Kerala Plus Two Anthropology (DHSE) key terms

The holistic study of humans across time and space, combining biological, cultural, archaeological, and linguistic perspectives to explain both shared features and differences among human populations.

The traditional division of anthropology into biological anthropology, archaeology, linguistic anthropology, and sociocultural anthropology, taught as interlinked ways of studying humanity rather than separate disciplines.

Judging another culture by the standards of one's own, often treating one's own practices as normal and others as strange or inferior; a bias anthropology tries to counter.

The methodological stance of understanding beliefs and practices within their own cultural context rather than judging them by outside standards, without necessarily endorsing them morally.

The branch studying human biology and its evolution, covering genetics, growth, palaeoanthropology, primatology, and human variation and adaptation across populations.

The study of human and hominin evolution through fossil remains, combining anatomy, dating methods, and comparative evidence to reconstruct ancestral species and behaviour.

A member of the human lineage after its split from the chimpanzee line, including living humans and extinct relatives such as Australopithecus and Homo species.

Habitual upright walking on two legs, a defining early hominin adaptation linked to skeletal changes in the pelvis, spine, and foot; its origins predate large brains and stone tools.

The internal volume of the braincase, used as an approximate measure of brain size in fossil hominins and compared across species and with body size.

The discredited idea that humans fall into discrete biological races; genetic evidence shows most variation lies within populations and trait boundaries are clinal and arbitrary.

The range of biological differences among human populations, such as skin colour, body build, and blood groups, produced by adaptation, gene flow, drift, and history rather than fixed racial types.

Gradual, continuous change in the frequency of a trait across geographic space, such as skin pigmentation or blood group alleles, rather than sharp boundaries between groups.

A biological or behavioural feature that improves survival or reproduction in a given environment, arising through natural selection or developed flexibly during a lifetime.

Short-term, reversible physiological adjustment by an individual to environmental stress, such as increased red blood cell production at high altitude or sweating in heat.

The study of living and fossil primates, including their anatomy, ecology, social behaviour, and cognition, used to model the behaviour of human ancestors.

The typical grouping and mating patterns of a primate species, such as solitary, pair-bonded, one-male, or multi-male groups, shaped by ecology, diet, and predation risk.

A ranked pattern of access to resources and mates within a group, maintained through displays and alliances and often correlated with age, sex, or fighting ability.

Removing dirt and parasites from another animal's fur; in primates it also builds and maintains social bonds and alliances, making it a key social behaviour.

The study of past human societies that left no written records, reconstructing lifeways from material remains such as tools, hearths, settlements, and burials.

The study of stone tools and the debris from their manufacture, classifying artefacts by technology and typology to infer chronology, function, and knapping skill.

Fieldwork among living communities to observe how behaviour produces material traces, helping archaeologists interpret patterns found in prehistoric sites.

The study of layered deposits at a site, where lower layers are generally older; used to establish relative chronology and interpret site formation processes.

The system of socially recognised relationships based on descent, marriage, and adoption, which defines rights, duties, and group membership in many societies.

The rule by which a person is affiliated with a kin group through parents, such as patrilineal, matrilineal, bilateral, or double descent.

A kin group whose members trace descent from a known common ancestor through specified links, often holding property, ritual duties, or political roles.

A kin group claiming descent from a distant or mythical ancestor, usually without tracing every genealogical link, and often marked by a shared totem or name.

A socially recognised and usually enduring union that establishes rights and obligations between spouses and between their kin groups, including legitimacy of children.

Goods or money transferred from the bride's family to the couple or groom's family at marriage, distinct from bridewealth, which moves in the opposite direction.

A domestic group of people related by kinship or marriage who share residence and economic and reproductive responsibilities, appearing in nuclear and extended forms.

Exchange of goods or services between people with an expectation of return; may be generalised, balanced, or negative, and underpins much non-market economic life.

Collection of goods or surplus by a central authority or institution and their reallocation within a society, typical of chiefdoms and state-level economies.

The study of power, authority, and decision-making across societies, comparing bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and states and the institutions that maintain order.

The means by which a society enforces norms, from informal sanctions such as gossip and ridicule to formal institutions such as courts, councils, and police.

Practices intended to influence events through ritual actions, words, or objects believed to have causal power, often classified as imitative or contagious.

A formalised, repeated sequence of actions and utterances performed at set times or places, expressing and reinforcing beliefs, statuses, and group solidarity.

A socially imposed prohibition on an object, person, or action, often surrounded by ideas of danger or ritual pollution and enforced by supernatural or social sanctions.

An object, word, or action that stands for something else by convention, carrying shared meaning that participants interpret within a cultural system.

A form of society with shared descent, territory, and culture, organised through kin groups and leaders rather than a central state; the term is debated in Indian policy contexts.

A constitutional category in India listing communities entitled to specified protections and benefits; in Kerala these include groups such as the Cholanaickan and Kurichiya.

The tradition of anthropological research in India, blending ethnographic study of tribes and castes with village studies, physical anthropology, and applied policy work.

Research based on long-term participant observation in a community, producing a detailed written account of its social life, practices, and meanings.

A fieldwork method in which the researcher lives among people, taking part in daily activities while observing and recording, to gain an insider's understanding.

Two complementary perspectives in fieldwork: the emic view describes how insiders understand their own culture, while the etic view applies the analyst's external categories.

A recorded chart of kin relationships used in fieldwork to map descent, marriage ties, and inheritance, and to analyse how people reckon relatives.