Intro to Anth Exam 1

Mobile Hunter-Gatherers (Bands)

A group of (typically) 100 or less people that are generally kinsfolk either by descent or marriage. Move seasonally for resources and are an egalitarian society.

Segementary Societies

A group of people that typically consists in the few-thousands range. Diet based on cultivation and animal domestication. Settled agricultural homesteads

Chiefdoms

A group of ~5k-20k people with a central authority figure (chief). Prestige and rank are hereditary and based on closeness to the chief. Local specialization

Genetic Dating

A relatively new absolute dating technique under the process of being systematically tested that calculated the time frame of the separation of populations/mutations through their genetic divergence

Radiocarbon Dating

Absolute dating method that can only be used on organic material. Relies on the carbon cycle and the half-life of carbon (5730 years). Able to date back ~50k years and is most common dating method

Thermoluminescence

Absolute dating method used to date crystalline materials that have been fired at 500 celsius or hotter. The materials are reheated and thermoluminescence is measured. Radioactivity of the site must also be measured to compare decay

Potassium-Argon Dating

Absolute dating method used to date volcanic rocks greater than or equal to 10g in weight. Can date back ~80k years and has a decay rate of 1.3b years

Uranium Series Dating

Absolute dating method useful for dating anything that lies outside the reach of radiocarbon dating. Can date back to ~500k years. Dates using the time of formation of travertine and cross-checked with electron spin resonance

Dendrochronology (Tree ring dating)

Absolute dating method. A means of calibrating radiocarbon dating, but also an absolute dating method all on its own. Performed by counting tree rings, but limited to trees that have a "master sequence" and are in areas that the change of seasons can create clearly defined rings. Tree ring date refers to the date of the felling.

Fission Track Dating

An absolute dating method based on the measurement of the number of tracks left by the decay of uranium-238. Rate of fission is a known constant

Optical Dating

An absolute dating method similar in principle to thermoluminescence, but used to date minerals which have been exposed to light, rather than heat.

Electron Spin Resonance Dating

An absolute dating method that uses microwave spectroscopy to measure electrons' spins in various materials. Can be used on material that is heat-sensitive

Characteristics of Early Hominins

Bipedalism, increasing brain size, extended juvenility, diet change, and tool technology

Examples of Variation

Body hair, skin color, sweat glands, body build, biochemical factors

Seriation

Collection of objects arranged in chronological order relative to each other

Characteristics of Bipedalism

Curved spine, wider rather than taller pelvis, foramen magnum more perpendicular to the spine, feet are more streamlined/non-opposable

Relative Dating

Dating an artifact in relation to another

Major Characteristics of Primates

Dentition, vision, increased brain size, flexible skeletal structure, opposable thumbs, extended development time

General Characteristics of Hunter-Gatherers

Egalitarianism, mobility, sexual division of labor, and vast knowledge of their environments

Three Primary Sources of Human Variation

Evolutionary processes (mutation, natural selection), environment (high-altitude = greater lung capacity), culture (diet, marriage practices)

Intensive vs Extensive Plant Cultivation

Extensive farming involves multiple plots over extensive territory Intensive farming involves applying intensive methods to the same plots over and over again

Development of States

Food production could support larger, denser populations. Complexity of division of social and economic labor tended to grow with food production. Systems of authority develop to handle regulatory problems as the population grows and/or as the economy increases in scale and diversity. Competition among chiefdoms can stimulate state formation

Mutation, natural selection, gene flow, and genetic drift

Four Ways Evolution Occurs

Advantages of Bipedalism

Free hands, heat regulation, efficient over distance, see further

Anthropoids

Have grasping hands and opposable thumbs, rely more on sight than smell, have larger brains and increased sociality/juvenility. Ex: new and old world monkeys, apes

General Characteristics of Pastoralism

Herd animals, mobility, vast knowledge of animals and their environments, and division of labor by sex and age

24

How many species are included in the hominin fossil record?

Four Modes of Subsistence

Hunter/Gatherer, pastoralism, plant cultivation, and industrialism/post-industrialism

Etic Perspective

Judging a culture by the standards of your own

Prosimians

Living primates that are most like the earliest primates, found in Asia and Africa. They lack color vision, have a tooth comb for grooming, are arboreal and/or terrestrial. They also have a combination of nails and claws that have less dexterity than other primates. Ex: lemurs, lorises, tarsiers

Classifications of Societies

Mobile hunter-gatherer groups, segmentary societies, chiefdoms, and states

General Characteristics of Plant Cultivation

More physically demanding, variability in gendered division of labor, social calendar synced to crops, knowledge of plant & animal biology, soil composition, geology, & weather patterns

A pre-Clovis culture

New archaeological evidence suggests that the Americas were first settled by whom?

Emic Perspective

Observing a culture through the perspective of the subjects being studied; insider's perspective

Hominids

Refers to all present and extinct great apes, including humans

Hominins

Refers to all species considered to be in direct lineage to modern humans

Hominoids

Refers to humans, great apes, and lesser apes

Typological Sequences

Relative dating method. Classifying artifacts or fossils into a series of types based on their similarities and differences

Environmental Sequences

Relative dating method. Sequences that can be established through changes in the earth's climate (e.g. pollen dating, ice core dating, deep-sea cores)

Stratigraphy

Relative dating method. Uses succession of layers (strata), one above the other, to date artifacts. Bottom layer being the oldest/earliest and top layer being the youngest/latest

Early States

Societies characterized by the prominent role played by cities, a ruler with explicit authority to establish and enforce laws, a class hierarchy, a bureaucratic administration of officials.

Contamination before, during, or after sampling. Context of deposit. Date of context.

Sources of Error in Dating

Holism

The anthropological approach to understanding how the elements of a culture are interconnected

Ethnocentricism

The belief that one/your own culture is better than any other

Bering Strait Theory

The earliest humans crossed the Bering land bridge in pursuit of migratory herds of mammals and then proceeded southward, eventually spreading out in the interior of North America

Coastal Migration Theory

The earliest migratory populations followed the continental coastline southward, subsisting on kelp, fish, shellfish, birds, and sea mammals. They may have reached as far south as Chile before breaking into groups and penetrating interior lands

Anthropology

The study of humanity across space and time

Prosimians and Anthropoids

Two Main Primate Groups

Absolute Dating

Used to determine the actual age of an artifact in years, usually within a range

Most of the evidence from both the Bering Strait Theory and the Coastal Route Theory have most likely been submerged under water for quite some time. This makes evidence not only hard to discover, but also hard to decipher when they are found. Also, the previously-accepted idea that the Clovis people were first has been disproven with sites that pre-date the Clovis people.

What are some challenges in establishing the date of early human arrival in the Americas?

Gatherer-hunters growing plants in areas that were more convenient for them

What do anthropologists believe was the first step in the development of agriculture?

Explore sociocultural diversity, understand how societies hold together, and examine the interdependence of humans and nature. Ethically and accurately represent a culture through the perspective and worldview of the culture studied

What do anthropologists do?

Homo erectus

What is the earliest hominin species to show an increasing control over their environment and to migrate into new geographical regions?

Purgatorius

What is the earliest primate found to date, believed to be the common ancestor of later primates?

Franz Boas

Which anthropologist was largely responsible for changing many of the misrepresentations of Indigenous people common in the late 19th and early 20th centuries?