Food, Nutrition, and Culture Midterm DEFINITIONS

definitions, not concepts

Biological Anthropology

The study of the biological and behavioral aspects of human beings, focusing on evolution, genetics, and adaptation within specific cultural contexts.

Misconceptions about the field of biological anthropology

We don’t care about diversity, we don’t care about culture, we are biological determinists

Science

not just a body of knowledge, but a process. question-driven, evidence-based, approximate understanding of the natural world

Properties of Science

Evidence and data, theories (few facts and laws), constant updating and self-correcting, not authoritative

Evolution

changes in DNA over time that result in new specias

evidence for evolution

fossils exist, comparative anatomy: homology, analogy, vestigial structures, embryology, genetics

transitional fossils

fossils that represent a transition between species and their ancestors

homology

traits shared due to common ancestor- common structure, different function. ex: bones of the forelimb of mammals, human and giraffe vertebrae

analogy (homoplasy)

traits shared due to convergent evolution/common features without common ancestors- common function, different structure. ex: wings of a bird/reptiles, bats, insects

vestigial structures

remnants of an ancestral trait

embryology

developmental similarities that reflect descent from a common ancestor

natural selection

the main process by which traits become more or less common in a population. 4 postulates: competition, variation, reproduction, and inheritance

competition (natural selection)

resources are limited, not everyone can survive

variation (natural selection)

individuals are different, affects ability to compete for limited resources

reproduction and inheritance (natural selection)

traits are passed from parent to offspring

DNA and molecular genetics

the way genes are inherited

adaptive radiation

variance in appearance, occupying different niches, adapting to necessities and surroundings

ex: Galapagos Finches- beak shaped is adapted to fallback foods

fitness (or reproductive success)

the relative ability of an organism to survive and transmit its genes to the next generation

adaptation

feature shaped by natural selection, promoting survival and reproduction

behavioral ecology

evolutionary theory applied to behavior- how does an individual’s behavior affect its survival/reproduction?

frugivory

fruit diet

folivory

leaf diet

insectivory

insect diet

graminivory

seed diet

gummivory

gum diet

optimal foraging theory (OFT)

natural selection works to optimize (select traits that maximize benefits and minimize costs). organisms should maximize their energy intake (by increasing amount and quality of food consumed) to maximize reproductive success. organisms should minimize time spent searching for food, food processing, energy directed to digestion, and competition to maximize reproductive success.

Last Common Ancestor (LCA)

most recent ancestor in common

fallback foods

foods that are always available, eaten when preferred foods are scarce

hominins

creatures more closely related to humans than chimps, bipedal, small canines and large molars with thick enamel, large brains

bipedalism

walking on two legs, short/stout pelvis; types: obligate, habitual, facultative

obligate bipedalism

must do it, no other efficient choice

habitual bipedalism

can do it efficiently and “make a habit of it” most of the time

facultative bipedalism

can do it if they must

Australopithecines

small brains, skilled upright walking with tree climbing ability, body size dimorphism, reduced canine dimorphism, reduced canine size with increased molar size, big belly with lots of intestines

Paranthropines (robust Australopithecines)

robust face/skull with massive teeth for chewing

Homo Habilis

1.4-2.3mya, East and South Africa, Brains ~600cc, rounded skull, less prognathic face, first habitual tool user

Homo erectus/ergaster

1.8mya-600kya, bigger bodies and brains, smaller faces and teeth, less sexual dimorphism, frequent tool use, first hominin to leave Africa (evolved from early homo)

Homo heidelbergensis

(evolved from homo ergaster in Africa and western Eurasia) 1mya-400kya, larger brain and brow ridge, no chin, adapted to cold, ancestor of homo sapiens and neanderthalis

Homo sapiens

large, round skull with high forehead, small face and teeth, protruding chin, less robust postcranial skeleton, long limbs, relatively large brain

Peleolithic Diet

stone age/caveman diet, a response to health problems such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, refers to the diet of ancestors

Hunting and Gathering lifestyle

subsist on wild foods, gathered plants or hunted animals/fish, no domesticated plant or animal food, tougher to digest, almost all meat is cooked

expensive tissue hypothesis

big brained species pay less for guts, high food quality leads to small guts with less cost, so more energy available for the brain.

cognitive capacities of late aust. or early homo

motivation, patience, self control, causality, planning

cognitive capacities for cooking

prefer cooked food, wait for cooked food, place own food in cooking device, selectively cook raw food, transport food to cook it, save raw food for the future

Meat-for-sex hypothesis

males seek meat to trade with females for sex, predicts hunting if swollen females are present (males are less likely to hunt) —> it is meat OR sex

Human Predatory Pattern (HPP)

regular exploitation of large animals including percussion-based scavenging for fat-rich contents (bone marrow and brains)
1. bone marrow and adult brains require percussion rather than cutting and therefore different stone tools

2. while other primates eat meat, humans target animals that are as large or larger than themselves

persistence hunting hypothesis

in the absence of sophisticated tools (i.e. spears), homo erectus/ergaster could outrun a herbivore (who would die of overheating before we would). maybe the HPP starts with homo ergaster/erectus

arguments for: are we adapted to meet eating?

pros: cut marks on bones, human-specific tapeworms, preferred food among all hunter-gatherer groups, inability to synthesize tauring and DHA

cons: high-risk strategy, masticatory challenge, not enough kcals/hr, vegetarians are reproductively successful

unstratified HGs

depend on wild food, not agriculture, relatively simple technology, central place foraging, small groups organized into bands, highly mobile, no or little food storage/accumulation, egalitarianism, gendered division of labor, widespread food sharing

egalitarianism

not simply the absence of a headman and other authority figures, but a positive insistence on the essential equality of all people and a refusal to bow to the authority of others

egalitarian complex

within sex and age classes, msotly equal. large differences between age and sex, no formal leaders, status leveling mechanisms (i.e. insulting the meat, taboos against bragging, gossip and shame for bullies, credit for success), voting with your feet, group decisions made by the collective, punishment to maintain cooperation and equality

stratified hunter-gatherers

societies in which people are hierarchically divided and ranked into social strata, or layers, and do not share equally in basic resources that support income, status, and power

specialization

workers divided by specific task, often occurs in stratified HGs; formal leadership (like chiefs), political negotiations, religious specialists, slaves, commoners, senior vs junior wives, craft/goods specialists

power of patriarchy hypothesis (gendered div. of labor)

contemporary work differentials are the product of historic inequities that constrain women, women end up in low status/low reward forms of productive work, in more matrilineal societies where women are allows to inherit wealth, less of a division of labor

effectiveness of efficiency hypothesis (gendered div of labor)

male and female labor is adaptive at the household or societal level, women have an intrinsic advantage over men in childcare, setting an initial condition

actions of agency hypothesis (gendered div of labor)

individuals make choices that maximize their benefits considering their own constraints and tradeoffs, the advantage is to the individual and not the household/society, benefits of foraging on reliable food vs costs of hunting

predominantly male labor

hunting large animals, metalworking, cutting trees

predominantly female labor

domestic cooking, laundering, childcare

optimal foraging hypothesis

variation in the patterns of the gendered div of labor are driven partly by variation in the habitat (availability and distribution of food), men and women are both optimal foragers, therefore they will modify their strategies to do so

if individuals are targeting food with the highest returns, then in food rich environments, there will be more food to gather and therefore less of a division of labor. if women’s foraging is constrained to gathering, then the division of labor will increase when fewer gathered foods are available (i.e. in colder and more seasonal habitats).

optimal foraging

trying to get as many calories and nutrients as possible with the lowest cost

show-off hypothesis

men hunt to show off their prowess for social prestige (unproven)

public domestic dichotomy

men do public cooking while women do almost all domestic cooking in foraging groups. in ethnographies, this masked the division of labor in cooking because many anthropologists only observed the public feasts

direct fitness

number of offspring x 0.5

we share 50% of our genes with each of our kids, siblings, and parents

indirect fitness

number of relatives x coefficient of relatedness

(i.e. we share 25% of our genes with nieces/nephews)

inclusive fitness theory (kin selection)

natural selection favors traits that maximize inclusive fitness (because the actor’s genes are spread through both direct and indirect fitness)

you should share food with the person with the higher relatedness coefficient

grandmother hypothesis

presence of a mother reduces age at first birth, presence of a grandmother increases survival of first borns, maternal grandmothers are a vital source of food and advice

pooled energy

an evolutionary effect of food sharing; sharing allows hominids to increase reproductive rates while getting larger brains

food sharing by non-mothers leads to extra food for young/multiple dependents leads to relatively fast growth and reproduction

reciprocity

the immediate cost paid by the altruist is repaid later by the recipient

requirements:

cost to donor < benefit to recipient (net benefit over time)
repeated interactions

opportunities for role reversal

candidacy requirements for reciprocity

individual recognition, good memory, stable social groups, weak dominance hierarchies, language for numbers

trading

different from reciprocity in that the currencies exchanged are different

biological markets theory

classes of traders that exchange commodities, such as goods or services

formal properties:
commodities are exchanged between individuals that differ in the degree of control over these commodities
commodities cannot be taken by force
trading partners are chosen from a range of alternatives
supply and demand determine the value of commodities exchanged

WEIRD

Western Educated Industrialized Rich Developed

sharing under pressure

share to avoid costs of defending food, reduced feeding efficiency, injury and conflict avoidance, probability vs harassment