Human Evolution: Introduction 1

Biological Anthropology

The study of humans and our close relatives as biological organisms, considered in an evolutionary framework

Cultural Anthropology

Focuses on living population, variation in cultural practices across the world, religion, art, gender, race relations, colonialism, observational qualitative data, and ethnography

Franz Boaz

Established 4-field approach, cultural relativism: no cultures “higher” than others and opponent of scientific racism

Linguistic Anthropology

Study of how language impacts and reflects cultural and social systems; Structure and patterns of language, the origin of languages, how language evolves over time, variation in languages (accents, dialects), how language is connected to cultural identity

Archaeology

The study of early human cultures through the recovery of artifacts • Artifacts: objects or materials made or modified for use by humans

Subfields of Bio Anthropology

Primatology, Paleoanthropology, Molecular Anthropology, Bioarcheology, Human Biology, and Forensic Anthropology (applied)

Origins of Biological Anthropology

Roots of this lie in racist ideologies which used science as a mean to justify systemic injustice

Biological Determinism

People at the bottom are constructed of intrinsically inferior capacity; ex: Morton’s measurements of cranial capacity

Morton’s Study of Cranial Capacity of Different “Races”

Used lead shot to measure cranial capacity (brain size proxy); larger cranial capacity = greater intelligence (so he thought); found that cranial capacity in white Europeans was highest

Issues in Morton’s Study

Brain size doesn’t equal intelligence, statistical problems, bias

What actually contributed to differences in brain size in the study?

Height differences and sex differences

Typological Thinking (very outdated)

Sees human beings (and other species) as ‘types’ defined by immutable characteristics; old approach: “What physical characteristics define a type of people?”

Modern Approach

Humans are not types, but constantly shifting populations; variation is important because evolution can only happen when there is variation; new approach: “What factors might explain the distribution of variation among people?”

Paleoanthropology

Study of fossil Hominins: Homo sapiens and our close extinct evolutionary relatives; ex: Australopithecus, Homo erectus, Homo habilis; comparative anatomy with living and fossil primates and human skeletal remains; majority of hominin fossil record fragments or teeth

Fundamental questions of Paleoanthropology

To what species does the fossil belong?, what are evolutionary relationships between fossil hominins?, what behavioral evidence can be gleaned from the fossil?, how did it move?, what did it eat?, what was the environment like at the time?

Primatology

Study of the anatomy, physiology, behavior and ecology of living primates

Fundamental Questions of Primatology

How do primates behave?, how do they develop throughout their lifetimes?, what is their social structure?, what do they eat?, what threats exist for wild primates today?, how can they help scientists better understand human evolution?

Primates

Mammalian order to which humans belong to

Molecular Anthropology

Study of genes and genomes to understand human and primate variation, adaption, evolution, and population dynamics; Human population genetics (past and present); Ancient DNA and paleo-genomics

Fundamental Questions of Molecular Anthropology

What is the evolutionary history and relationships between primate species?, how genetically diverse are certain species?, how are individuals within a population related to each other?, how does the environment and disease influence primate gene expression?

Human Biology

Study of modern human variation, including health, growth and development, and how humans adapt to their environment

Forensic Anthropology

Study and identification of human remains applied to a legal context

Bioarchaeology

Study of human remains in an archaeological context