ESSENTIALS OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 9th Edition

CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Physical Anthropology

Chapter Outline  Introduction  The Human Connection  Biocultural Evolution

Chapter Outline, cont.  What Is Anthropology?  Cultural Anthropology  Archaeology  Linguistic Anthropology  Physical Anthropology  Physical Anthropology and the Scientific Method  The Anthropological Perspective

Focus Questions  What do physical anthropologists do?  How does the concept of Biocultural Evolution provide anthropology a unique perspective?  Why is physical anthropology a scientific discipline, and what is its importance to the general public?

Footprints and What it Means to Be Human July 20, 1969

Hominins  Hominins are members of the evolutionary lineage that includes ourselves, modern Homo sapiens.  Habitually walking bipedally (on two feet) is a critical feature of the hominins.

Primates  Hominins (including humans) are members of the Order Primates, the group of mammals that includes apes, monkeys, tarsiers, lemurs and lorises.

Terms to Remember All Semester  Evolution  A change in the genetic structure of a population from one generation to the next.  Adaptation  An anatomical, physiological, or behavioral response of organisms or populations to the environment.  Adaptations result from evolutionary change.

Terms to Remember All Semester: Evolution  Microevolution  Small genetic changes that occur within a species.  Macroevolution  Changes that occur only after many generations, such as the appearance of a new species (speciation).

The Human Connection: Biology and Behavior

Continuum  A set of relationships in which all components fall along a single integrated spectrum.  All life reflects a single biological continuum.

Behavior  Anything organisms do that involves action in response to internal or external stimuli.  The response of an individual, group, or species to its environment.  Responses may or may not be deliberate, and aren’t necessarily the result of conscious decision making.

Strategies humans use to adapt to their environment: Culture  technologies  subsistence patterns  housing types  clothing  religion  marriage and family  values  gender roles

Culture  Culture is learned, and the process of learning one’s culture begins at birth.  The human predisposition to assimilate culture and function within it is profoundly influenced by biological factors.  Over time, culture and biology interacted in such a way that humans are said to be the result of biocultural evolution.

Biocultural Evolution  Biology makes culture possible and that developing culture further influences the direction of biological evolution

Worldview  General cultural orientation or perspective of the external environment shared by members of a society and in particular ways that distinguish that culture from all others.

What Is Anthropology?  A powerful means of explaining variation in human adaptations  Comprises four subfields:  Cultural Anthropology  Archaeology  Linguistic anthropology  Physical (or Biological) Anthropology

Cultural Anthropology  Study of the global patterns of belief and behavior found in modern and historical cultures.  Cultural anthropology began with an interest in traditional societies, led early anthropologists to study and record lifeways that are now all but extinct.

Ethnographies  Detailed descriptive studies of human societies.  Form the basis for comparative studies of numerous cultures  Ethnographic techniques are applied to the study of diverse subcultures and their interactions with one another in contemporary areas (urban anthropology)

Archaeology  Study of earlier cultures and lifeways through scientific recovery, analysis, and interpretation of material remains of past societies (artifacts).

Linguistic Anthropology  Study of human speech and language.  The use of language is a unique human characteristic.  Linguists trace historical ties between languages and groups of languages by examining similarities between contemporary languages  Insights into the process of language acquisition in infants have implications for the development of language skills in human evolution

What is Anthropology?  From your knowledge of other social sciences, how does anthropology differ?  How is it similar?

Physical Anthropology  Study of human biology within the framework of evolution.  Subfields:  Paleoanthropology - the study of human evolution, as evidenced in the fossil record

Paleoanthropology  The interdisciplinary approach to the study of earlier hominins, their chronology, physical structure, archaeological remains, habitats, etc.

Studies of Human Variation  Population studies examine how groups respond physiologically to environmentally induced stress.  This researcher uses a treadmill test to assess a subject’s heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen consumption.

Anthropometry  Measurement of human body  Identifying human variation due to possible adaptive significance  Identify genetic and other evolutionary factors that produced variation

Body Measurements  Dr. Kathleen Galvin measures upper arm circumference in a young Maasai boy in Tanzania.  Data derived from various body measurements, including height and weight, were used in a health and nutrition study of groups of Maasai cattle herders.

Genetics  The study of gene structure and action and the patterns of inheritance of traits from parent to offspring.  Genetic mechanisms are the foundation for evolutionary change.

Molecular Anthropology  Cloning and sequencing methods are frequently used to identify genes in humans and non human primates.

DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid)  Double-stranded molecule that contains the genetic code, a set of instructions for producing bodily structures and functions.  DNA is a main component of chromosomes

Osteology  The study of the human skeleton  Bioarchaeology – the study of skeletal remains from archaeological sites

Paleopathology  The study of disease and trauma in archaeologically-derived skeletons  Investigates the prevalence of trauma, certain infectious diseases, nutritional deficiencies, and conditions that may leave evidence in bone

Paleopathology Pathological conditions in human skeletal remains from the Nubian site of Kulubnarti in Sudan.These remains are approximately 1,000 years old. A partially healed fracture of a child’s left femur (thigh bone). The estimated age at death is 6 years, and the cause of death was probably an infection resulting from this injury.

Paleopathology  Very severe congenital scoliosis in an adult male from Nubia. The curves are due to developmental defects in individual vertebrae. (This is not the most common form of scoliosis.)

Forensic Anthropology  Application of anthropological techniques to legal issues

Forensic Anthropology Vuzumusi Madasco of Zimbabwe (L) and Patricia Benardi of Argentina, both forensic anthropologists, work at the site of an exhumation of victims of a Salvadoran civil war massacre October 24, civilian men, women and children are believed to have been killed by the Salvadoran army at the village of Los Toriles in Morazan province, 170 northeast of San Salvador in December, The site of the mass grave was recently discovered and is being excavated to try to shed more light on the murders.

Primatology  The study of the living nonhuman primates

Primatology Primatologist Jill Pruetz follows a chimpanzee in Senegal, in West Africa.

What is Physical Anthropology?  What is the common thread through all of the subfields of physical anthropology?  What are some practical uses of physical anthropology?

Applied Anthropology  The practical application of anthropological and archaeological theories and techniques.

Medical Anthropology  An applied subfield of cultural anthropology that explores the relationship between various cultural attributes and health and disease.

Science  A body of knowledge gained through observation and experimentation; from the Latin scientia, meaning “knowledge.”

Scientific Method  Science is a process of explaining natural phenomena by means of observation, developing explanations, or hypotheses  Empirical approach to gaining information  Data (information) is collected that can be studied and analyzed quantitatively

Scientific Method-Process  State the research problem.  Develop a hypothesis.  Test the hypothesis through data collection and analysis.  If the hypothesis is verified, it may support a theory

Empirical  Relying on experiment or observation; from the Latin empiricus, meaning “experienced.”

Hypotheses  A provisional explanation of a phenomenon.  Hypotheses require verification or falsification through testing.

Quantitative  Pertaining to measurements of quantity and including such properties as size, number, and capacity.  When data are quantified, they’re expressed numerically and can be tested statistically.

Theory  A broad statement of scientific relationships or underlying principles that has been substantially verified through the testing of hypotheses.  Tested explanations of facts

Scientific Testing  The precise repetition of an experiment or expansion of observed data to provide verification.  The procedure by which hypotheses and theories are verified, modified, or discarded.

What is Science  What are some other non-scientific ways of understanding the world?  How is science similar to and different from these other forms of scholarship?

Anthropological Perspective  A broad perspective that helps us understand the diversity of the human experience within the context of biological and behavioral continuity with other species.  By learning about cultures other than our own, we can avoid an ethnocentric view of other cultures.  By recognizing that we have similarities with other animals, we may recognize that they have a place in nature just as we do.

Ethnocentric  Viewing other cultures from the inherently biased perspective of one’s own culture.  Ethnocentrism often results in other cultures being seen as inferior to one’s own.

Relativistic  Pertaining to relativism; viewing entities as they relate to something else.  Cultural relativism is the view that cultures have merits within their own historical and environmental contexts and should first be understood within those contexts

Why the Anthropological Perspective Matters  Anthropology offers a wider appreciation of the human experience, in order to understand humans beings and how our species came to be.  How humans differ from and are similar to other animals, including nonhuman primates  Understand the limits and potentials of humankind  Allows us to understand other people’s concerns and view our own culture from a broader perspective

QUICK QUIZ

1. Hominins are members of the evolutionary lineage that includes ourselves, modern Homo sapiens. a) True b) False

Answer: a  Hominins are members of the evolutionary lineage that includes ourselves.

2. Culture is a) inherited by a simple genetic transmission. b) a biological trait of our species. c) learned. d) the strategy by which many mammals adapt to their environment.

Answer: c  Culture is learned.

3. Anthropologists who conduct excavations in order to recover artifacts are a) archaeologists b) ethnologists c) linguists d) medical anthropologists

Answer: a  Anthropologists who conduct excavations in order to recover artifacts are archaeologists.

4. Physical anthropologists developed techniques for measuring the human body. These type of measurements are called: a) calibration b) dermatoglyphics c) genetics d) anthropometrics

Answer: d  Physical anthropologists developed techniques for measuring the human body. These type of measurements are called anthropometrics.