)
Violence resulting from inadequate surgical infrastructure

Correct answer: Social structures that harm people by preventing them from meeting their basic needs

Structural violence describes how social arrangements — poverty, racism, gender inequality — harm individuals by blocking access to resources like health care.

Question 30: A forensic anthropologist observing carbonized soft tissue and pugilistic posturing would suspect what?

Sharp-force trauma
Thermal (fire) death or exposure (Correct answer)
Drowning
Poisoning

Correct answer: Thermal (fire) death or exposure

Heat causes muscle contraction producing the pugilistic (boxer) pose and charring of tissue.

Question 31: Which research method involves systematic, in-depth conversations with key community members to gather detailed cultural information?

Kinesics analysis
Semi-structured interviewing (Correct answer)
Genealogical method
Participant observation

Correct answer: Semi-structured interviewing

Semi-structured interviews use a flexible guide of open-ended questions to gather in-depth information while allowing conversation to follow unexpected directions.

Question 32: The concept of 'positionality' in anthropological research means:

Determining the theoretical position of an anthropological argument
Acknowledging how the researcher's social identity shapes their perspective and access in fieldwork (Correct answer)
Mapping the hierarchical positions within a social group
Identifying the spatial position of artifacts in an excavation

Correct answer: Acknowledging how the researcher's social identity shapes their perspective and access in fieldwork

Positionality requires researchers to reflect on how their race, class, gender, nationality, and other identities affect their relationships with research subjects and their interpretations.

Question 33: What term refers to the complete collection of artifacts and other materials recovered from a single archaeological site or component?

Stratum
Inventory
Assemblage (Correct answer)
Context

Correct answer: Assemblage

An assemblage is the total collection of artifacts, ecofacts, and other materials found together at a site or within a specific archaeological context.

Question 34: What method involves comparing data across many societies to identify cross-cultural patterns and test hypotheses about human behavior?

Historical particularism
Cross-cultural comparative method (Correct answer)
Ethnographic fieldwork
Genealogical method

Correct answer: Cross-cultural comparative method

The cross-cultural comparative method uses databases like the Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) to systematically compare cultural traits across societies.

Question 35: The comparative study of two or more cultures to identify broad patterns is called:

Reflexivity
Salvage anthropology
Ethnography
Cross-cultural (ethnological) analysis (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Cross-cultural (ethnological) analysis

Ethnology compares data from multiple societies to draw broader generalizations about human culture.

Question 36: The famous 3.2-million-year-old 'Lucy' fossil belongs to which species?

Ardipithecus ramidus
Australopithecus afarensis (Correct answer)
Homo neanderthalensis
Homo habilis

Correct answer: Australopithecus afarensis

Lucy is a well-known specimen of Australopithecus afarensis.

Question 37: Which ancient Mesoamerican site, located in central Mexico, was one of the largest cities in the world around 500 CE and is known for its Pyramid of the Sun?

Chichén Itzá
Monte Albán
Tenochtitlan
Teotihuacan (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Teotihuacan

Teotihuacan, near modern Mexico City, was a major urban center with up to 200,000 inhabitants and features the iconic Pyramid of the Sun.

Question 38: What term describes the theoretical approach that examines how culture is reproduced and transformed through everyday practice and habit, associated with Pierre Bourdieu?

Practice theory (Correct answer)
Performativity theory
Praxis anthropology
Agency theory

Correct answer: Practice theory

Practice theory, developed by Pierre Bourdieu (and also Anthony Giddens), focuses on how human agency and social structure mutually constitute each other through everyday practices.

Question 39: The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium describes a population in which what is true?

All individuals are genetically identical
Allele frequencies remain constant without evolutionary forces (Correct answer)
Natural selection is always occurring
Mutation rates are maximized

Correct answer: Allele frequencies remain constant without evolutionary forces

Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium models stable allele frequencies absent evolutionary influences.

Question 40: The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis proposes that:

All languages share the same grammar
Language shapes thought and perception (Correct answer)
Language is purely genetic
Gestures replace speech over time

Correct answer: Language shapes thought and perception

Linguistic relativity holds that the structure of a language influences how its speakers perceive reality.

Question 41: Which of these is an example of a homologous structure shared by primates?

Cactus spines and rose thorns
The pentadactyl (five-digit) limb (Correct answer)
Fish gills and mammal lungs
Bird and insect wings

Correct answer: The pentadactyl (five-digit) limb

The five-fingered limb is a homologous structure inherited from a common ancestor.

Question 42: What does ethnography involve?

Long-term fieldwork with a cultural group (Correct answer)
Conducting interviews via phone
Analyzing ancient artifacts
Statistical modeling

Correct answer: Long-term fieldwork with a cultural group

Ethnography is a qualitative research method central to cultural anthropology, involving deep immersion in a specific cultural setting. It typically requires long-term fieldwork, where researchers live among the people they study, observe their daily lives, and participate in their activities. This immersive approach allows ethnographers to gain an insider's perspective and a rich, detailed understanding of cultural practices and beliefs.

Question 43: What is 'multi-sited ethnography,' as described by George Marcus?

Comparing ethnographic data collected at different historical periods
Using multiple methods (observation, interviews, surveys) in a single community
Ethnographic research conducted across multiple locations to follow cultural processes that transcend single sites (Correct answer)
Conducting fieldwork in several communities simultaneously with a team of researchers

Correct answer: Ethnographic research conducted across multiple locations to follow cultural processes that transcend single sites

Multi-sited ethnography tracks cultural phenomena (like migration, commodities, or media) across different geographic sites to understand global processes.

Question 44: Which term describes the knowledge, skills, and tools that health workers use to diagnose and treat patients within a particular cultural context?

Biomedical hegemony
Clinical ethnography
Therapeutic landscape
Medical pluralism (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Medical pluralism

Medical pluralism refers to the coexistence of multiple healing systems — biomedical, traditional, and alternative — within a single society.

Question 45: Which analysis can help distinguish human from non-human skeletal remains?

Comparative osteology of bone morphology (Correct answer)
Fingerprint dusting
Ballistic matching
Handwriting comparison

Correct answer: Comparative osteology of bone morphology

Knowledge of comparative anatomy lets anthropologists identify whether bones are human or animal.

Question 46: A specialized field that helps solve real-world problems using anthropological knowledge is:

Applied anthropology (Correct answer)
Cosmology
Theoretical linguistics
Paleontology

Correct answer: Applied anthropology

Applied anthropology uses anthropological methods and insights to address practical problems.

Question 47: Elman Service's typology of political organization lists four levels in order of increasing complexity. Which is the correct sequence?

Tribe → Band → Chiefdom → State
Band → Tribe → Chiefdom → State (Correct answer)
Clan → Band → Tribe → State
Band → Chiefdom → Tribe → State

Correct answer: Band → Tribe → Chiefdom → State

Service's evolutionary sequence moves from band (foragers) to tribe (horticulturalists/pastoralists) to chiefdom (ranked societies) to state (stratified, bureaucratic societies).

Question 48: The concept of 'liminality' in a rite of passage refers to the phase in which a person is:

Selecting a marriage partner
Fully reintegrated into society
In an ambiguous, in-between state (Correct answer)
Permanently exiled

Correct answer: In an ambiguous, in-between state

Liminality is the transitional middle stage where the initiate is betwixt and between former and new statuses.

Question 49: In anthropological fieldwork, what is an 'emic' perspective?

An outsider's analytical view of a culture using scientific categories
An insider's view of a culture, using the categories and meanings of the people being studied (Correct answer)
A historical view of cultural change over time
A comparative view across multiple cultures

Correct answer: An insider's view of a culture, using the categories and meanings of the people being studied

The emic perspective captures how cultural insiders interpret and categorize their own world, contrasted with the 'etic' perspective of outside observers.

Question 50: The tendency to view one's own culture as superior and to judge others by its standards is:

Reflexivity
Holism
Ethnocentrism (Correct answer)
Cultural relativism

Correct answer: Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrism is the practice of evaluating other cultures according to the assumptions and values of one's own.

Question 51: The Clovis culture, one of the earliest well-documented cultures in the Americas, is named after a site in which U.S. state?

Arizona
Texas
Colorado
New Mexico (Correct answer)

Correct answer: New Mexico

The Clovis culture is named after Clovis, New Mexico, where distinctive fluted projectile points were first identified in the 1930s.

Question 52: What is the term for a group’s way of life passed through generations?

Tradition (Correct answer)
Folklore
Technology
Myth

Correct answer: Tradition

Tradition refers to the beliefs, customs, and practices that are passed down from generation to generation within a group or society. It represents a continuity of cultural heritage, often embodying values and wisdom accumulated over time. Traditions play a significant role in shaping identity, maintaining social cohesion, and guiding behavior within a community.

Question 53: The 'Out of Africa' model proposes that modern Homo sapiens originated where?

Independently on several continents
In East Asia
In Africa, then dispersed globally (Correct answer)
In Europe during the Ice Age

Correct answer: In Africa, then dispersed globally

The Out of Africa model holds that modern humans arose in Africa and migrated outward.

Question 54: Which primate trait is a shared feature that distinguishes primates from most other mammals?

Grasping hands with opposable thumbs (Correct answer)
Bipedal locomotion
Loss of all body hair
Absence of a tail in all species

Correct answer: Grasping hands with opposable thumbs

Grasping hands with opposable thumbs are a defining primate adaptation for arboreal life.

Question 55: A ritual specialist believed to mediate between the human and spirit worlds, often through trance, is a:

Prophet
Priest
Diviner
Shaman (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Shaman

A shaman is a part-time religious practitioner who contacts the spirit world, often via altered states of consciousness, to heal or divine.

Question 56: In archaeology, what does 'CRM' stand for, referring to the management of archaeological resources under federal and state laws?

Cultural Resource Management (Correct answer)
Ceramic Record Methodology
Community Research Methods
Conservation and Restoration of Materials

Correct answer: Cultural Resource Management

Cultural Resource Management (CRM) involves the identification, evaluation, and protection of archaeological and historic sites as required by law.

Question 57: Which theoretical perspective, associated with Bronisław Malinowski and A.R. Radcliffe-Brown, argues that cultural practices exist to serve the functional needs of society?

Functionalism (Correct answer)
Diffusionism
Evolutionism
Structuralism

Correct answer: Functionalism

Functionalism holds that every cultural element serves a function that contributes to the stability or survival of the social system.

Question 58: Which concept in medical anthropology refers to culturally specific explanations for why illness occurs and how it should be treated?

Biomedical model
Germ theory
Humoral theory
Explanatory model (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Explanatory model

Explanatory models (introduced by Arthur Kleinman) are the notions that patients, families, and healers use to make sense of a particular illness episode.

Question 59: Which primate group is most closely related to humans based on genetic evidence?

Chimpanzees and bonobos (Correct answer)
Orangutans
Gibbons
Gorillas

Correct answer: Chimpanzees and bonobos

Chimpanzees and bonobos are humans' closest living relatives genetically.

Question 60: Cargo cults that emerged in Melanesia during the 20th century are most accurately interpreted by anthropologists as:

Irrational responses by pre-logical peoples to Western technology
Revitalization movements responding to colonial disruption, inequality, and deprivation (Correct answer)
Survivals of ancient Pacific Islander myths about gods arriving by sea
Purely economic movements seeking redistribution of colonial trade goods

Correct answer: Revitalization movements responding to colonial disruption, inequality, and deprivation

Cargo cults involved ritual activities aimed at obtaining Western manufactured goods believed to be destined for indigenous peoples but intercepted by colonizers — a religious response to structural inequality.

Question 61: What term describes the detailed, richly contextualized description of a culture or cultural phenomenon, introduced by Clifford Geertz?

Thick description (Correct answer)
Dense cultural analysis
Interpretive mapping
Deep ethnography

Correct answer: Thick description

Clifford Geertz coined 'thick description' to mean interpretive ethnographic accounts that place behaviors within their cultural context and web of meaning.

Question 62: What term refers to an illness as experienced and interpreted by the patient and their community, as opposed to the biomedical diagnosis?

Sickness
Disease
Illness (Correct answer)
Affliction

Correct answer: Illness

In medical anthropology, 'illness' refers to the subjective human experience and cultural interpretation of a health problem, distinct from the biomedical concept of 'disease.'

Question 63: In applied anthropology, 'rapid ethnographic assessment' is used primarily to:

Quickly gather cultural data to inform health programs and policies (Correct answer)
Evaluate the effectiveness of completed health interventions
Conduct long-term ethnographic fieldwork in crisis situations
Train community health workers in ethnographic methods

Correct answer: Quickly gather cultural data to inform health programs and policies

Rapid ethnographic assessment uses streamlined qualitative methods to collect timely cultural information for program planning and policy decisions.

Question 64: What is applied anthropology?

Only theoretical academic research
Publishing anthropology textbooks
Using anthropological methods and insights to address real-world problems in development, health, education, and policy (Correct answer)
Applying for anthropology graduate programs

Correct answer: Using anthropological methods and insights to address real-world problems in development, health, education, and policy

Applied anthropology uses ethnographic research, cultural analysis, and anthropological perspectives to solve practical problems in areas including international development, public health, education, business, and environmental conservation.

Question 65: The residence pattern in which a married couple lives with or near the husband's family is called:

Matrilocal
Patrilocal (Correct answer)
Neolocal
Avunculocal

Correct answer: Patrilocal

Patrilocal residence locates the newly married couple with the husband's kin.

Question 66: What is 'experimental archaeology'?

Using laboratory chemical analysis on artifacts
Replicating ancient technologies to understand how they were made and used (Correct answer)
Conducting ethnographic interviews about archaeological interpretations
Applying computer simulations to model past societies

Correct answer: Replicating ancient technologies to understand how they were made and used

Experimental archaeology involves replicating ancient tools, structures, and processes to gain insights into past human behavior and technology.

Question 67: In kinship terms, a family unit consisting of parents and their children is called a:

Clan
Moiety
Nuclear family (Correct answer)
Extended family

Correct answer: Nuclear family

A nuclear family consists of two parents and their dependent children.

Question 68: What is the study of past human diets through the analysis of stable isotopes in bones and teeth called?

Zooarchaeology
Osteology
Palynology
Isotopic analysis (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Isotopic analysis

Isotopic analysis examines ratios of stable isotopes (such as carbon and nitrogen) in skeletal remains to reconstruct ancient diets.

Question 69: The process by which local cultures worldwide are influenced by and interconnected through global flows of people, goods, and ideas is called:

Assimilation
Globalization (Correct answer)
Enculturation
Acculturation

Correct answer: Globalization

Globalization refers to the increasing worldwide interconnection of economies, cultures, and populations.

Question 70: The principle that anthropologists should analyze cultures on their own terms, without imposing outside value judgments, is called:

Emic analysis
Ethnocentrism
Moral universalism
Cultural relativism (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Cultural relativism

Cultural relativism holds that a culture's beliefs and practices should be understood within their own context rather than judged by the standards of another culture.

Question 71: Which theoretical approach, developed by Marvin Harris, argues that material conditions (technology, environment, economy) primarily determine cultural practices?

Cultural materialism (Correct answer)
Symbolic anthropology
Historical particularism
Poststructuralism

Correct answer: Cultural materialism

Cultural materialism argues that infrastructure (technology and economy) shapes social structure and ideology, prioritizing material conditions in cultural explanation.

Question 72: What is a common ethical concern in cultural anthropology?

Language preservation
Promoting economic growth
Informed consent (Correct answer)
Artifact collection

Correct answer: Informed consent

Informed consent is a crucial ethical principle in cultural anthropology, requiring researchers to obtain voluntary agreement from participants before conducting research. This ensures that individuals understand the nature, potential risks, and benefits of their participation and have the right to refuse or withdraw at any time. It protects the autonomy and well-being of the people being studied, fostering trust and ethical research practices.

Question 73: Which ethical principle requires anthropologists to obtain voluntary agreement from research participants before involving them in research?

Informed consent (Correct answer)
Reciprocity
Do no harm
Anonymity

Correct answer: Informed consent

Informed consent requires that research participants are fully informed about the nature of the research and voluntarily agree to participate without coercion.

Question 74: In archaeological excavation, what is the term for the layer of soil or sediment that represents a distinct period of human activity?

Matrix
Stratum (Correct answer)
Feature
Datum

Correct answer: Stratum

A stratum (plural: strata) is a distinct layer of soil or sediment that archaeologists use to establish chronological sequences.

Question 75: The written account produced from long-term fieldwork with a particular group is called an:

Epigraph
Etymology
Ethnography (Correct answer)
Ethnology

Correct answer: Ethnography

An ethnography is the descriptive study and written account of a single culture based on fieldwork.

Question 76: Beveling on the exit side of a cranial gunshot wound helps establish what?

Sex of the individual
Time since death
The caliber of the weapon
Directionality of the projectile (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Directionality of the projectile

Internal beveling marks entrance and external beveling marks exit, revealing the direction of travel.

Question 77: What does the term 'biocultural diversity' refer to in environmental anthropology?

The diversity of farming practices used to maintain biodiversity
The variety of biological adaptations found in different cultural groups
The parallel diversity of languages, cultures, and biological species, which often overlap geographically (Correct answer)
The cultural diversity found in biodiverse ecosystems

Correct answer: The parallel diversity of languages, cultures, and biological species, which often overlap geographically

Biocultural diversity recognizes that linguistic, cultural, and biological diversity are interrelated and that areas with high cultural diversity often coincide with high biodiversity.

Question 78: Stable isotope analysis of bone and teeth can provide clues about an individual's what?

Geographic origin and diet (Correct answer)
Cause of death
Blood pressure
Time of day of death

Correct answer: Geographic origin and diet

Isotope ratios reflect the water and food consumed, hinting at region of origin and diet.

Question 79: Which practice involves the periodic burning of vegetation to clear land for cultivation and stimulate new plant growth, used widely by tropical horticulturalists?

Pastoralism
Intensive irrigation farming
Swidden (slash-and-burn) agriculture (Correct answer)
Agroforestry

Correct answer: Swidden (slash-and-burn) agriculture

Swidden agriculture (slash-and-burn) involves clearing land by cutting and burning vegetation, cultivating it for a few years, then leaving it fallow to regenerate.

Question 80: The comparative study of two or more cultures is known as:

Ethnography
Ethnology (Correct answer)
Epidemiology
Etymology

Correct answer: Ethnology

Ethnology is the comparative analysis of cultures, often drawing on multiple ethnographies.

Question 81: Bronislaw Malinowski's approach explaining cultural institutions by the human needs they satisfy is called:

Structuralism
Functionalism (Correct answer)
Postmodernism
Diffusionism

Correct answer: Functionalism

Functionalism interprets customs and institutions in terms of the biological and social needs they meet.

Question 82: Which principle states that in undisturbed deposits, older layers are found below newer ones?

Principle of analogy
Law of superposition (Correct answer)
Law of association
Principle of uniformitarianism

Correct answer: Law of superposition

The law of superposition holds that in any undisturbed sequence of strata, older layers lie beneath younger ones.

Question 83: In anthropology, what does 'going native' refer to, and why is it considered problematic?

When anthropologists permanently settle in the communities they study
When researchers adopt the language of the community they study
When anthropologists take on local political advocacy roles
When researchers over-identify with their subjects and lose analytical distance (Correct answer)

Correct answer: When researchers over-identify with their subjects and lose analytical distance

Going native describes a researcher becoming so immersed in their subject community that they lose the critical analytical perspective needed for objective research.

Question 84: What does the term 'holism' mean as a defining feature of anthropology?

The view that cultural systems function as integrated wholes
The belief that all cultures share the same universal values
The use of multiple research methods in a single study
The study of humanity in all its dimensions — biological, cultural, linguistic, and historical (Correct answer)

Correct answer: The study of humanity in all its dimensions — biological, cultural, linguistic, and historical

Holism in anthropology means studying humans comprehensively across biological, cultural, social, linguistic, and historical dimensions rather than focusing on one aspect alone.

Question 85: Calcined bone that appears white or gray and is heavily fragmented indicates exposure to what?

Prolonged burial
Underwater submersion
Acidic soil
High-temperature fire (Correct answer)

Correct answer: High-temperature fire

Calcination occurs at high temperatures, turning bone white and brittle with characteristic shrinkage.

Question 86: Applied anthropologists working in international development and health often use what participatory method that involves community members in designing interventions?

Rapid ethnographic assessment
Structured observation
Participatory action research (Correct answer)
Key informant interviewing

Correct answer: Participatory action research

Participatory action research (PAR) engages community members as active partners in identifying problems, designing solutions, and evaluating outcomes.

Question 87: Franz Boas is best known in anthropology for promoting:

Genetic determinism
Historical particularism (Correct answer)
Structural functionalism
Unilineal evolution

Correct answer: Historical particularism

Boas argued each culture is the product of its own unique history, opposing broad evolutionary schemes.

Question 88: Which dating method uses the decay of radioactive carbon-14 to estimate the age of organic materials up to about 50,000 years old?

Radiocarbon dating (Correct answer)
Dendrochronology
Thermoluminescence
Potassium-argon dating

Correct answer: Radiocarbon dating

Radiocarbon (carbon-14) dating measures the decay of C-14 in organic materials to estimate their age.

Question 89: Which method is commonly used in cultural anthropology?

Participant observation (Correct answer)
Surveys only
Remote sensing
Lab experiments

Correct answer: Participant observation

Participant observation is a cornerstone research method in cultural anthropology, especially in ethnographic fieldwork. It involves the anthropologist living among the people they are studying, participating in their daily activities, and observing their behavior and interactions firsthand. This immersive approach allows for a deep understanding of cultural practices and perspectives from an insider's view.

Question 90: What evidence supports the Out of Africa theory of human origins?

Genetic diversity patterns, fossil record, and molecular dating all support modern humans originating in Africa and migrating globally (Correct answer)
Linguistic evidence from Asia
Archaeological evidence only from Europe
Cultural evidence from the Americas

Correct answer: Genetic diversity patterns, fossil record, and molecular dating all support modern humans originating in Africa and migrating globally

Multiple lines of evidence support the Out of Africa model: greatest genetic diversity in African populations, oldest anatomically modern human fossils in Africa, mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome lineage tracing, and fossil migration patterns.

Question 91: Which term describes the phenomenon whereby social and cultural factors produce systematic differences in health outcomes between population groups?

Structural violence
Sickness behavior
Health disparities (Correct answer)
Epidemiological transition

Correct answer: Health disparities

Health disparities refer to preventable differences in disease burden, injury, and access to health care experienced by socially disadvantaged populations.

Question 92: Which stone tool tradition is associated with Homo habilis?

Oldowan (Correct answer)
Aurignacian
Mousterian
Acheulean

Correct answer: Oldowan

The Oldowan is the earliest stone tool industry, linked to Homo habilis.

Question 93: The variety of language a speaker uses that signals a specific social context, such as formal versus casual speech, is a:

Dialect
Pidgin
Register (Correct answer)
Isolate

Correct answer: Register

Question 94: A shaman in many societies is best described as:

An economic trader
A part-time religious specialist who contacts the spirit world (Correct answer)
A full-time political ruler
A hereditary priest of a formal church

Correct answer: A part-time religious specialist who contacts the spirit world

Shamans are typically part-time specialists believed to mediate between humans and spirits, often to heal.

Question 95: What 19th-century anthropological theory held that all cultures evolve through the same universal stages from savagery to civilization?

Unilineal evolutionism (Correct answer)
Diffusionism
Social Darwinism
Multilinear evolutionism

Correct answer: Unilineal evolutionism

Unilineal evolutionism, associated with Lewis Henry Morgan and Edward Tylor, proposed that all societies pass through fixed stages: savagery, barbarism, and civilization.

Question 96: What is the primary method of data collection in cultural anthropology, involving long-term immersive fieldwork within a community?

Structured interviews
Participant observation (Correct answer)
Archival research
Questionnaire surveys

Correct answer: Participant observation

Participant observation involves an anthropologist living within a community over an extended period, participating in daily life while systematically observing behavior.

Question 97: Which theoretical school, associated with Claude Lévi-Strauss, argues that underlying mental structures organize cultural phenomena like myths and kinship systems?

Functionalism
Cultural materialism
Symbolic anthropology
Structuralism (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Structuralism

Structuralism, as developed by Lévi-Strauss, identifies universal mental structures (binary oppositions) that organize myths, rituals, and social systems.

Question 98: What is the term for the study of how organisms, including humans, become incorporated into the archaeological record after death?

Formation processes
Ethnoarchaeology
Taphonomy (Correct answer)
Paleopathology

Correct answer: Taphonomy

Taphonomy studies the processes that affect organic remains from death through final burial and recovery, helping archaeologists interpret site formation.

Question 99: What is the focus of biological anthropology?

Ancient writing systems
Economic trends
Human evolution and genetics (Correct answer)
Space travel

Correct answer: Human evolution and genetics

Biological anthropology, also known as physical anthropology, is a subfield that studies humans from a biological perspective. Its main focus includes human evolution, primate behavior, human genetics, and human biological variation. This field uses scientific methods to understand the biological aspects of what it means to be human.

Question 100: A subsistence strategy based on the herding of domesticated animals is called:

Pastoralism (Correct answer)
Intensive agriculture
Horticulture
Foraging

Correct answer: Pastoralism

Pastoralism relies on raising and moving livestock for food and other products.

DSST General Anthropology

The DSST General Anthropology exam tests knowledge across anthropology's major subfields including theory and methods, physical/biological anthropology, archaeology, cultural and social systems, and applied anthropology, equivalent to a semester college course.

100

Questions

120 min

Time Limit

60%

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