HSP3U1 Anthropology Unit Test Review

Anthropology

The scientific study of the origin, the behaviour, and the physical, social, and cultural development of humans

Physical anthropology

Where humans as a species come from, how our bodies evolved to their present form, what makes humans unique

Primatology

Physical anthro branch, studies the anatomy and behaviours of living primates, what makes us similar and different from other primates

How are humans similar to other primates?

- Bond between mothers and infants is important for survival, learn what it takes to survive

- Primates have the longest infant dependency period of all mammals

- Dominance hierarchies and aggression over territory demonstrated

- Communicate through facial expressions, touch, vocalizations, and body language

- Have rotating forearms, grasping hands and feet, forward-facing eyes, and relatively large brains

- Opposable thumbs

How are humans different from other primates?

Main difference- capacity to make and use tools

- Only primates adapted to bipedalism

- Longest infant dependency period (we reproduce later, other primates begin around age 10)

- Only primates with a symbolic, spoken language and the physical ability of speech

- Highly developed brain

Human brain

- Develop ideas and beliefs about the world that guide their actions

- Ability to think and reflect on their own behaviour

- Develop complex systems of morality and spirituality that influence and motivate behaviour

Paleoantrhopology

Study of bone and stone remains of our ancient ancestors from millions of years ago, study ancestors based on evidence from the distant evolutionary past, look at evidence (skeletal remains, ancient tools, animal bones, remains of vegetable matter)

Hominin

A human or human ancestor

Fossil

Preserved remains of biological matter

Bipedalism

The trait of habitually walking on two legs

Lucy

- 3.2 million year old skeleton found 40% complete

- Found by Donald Johanson in 1974 in Ethiopia

- Femur and pelvis indicated she walked upright

- 1m tall, 60 pounds

- Adult teeth come up and started to wear

- Smaller brain than modern human

Human variation

Study of the genetic differences between people and populations to understand the differences between people from an evolutionary perspective

Variation

Variety within species

Heritability

Individuals pass on traits to offspring

Environmental fitness

Individuals who are better adapted to their environment will produce more offspring and pass on traits to next generation

Wisdom teeth

- Ancestors have larger mouths with full sets of teeth (32)

- Ancestors ate different food in different ways

- Jaw sizes have become smaller

- High number of people get their wisdom teeth removed

Biological anthropology

How diseases and illness are genetically transmitted and how they are caused by environmental and social conditions

Forensic anthropology

Use clues found in physical injuries, wear of bones or teeth, chemical composition, DNA analysis, and investigations to help solve crimes, the examination of human skeletal remains for law enforcement to determine the identity of unidentified bones

Cultural anthropology

Study of human beings in different cultural settings around the world, both past and present, anthropologists will immerse themselves in a culture from months or years while conducting interviews and taking detailed notes as they study the history and structure of languages and the physical remains of past cultures

Culture

The total system of ideas, values, behaviours, and attitudes of a society commonly shared by most members of a society

- Made up of what people do, what people make, and what people believe

Ethnocentrism

The tendency to judge others' culture by one's own values, this view is to look at another culture as strange or inferior

Cultural relativism

Attitude of respect and acceptance of others' cultures

Linguistic anthropology

Study the history and structure of language and the ways humans use language, broken up into three areas

- Historical linguistics

- Structural linguistics

- Sociolinguistics

Ethnology

Study the origins and cultures of people, topics and include marriage customs, kinship patterns, religion, art, technology, etc.

Kinship

The relationship between two or more people that is based on common ancestry, marriage, or adoption

Participant observation

The careful watching of a group, in some cases living with members and participating in their culture

Ethnography

The written account of a culture

Archaeology

Study the physical remains of a past culture through excavations and reconstruction, work with historians and physical and cultural anthropologists to make sense of the past

Lassen/Clapper murder

- Murder took place in 1859, but it wasn't until 1992, 133 years later, that the body was found

- A team of forensic anthropologists an specialized scientists studied and identified the body

Cultural identity

What people make, what people do, what people believe (most important is what people believe because it influences the other two)

Canadian culture

- First Nations people inhabited first, but culture is influenced by founding nations England and France

- Europeans assimilated First Nations by forcefully eradicating their culture

- Culture is now shifting to recognize and reconcile with First Nations

Canadian culture and the USA

- Culture became more close to USA and less close to Britain

- Similar politics, economy, history, music, media, and authors as USA

Canadian culture and multiculturalism

- The Multiculturalism Act (1971)

- "A freedom of all members of Canadian society to preserve, enhance, and share their cultural heritage"... recognizing diverse ethnicities and cultures

- Some argue that this makes it harder to define Canadian culture and participate in it, also hat this policy separates people into different groups and emphasizes differences over similarities

Physical environment and culture

- Judeo-Christian

Rain is seen as God's anger and represents danger

- Anasazi (Navajo culture)

Rain is sacred as it is necessary for survival

- Cultural anthropologists also look at how the climate creates elements of culture and provides practical tools for survival

Cold climate adaptation

- Inuit people of the Canadian arctic pass down survival knowledge

- Clothing, housing, and cultural ways of surviving

- Now use different cultural products to adapt after contact with Europeans (snowmobiles, nylon parkas, central heating, etc.)

Hot climate adaptation

- Bedouin are nomadic people who live in the deserts of the middle east in intensely hot environments who wore loose/light clothing to protect from sun and sand

- Prior to the twentieth century, Bedouins moved frequently to find new pastures for their sheep/goats/camels and collected plants for medicines and food, movement helped to not overtax or deplete resources

- After the twentieth century, the Bedouin people were forced by governments to settle in one place (military threat increased), nomadic lifestyle is disappearing and the culture is forced to adapt

Technology and culture

When a society adopts a new technology, then ideas, language, social structures, and ultimately culture also change

- To do so, the innovation must become known, be accepted by many, fit into existing system of knowledge, it is helpful if authority endorses it, it sticks around if it meets a perceived need, appeals to people's sense of prestige, fits well with local customs

Technological diffusion

The adoption by one culture of a technology invented by another culture

Economic structures and culture

- All societies depend on economic systems to produce resource they need and distribute those resources

- All humans have technology to assist in this (e.g. stone tools, computers, etc.)

- All societies divide the labour (some along gender or kin lines, others in more complex ways)

Foraging societies

- One of the most studied groups in anthropology

- They are mobile and access resources with the seasons

- Labour is divided among gender lines

Reciprocity

An economic system of formal and informal sharing among members of a society to distribute resources

- Goods are not stored or hoarded, personal accomplishments are devalued, food is share among many, all contribute to survival, few status divisions

Horticultural societies

- Practice agriculture by being in one area, using it, and then moving to another where the soil is not depleted of nutrients

- Huron or Wyandot of Ontario were horticultural (lived in longhouses, planted corn, beans, and squash - 3 sisters, and hunted to supplement where needed)

- Europeans ended this practice with refusal to acknowledge shared land use - building fences around land

Redistribution

An economic system of collecting resources centrally and handing them out among members of a society - carried out by an individual/government to gain or maintain status

Agricultural societies

- Intensive agriculture changed society's structure

- Irrigate and fertilize fields → surplus crops

- Could now store crops in case of bad harvest

- Shared less and divided into social classes

- Lower class supporting the upper class

- Craft classes developed → not everyone needed to be in food production

- Inca class structure

Industrial societies

- Less than the majority working to produce foods/goods needed for subsistence - most people working in wage labour (a system which people are paid for their work, not the products) started from the Industrial Revolution → families sold their labour to earn a wage then buy their food from somewhere else

- Factories/farms relied on machines → efficiency of shipping by rail/sea → specialization of labour becomes possible

- Have market economy where price, supply, and demand are key rather than kin networks or individual prestige - societies are complex and large

Postindustrial societies

- Majority of the population does not work for subsistence or in the industry of producing things; rather, most of the population work in the service sector, providing information or providing a service

- Wage labour is still a big part but does not pay as well, and is often part time

- Then you paid to cover the cost of the physical object, now you pay for only the information (no physical object)

- Global system

Globalization

The process by which economies, societies, and cultures become integrated through a worldwide network

- T-Shirt could have cotton from India, sewn in China, printed in Mexico, designed and sold in Canada

Canadian economy and culture

- Canadian economy is largely a market system, we also have many important elements of reciprocity and redistribution in modern Canadian society too

- Taxes: Central agency (government) collects money and redistributes to pay for our health care, roads, water systems, education, etc.

- Reciprocity: giving gifts when people get married, sharing resources among friends and family

Globalization negative impact on cultural systems

- When people and cultures become part of a global market system, there are effects on individuals and culture, both positively and negatively

- E.g. Sex workers in Sosua, Dominican Republic

- Prior: local hotels, local restaurants and bars, bought local products

- Now: all inclusives (imported materials, North Americans holding most management positions, leaving lower paying jobs to Dominicans)

- Few jobs for women (maid, hairstylist, waitress → 1000 pesos - $83 a month)

- Sex workers can charge 500+ pesos for one encounter

- The aspirations that bring women to Sosua (more jobs, meeting someone who could help emigrate) are usually unfulfilled and potentially are worse off than before

Globalization positive effects on cultural systems

- Not only destructive, but it can have positive effects

- Connects people around the world

- Breaks down cultural barriers

- Exposed people to ideas/products they may have not had before

- Impacts international relationships, economy, and environment

- Impacts smaller aspects of daily life (e.g. food)

Rite of passage

- A ceremony, ritual, or event that marks a change in life or status

- Most cultures have ceremonies to mark birth, adolescence, marriage, and death, but cultures vary enormously in how they mark these occasions

- In Canada, a funeral may last only a few hours and only close friends or family members might be expected to actively mourn for more than one day

- For the Maori of New Zealand, a funeral involves a large gathering of the extended family for a week or more to give speeches, celebrate, and mourn the deceased

- Exist to help individuals move from one stage of life to another, reduce stress, create emotional bonds, and strengthen the fabric of society

Canadian rites of passage

Reaching puberty

Taking religious initiations

Going on a first date

Getting a driver's licence

Graduating high school

Drinking alcohol

Moving out of your parent's home

Graduating from post-secondary

Getting a job

Getting married

Buying a home

Having children

Three-stage process

Process of rites of passage, more cultures follow a similar process

1. Segregation

2. Transition

3. Incorporation and reintegration

Segregation

- You remove yourself from society temporarily

- Often includes a change in geography and a change in physical appearance

- Example: body paint or special clothing

Transition

- You are changed from what you were to something new

- Often this includes learning, guidance, or instruction from a mentor

- Example: Kikuyu of Kenya live together for a year and learn from their elders

Incorporation and reintegration

- You are readmitted to society as a new person

- Sometimes marked by tattoos, scars, body paint, or new clothing

Male rites of passage

- Indicate transformation from child to adult

- More common than female rites

- More painful and traumatic

- Examples: scarification, beatings, fasting, genital mutilation, tattooing, and intimidation

Female rites of passage

- Often a test of strength and involve physical and emotional hardship

- Transition from childhood is around menstruation (ready for marriage/child bearing)

- Examples: Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Debutante Balls

Body modification

- People in every culture have sought to change the natural appearance of their bodies

- Reshape and sculpt bodies and adorn them with paint, cosmetics, clothing, and jewelry

- Customs diverse and particular to a culture at a specific period of time

Body language

- One of the most important areas of communication, especially for anthropologists

- A smile can be interpreted as submissive or aggressive depending on culture

- E.g. In Japan, it is considered rude or aggressive to show your teeth to someone else

Greetings

- In many cultures, they can be complicated

- E.g. In France, kissing on cheek is standard, but there are rules

- Must never kiss actual cheek, but the air beside

- Women kiss one another on the cheek and men may kiss women, but men do not kiss one another

- 2, 3, or 4 kisses depending on the region

Gestures

- Often misinterpreted due to cultural differences

- The OK sign and thumbs up in North America are generally positive, but in many other countries, the gestures can be very rude and equivalent to the middle finger gesture

- Eye contact in general Canadian society is usually accepted and encouraged, avoiding is seen as deception/evading, but with First Nations people, avoiding eye contact with elders/authority is polite, and making eye contact is rude/aggressive

Lucy and Selam (Australopithecus Afarensis)

- Lucy is 3.2 million years old

- Chimp-like, walks on two legs

- Chimp hip bones face forwards, humans and bipedal creatures have hip bones that are angled

- Waist down like human, upper body (shoulder blades) like apes → spent time in trees, possibly at night, walking in the day

- Selam is 3.3 million years old

- Child, died at age 8

Bipedalism theories

- Saved energy, walking for short distances on two legs was originally just for short distances if carrying something

- Takes about 4x the energy to walk like chimps compared to humans

- Stood up to see over tall grass

- Stood up to pick fruit off trees

- Cool more efficiently, less surface area for sun

- Most accepted theory - Africa started to dry out due to climate change, chimps had to walk longer distances from forest to forest

Brain development

- Brain flatline lasted 4 million years (climate related)

- Climate change → small-brained apes to tool making, large-brained homo habilis

- 200,000 years, stone tools came along with climate instability, creates pressure, those who could not adapt died

- Australopithecus afarensis died, homo habilis survived

- Brains of chimps take about 3 years to develop

Key difference between humans and chimpanzees

- Length of childhood, 3 years for chimp brains to develop, 2 decades for human brains to develop

- Prolonged childhood gives brain more time to grow, time to learn everything in our "complex" society

Homo erectus

- One of the first members of our genus

- Large evolutionary step 1.3 million years ago

- Hunter, tool-maker

- Marks the birth of technology

- Signifies intelligence

- Evidence that they can recognize flaws

- Decision making

- They were capable of thinking ahead

- Lost body hair

- Could keep cool by sweating, key to success, preserves energy

- Building fire

- Cooking makes meat softer, easier to digest

- Smaller teeth and intestines

- Made humans more social, learned to share and communicate around fire, waiting for food to cook

Tiny human found in Indonesia (2003)

- Homo floresiensis (the Hobbit)

- The species moved out of Africa

Turkana boy

- Homo erectus

- One of the first skeletons of early humans, quite complete

- Showed transition of ape to human

- More man than ape

- Skull more primitive than modern human, smaller forehead, less brain capacity

- Wider and longer hips than modern human

- His teeth indicated he was 8 when he died

- He grew up very fast - closer to chimps than us

Endocast

A mold taken from the inside of the skull which reveals the shape and pattern of the brain

Homo heidelbergensis

A transitional species between Homo erectus and Homo sapiens, found 0.5 million years ago in Africa

Pit of bones

Site of many ancient bones, homo heidelbergensis, in Spain

Pink quartz hand axe (excalibur)

- A mineral brought from a long way away

- Capable of symbolism and belief, could be a symbol of complex thoughts

Neanderthals

- Short, strong, and stocky to survive ice ages

- Frontal lobe and Broca's cap like modern human

- Temporal and parietal lobes slightly smaller (language, memory, spatial thought)

- Meat eaters

- Most have fractures from hunting

- Hunted close to animals (no projectiles)

FOXP2 gene

Gene involved in speech and language, basic motor skills necessary for speech, found in neanderthals

Blue Zones

Spots in the world where people live the longest, the difference has been narrowed down to the lifestyle, diet, and social engagement of the inhabitants.

Ape Genius

Modern tests have shown that apes can demonstrate advanced problem-solving skills and use tools, suggesting cognitive abilities similar to humans.