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Cultural area
 
 
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A cultural area or culture area is a region
Region

Region is a geographical term that is used in various ways among the different branches of geography. In general, a region is a medium-scale area of land or water, smaller than the whole areas of interest , and larger than a specific site A region may be seen as a collection of smaller units or as one part of a larger whole ....
 (area
Area

Area is a quantity expressing the two-dimensional size of a defined part of a surface, typically a region bounded by a closed curve. The term surface area refers to the total area of the exposed surface of a 3-dimensional solid, such as the sum of the areas of the exposed sides of a polyhedron....
) with one relatively homogeneous
Homogeneity

Homogeneity means "being similar throughout".Homogeneity may also refer to:* Homogeneous , a variety of meanings* In statistics homogeneity can refer to...
 human activity or complex of activities (culture
Culture

Culture is difficult to define. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions....
). These areas are primarily geographical, not historical (but see below), and they are not considered equivalent to Kulturkreis
Kulturkreis

The Kulturkreis school was a central concept of the early 20th-century Austrian school of anthropology that sought to redirect the discipline away from the quest for an underlying, universal human nature toward a concern with the particular histories of individual societies....
 (Culture circles).

Development
A culture area is a concept in cultural anthropology
Cultural anthropology

Cultural anthropology is one of four fields of anthropology as it developed in the United States. It is the branch of anthropology that has developed and promoted "culture" as a meaningful scientific concept, studied cultural variation among humans, and examined the impact of global economic and political processes on local cultural realiti...
 where a geographic region and time sequence (age area) is characterized by substantially uniform environment and culture.






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A cultural area or culture area is a region
Region

Region is a geographical term that is used in various ways among the different branches of geography. In general, a region is a medium-scale area of land or water, smaller than the whole areas of interest , and larger than a specific site A region may be seen as a collection of smaller units or as one part of a larger whole ....
 (area
Area

Area is a quantity expressing the two-dimensional size of a defined part of a surface, typically a region bounded by a closed curve. The term surface area refers to the total area of the exposed surface of a 3-dimensional solid, such as the sum of the areas of the exposed sides of a polyhedron....
) with one relatively homogeneous
Homogeneity

Homogeneity means "being similar throughout".Homogeneity may also refer to:* Homogeneous , a variety of meanings* In statistics homogeneity can refer to...
 human activity or complex of activities (culture
Culture

Culture is difficult to define. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions....
). These areas are primarily geographical, not historical (but see below), and they are not considered equivalent to Kulturkreis
Kulturkreis

The Kulturkreis school was a central concept of the early 20th-century Austrian school of anthropology that sought to redirect the discipline away from the quest for an underlying, universal human nature toward a concern with the particular histories of individual societies....
 (Culture circles).

Development


A culture area is a concept in cultural anthropology
Cultural anthropology

Cultural anthropology is one of four fields of anthropology as it developed in the United States. It is the branch of anthropology that has developed and promoted "culture" as a meaningful scientific concept, studied cultural variation among humans, and examined the impact of global economic and political processes on local cultural realiti...
 where a geographic region and time sequence (age area) is characterized by substantially uniform environment and culture. The concept of culture areas was originated by museum curators and ethnologists during the late 1800s as means of arranging exhibits. Clark Wissler
Clark Wissler

Clark Wissler was an United States anthropology.Born near Hagerstown, Indiana, Wissler graduated from Indiana University Bloomington in 1897....
 and Alfred Kroeber further developed the concept on the premise that they represent long-standing cultural divisions.. The concept is criticized by some, who argue that the basis for classification is arbitrary. But other researchers disagree and the organization of human communities into cultural areas remains a common practice throughout the social sciences. The definition of culture areas is enjoying a resurgence of practical and theoretical interest as social scientists conduct more research on processes of cultural globalization.

Music

A music area is a cultural area defined according to musical activity, and may or may not conflict with the cultural areas assigned to a given region. The world may be divided into three large music areas, each containing a "cultivated" or classical musics "that are obviously its most complex musical forms," with, nearby, folk
Folk music

Folk music can have a number of different meanings, including:* Traditional music: The original meaning of the term "folk music" was synonymous with the term "Traditional music", also often including World Music and Roots music; the term "Traditional music" was given its more specific meaning to distinguish it from the other definition...
 styles which interact with the cultivated, and, on the perimeter, primitive
Prehistoric music

In the history of music, prehistoric music is all music produced in literate cultures , beginning somewhere in very late geological history. Prehistoric music is followed by ancient music in most of Europe and later musics in subsequent European-influenced areas, but still exists in isolated areas....
 styles:
  • Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa
    Music of Africa

    The music of Africa is as vast and varied as the continent's many Regions of Africa, List of African countries and ethnic groups. Although there is no distinctly pan-African music, there are common forms of musical expression, especially within Regions of Africa....
    • based on shared isometric
      Isometre

      Isometre is a music theory term describing the use of pulse without regular metre . See also: homorhythm....
       materials, diatonic scale
      Diatonic scale

      In music theory, a diatonic scale is a seven note musical scale comprising five whole steps and two half steps, in which the half steps are maximally separated....
      s, and polyphony
      Polyphony

      In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voice , as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chord s ....
       based on parallel
      Parallel key

      In music, the parallel minor or tonic minor of a particular major key is the minor key with the same Tonic ; similarly the parallel major has the same tonic as the minor key....
       third
      Third

      Third may refer to:*3 , such as the 3rd of something*Fraction , such as 1/3*The Third *Third World, economically underdeveloped nations*Third-class degree, type of British undergraduate degree classification...
      s, fourths
      Perfect fourth

      The perfect fourth is a musical interval which spans four diatonic scale scale degree. It consists of the note and the note five semitones above it on the musical scale....
      , and fifths
      Perfect fifth

      The perfect fifth is the musical interval between a note and the note seven semitones above it on the musical scale. For example, the note G lies a perfect fifth above C; D is a perfect fifth above G, C is a perfect fifth above F, and so on....
      .
  • North Africa
    Music of North Africa

    North Africa has contributed much to popular music, especially Music of Egypt classical and el Gil, Algerian ra? and Morocco chaabi. The broad region is sometimes called the Maghreb , and the term Maghrebian music is in use....
    , Southwest Asia, South Asia, and Indonesia
    Music of Indonesia

    Indonesia is culturally diverse, and every one of the 17,508 islands has its own cultural and artistic history and character. This results hundreds of different forms of music, which often accompanies dance and theater....
    .
    • based on shared small intervals
      Interval (music)

      In music theory, the term interval describes the relationship between the pitch of two notes.Intervals may be described as:*vertical if the two notes sound simultaneously...
       in scales, melodies
      Melody

      In music, a melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity....
      , and polyphony.
  • American Indian
    Native American music

    American Indian music is the music that is used, created or performed by Native North Americans. In addition to the tribally specific music of those groups there now exist pan-tribal and intertribal genre as well as distinct Indian subgenres of popular music including: rock and roll, blues, hip hop music, Classical music, film music and regg...
    , East Asia, Northern Siberian
    Inuit music

    The Inuit live across the northern sections of Canada, especially in Nunavut, Nunavik, Nunatsiavut and Northwest Territories, as well as in Alaska and Greenland....
    , and Finno-Ugric music
    Finno-Ugric music

    Finno-Ugric music is a classification denoting the music of the various peoples who speak languages belonging to the Finno-Ugric languages group, e.g., Music of Estonia, Music of Finland, Sami music , and Music of Hungary ....
    • based on shared large step
      Step

      The term Step or Steps may refer to:* Walk* Dance step, the building block of many dances* Step dance, a dance style where the footwork is the most important part of the dance...
      s in pentatonic
      Pentatonic scale

      A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five pitch per octave in contrast to an heptatonic scale scale such as the major scale. Pentatonic scales are very common and are found all over the world, including but not limited to Celtic music, Hungarian folk music, West African music, African-American spiritual , Jazz, American blues music a...
       and tetratonic
      Musical scale

      In music, a scale is a group of musical note collected in ascending and descending order that provides material for or is used to conveniently represent part or all of a musical work including melody and/or harmony....
       scales.


However, he then adds that "the world-wide development of music must have been a unified process in which all peoples participated," and that one finds similar tunes and traits in puzzlingly isolated or separated locations throughout the world.

See also

  • Culture areas of North America
    Culture areas of North America

    The indigenous peoples of North America have been classified, by ethnographers, into regional cultural areas....
  • Sprachbund
    Sprachbund

    A Sprachbund , from the German language word for ?language union?, also known as a linguistic area, convergence area, diffusion area or language crossroads, is a group of languages that have become similar in some way because of geographical proximity and language contact....