biological anthropology week 1

1.1 (mon)

  • anthropology - anything to do with humans

  • biological anthropology - study of human biological evolution and biocultural evolution

    • all humans products of evolution

    • all humans products of individual life histories

  • 4 fields of anthropology

    • cultural

    • archaeology

    • linguistic

    • biological

  • Cultural anthropology

    • culture-learned behavior

    • large volume of info accumulated via social learning

    • study of societies

      • ethnography - science of customs and cultures

    • exemplifies applied anthropology

  • Archaeology

    • study of material culture of past peoples

      • ex. artifacts, material culture, salvage archaeology

      • material culture - physical object that contributes to a society (ex. iPhone)

    • may examine prehistoric, historic, and contemporary periods

      • prehistoric - before written records

      • historic - during written records

      • contemporary - present time

1.2 (wed)

  • linguistic anthropology - study of language, its history and use (aka anthropological linguistics)

    • linguistic form

      • ex. grammar, syntax

    • linguistic function

    • social context

  • biological anthropologist - any scientist studying evolution as it relates to the human species

  • the scope of biological anthropology

    • paleoanthropology - the study of fossil record of ancestral humans and their primate kin

    • skeletal biology and osteology - study of skeleton and the patterns and processes of human growth, physiology, and development

    • paleopathology and bioarchaeology - study of disease in ancient human populations

    • forensic anthropology - study of human remains applied to a legal context

    • primatology - study of non-human primates and their anatomy, genetics, behavior, and ecology

    • human biology - deals with human growth and development, adaptation to environmental extremes, and human genetics

  • origin of bipedalism

    • darwin’s hypothesis - environmental change; freed hands for tool use (rejected)

    • data

      • upright walking evolved in forest habitats

      • stone tools millions of years later

  • six big events

    • 1) bipedalism - two legs

      • 6 million years ago (mya)

    • 2) the loss of canines

      • 5.5 mya

    • 3) material culture and tools

      • 2.5 mya

    • 4) hunting

      • 1 mya

    • 5) speech

      • 2.0 mya

    • 6) domestication

      • 10,000 years ago