JOSHUA TREE Country Nodes An Anthropological Evaluation of William Keys' Desert Queen Ranch, Joshua Tree National Monument, California

(Entries listed in order of appearance in text.)

Selective behavior: behavior associated with an adaptive strategy; behavior guided by choice or decision-making.

Pattern: in this work, a group of linked social interactions occurring during a particular period.

Event: in this work, used interchangeably with documented interaction.

Interaction: a meeting or communication between individuals or between individuals and their environments.

Social network: the organization of interactions among individuals. In network analyses, an individual, married pair or group is selected as a focal point. Interactions between the focus and others are traced; this pattern is called "personal network," "first order network" or "star." Connections are sometimes traced between and among individuals who form part of the focus' first order network; this is called the "second order network." Network analysts try to understand how connections in a second order network affect the behavior of the focus.

Status: a set of rights and duties associated with a given social position.

System: a set of interrelated parts that function together and are organized so that change in one part affects other parts.

Subsystem: a unit which forms part of a larger system but which has its own internal organization.

Role: that part of an individual's behavior associated with status. When a man feeds his children he is acting out the status of nurturer associated with the social position of father in Anglo-American society. This behavior is role behavior.

Social position/social identity: a standing in society filled by individuals who are expected to behave in accordance with the statuses associated with this standing. For example, "father" is a social position associated with rights in and obligations to children. These rights and obligations are expressed jurally and generally in our culture and fathers are expected to conform to them.

Node: a locus which, relative to the surrounding region, is the scene of frequent social interactions of various kinds.

Reciprocal exchange: the interchange of goods or ceremonial, economic or other social services between two parties; characterized by a "vice-versa quality," in that something is given and something received by both parties to the interchange.

Negative reciprocity: an interchange in which each party tries to gain over the other. Market haggling is an example of this sort of transaction, in which both sides try to bargain to their own advantage.

Balanced reciprocity: interchange in which the giver is paid the customary equivalent without delay. This is an interchange between equals.

Generalized reciprocity: interchanges between parties of unequal power and wealth in which "haves" give to "have-nots" with no expectation of immediate repayment in kind. Altruistic sharing and welfare spending are examples. Repayment might take the form of expected loyalty or gratitude.

Process: a change from one condition to another in accordance with a principle or principles.

Social stratification: a condition in which society is conceived of as organized into generalized ranked social positions, such as "ruler, bureaucrat and commoner," rather than solely into positions associated with individual relationships ("parent-child") or activity-specific relationships ("team captain-player").

Cross-cultural: between or among cultures. Cross-cultural studies compare elements from a sample of different cultures and attempt to account for similarities and differences among and between cultures.

Strategy: a plan of action designed to cope with a problem.

Adaptive strategy: a plan of action or thought designed to use natural and/or social resources to advantage.

Culture: culture is a set of standards for acting, perceiving, believing, evaluating and communicating.

Society: a society is a population of individuals who interact with each other and their environment.

Principle: a rule or law governing action or conduct.

Activity area: the locus of some definable behavior, such as milling, quarrying, cooking or mining, that can be distinguished from other areas in an archeological site. Many activity areas are multifunctional; people often used certain spots intensively for a variety of purposes.

System of order: the systematic ordering of one's perceived universe. Purposely or subconsciously, each of us arranges his or her physical surroundings in such a way as to be consistent with, and to express, his or her self-perceptions and cultural values, just as we arrange our speech in such a way as to directly and indirectly convey information to fellow speakers.