Anthropology-140 Ch. 1

Anthropology

The study of humankind in a cross-cultural context. Anthropology includes the four subfields: cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, archaeology, and biological anthropology. Anthropologists try to understand the inner workings of a group of people who hold different worldviews, values, and traditions than we do.

Human Biology

Subfield of biological anthropology dealing with human growth and development, adaptation to environmental extremes, and human genetics. subfields include: Human adaptations, Nutritional, Anthropologists, Human variation, Biocultural Anthropologists, Molecular Anthropology

Biological Anthropology

The study of humans as biological organisms, considered in an evolutionary framework; sometimes called physical anthropology. Biological anthropologists spend their careers trying to understand the details of the evolutionary process and the ways in which it has shaped who we are today

Archaeology

Archaeology is the study of how people used to live, based on the materials, or artifacts, they left behind. These artifacts, art, implements, and other objects of material culture form the basis for the analysis and interpretation of ancient cultures.

Archaeology Anthropology

Archaeology is the study of how people used to live, based on the materials, or artifacts, they left behind. These artifacts, art, implements, and other objects of material culture form the basis for the analysis and interpretation of ancient cultures.

ethnology and its relationship to ethnography.

Ethnology, one of the subfields of cultural anthropology, is the study of human societies and of the behavior of p people within those societies. The practice of ethnology is called ethnography (literally, "the describing of culture").

Six subfields of Biological Anthropology

Human biology, Primatology, Paleoanthropology, Skeletal Biology and Osteology, Paleopathology, and Forensic Anthropology

Molecular Anthropology

is a genetic approach to human evolutionary science that seeks to understand the differences in the genome between humans and their closest relatives, the nonhuman primates. Because genetic inheritance is the basis for evolutionary change, a geneticist is in a perfect position to be able to address some of the fundamental questions about human nature and human evolution

Nutritional Anthropologists

studying the interrelationship of diet, culture, and evolution.

Evolution

A change in the frequency of a gene or a trait in a population over multiple generations.

(An) Adaptation

A trait that increases the reproductive success of an organism, produced by natural selection in the context of a particular environment.

the subfield of archaeology and explain its relationship t0 anthropology

Archaeologists work at sites all over the world, studying time periods from the advent of stone tools 2.5 million years ago until the much more recent past. Prehistoric archaeologists study cultures that did not leave any recorded written history—from the early hominins to the preliterate antecedents of modern cultures from Hawaii to Africa. Historical archaeologists study past civilizations that left a written record of their existence, whether in the hieroglyphics of Egyptian tombs, the Viking runes scratched onto rock across northern Europe, or the diaries kept by the colonial settlers of New England. Other archaeologists study Revolutionary War battlefields or sites of former slave plantations in an effort to understand how people lived and structured their societies.

Three facets of Socio-Cultural Anthropology.

Cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, Archaeology

Paleopathology and Bioarchaeology

Hand in hand with skeletal biology are paleopathology and bioarchaeology: the study of disease in ancient human populations, and the study of human remains in an archaeological context.

how biological evolution led to the capacity for culture.

In earliest humans, biological evolution produced the capacity for culture: Intelligence had to evolve before learned traditions such as tool use could flourish, as we see in wild apes today. Our biology produced culture, but culture can also influence biology. We study these patterns under the rubric of biocultural anthropology.

the subfield of linguistic anthropology and explain its relationship to anthropology

Linguistic anthropologists usually are more interested in language use and the role that language plays in shaping culture than they are in the technical aspects of language structure. An anthropological linguist might study the aspects of Black English that set it apart from mainstream and be interested in the roots of Black English on slave plantations and in West Africa. Linguistic anthropology is related to anthropology since it studies the different types of communication methods that are relevant in each culture. Each culture has its own language in which they use to communicate with one another. This language is passed on from generation to generation.

Skeletal Biology and Human Osteology

Osteology is the study of the skeleton. Firstly, when a fossil is discovered is to figure out what sort of animal the fossil—often a tiny fragment—may have been in life. Osteologists must therefore possess extraordinary skills of identification and a keen spatial sense of how a jigsaw puzzle—an array of bone chips—fits together when they are trying to understand the meaning of fossils they have found.

Primatology ex. Jane Goodall

Primatologists study the anatomy, physiology, behavior, and genetics of both living and extinct monkeys, apes, and prosimians. Primatologists study nonhuman primates and their anatomy, genetics, behavior, and ecology for a variety of reasons, including the desire to learn more about their intrinsically fascinating patterns of behavior. Within an anthropological framework, primatologists study the nonhuman primates for the lessons they can provide on how evolution has molded the human species.

various questions that direct the activities of biological anthropologists today

Questions will relate to any scientist studying evolution as it relates to the human species, directly or indirectly. This includes paleoanthropology, skeletal biology and osteology, paleopathology, forensic anthropology, primatology, and human biology.

Human variation

deals with the many ways in which people differ in their anatomy throughout the world. biological anthropologists are interested in human variation, both anatomical and genetic, simply because it offers clues about the peopling of the world by the migrations of early people. Understanding when, where, and how people left Africa and colonized Europe, Asia, and eventually the New World can tell us a great deal about the roots of modern languages, diseases, population genetics, and other topics of great relevance in the world today.

Biocultural Anthropologists

interested in research problems that require an understanding of both biological and cultural factors. One area in which a biocultural perspective is vitally important is biomedical anthropology Biomedical anthropologists might study how human cultural practices influence the spread of infectious disease and how the effects of pollution or toxins in the environment affect human growth. Biomedical anthropologists are particularly interested in looking at the effects that adopting an urbanized and Western lifestyle has on people who have lived until recently under more traditional, non-Western conditions

Linguistic Anthropology

is the study of the form, function, and social context of language. Linguistic anthropologists usually are more interested in language use and the role that language plays in shaping culture than they are in the technical aspects of language structure.

Paleoanthropology

is the study of the fossil record for humankind, and fossilized remains are the most direct physical evidence of human ancestry that we have to understand where we came from. The discovery of skeletal evidence of new ancestral species, or additional specimens of existing species, revises our view of the human family tree. Also includes the study of the fossil record of the other primates—apes, monkeys, and prosimians— dating back at least 65 million years. These early fossils give us key clues about how, where, and why hominins evolved millions of years later.

Biological or "Physical" Anthropology

is vastly wider than the study of primates, fossils, and brain evolution. Any scientist studying evolution as it relates to the human species, directly or indirectly, could be called a biological anthropologist. Six subfields of Biological anthropology are: paleoanthropology, skeletal biology and osteology, paleopathology, forensic anthropology, primatology, and human biology.

The various sub disciplines that comprise the field of biological anthropology

is vastly wider than the study of primates, fossils, and brain evolution. Any scientist studying evolution as it relates to the human species, directly or indirectly, could be called a biological anthropologist. This includes paleoanthropology, skeletal biology and osteology, paleopathology, forensic anthropology, primatology, and human biology.

Human adaptations

learning how people adjust physiologically to the extremes of Earth's physical environments.

Cultural Anthropology

the study of human societies in a cross-cultural and focuses on how people lead their daily lives is at the heart of the field. Ethnology, one of the subfields of cultural anthropology, is the study of human societies and of the behavior of people within those societies. The practice of ethnology is called ethnography

Forensic Anthropology

the study of the identification of skeletal remains and of the means by which the individual died, is a contemporary application of biological anthropology. Forensic anthropologists take their knowledge of osteology and paleopathology and apply it to both historical and criminal investigations