Defining Culture & Society from the Perspectives of Anthropology and Sociology DIEGO C. POMARCA JR.

SHS Teacher – Pangpang Integrated NHSwww.diegopomarca.wix.com/undercover

ANTHROPOLOGIST believe that culture is a product of human evolution. Culture from different places develop distinct culture. Culture is regarded as the means of human adaptation to the world. EXPLICIT CULTURE – are those that people aware of and consciously recognize e.g. shaking of hands when

introduced. IMPLICIT CULTURE – it is not always recognize by people but it influence behaviour and people simply take

them for granted and rarely think about it.

CULTURE: An Anthropological Perspective by Gary Ferraro and Susan Andreatta

Theories – are perspectives that are essential in shaping an analysis about a particular issue.The following are the 7 theoretical orientations in anthropology and the ideas on culture:

1. Cultural Evolutionism2. Diffusionism3. Historicism4. Psychological Anthropology5. Functionalism6. Neo-evolutionism7. Materialism

A. CULTURAL EVOLUTIONISMPerspective on Culture:

1. All cultures undergo the same development stages in the same order. The main classifications include savagery, barbarism and civilization.

2. “Cultural evolution” is the idea that human culture changes in socially transmitted beliefs, knowledge, customs, skills, attitudes, languages, etc.

3. Can be described as a Darwinian evolutionary process that is similar in key respects (but not identical) to biological/genetic evolution.

4. Explains the genesis and growth of cultural phenomena. 5. It tried to establish a universal pattern of human cultural evolution. 6. By studying and analysing cultural evolution, anthropologists during the 19th century hoped to develop a

science of culture that could incorporate universal laws of human nature. 7. Evolutionism in the 19th century was initiated by the works of Charles Darwin. A couple of years prior to

Darwin, Herbert Spencer a philosopher visualized evolution to be a cosmic process.

The basic assumptions of 19th century cultural evolutionism were: All cultures throughout the world developed progressively over time. Cultural progress took place from simple to complex forms. Cultural evolution led the growth of civilization. Edward Tylor , Lewis Henry Morgan and James George Frazer were the classical evolutionists.

Edward Tylor the Father of Anthropology In his book entitled Primitive Culture published in 1871, he defined culture as a complex whole which

includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and other capacities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.

He was convinced that all cultures were capable of progress because he believed in psychic unity of mankind.

Lewis Henry Morgan the Father of Kinship Studies He wrote extensively about evolution of specific social institutions like Marriage, family and Kinship but also

constructed a general sequence of human history. He was the first to typify the kinship terminologies of the world into descriptive in which lineal kin are

differentiated from collateral kin. He published his works on kinship in the Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity.

Five Kinship Terms according to Morgan1. Consanguine is based on group marriage within the same generation. 2. The Punaluan based on a form of group marriage in which brothers were forbidden to marry sisters.3. The Syndyasmian or pairing family, a transitional form between group marriage and monogamy in which

husband or wife could end the marriage at will as often as he or she wished.4. The Patriarchical a supreme authority was vested in the male head.5. The Monogamian based on monogamy and female equality and progressively resembling the modern

nuclear unit.

James George Frazer famous for his work The Golden Bough published in 1914.He developed his theories based on other people's

ethnographic researches. According to him, all primitive people were mentally irrational and hence superstition pervaded primitive

thought. Frazer came up with three stage evolutionary development:

Magic------> Religion ------> Science According to Frazer in the first stage of human society magic played very important role. But then man must

have realized that there could be some superior power above him that controls him and his activities. He must have submitted himself to this superior power. It is here when magic was replaced by religion. Later on science which is based on factual correlations between cause and effect would have evolved as man also evolved mentally.

B. DIFFUSIONISMPerspective on Culture:

All societies change as a result of cultural borrowing from one another. Diffusionism refers to the diffusion or transmission of cultural characteristics or traits from the common

society to all other societies. They criticized the Psychic unity of mankind of evolutionists. They believed that most inventions happened just once and men being capable of imitation, these

inventions were then diffused to other places. All cultures originated at one point and then spread throughout the world. Opposed the notion of progress from simple to complex forms held by the evolutionists. Held that primitive or modern is also a relative matter and hence comparative method is not applicable. Looked specifically for variations that gradually occurred while diffusion took place.

The main proponents of British school of Diffusionism were:1. G.Elliot Smith;2. William J Perry; and 3. W.H.R Rivers.

According to Advocates of the British School of Diffusionism… Egypt was the culture center of the world and the cradle of civilization. Hence human culture originated in

Egypt and then spread throughout the world. They pointed to the Pyramid like large stone structures and sun worship in several parts of the world.

Proponents of the German School of Diffusionism1. Friedrich Ratzel;2. Leo Frobenius;3. Fritz Graebner; and 4. William Schmidt.

C. HISTORICISMPerspective on Culture:

Each culture is unique and must be studied in its own context Regarded historical development as the most basic aspect of human existence. Social and cultural phenomena are determined by history. Historicism is an approach to the study of anthropology and culture that dates back to the mid-nineteenth

and early twentieth centuries. It encompasses two distinct forms of historicism: diffusionism and historical particularism.

Historicism developed out of dissatisfaction with the theories of unilineal socio-cultural evolution.

Leading Figures of Historicism:Grafton Elliot Smith (1871-1937)

is credited with founding and leading the British school of diffusionism. Through a comparative study of different peoples from around the world that have practiced

mummification, Smith formulated a theory that all of the people he studied originally derived their mummification practices from Egypt. He concluded that civilization was created only once in Egypt and spread throughout the world, just as mummification had, through colonization, migration, and diffusion.

R. Fritz Graebner (1877-1934) – Graebner is remembered for being the founder of the German School of diffusionism. Graebner borrowed

the idea of culture area and the psychic unity of mankind as developed by Adolf Bastian and used it to develop his theory of Kulturekreistehere (culture circles), which was primarily concerned with the description of patterns of culture distribution (Winthrop 1991:222).

His theory of culture circles posits that culture traits are invented once and combine with other culture traits to create culture patterns, both of which radiate outwards in concentric circles.

The most complete exposition of his views is contained in his major work, Die Methode der Ethnologie (Putzstuck 1991:247-8).

Franz Boas (1858-1942) Boas was born in Minden, Westphalia (now part of Germany) and grew up in Germany. At the age of twenty he enrolled in college at Heidelberg. He studied physics and geography both in

Heidelberg and in Bonn. In 1899, he became the first Professor of Anthropology at Colombia University, a position that allowed him

to instruct a number of important anthropologists who collectively influenced anthropological thought in many ways.

All societies are part of one single human culture evolving towards a cultural pinnacle is flawed, especially when proposing a western model of civilization as the cultural pinnacle.

He argued that many cultures developed independently, each based on its own particular set of circumstances such as geography, climate, resources and particular cultural borrowing.

The distribution of culture traits must be plotted. Once the distribution of many sets of culture traits is plotted for a general geographic area, patterns of cultural borrowing may be determined.

This allows the reconstruction of individual histories of specific cultures by informing the investigator which of the cultural elements were borrowed and which were developed individually

Other Proponents of Historicism (probably Boas’s Students)1. Alfred Louis Kroeber2. Ruth Benedict3. Robert H. Lowie 4. Edward Sapir5. Paul Radin6. Clark Wissler7. Arjun Appadurai

D. PSYCHOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGYPerspective on Culture:

Personality is largely seen to be the result of learning culture. Psychological anthropology is the study of psychological topics using anthropological concepts and

methods. Among the areas of interest are personal identity, selfhood, subjectivity, memory, consciousness, emotion, motivation, cognition, madness, and mental health.

Psychological anthropology is the study of psychological topics using anthropological concepts and methods. Among the areas of interest are personal identity, selfhood, subjectivity, memory, consciousness, emotion, motivation, cognition, madness, and mental health.

Investigates the psychological conditions that encourage endurance and change in social systems, with the goal of better understanding the relationship between culture and the individual. It approaches anthropological investigations through the use of psychological concepts and methods.

It logically follows that without human behavior, the field of anthropology would not exist. Leslie A. White viewed culture as a material system of objects and symbols that determined human

behavior so completely that differences among individuals could be ignored.

E. FUNCTIONALISMPerspective on Culture:

Society is thought to be like a biological organism with all of the parts interconnected. Existing institutional structures of any society are thought to perform indispensable functions, without which the society could not continue.

Functionalists seek to describe the different parts of a society and their relationship through the organic analogy. The organic analogy compared the different parts of a society to the organs of a living organism.

Bronislaw Malinowski and A.R. Radcliffe-Brown had the greatest influence on the development of functionalism from their posts in Great Britain.

Functionalism was a reaction to the excesses of the evolutionary and diffusionist theories of the nineteenth century and the historicism of the early twentieth century.

Malinowski suggested that individuals have physiological needs (reproduction, food, shelter) and that social institutions exist to meet these needs.

There are also culturally derived needs and four basic "instrumental needs" (economics, social control, education, and political organization), that require institutional devices.

Each institution has personnel, a charter, a set of norms or rules, activities, material apparatus (technology), and a function.

He argued that satisfaction of these needs transformed the cultural instrumental activity into an acquired drive through psychological reinforcement.

Radcliffe-Brown focused on social structure rather than biological needs. He suggested that a society is a system of relationships maintaining itself through cybernetic feedback,

while institutions are orderly sets of relationships whose function is to maintain the society as a system. Radcliffe-Brown, inspired by Augustus Comte, stated that the social constituted a separate "level" of reality

distinct from those of biological forms and inorganic matter. He argued that explanations of social phenomena had to be constructed within the social level. Thus,

individuals were replaceable, transient occupants of social roles. Unlike Malinowski's emphasis on individuals, Radcliffe-Brown considered individuals irrelevant.

Proponents of Functionalism1. E.E. Evans-Pritchard 2. Sir Raymond Firth 3. Meyer Fortes 4. Sir Edmund Leach 5. Lucy Mair 6. Robert K. Merton 7. Talcott Parsons 8. Audrey Richards

F. NEO-EVOLUTIONISMPerspective on Culture:

Culture is said to be shaped by environmental and technological conditions. Cultures evolve when people are able to increase the amount of energy under their control.

Neo-evolutionism is a social theory that tries to explain the evolution of societies by drawing on Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and discarding some dogmas of the previous social evolutionism.

Leslie White, Julian Steward, Marshall Sahlins and Elman Service as main propounders.

Leslie White emphasized that the evolutionary stages are abstractions applicable to the growth of human culture. culture grows out of culture with new combinations, syntheses continually formed. technology is the basic determinant of cultural evolutionism. He also refers to it as Cultural Materialism. the other factors remaining constant, culture evolves as energy harnessed per capita, per year is increased,

the system not only increase in size but become more highly evolved , they become more differentiated and more specialized functionally.

Julian Steward says that Cultural Evolution may be defined as quest for regularities or laws. There are three ways in which

evolutionary data can be analyzed. Multilinear evolution is a methodology based on the assumption that regularities in culture change occur.

This is concerned with historical reconstruction with any set laws.1. Unilineal evolution: the classical 19th century formulation which dealt with particular cultures,

placing them in stages of universal sequence.2. Universal evolution: This designates the modern revamping of unilineal evolution which is

concerned with culture than with cultures.3. Multilinear evolution: It is distinctive in searching parallels of limited occurrence instead of

universals.

Marshall Sahlins and Elman Service have combined the White and Steward's views by recognizing two kinds of evolution.

1. Specific Evolution refers to the particular sequence of change and adaptation of a particular society in a given environment.

2. General Evolution refers to general progress of human society in which higher forms arise and surpass lower forms.

G. MATERIALISM(CULTURAL MATERIALISM)Perspective on Culture:

Culture is the product of the “material conditions” in which a given community of people finds itself. Cultural Materialism is a scientific research strategy that prioritizes material, behavioral and etic processes

in the explanation of the evolution of human socio-cultural systems. It was first introduced by Marvin Harris in The Rise of Anthropological Theory (1968).

Cultural materialism embraces three anthropological schools of thought, cultural materialism, cultural evolution and cultural ecology.

Cultural similarities and differences as well as models for cultural change within a societal framework consisting of three distinct levels: infrastructure, structure and superstructure.

Infrastructure - consisting of “material realities” such as technological, economic and reproductive (demographic) factors mold and influence the other two aspects of culture (structure and superstructure).

The “structure” sector of culture consists of organizational aspects of culture such as domestic and kinship systems and political economy.

The “superstructure” sector consists of ideological and symbolic aspects of society such as religion. Cultural materialists believe that technological and economic aspects play the primary role in shaping a

society. Aims to understand the effects of technological, economic and demographic factors on molding societal

structure and superstructure through strictly scientific methods. Cultural materialism views both productive (economic) and reproductive (demographic) forces as the

primary factors which shape society. Systems such as government, religion, law, and kinship are considered to be constructs that only exist for

the sole purpose of promoting production and reproduction.

Proponents of Cultural Materialism1. Marvin Harris 2. Julian Steward3. Leslie White4. R. Brian Ferguson5. Martin F. Murphy6. Maxine L. Margolis7. Allen Johnson

HUMAN EVOLUTION AND CULTUREPresented by

DIEGO C. POMARCA JR.SHS Teacher

In order to understand CULTURE, we need to know the following:*BIOLOGICAL CAPACITY FOR CULTURE – understanding the biological makeup of mankind.1. Our Thinking Capacity – the developed brain is necessary in facilitating pertinent skills such as speaking,

touching, feeling, seeing and smelling.Brain – the primary biological component of humans that allowed culture.

The Human Brain1. Frontal Lobe and the Motor Cortex – function for cognition and motor abilities.2. Parietal lobe – allows for touch and taste abilities.3. Temporal Lobe – allows for hearing skills.4. Occipital Lobe – allows for visual skills.

Compared with other primates, humans have a larger brain weighing 1.4 Kg, Chimpanzees have a brain weighing 420 g only, and those of gorillas weigh 500 g. Due to the size of their brain and the complexity of its parts, humans were able to create survival skills that helped them adapt to their environment and outlive their less adaptive biological relatives.

2. Our Speaking Capacity – while the brain is the primary source of human capacity to comprehend sound and provide meaning to it, the VOCAL TRACT acts as the mechanism by which sounds are produced and reproduced to transmit ideas and values. A longer vocal tract means that there is a longer vibration surface, allowing humans to produce a wider array of sounds.

3. Our Gripping Capacity – the capacity to directly oppose a thumb with the other fingers. It is an exclusive trait of humans. It allowed us to have a finer grip. Thus, we have the capability to create materials with precision.

■ The hand of a human has digits (fingers) that are straight, as compared with the curved ones of the other primates.

■ The thumb of a human is proportionately longer than those of the other primates. These characteristics of human hand allowed for 2 types of grip:

Power Grip – enabled human to wrap the thumb and fingers on an object.Precision Grip – enabled humans to hold and pick objects steadily using their fingers.

4. Our Walking or Standing Capacity – an important trait that gave humans more productivity with their hands. Through this, humans gained more efficient form of locomotion suitable for hunting and foraging. Primates have two forms of locomotion:

a. Bipedalism – the capacity to walk and stand on two feet.b. Quadropedalism – uses all four limbs (both two hands and two feet).

HUMAN ORIGINS AND THE CAPACITY FOR CULTUREThe Oldowan Industry

■ Stone tool industry characterized by the use of “hard water-worn creek cobbles made out of volcanic rock” (O’Neil, 2012).

■ Evidence found by Mary and Louis Leakey at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania in Africa (around 2.6 million years ago) supports this industry.

■ Industry known to have been used by Homo habilis.Percussion Flaking – process involving the systematic collision of a hammer stone with a core stone. The impact of the collision produces a core tool (used for general purposes) and a flake tool (used as a knife).

The Oldowan Industry■ Form of technology used in this industry allowed for the species to butcher large animals and it improved

food gathering skills using the ‘hammering, digging, and chopping implements’ (O’Neil, 2012).■ From Africa, this industry spread out to Europe and Asia during the migration of Homo erectus, who

acquired it from homo habilis within 1.9-1.8 million years ago. By 1.8-1.6 million years ago, the Oldowan industry has already reached Java, Indonesia and Northern China.

Scavenging - was a way of finding food during times of shortage.- Following other scavengers made it easy to find carcasses. Using stone tools made it easy to break

open bones for marrow.

The Acheulian Industry■ A more complex industry developed by the Homo erectus from what they inherited from Homo habilis.■ Using the same process of percussion flaking, Homo erectus created hand axes that were bifacial, shaped in

both sides, and with straighter and sharper edges.■ Homo erectus made other tools such as, “choppers, cleavers and hammers as well as flakes used as knives

and scrapers”.HAND AXES – stone implements used in multiple activities such as light chopping of wood, digging up roots and bulbs, butchering animals, and cracking nuts and small bones.

■ This industry was named after Saint Acheul, a patron saint in southwest France, as these artifacts were discovered in the area

■ Believed to have originated in East Africa.■ Scholars argue that its extensive use may have been out of Africa as Homo erectus invented this industry and

brought it to Europe 500 000 – 900 000 years ago and to China 800 000 years ago.

The Mousterian Industry■ Developed by Homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthals) in Europe and West Asia between 300 000 and 30 000

years ago.■ Named after a site in France called Le Moustier, where evidence was uncovered in 1860.■ Tools from this industry were a combination of Acheulian techniques with the Levalloisian technique, which

involved the use of premade core tool that has sharpened edgesMOUSTERIAN TOOL – efficient stone tool as all the sides of the flake are sharpened and are more handy due to the reduction in size.

■ Evidence of this industry dating back 100 000 years was also found in Northern Africa and West Asia, where modern humans such as that of Qafze migrated.

■ Most archaeologists hypothesize that this industry could be an evidence of acculturation of modern humans with their Neanderthal relatives.

■ By the end of the Paleolithic period, early humans have been engaged in proto-culture type of industries wherein they did not just create tools but also started creating art and other symbolic materials.

The Aurignacian Industry■ Present in Europe and Southwest Asia from 45 000 to 35 000 years ago. ■ The term Aurignacian was derived from Aurignac, an area in France where the evidence of this industry was

found.■ Users of this industry used raw materials such as flint, animal bones and antlers.■ The method employed in creating tools such as fine blades was similar to the one used in the Mousterian

industry.

■ A more advanced tool making industry that made it a cultural milestone for modern humans in Europe due to the development of self-awareness.

■ This development was projected through cave paintings and the fabrication of accessories such as figurines, bracelets and beads.

■ The cave paintings found in the El Castillo Cave in Cantabaria, Spain provide us with a glimpse of the environment that the early humans lived in. Most of the paintings are that of the animals that existed at that time.

Venus of Schelklingen (Venus of Hohle Fels) – figurine sculpted from a woolly mammoth tusk. Emphasis was made on several parts of the body such as the breasts and the hips. Scholars theorize that this emphasis may be due to the importance of these parts in childbearing or child rearing. Bone flute in Hohle Fels, Germany – earliest evidence of music appreciation.

The Magdalenian Industry■ Saw the end of the Paleolithic period as it transformed to the Neolithic period. ■ Named after the La Madeleine site in Dordogne, France.■ Also a proto-culture used by the early humans and was defined by several revolutionary advancements in

technology such as the creation of microliths from flint, bone, antler and ivory. ■ Humans during this period were engrossed in creating figurines, personal adornments and other forms of

mobiliary art.■ A defining method used in tool making was through the application of heat on the material prior to the

flaking process. This was done by casting the raw material on fire, which allowed for a more precise cut upon flaking.

■ Cro-Magnon man made Upper Palaeolithic tools including fish hooks, harpoons and needles.■ The creation of specialized weapons such as barbed harpoons is evidence of the growing sophistication of

the hunting skills and technology of the early humans.■ Use of temporary man-made shelters such as tents made of animal skin are evident.■ Use of rock shelters and caves were still predominant during this period. The creation of tents allowed early

humans to be more mobile.■ Humans have more leisure time as evidenced by their preoccupation with decorative materials.■ By 10 000 BCE, this industry has spread to parts of Europe including contemporary territories such as Great

Britain, Germany, Spain and Poland.

GROUP Work■ Collaborate with 10 of your classmates and set up a museum-like exhibit for Paleolithic tools. Your exhibit

must contain sample tools and information about them. Your may recreate Paleolithic tools using papier-máchể , clay, paper and ink, card board and any other form of raw materials.

■ You need to decorate your exhibit appropriately.■ Your role in this activity will be that of a curator who will plan and implement the creation of the exhibit.■ Your teacher will rate your output based on quality of the materials created, organization, accuracy of

information and appropriateness of exhibit design.