Deck 8: Souls, ghosts, and Death

Question 1

Among the Yup'ik of western Alaska seals have souls.These souls are returned to the sea during an annual festival when the ________ of the seal,which contains its soul,is shoved through the hole in the ice.

A)liver
B)bladder
C)heart
D)brain

Answer 1

bladder

Question 2

Descriptions of vampires are based upon:

A)early folk tales found in eastern Europe
B)observations made of corpses that were exhumed several months after burial
C)descriptions of invaders that overran eastern Europe from Asia during the 14th and 15th centuries
D)observations made of recently executed criminals

Answer 2

observations made of corpses that were exhumed several months after burial

Question 3

A ghost can best be thought of as:

A)a dead person brought to life through magic
B)a soul that remains in the world of the living
C)an evil spirit or deity
D)none of the above

Answer 3

a soul that remains in the world of the living

Question 4

The egungun are spirits that travel from the land of the lead to visit the living among the:

A)Hmong
B)Yoruba
C)Tana Toraja
D)Jivaro

Question 5

The Hmong of Laos believe that:

A)illness occurs when one of many souls is frightened out of the body or stolen by demons
B)the immortal souls recycles from grandparent to grandchild
C)one aspect of the soul lives near the liver and can be stolen by a shaman causing illness
D)only souls of people free of sin will go to Heaven

Question 6

A belief in souls is probably found in all societies.This belief is likely derived from the experience of:

A)dreams
B)hallucinations
C)fainting
D)all of the above

Question 7

In some societies souls may be acquired during one's lifetime,such as through a vision.This is found among the:

A)Jivaro
B)Yanomamö
C)Shoshoni
D)Beng

Question 8

The importance of ancestors in a society is often a reflection of the importance of:

A)kinship
B)death
C)inheritance of wealth
D)reincarnation

Question 9

In Buddhism,rebirth is seen not as the transmission of a distinct personality,but as a transmission of:

A)consciousness
B)karma
C)lineage
D)thoughts

Question 10

In eastern European folk belief (not Hollywood folk belief)a vampire is:

A)an evil spirit that sucks blood from its victims
B)a person who,having died before his time,returns to life to bring death to his friends and neighbors
C)a dead person brought back to life by a sorcerer
D)a person who turns into an animal upon death

Question 11

The Yanomamö believe in:

A)several different souls that have different destinations after death
B)a single immortal soul that recycles from grandparent to grandchild
C)a perfect afterlife only for those people free of sin
D)the necessity of burial to preserve the soul for a coming new world

Question 12

Differences in the concept of the soul among human societies include:

A)the size of the soul
B)the number of souls a human possesses
C)the location of the soul in the human body
D)all of the above

Question 13

Much of Dani behavior,including the fear of traveling outside of the village at night,is based upon their belief in the existence of:

A)sorcerers
B)zombies
C)ghosts
D)witches

Question 14

A clear separation of biological and social death is found among the:

A)Beng
B)Yoruba
C)Tana Toraja
D)Hmong

Question 15

In Japan,a distinction can be made between ancestors and those who died in more recent memory.The latter are referred to as:

A)the departed
B)ghouls
C)kindred
D)the near gods

Question 16

Which of the following is true about the concept of the soul in small-scale religions?

A)the soul may be destroyed on its way to the other world
B)the fate of the soul may be the result of the social statuses of the individual during life
C)the souls of people who die a special death,such as in war,may share a fate different from those who die a different death
D)all of the above

Question 17

The term transmigration refers to:

A)the attainment of new souls through visions
B)the movement of souls from one person into another
C)the soul being reborn into the body of an animal
D)the soul moving from one afterlife to another

Question 18

Which of the following is true about the concept of the soul?

A)in some societies one's soul is in one's shadow or in one's reflection in a mirror
B)the destiny of one's soul after death always depends on how one behaved in life
C)there is always a single soul
D)all of the above statements are true

Question 19

The belief that an immortal,eternal soul is born again and again in different bodies is found in:

A)Catholicism
B)Islam
C)Hinduism
D)Judaism

Question 20

The Beng of West Africa believe that during the first several years of a baby's life:

A)the baby's soul is transitioning from the afterlife to this world
B)animals must be sacrificed so that one of the animal souls becomes the baby's
C)the egungun dancers must drum the baby's soul into its body
D)the baby has no soul and is therefore not talked to

Question 21

The concept of a single soul that animates the living body and leaves upon death is found in the vast majority of societies that have been studied.

Question 22

The Viking draugr was a(n):

A)animated corpse that could wander the countryside,much like a vampire
B)ghost seeking revenge for its own death
C)reanimated corpse,much like a zombie
D)soul that resided in Valhalla after dying in battle

Question 23

The earliest examples of the American custom of embalming and the establishment of the first military cemeteries took place during the:

A)Revolutionary War
B)French and Indian War
C)Civil War
D)World War I

Question 24

All of the following statements about the African Burial Ground are correct except:

A)most of the remains are those of adults
B)the cemetery dates to the 1700s
C)individuals were buried in coffins
D)the bodies were buried with their heads oriented to the west so that on the Judgment Day they will sit up and face the rising sun

Question 25

The custom of drinking the cremated ashes of the dead is found among the:

A)Yanomamö
B)Jivaro
C)Berawan
D)Nuer

Question 26

From an etic perspective,the appearance of exhumed bodies thought to be vampires were actually the result of the:

A)acidic nature of the soil found in some eastern European cemeteries
B)natural process of decay
C)mutilation of bodies by people wanting the village to believe in vampires
D)real work of supernatural forces

Question 27

The origins of Halloween can be found in a(n):

A)ancient Celtic festival called Samhain
B)Satanic celebration of the horned deity
C)new tradition for burials that began during the Civil War
D)U.S.department store attempt to sell more items in the Fall

Question 28

Wade Davis believes that from an etic perspective,Haitain zombies really:

A)did not exist
B)have been given a powder containing tetrodotoxin
C)were in it for the fame and wealth
D)were animated from the dead to work in the fields

Question 29

American mortuary customs are characterized by:

A)discomfort on the part of those attending the funeral
B)restrained expressions of grief
C)restoration of the body to lifelike appearance for purposes of display
D)all of the above

Question 30

Burials differ in different societies in many ways.Among these is:

A)the location of the grave
B)the position the body is placed in
C)objects placed in the grave with the body
D)all of the above

Question 31

The Day of the Dead in Mexico is a time for:

A)driving evil spirits out of the village
B)a family reunion for all family members,living and dead
C)fasting and repentance
D)all of the above

Question 32

In most societies,the fate of the soul after death depends upon the behavior of the individual when living.

Question 33

The term secondary burial refers to:

A)a separate burial for specific body parts (e.g. ,the head and hands)
B)any burial for those lower in the social stratification
C)a later burial during which the remains are dug up,processed,and reburied
D)a burial for a person who dies out of grief after the passing of their spouse

Question 34

Among the Yup'ik the souls of the seal moves to the bladder.The bladders of all of the seals killed during the year are inflated and returned to the sea in an annual festival.

Question 35

All Hallows Eve or Halloween takes place on the evening before:

A)Memorial Day
B)dama
C)All Saint's Day
D)Hollows Day

Question 36

The majority of Americans believe there is a Heaven.

Question 37

Haitian Zombies are:

A)living persons who have been placed in a zombie state in order to work in the fields
B)reanimated dead persons who eat brains
C)a special class of especially evil and troublesome ghosts
D)people who have died before their time and return to life to bring death to friends and neighbors

Question 38

Death rituals or funerals serve many purposes among which is (are):

A)channeling the expressions of grief
B)determining the fate of the soul
C)protecting the community of ghosts
D)all of the above

Question 39

The African Burial Ground is a cemetery in:

A)West Africa which has been studied by anthropo?logists
B)East Africa where secondary burials of skeletons have been found
C)New York city that contains the burials of slaves from the 18th century
D)South Africa containing cremated remains

Question 40

The soul is the noncorporeal,spiritual component of an individual.

Question 41

Vampires and zombies as depicted in American movies are very similar to actual ethnographic examples.

Question 42

The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism state that life is imperfect and inevitable involves suffering.

Question 43

The distinction between a soul and a ghost is not always a clear one.

Question 44

The Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos)in Mexico was a time when ghosts and evil spirits returned to take revenge on the living.

Question 45

Culture places meaning on physical and biological events.How does culture redefine death among the Tana Toraja?

Question 46

In what ways do supernatural figures such as vampires and zombies reflect our contemporary fears and anxieties?

Question 47

Contrary to Hollywood depictions,what are vampires and zombies and how do they differ from one another?

Question 48

The Hmong believe that at death the soul travels to the place where its placenta (afterbirth)has been buried and puts it on like an article of clothing.

Question 49

The routine embalming of bodies developed during the Civil War.

Question 50

Supernatural figures such as vampires and zombies reflect our contemporary fears and anxieties.

Question 51

The term ethnocannibalistic anthropophagers refers to societies who eat the bodies of one's own group.

Question 52

Among the Dani a major function of a funeral is to appease the ghost.

Question 53

Why is the concept of the soul found in virtually all human societies?

Question 54

The Tana Toraja separate biological and social death in that social death occurs some time after biological death.

Question 55

In what ways does the concept of the soul vary among human cultures?

Question 56

Reincarnation means that souls are reborn as animals.

Question 57

In Roman Catholicism,souls travel to one of two places: Heaven or Hell.

Question 58

The African Burial Ground is a Yoruba cemetery located in what is today Nigeria.

Question 59

Examples of endocannibalistic anthropophagers are the Yanomamö and the Fore.

Question 60

How does a ghost differ from a soul?

Question 61

How were bodies handled in rural America in the early half of the nineteenth century?

Question 62

What are the several functions of death rituals or funerals?

Question 63

Describe the development of Halloween as an example of syncretism.

Question 64

Death rituals differ from other rituals in that the society must deal with the corpse.Describe some of the ways this is done and why.

Question 65

In what ways did the handling of bodies change during the Civil War and why?