Anthropology Chapter 1

- the study of humans and our close biological relatives, the Primates - the study of human cultural and biological variation, and evolution - how did we get this variation?

1) cultural 2) linguistic 3) archaeology 4) physical (biological) anthropology

1) primatology 2) forensic 3) osteology 4) human biology 5) paleopathology 6) paleoanthropology

- study of human cultural adaptation - human behavior and societies using a cross-cultural perspective meaning all over the world - unlike sociology, looks at all cultures around the world and compare them rather than focus on one area at a time - study of living people

- language origins - the relationship between language and culture - language, especially cultural and social, but not so much grammar wise - how does environment affect communication?

- study of past human cultures through their material remains - behaviors of past societies based on material remains (artifacts left behind by a society) - differs from cultural because it studies the past

- study of human (and non-human primate) biology, within a framework of evolution, and human bicultural variation - humans as biological organisms in an evolutionary framework - how do they vary and how did that variation come to be?

- subfield of physical anthropology - Study of modern human genetic and phenotypic (physical) variation (biocultural variation) - variations, adaptations, genetics, physical differences - adaptation to an environment usually creates a body type - proportions and skin are a result of habitat

- Study of our close biological relatives, the Primates - non-human primates' anatomy, genetics, behavior, ecology - Jane Goodall - by studying primates we can see what's unique only to humans or traits we share

- identification of human remains - study of how an individual died - related to osteology and paleopathology - help identify skeletal remins in mass disasters or other situations where a human body has been found - Bill Bass and John Jefferson

- the study of ancient disease - the study of disease and trauma in ancient skeletal populations - research tells us about the lives of individuals and populations in the past - yields information regarding the history of certain disease processes - investigate the prevalence of trauma, certain infectious diseases, nutritional deficiencies, and other conditions that may leave evidence in the bone

- the study of anatomical and behavioral human evolution as revealed in the fossil record - Study of primate and human evolution - the study of behavioral and anatomical human evolution as revealed in the fossil record - human evolution - main evidence is fossils of ancestors - how did we evolve? - Hominins: modern humans and their bipedal (upright walking) ancestors - interdisciplnary

- the study of skeleton - only way anthropologists could study immediate ancestors

- bones - archaeology (tools, trash, etc.) - DNA - analogy to living primates (including humans) - aDNA (ancient DNA) - comparing humans to our close relatives

- a method of discovery that results in a body of knowledge - process of explaining natural phenomena using direct observation and experimentation - empirical method - asks: How? What? Why?

1) observation 2) hypothesis 3) prediction 4) data collection (test the hypothesis with experiment) 5) evaluate the hypothesis 6) theory - identifying a research problem and then gathering information to solve it

- informed supposition about the relationship between two variables - proposed explanation - must be testable using empirical date

- any factor or property of a phenomenon (object, event) that may have different values

- only after repeated tests which confirm or are consistent with the hypothesis does a hypothesis graduate to this