INTRODUCTION TO PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY Anthropology the study of humanity dead and alive past and present not dinosaurs Physical Anthropology focuses on the biological aspects of people Biocultural Approach trying to understand what it means to be human fuses biology and culture Interaction between biology and culture Holistic drawing from many different aspects of what it means to be human have to consider human behavior Comparative comparing different groups belief systems or peoples Ethnocentrism the belief that your way of life is the best way or the right way Cultural Relativism viewing each culture within its own context not passing judgements Opposite of ethnocentrism Fieldwork period of data collection all anthropologists do this In America there are four subfields 1 Linguistic Anthropology study of language combined with anthropology a How cultures communicate through body or spoken language b Social norms for speaking c Origins of language fossil evidence 2 Cultural Sociocultural Anthropology a Culture learned behavior that is distinct among a group of people passed down through generations evolutionary change i Ex Professional Athletes Indian Americans not necessarily foreign ii Urban Anthropologists study city life iii Medical Anthropologists how different cultures use healthcare iv Political Anthropologists study power in cultures v Economic Anthropologists study how resources are distributed in a society 3 Archaeology study of cultures based on their material remains Laboratory document clean etc a Anything left behind pottery weapons tools etc b Excavation time consuming labor intensive destroying where you uncover c d Historic had written records Prehistoric had no written records e Classical Archaeologists Rome Greece Egypt f Contract Archaeologist cultural resource management called when construction is interrupted because you g Academic Archaeologist study and are paid for it by University get grants can take your time and work find something buried work quickly slowly 4 Biological Physical Anthropology a Osteology the study of bones b Evolutionary Theory change either big or small c Paleoanthropology study of human evolution and fossil records i Lucy 3 2 million years old 1 Very well represented as a fossil d Primatology the study of non human primates e Human Variation biological differences cultural ethnic differences SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE Science process of understanding the natural world Scientists use observations deductive inductive reasonings Scientific Method Problem Identified Hypotheses Established Data Collection Experimentalism Theory Biases all scientists have bias we strive to be unbiased but we are only human American Physical Anthropology Franz Boas 1858 1942 Considered the father of American Anthropology Responsible for the Four Field Approach o Biologically and behaviorally combined with the scientific method Professor at Columbia University Ales Hrdlicka 1869 1943 Field work experience Very interested in skulls and cranial fossils Compiled the most complete collection of skulls Started the American Journal of Physical Anthropology serves as the voice of the field One of the founding members of the American Association of Physical Anthropologist Believed Native Americans originated in Asia and crossed the Bering Strait Charles Darwin Most influential anthropologist Believed in o o Species Change evolution Adaptive Radiation Branching Branching all living things descended from a common ancestor Adaptive Radiation out of one species comes multiple related species o When change occurs it happens gradually o Natural Selection mechanisms of change recognizes the influence of the environment in change History of Evolutionary Thought 1 Middle Ages 2 Religious Beliefs a Order there is an order to life hierarchical order b Stasis the belief that things do not change these two beliefs were heavily influenced by religion a Great Chain of Bering at the top of the chain is the most spiritual being or God hierarchical b Creation belief that God created the World c Also believed the Earth was very young 6000 years 3 Natural World a b Fixity of Species idea that life forms and organisms do not change they are fixed Idea that nature is organized a Fuedal you cannot move up in the hierarchical chain a peasant remains a peasant 4 Political System 14th 18th Centuries Renaissance and Enlightenment Technological Advances Telescope microscope printing press Information about new development in ideas getting out Exploration diversity o o o o o Discovered the stars change Copernicus Laws of Physics and Motion Gravity People were travelling out of Europe and saw different types of plants animals and people Darwin s Influences Naturalists 1 Carolus Linnaeus 1707 1778 2 Buffon 1707 1829 Worked for the French king 3 LaMarck 1744 1829 French soldier Developed binomial nomenclature Homo sapiens basis for modern taxonomy Recognized the influence of the environment in the changing of species o o o o o o o o o First to attempt to explain how change happened Proposed that in response to environmental stress the organism would respond and change form in order to survive this would be passed down to future generations Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics Lamarckism Classic example Short necked giraffe needed to be taller to reach the tree leaves so they morphed to allow the neck to stretch The giraffe ends up being long necked and continuing to be so 4 Cuvier 1769 1832 Demonstrated that fossils were bones of extinct animals but had similarities Well respected anatomist and paleontologist Catastrophism in the past cataclysmic events occurred and during these events all organisms would be killed globally or regionally and lifeforms nearby organisms would move in and repopulate accounts for the fossil record 5 Lyell 1797 1875 Geologist Uniformitarianism o o o 6 Malthus 1766 1834 Demographer studied populations Wrote Essay on the Principal of Population There are geological processes that effect the earth and are at work today wind rain erosion As a result of that the landscape is always changing The earth is very old billions of years old Population size is limited by resource availability therefore there will be constant competition among individuals to survive Argued for population control 7 Alfred Wallace 1823 1913 Contemporary of Darwin Came up with the idea of Natural Selection as well as Darwin Corresponded with Darwin to come up with this idea CHARLES DARWIN Origin of