What is culture complex?

A related set of cultural traits such as prevailing dress codes and cooking and eating utensils is called cultural complex. All societies have a culture, i.e. a patterned whole consisting of the material and non material substances. All cultures have the same basic organization although the cultures developed by societies vary from another. The parts or components of culture are the following. 1. Cultural Traits Cultural traits are the single elements or smallest units of a culture. They are units of observation which when put together constitute culture. According to Hobble cultural trait is a repeatedly irreducible unit of learned behavior pattern or material product there of. Any culture can be seen as to include thousands of such units. Thus shaking hands, touching the feet, tipping hats, the kiss on the cheeks as gesture of affection, giving seats to ladies first, saluting the flag, wearing white sarees at mourning, taking vegetarian diets, walking barefooted, drinking water on the idols, carrying kirpans, growing beard and hair, eating in brass utensils etc. are cultural traits. Thus traits are the elemental units of a culture. It is these traits which distinguish one culture from another. A trait found in one culture may have no significance in other culture. Thus offering water to sun may have significance in Hindu culture but none in the western culture. 2. Cultural Complex According to Hobble, Cultural complexes are nothing but larger clusters of traits organized about some nuclear point of reference. Cultural traits, as we know, do not usually appear singly or independently. They are customarily associated with other restated traits to from cultural complex. The importance of a single trait is indicated when it first go in to a cluster of traits, each one of which performs a significant role in the total complex.

Thus, kneeling before the idol, sprinkling sacred water over it, putting some food in its mouth, folding hands, taking prashad from the priest and singing arati form a religious complex. 3. Cultural Pattern A cultural pattern is formed when traits and complexes become related to each other in functional roles. Each cultural complex has a role to play in society. It has got definite place within it. The cultural pattern of a society consists of a number of cultural complexes. Thus the Indian cultural pattern consists of Gandhism, spiritualism, joint family system, caste system and ruralism. So there is a cultural complex consisting of a numerous cultural traits. According to Clark Wissler there are nine basic cultural traits which give rise to cultural pattern. These are;
1. Speech and Language 2. Material trails. a) b) c) d) e) f) g) 3. Art 4. Mythology and scientific knowledge. 5. Religious practices. 6. Family and social systems. 7. Property. 8. Government. 9. War. Food habits Shelter Transportation Dress Utensils, tools etc. Weapons Occupations and industries.

Cultural Complex
The simple unit of culture is the cultural trait. These cultural traits develop concurrently and collect together like a bunch of flowers and gain in their importance in terms of the degree of significance they have for the behavior of human being. This bunch of collected traits is called a culture complex. These culture complexes are formed according to the various needs of life. In this way culture complex concerning food habits, the different occupations, etc., can be seen in different cultures. Examples of culture complexes found in Indian culture are in the form of the caste system, joint family system, the principle of karma, etc. Metallic utensils are indicative of the culture complex concerning food habits in Indian culture. Among these culture complexes some develop more than the others and become more influential and affective. But in any one culture, these culture complexes exhibit a high degree of concurrence among themselves. Cultural patterns, which are representative of the unique nature of any culture, are formed by them.