intro to physical anthropology

Physical/Biological Anthropology

Chapter 1

Anthropology

• from the Greek word άνθρωπος = human• The broad-scope scientific study of people

from all periods of time and in all areas of the world.

• Anthropology focuses on both biological and cultural characteristics and variation as well as biological and cultural evolution

Holism

• A distinguishing feature of the discipline of anthropology is its holistic approach to the study of the whole human condition.

– Anthropology involves both biological and sociocultural aspects of humanity.

– The time frame goes from the earliest beginnings of humans to the present.

– Anthropology studies all varieties of people wherever they may be found.

Four Fields of Anthropology Anthro

Subfield Interest Data

Cultural Culture: Shared, Learned, dynamic, adaptive, integrated, ideational

BehaviorIdeas

Biological /Physical Human evolution and variation

BodiesGenes/DNA

Linguistics Language (verbal and non-verbal), communication

Sounds, words, grammar, movement, gestures, expressions

Archaeology Cultural change over time ArtifactsMaterial culture

Two Dimensions of Anthropology

• Theoretical/Academic Anthropology

• Applied Anthropology– The application of anthropological data,

perspectives, theory and methods to identify, assess, and solve contemporary social problems.

Physical/biological anthropology

• What is human?• human biology, evolution, human

adaptation, diversity, heredity, genetics, ecology, natural selection

• the process by which populations of organisms come to differ from their ancestral populations

Human Evolution

• Our biology is the result of millions of years of evolutionary history:– 225 million years of mammalian evolution– 65 million years of primate evolution– 6 million years of hominid evolution– 2 million years of evolution of the genus Homo

Physical Anthropology

• Areas of Specialization:

– Human genetics - inheritance and inherited variation – Primatology - living nonhuman primates – Human biological variation - evolutionary studies – Paleontology– Paleoanthropology– Human growth and development– Forensic Anthropology– Human ecology– Forensic ecology – Osteology– Applied Physical Anthropology

Basics

• Empirical knowledge • Based on experiment and observation, or

based entirely on practical experience• Perceived through the senses• Phenomenon – observable event

Scientific Method• Hypothesis – educated guess/tentative

statement• Data collection and analysis• Hypothesis testing - expected way for an

outcome based on observed data • Theory – shows the relationship

(framework) that explains and interprets facts– A statement based on highly confirmed

hypothesis

Theory • Bodies of knowledge that make predictions

(not fortune telling)• summarizes a hypothesis or group of hypot

heses that have been supported with repeated testing• (inferring, suggesting)

• Monocausal/Multicausal explanation• http

://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85diEXbJBIk&feature=related

Chapter 1 – part 2Introduction to Evolution and

Natural Selection

•

VIEWS ON THE ESSENCE OF HUMANS: NATURE AND TIME

• Anthropocentric• spontaneous generation - living organism

could arise from non-living material – immutable• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNByRghR6s

w&noredirect=1

• Age of Exploration early 15th century to 17th century

Classification – 1700s

• Carulus Linnaeus • binomial nomenclature

– Genus / species (Homo sapiens)

Jean Babtist Lamarck – 1744-1829

• the "inheritance of acquired traits“– organism acquired new

characteristics in its lifetime by virtue of using or not using different body parts

– Use and disuse, then pass on– Not valid now but important b/c

species not seen as fixed and immutable, but in a constantly changing state

Catastrophism - Cuvier (1769-1832)

• Fossil record = extinction• Theory that Earth has been affected by sudden,

short-lived, violent events that were sometimes worldwide in scope

• Establsihed that extinction was a fact• fossil forms found in each layer of the earth are bounded by a

creation and destruction event

• Charles Lyell – – Catasrophism is wrong because there are gradual accumulation of small changes

Uniformatism - Charles Lyell, James Hutton

• Catastrophism is wrong– landscape developed over long periods of

time through a variety of slow geologic and geomorphic processes.

• natural processes operating in the past are the same as those that can be observed operating in the present

The ideas of Hutton and Lyell led to an understanding of "the rock cycle" as we know it today.

ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE1823-1913

• co-discoverer of “The Theory of Natural Selection” with Charles Darwin in 1858

• proposed that evolution occurs as a result of natural selection.

Natural Selection • Bodies of knowledge

– Comparative Morphology – Fossil record

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewtw_nZUIDQ&feature=related

Charles Darwin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmphlbRhLu8&feature=related• Animals were not individually created but

had gradually evolved over time from one a few common ancestors through the process of natural selection

Adaptive Radiation

• branching evolution in which different populations of a species become reproductively isolated from each other by adapting to different ecological niches and eventually become separate species.

• To learn more about Darwinhttp://darwin-online.org.uk/

Natural Selection

Survival of the fittest

the process of favoring or weeding out individuals with different characteristics from a population. Those individuals that are well-suited for their environments will be favored in the sense that they will pass on their heritable attributes to the next generation at a higher rate than individuals not as well-suited to the environment

Natural Selection First Postulate: Population grows

rapidly / resources grow slowly therefore…

2nd postulate

2. Survival of the fittest: best traits – individuals vary – variation effects the ability to survive and reproduce

• VARIATION MADE BY GENE MUTATION AND NATURAL VARIATION

3rd postulate

3. Variation may be heritable (offspring resembles parents. If true the favorable variation (trait) will spread, the individuals that possess features that increase the chance of surviving are likely to pass on these features to the next generations.

Evolution

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkwRTIKXaxg&feature=related

1)Genetic variation

2)Overproduction of offspring

3)Struggle for existence

4) Differential survival and reproduction • Evolution is – variation made by gene

mutation and natural variation

Evolution, Theory and belief

• A theory is based on repeated observations of a phenomenon that results in accumulated wisdom and the ability to generalize

However: biological phenomena

• biological systems are always changing, albeit in minute ways.

• Theories are bodies of knowledge that make predictions, not fortune telling

Review

• Anthropology emphasizes• Holism: How does everything fit into a

pattern?• Comparison: In what way are biological

organisms the same? How are they different?

Review

• Biological/Physical Anthropology is• Based on scientific inquiry: controlled tests and

observations• Relies on established scientific theory, of which

evolutionary models are one.

Evolution: Fact and theory

• The change in a group overtime (is a fact)

• The process of evolution is a theory

• Evolution is a body of knowledge that is used to make predictions that are either supported or rejected using the scientific method.

Intelligent Design Theory

Creationists - life forms do not change through time from generation to generation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_design

http://www.salon.com/2009/03/28/texas_evolution_case

/

Physical/Biological Anthropology Chapter One– Study Questions

• What is anthropology? What are the four subfields of anthropology and what do they study?

• What is physical anthropology? How does physical anthropology relate to other subfields of anthropology? Name the other subfields of anthropology?

• What is empirical knowledge?• What is a hypothesis? What is a theory?• What is meant by scientific thinking? How does it differ

from religious thinking? • What are the rules of anthropology as a science?

• What is biological evolution?• What is classification? Who created the classification

system for all living things? How many names are used in classification? What language are these names in?

• Who proposed the idea of “inheritance of acquired traits?” What does this propose? Is this theory valid today?

• What is catastrophism? Who developed this idea?• What is the principle of uniformatism? Who developed

this idea?• What did Darwin find on the Galapagos islands that

formed is ideas on evolution? • What is adaptive radiation?

• Name the differences in Pre-Darwin and Post-Darwin Views?

• What is Natural Selection? What are the three steps in Evolution by Natural Selection (Darwin’s postulates)?

• What is meant by “survival by the fittest?” • What is Intelligent Design Theory? *• Give an example of evolution resulting from natural

selection. • Why is evolution a fact and a theory? Define fact and

theory when answering this. • What does holistic mean?