Human Diversity, Culture Areas and Contact in Ethiopia

Anthropology is a mirror of humanity, studying it in its entirety.
⅝Key questions in anthropology:
- What are the commonalities among humans worldwide?
- What are the variations among humans worldwide?
- Why do these commonalities and variations exist?
- How does humanity change through time?
- Where has Humanity been, and what can that show us about where humanity is going?
Anthropology uses the comparative approach (cultural relativism) and evolution to address these questions.
Cultural relativism entails that cultures shouldn't be compared to say one is better than the other.
Evolution is the change of species through time.

Human biology and culture have evolved together over millions of years.
Human biology affects human culture, and vice versa.
Humans are described as bio cultural animals.
Earliest use of stone tools corresponds with increased consumption of animal protein, which in turn changes the hominid diet and anatomy.
The use of clothing allows humans to survive in environments they wouldn’t normally survive.

Humanity refers to the human species.
Characteristics:
- Bipedalism.
- Relatively small teeth for primates.
- Relatively large brains for primates.
- Using modern language to communicate ideas.
- Using complex sets of ideas called culture to survive.
The term humanity can be applied to modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) and some of our recent ancestors (Homo sapiens).

Cosmologies are conceptual frameworks that present the universe as an orderly system.
Cosmologies account for the ways in which supernatural beings or forces formed human beings and the planet we live on.
Evolution refers to a process and gradual change in specie over time.
Attributes of evolution:
- Replication: Life forms have offspring.
- Variation: Offspring are slightly different from their parents and siblings.
- Selection: Not all offspring survive; those that do are best suited to their environment.

Human populations have adapted to varying environments through evolution.
Race is a group of organisms of the same species that share similar physical and genetic attributes and specific geographic regions.
Adaptation is a process that increases the likelihood of survival for an organism.
Skin color: Darker skin in tropical zones is an adaptation to extensive sunlight, while lighter skin in northern Europe is an adaptation to less sunlight for vitamin D production.
Body stature: Bergmann’s rule indicates that in colder regions, warm-blooded animals have stockier bodies to retain heat.
Habituation or acclimatization: Rapid physiological changes in one’s lifetime (e.g., mountaineer’s adjustment to lower oxygen levels at high altitude).

Homo sapiens sapiens features geographically based differences within the species.
Genetic differences don’t mean a lot, biologically.
Cultural behavior isn’t genetically linked to geographical differences; it's culturally learned.
Defining human races is almost impossible due to continuous traits and the complexity of ancestry.

Ancient Egyptians classified humans by skin color around 1350 BC.
During the Age of Discovery, Europeans developed racial classifications based on skin color, labeling non-Europeans as savages.
Early racial schemes were biased and hierarchical, associating morality and intelligence with skin color.
Cephalic index: A method of describing head shape, used to argue about the superiority of different peoples.
Biological determinism: The idea that physical traits are linked to behavior.
Social Darwinism: The idea that morally superior societies would prevail and weed out less-moral societies.
Eugenics: State regulation of marriages, family size, and reproduction, taken to an extreme by the Nazis.

Physical traits used to classify human races are continuous, not binary opposites.
Human racial classification has no social value and is destructive of social and human relations.
Genetic ancestry can be important for biomedical reasons and forensic identification.

Culture areas refer to a cluster of related cultures occupying a certain geographical region.
Ethiopian culture areas:
- Plough culture area: Highland and central parts of the country where agriculture is the primary means of subsistence.
- Enset culture area: Southern region where enset serves as a staple diet.
- Pastoral culture area: Lowland areas where inhabitants rely on their herds and cattle for a living; mobility is a major characteristic.