Set of relationships that link two groups through marriage, and help maintain relationships and social solidarity in groups larger than the nuclear family.

This school —represented by Levi-Strauss— uses an analogy to explain the origin of the differences and similarities among cultures.

This theory says that cultural characteristics were diffused from one society to another by the voluntary or involuntary contact, it causes that several societies share language, ideology, ways of think, religion, economy, among other elements. That’s why we see a lot of similar characteristics in different societies.

Political unit with an independent government and a centralized organization; it is composed of all the political and administrative institutions that control a defined territory

Exchange of cultural features, a result of continuous direct contact between two groups.

The existence of a cultural evolution determined by the amount of energy that could be captured and put into execution by person.

his position is represented by British researcher Bronislaw Malinowski. One of the contributions of this theory is the importance of conducting field work for long periods, learning the language and local customs as the only method that provides valid and reliable data in anthropology.

Stages of anthropology development that may be represented by Bernardino de Sahagún, José de Acosta, Bartolomé de las Casas and Vasco de Quiroga.

Located in the last third of the 20th century, the emphasis here is on the functioning of cultures. It coincides with the professionalization of anthropology at major universities.