ANTH 100: Midterm I Review

Anthropology

The study of humankind, past and present, in all of its aspects

Subfields of Anthropology

Physical (Biological) Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, Archaeology, Linguistic Anthropology

Physical Anthropology

The study of the human biological species, both past and present, including the study of close relatives among the primates

Cultural Anthropology

The study of variation between cultures and their customs

Archarology

The systemic study of the material remains of human behavior in the past

Forensic Anthropology

The study of human remains from crime, accident, and other sites to determine identity, age, sex, and cause of death of an individual.

Anthropological Perspectives

Importance of Context, Historical Approach (Holism), Cultural Relativism

Cultural Relativism

Viewing the practices, customs, beliefs, and values of a particular culture within the context of that culture

Ethnocentrism

The tendency to view the practices, customs, beliefs, and values of another culture solely from the perspective of one’s own culture

Fossil

The hardened and preserved remains of organic matter

Human Paleontology (Paleoanthropology)

The recovery and analysis of Human and Pre-Human fossil remains

Site

Any location of past human activity

Types of Sites

Habitations, mortuary, ceremonial, kill/butchering, agricultural, extractive, protective/defensive

Artifact

Any object intentionally used or modified by humans

Artifact Examples

Tools, ceramic vessels, modified bones, etc.

Featue

Any non-portable artifact

Feature Examples

Hearths, pits, post molds, walls, structures, petroglyphs, pictographs

Taphonomy

The study of what happens to organic remains after death

Osteology

The study of the human skeleton

Archaeological Survey Methods

Walkover/Pedestrian Survey, Shovel Testing, Remote Sensing

Walkover/Pedestrian Survey

The process of walking through low-vegetation areas to look for artifacts and marking them

Shovel Testing

The process of shoveling until subsoil at grid points on a grid made by a surveyors transit

Remote Sensing

Use of Aerial Photos or Ground Penetrating Radar Unit to photograph an area

Excavation

Systemic investigation of archaeological contexts

Uniformitarianism

The principle or assumption that the geological processes that we can observe operating today (such as vulcanism, erosion, sedimentation, etc.) have always operated at a consistent rate throughout earth’s history

Stratigraphic Superposition

The principle stating that, in the absence of some disturbance, older strata (or layers) underlie more recent strata

Dating Technique Categories

Relative Dating, Absolute (chronometric) Dating

Relative Dating

The placement of sites, deposits, or artifacts in proper sequence; dating by association and comparison

Seriation

Chronological ordering of artifacts based upon site layers, and changes in artifact frequencies (popularity) over time

Direct Dating

Imprinted date on artifact

Absolute (chronometric) Dating

The determination of a specific date in years before the present (BP)

Dendrochonology

Tree ring dating back

Radiocarbon Dating (Carbon-14)

Dating using isotopic decay of C14 to N14 over time (dating from ca 200 yrs BP to 50,000 yrs BP)

Potassium-Argon Dating (K-Ar)

Dating using isotopic decay of K40 into Argon over time (dating from ca 300,000 yrs BP to several billion yrs BP)

Archaeomagnetic Dating

Realignment of molecules with Magnetic North at that time with hearths and other heated soils (dating up to 10,000 yrs BP)

Obsidian Hydration Dating

Measuring the band (in microns) on a piece of obsidian. The thicker the band, the older the object

Thermoluminescence (TL) Dating

Reheating ceramic artifacts to release trapped nuclear radiation and measuring the intensity of light released in a flash

Eggshell Dating

Measuring the decay of amino acids in the shell of an ostrich egg (dating from ca 75,000 yrs BP to 200,000 yrs BO in tropics; much older in colder regions)

Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) Dating

Stimulating mineral grains in sediments with green or blue light causes the release of energy from trapped radioactive isotopes (P, U, Th, and Rb) to produce a measurable luminescence signal

Culture

Learned behavior shared by a group of people

Key aspects of Culture

Learned (vs. Instinctive), Shared (vs. Idiosyncratic)

How culture is transmitted

Imitation, language

Assumptions about culture

Culture is generally adaptive, mostly integrated, and always changing

Gene

A chemical component that represents a unity of hereditary information

Chromosomes

Structures within the cell nucleus that carry genes

Alleles

Different forms of the same gene

Gene Pool

The total store of genes in a population

Species

A group of interbreeding populations that is reproductively isolated from other such groups

Evolution

Change over time

Ecology

The study of the relationships between an organism and its living and non-living environment

Habitat

The surroundings in which an organims lives

Econiche

What a species does to survive; how it relates to other organisms around it

Adaption

Adjustment to environmental conditions

Four types of adaption

Physiological Change, Developmental Adaption, Genetic Change, Behavioral (Cultural) Responses

Human Classification

Homo sapiens sapiens

Forces of Evolutionary Change

Natural Selection, Non-Darwinian Evolution (Genetic Drift, Genetic Isolation), Gene Flow, Mutation

Natural Selection

The process by which the best adapted individuals in a population increase in number at the expense of other, less favored indivuduals

Non-Darwinian Evolution

Random processes resulting in changes in gene frequencies within a population or species

Genetic Drift

Changes in gene frequencies over time due to random fluctuations from generation to generation

Genetic Isolation (Founder Effect)

Loss of variability occurring when a new population is established having only a fraction of the earlier population

Gene Flow

The exchange of genetic material through interbreeding between different subpopulations (opposite of genetic isolation)

Mutation

Changes in the genes themselves (creation of new alleles) that result in changes in observable or measurable traits

Ancestral Features

Features (traits) present in the earliest known primates

Derived Features

Common features or traits that have developed among the primates over the past 65 million years and have come to characterize many primates, especially the higher primates

The Two Ancestral Traits

1. Having five digits on hands and feet

2. having a relatively unspecialized dentition

The Seven Derived Traits

1. Grasping hands and feet, with nails (instead of claws)

2. Increased importance of vision over the other senses, with a reduced role for smell

3. Tendency to use hands as an exploratory organ, rather than solely for locomotion

4. Tendency towards fewer offspring per litter and to increase the period of dependency of offspring

5. Tendency to increase the relative size of the brain, especially those parts involved with learning and association

6. Longer lifespans

7. Tendency to live in permanent social groups that include individuals of both sexes and all ages

Lower Primates (Prosimians)

Lemurs, Lorises, Bush Babies/Galagos, Pottos, etc.

Higher Primates

Tasiers, New World Monkeys, Old World Monkeys, Lesser Apes, Great Apes, Humans

Tasiers

Least evolved high primate

New World Monkeys

Found in Central and South America (Marmosets, Tamarins, Capuchins, Squirrel Monkeys, Spider Monkeys, Howlers, etc.)

Old World Monkeys

Found in Africa and Asia (Owl-Faced Monkeys, Green Monkeys, Guenons, Black Colobus, Monkeys, Langurs, Macaques, Baboons)

Lesser Apes

Smaller bodies apes (Gibbons, Siamangs)

Great Apes

Larger bodied apes (Orangutans, Gorillas, Chimpanzees, Bonobos)

Hominoids

A grouping among the higher primates that includes the lesser apes, the great apes, and all other hominine species

Hominids

Hominoid family that includes the African apes and hominines

Hominines

A subgroup within the hominids that includes Australopiths, similar non-ape hominids, and humans

Bipedalism

A form of locomotion involving only the two hind limbs