Baratheon Lannister Targaryen The study of humans Variation Psychology Biology History Sociology Biology and Culture Past and Present Culture is one way in which humans adapt Shared learned behavior Holism Variation refers to differences among individuals and populations The Anthropologist is interested in variation in terms of both biology and culture Evolution is change in living organisms over Both cultural and biological evolution interest Evolution time anthropologists Adaptation Adaptations are advantageous changes Any aspect of biology or behavior that confers advantage on an individual or population is considered an adaptation Examples 1 10 2014 1 The Subfields of Anthropology Cultural Anthropology Anthropological Archaeology Linguistic Anthropology Biological Anthropology The Subfields of Anthropology Cultural Anthropology Deals primarily with variation in cultures of populations in the present or recent past Cultural anthropologists look at all aspects of behavior within a society The Subfields of Anthropology Linguistic Anthropology The study of language Spoken language is a behavior that appears to be uniquely human Linguistic anthropologists deal with the analysis of languages usually in nonliterate societies and with general trends in the evolution of languages The Subfields of Anthropology Biological Anthropology What is our place in nature What are our origins How are humans around the world alike or unalike each other The Subfields of Anthropology Anthropological Archaeology The study of cultural behaviors in the historic and prehistoric past Archaeologists deal with such remains artifacts of past societies as tools shelters remains of animals eaten for food and other objects that have survived The Subfields of Anthropology Biological Anthropology The subject of this book Concerned with the biological evolution and variation of the human species past and present Often referred to by another name physical anthropology 1 10 2014 2 Basis of physical anthropology is the scientific method What is science Process of understanding phenomena through observation generalization and verification An Evolutionary Science Characteristics of Science Facts Empirical Self correcting Hypotheses Testability Theories EXAMPLE STEPS Obesity is a major global health concern State the research problem Genetic variants influence obesity susceptibility Develop a hypothesis Test the hypothesis Test the hypothesis BMI SNPs Genome wide association Collect Data Analyze Data There is a significant association between SNPS and BMI Draw an objective conclusion Accept the hypothesis Reject the hypothesis Accept the hypothesis Reject the hypothesis Repeat Repeat If the hypothesis is verified repeatedly it becomes a theory Goal of the scientific method is NOT to establish truth but to generate more accurate and consistent explanations of phenomena Pre Darwinian Thought Uniformitarianism and Geological Time Charles Darwin and Natural Selection Examples of Natural Selection Modern Evolutionary Thought 1 10 2014 3