1- Introduction to biological Anthropology

Question 1

5 interesting things about humans

Answer 1

1. we are apes
2. we are genetically very similar to other apes (share 99% with closest living relatives)
3. we are genetically very similar to one another (any two 99.9%)
4. We are a young species from Africa ‘recent African origin’ model
5. we are the last hominid species

Question 2

5 misconceptions about human evolution

Answer 2

1. we evolved from primates.
   reality: share recent common ancestors
2. we are the most evolved.
   reality: evolution is not a process of improvement
3. we have stopped evolving and evolution is too slow
   reality: many examples of natural selection in humans over last 1000s of years e.g. lactase persistence in Eurasia - 10,000. malaria resistance in Cape Verde - 500
4. survival of the fittest (strongest) (Herbert Spencer)
   reality: best fitted to environment
5. too complex to have evolved by chance
   reality: natural selection not random, and by gradual steps

Question 3

why was evolution so revolutionary? (1)

Answer 3

1. place in nature challenged ‘just another branch’. Great Chain of being 1579 vs Haeckels ‘tree of life’ 1879 vs contemporary phylogenetic diagrams
2. Design without designer (Argument from design - Wiliam Paley, Natural theology (1802)

Question 4

why was evolution so revolutionary? (2)

Answer 4

1. mental continuity between humans and other species difference in mind is ‘one of degree and not kind’ - Darwin (1871)
2. Misuse in eugenics (improve human species through selective breeding), racist and extreme beliefs

Question 5

What do biological anthropologists study?

Answer 5

when and how human beings evolved. what is our place in nature. how are humans around the world similar and different
‘nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution’ - Dobzhansky, 1973

Question 6

Research approaches in anthropology

Answer 6

1. holism - study whole of humanity. e.g. biological anthropologist may study foraging patterns of primates
2. comparison - compare and contrast data drum different populations and within a population over time
3. dynamism - ability to change, ask short term and long term questions
4. fieldwork

Question 7

sub fields of biological anthropology

Answer 7

primatology, paleoanthropology, bioarchaeology, molecular anthropology, forensic anthropology, human biology

Question 8

characteristics of science

Answer 8

1. studies the physical and natural world and how it works. Qs like ‘did neanderthals and modern humans interbreed’
2. scientific explanations must be testable and refutable. scientific hypothesis must be testable and based on observed fact. no hypothesis is proven
3. relies on empirical evidence
4. involves the scientific community. scientific journals and collaborative work with people from different backgrounds. science is self correcting

Question 9

the scientific method

Answer 9

observations - hypothesis - predictions - test - hypothesis supported or rejected.

but!! more dynamic than this, many paths to discover whilst incorporating these characteristics. e.g. community feedback, benefits and outcomes, interpreting data, exploration and discovery.

Question 10

what’s a theory

Answer 10

an explanation of observations that typically addresses a wide range of phenomena.

Question 11

whats a hypothesis

Answer 11

explanation of observed facts, relies on empirical evidence and is testable and refutable