What is Biological/Physical Anthropology?

What is Anthropology?Scientific study of the origin, behavior, physical variation, and cultural development of human beings

Deals with the whole of humanity, past and present

Generally divided into 5 broad categories that describe the subjects that are treated

These categories or subfields are: Physical, Cultural, Linguistic, Archaeology, and Applied

What is Anthropology?Holistic = To understand what it means to be human, we need to study the inter-relationships among all the parts of anthropology: culture, biology, prehistoric past, linguistics, and solving problems!

Ex. = capacity for learning language is genetically programmed into our DNA (our biology); however, our environment determines which language/s we end up learning (our culture)

Five Subfields of Anthropology: 1) PHYSICALstudy of human biology, particularly the origins, diversity, and adaptations of modern people and our ancestors

To place humans in a comparative perspective, physical anthropologists also study the origins and biology of the non-human Primates, the group of mammals that includes humans and our closest nonhuman relatives.

PHYSICAL (cont.)Physical Anthropology diverges from other disciplines of biology by its focus on the development of humans in the natural world, or in context.

Five Subfields of Anthropology: 2) CULTURALstudy of human culture = patterns of learned behavior and thought that are shared and passed down among members of a society. Culture is not the result of biological inheritance

Culture includes: language, knowledge, beliefs, morals, laws, customs, kinship systems, values, art, folklore, food, etc.

2) CULTURAL (cont.)interconnections between culture and power, focus of the Ph.D. Program at UC Santa Cruz

1) how humans are positioned within and negotiate systems of inequality

2) how and why dominant cultures or ways of thinking (hegemony) work in the world. For ex., what happens when we question a dominant way of thinking, such as the idea that the nuclear family is best

2) CULTURAL (cont.)3) critically examine the privileged position of the anthropologist in gathering data and representing other peopleAnthropologist Jane Goodall and her chimp friend

Five Subfields of Anthropology: 3) ARCHAEOLOGYfocuses on the material record: artifacts, fossils, or other evidence of human activities

techniques of excavation & documentation are also used to recover evidence from a crime scene

terms bioarchaeologist & and zooarchaeologist identify specialists who deal with human or other animal bones from archaeological site

Five Subfields of Anthropology:4) LINGUISTICSstudies human communication systems

Topics range from language to the dynamics of human interaction

closely tied into studies of cognitive psychology and the origins of language as a uniquely human adaptation

Five Subfields of Anthropology:5) APPLIEDApplication of anthropological data, perspectives, theory, and methods to identify, assess, and solve contemporary social problemsEx. = Anthropologist Paul Farmers work:

5) APPLIED (ex.) The Partners in Health Vision: Whatever It TakesPIH is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation with a presence in Latin America, the Caribbean, Russia, and the United States. We coordinate innovative programs to combat AIDS and women's health problems in rural Haiti and urban Massachusetts, groundbreaking tuberculosis treatment projects in the prisons of Siberia and the shantytowns of Lima, and health policy initiatives on a global scale. Haitian child living with HIVhttp://www.pih.org/index.html

What is Science?Way of understanding the world, a method of inquiry

Physical anthropologists use scientific methods in their studies. Science is not a body of knowledge

Creative activity whereby we try to understand the natural processes that shape our universe

What is Science? (cont.)guessing that is verified by observation or experience

each guess is discarded when faced with contrary evidence or a simpler explanation

The practice of thinking critically

The Scientific MethodHierarchy of steps from events to hypotheses that might be organized in the following 8 steps:

1. Experience = A person experiences the real world of events, processes, and objects.

2. Naming = Events, processes, or objects are named so they can be described and studied.

3. Data = Observation or experience forms a body of data

4. Interpretation = The meaning of the data is interpreted

5. Relationships = Relationships are perceived.

6. Hypothesis = Guessing about the nature of these relationships

7. Testing Hypotheses = On new sets of observations

8. Theory = Useful explanations about how the world works, or how things work in the world

Hypothesis TestingOnce a hypothesis or theory is formulated, it is tested by further experiment

Majority of scientific work spent in levels 1 5

Work at level 7 or 8 receives highest acclaim because it promotes understanding, offering organizing principles which can give us insights

Science as a DisciplineNot all scientists work at all levels of scientific method

Some specialize in creating new theory and some generate data sets

Both are important, but in anthropology, documenting new observations may be dangerous to life, health and bank account!

Science as a DisciplineIn terms of income & recognition, most scientific disciplines pay much fame and fortune for creative theory than for generating new data bases

In reality, scientific progress requires achievement at both ends of the spectrum: data AND theory!

Puzzle:Which does not belong and why?a) earth b) flat c) hook d) sharp

Explain your hypothesis for what doesnt belong: