Intro to Physical Anthropology

ANTHR 1

1

Course website

https://creason.co/CANVAS also updated

Very important for this class-Syllabus-Assignment instructions-Sample essays, tests, and questions-Study guides

2

Syllabus redtapeRequired Text: Jurmain R, Kilgore L, & W Trevathan. 2016. Essentials of Physical Anthropology. (10th edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

First chapter is available on Google Books.

3

Anthropology: studies human culture and the evolutionary aspects of human biology.

Four main subfields:

Cultural anthropology

Linguistic anthropology

Archaeology

Physical anthropology

4

Cultural anthropologyCultural anthropologists study patterns of belief and behavior in modern and historic societies.

Culture: learned behaviors transmitted over generations non-genetically.

Ethnographies: descriptive studies of human societies.

5

Linguistic anthropologyLinguistic anthropologists study the interactions between speech, language, and culture (e.g., role of symbols in society).

-Compare/contrast languages to trace their historical ties

6

ArchaeologyArchaeologists study the material remains of past societies.

-Analyze artifacts: objects made or modified for use by humans.

-Excavate in order to gain info about human behavior.

7

Applied anthropology: practical application of anthropological and archaeological theories and methods

8

Physical anthropologyPhysical anthropologists: study human biology and behavior in an evolutionary context-Explain variation in human adaptations

AKA biological anthropology-Reflects modern shift towards using genetics, evolution, etc.

9

Subfields of physical anthropologyPrimatologists: study nonhuman primate biology and behavior

-Use the comparative approachPrimates: taxonomic order including monkeys, apes, and humans.

10

Subfields of physical anthropologyPaleoanthropologists: study hominin anatomical and behavioral evolution in the fossil record.

Osteology: the study of skeleton structure and function

11

Subfields of physical anthropology

Paleopathology: studies trauma, disease, nutritional deficiency, and other traces of pathology in ancient human remains.

12

Subfields of physical anthropology

Forensic anthropologists apply archaeological and osteological methods to legal matters.

-Identify and analyze skeletal remains that have legal significance.

13

Important vocabEvolution: change in the genetic structure of a population from one generation to the next.

Microevolution: small genetic changes occurring within a population.

Macroevolution: when genetic changes accumulate over time causing the appearance of a new species.

Adaptations: the result of evolutionary change.

14

Important vocabHomo sapiens: scientific name for our species.

Species: group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.

Bipedalism: habitually walking on two feet.

Hominins: members of the evolutionary lineage that includes modern Homo sapiens and all extinct bipedal relatives.

15

Physical anthropologyPhysical anthropologists: study human biology and behavior in an evolutionary context

-Explain variation in human adaptations

AKA biological anthropology-Reflects modern shift towards using genetics, evolution, etc.

16