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?