Anthropology 1001 Unit 1 Flashcards
Anthropology
the study of people
Major goal of Anthropology
understand what it is to be human
Bicultural Approach definition
a perspective that anthropologists will take when they are trying to understand what it is to be human
Bicultural Approach involves
the inter-relationship between biology and behavior/culture
how our biology/genetics affect our behavior ex. how we see the environment, politics, etc.
Holistic
of or pertaining to the entire organism
Comparative (cross-cultural)
Anthropologist make comparisons in order to understand people in different places
warning when making comparisons
must be careful to avoid judging, alienating, etc.
Ethnocentric
belief int he inherent superiority of one’s own ethnic group or culture
Yanomami
proof that ethnocentricity is inherent
Group of people from the Amazon studied in the 60’s that were isolated.
In their language, they call themselves “the people” – an outsider is not considered a person (aka sub person)
One step from egocentric to
judgemental
Cultural Relativism
viewing a culture within its own historic and environmental context
Problems with cultural relativism
Difficult when you know something is harmful – poses ethical problems
ex: female genital mutation –unsterile environment, infection, etc. but females want to because of their culture
Anthropologists vs. Heath Care Workers
Anthropologists: preserving and studying culture
Health Care Workers: control outbreaks with no regard for how modern medicine shapes the culture
Field Work
time of data collection that all anthropologists do
Ex: working with informants in foreign culture, excavating a historical site, working with artifacts, etc.
The Four Subfields of Anthropology
Linguistic, Sociocultural, Archeology, Biological
Linguistic Anthropology
Scientific study of language
study communication, how they use and origin of language, when communication started
examples of Linguistic Anthropology
symbols (written expression of language), body language, altering language for different situations, body language communication
Sociocultural Anthropology
broader than linguistic, studies culture
different levels of culture
ex: american vs. southern vs. differences in classroom behavior
Culture
learned behavior that is passed down through generations that is distinct among groups of people.
culture is evolutionary
Culture can include
rituals/belief systems
- kinship (ideas of marriage and family)
- political structure (dynamics of power
- how goods/resources are distributed
- medical culture/practices
- entertainment (sports, movies, literature, art)
ethnnology
study of a group, nation, or people
ethnography
graphs: written account
documentation of a tribe or group of people
Archeology
the study of material remains left behind by a culture
ex: pottery, architecture, weapons
Excavation
systematic uncovering of the past
Lab Analysis
cleaning, reconstructing, documenting (interpreting what you found)
After artifacts are found..
- curated into museum or environmentally secure areas
or - Displayed in museums or exhibits
Examples of Archeology applied
Old World vs New World
Prehistoric vs Historic
Academic vs Contract
cultural research analyst
Biological (Physical) Anthropology
the study of human biological evolution and human bicultural variation – includes the the study or our closest living relative, the other primates
3 main point of Biological Antropology
Human Variation, Nonhuman Primates, Human Evolution
Human Variation
One main point of Biological Anthropology
How humans are different and the evolutionary differences
Nonhuman Primates
One main point of Biological Anthropology
different types and their behavior, what they tell us about human evolution
Human Evolution
One main point of Biological Anthropology
fossil record and how different species are structurally different
Cultural Resource Management
subarea within archeology that help preserve, protect, and document culture
Ex: CRM called when property on St. Peter Cemetery lot wanted to put in a pool
Franz Boaz
- “father of American Anthropology”
- Set standard for how anthropology is taught today (4-fields)
- Professor at Colombia and taught some of the first historical anthropologists
Ales Hrdlicka
- Physical Anthropologist
- “great organizer”
- Created American Journal of Physical Anthropology – peer reviewed, prestigious
- Started the American Association of Physical Anthropology – dedicated to understanding human variation from a biological perspective
Charles Darwin
very important figure for natural science
Traveled around the globe and noticed difference in species
1859: Origin of Species published by Darwin and Wallace. The idea of natural selection caused a lot of upset in general public
Darwin’s 4 basic ideas that influences natural science
Species change, Adaptive Radiation, Gradualism, Natural Selection
Species Change
One of Darwin’s basic ideas
evolution
organisms change in response to the environment
Adaptive Radiation (Branched Evolution)
One of Darwin’s basic ideas
living things descend from a common ancestor
Gradualism
One of Darwin’s basic ideas
change occur gradually (over generations)
Natural Selection
One of Darwin’s basic ideas
idea that the environment is important and can influence/impact change
“survival of the fittest”
2 common Ideas in the Middle Ages
- Order
2. Statis
order (middle ages)
hierarchal arrangement of the world
stasis (middle ages)
things do not change
Order and Stasis impacted
religious beliefs, how the natural world was viewed, political system
Great Chain of Being
Arrangement from lowest, most basic to the highest, most common, most spiritual
stone, flame, plant, beast, human, heaven, angel
Fixity of Species
once species were created, they did not change
Young Earth
idea that Earth was very young – Middle Ages
Political System of the Middle Ages
rigid class system and could not move from class to class
no separation of Church and State
Religious beliefs of the Middle Ages
tortured and often killed if questioned the class system
Clergy was very powerful
Renaissance and Enlightenment (14th - 18th Century)
Explosion of knowledge and arts
learning more about the human body
Technological Advancement in the 14th - 18th Century
Printing Press - easier to spread information
microscope - able to study different components of objects
telescope - see far away to study the stars and sky
Exploration in the 14th - 18th Century
Discovering new species and diversity in species, humans, and culture
Carolus Linnaeus
created Binomial Nomenclature
Binomial Nomenclature
- formulated a way of classifying organisms.
- How we make sense of the world and how things are related.
- scientific names
Georges Leclere Buffon
worked in the King’s garden and noticed how plants could respond/change based on environmental changes
first to publish something on how the environment can and does influence variation
considered “Father of Evolution”
Jean Baptiste de Lamarck
first one who attempted to explain how organisms change
“Lamarckism” aka Inheritance of acquired characteristic
Inheritance of Acquired Characteristic
“Lamarckism”
characteristics that are acquired by an organism during a lifetime
how the body responds to perceived needs
falsified by epigenetic (certain genes turn on and off - important during growing). the timing can be determined by environment and passed down
Georges Cuvier
Catastrophism, interested in the fossil records (said the fossils were animals)
Catastrophism
Periodically, catastrophic events happened and all living forms are wiped out.
Once things settle down, living things in the surrounding areas would move and repopulate
Charles Lyell
Uniformitarianism - 3 components
- geologic processes that worked in the past are still at work (rain, wind, erosion)
- as a result of the processes, the land is constantly changing
- Earth is very old (geologic time scale)
Malthus
Demographer - studied people movement (birth and death rates, migration)
if the population outgrew its resources, that would lead to high mortality as a result of competition among individuals
Alfred Wallace
recognized for independently coming up with the idea of natural selection
In correspondence with Darwin
Selective breading
occurred before natural selection was published
Basic Processes of Natural Selection (5)
- Biological Variation
- Competition
- Reproduction
- Accumulation
- New Species?
Natural Selection:
1. Biological Variation
variation exists between species
Natural Selection:
2. Competition
population outgrows its resources resulting in birth rates higher than death rates.
death rate increases – the individuals with advantageous traits survive
Selective pressure
factors that impact reproductive success
Natural Selection
3. Reproduction
individuals with advantageous traits reproduce and pass the trait to the next generation
fitness
reproductive success
Natural Selection:
4. Accumulation
over many generations, there is a shift in the frequency of the advantageous traits in the population
Can only assess the population level
Natural Selection
5. New Species?
can (but not necessarily) develop a new species
Example of Natural Selection: Giraffe Neck
giraffes born with different length necks
selective pressure –> competition –> giraffes with long necks reproduces and others die off
Giraffe Neck Darwin vs. Giraffe Neck Lamarck
Darwin: variation in species, long necks out-competethe giraffes with longer necks, long neck giraffes reproduce
Lamarck: giraffe has long neck and fluid/forces in the body lengthen the neck as a response to the environment
Example of Natural Selection: Peppered Moth
Gray/Black Variety
Gray camouflaged, black hunted by predators
shift – black moths became majority due to the pollution of the industrial revolution darkening the environment
once humans realized the ill-effects of pollution, shift back to gray-dominance
Example of Natural Selection: Medium Ground Finches
biological variation in beak size and robusticity
Late 1970s drought killed off plants including preferred food source (seed with soft exterior).
Had to feed off of remaining plants (larger seed with harder shell)
only finches with larger beaks survive and reproduce`
Example of Natural Selection: Antibiotic Resistance
prior to antibiotics, infectious diseases were the primary cause of death
Penicillin crippled many types of bacteria and dramatically decreased infection
realized some microbes were immune to it caused by natural selection of bacteria
Gene
sequence of DNA that codes for some function
2 types: Structural and Responsive
Structural Gene
responsible for the body structure
it does not regulate the function of other genes
Regulatory Gene
regulates the function of other genes, turn them on or off
Homeotic (Hox) genes
essential for growth development
Chromosomes
A sequence of genes, 23 Homolgous pairs
Autosomes
44, carry the genetic information in physical characteristics
Sex Chromosome
2, the sex of an individual as well as the primary sexual characteristics
Mitosis
division of somatic cells
identical to each other and the original cell
diploid (46 chromosomes)
constantly happening
Meiosis
division that leads to the development of gametes
recombination
4 daughter cells – not identical to the each other or the parent cell
haploid (23 chromosomes)
Recombination/ crossover
the exchange of genetic material between homologous chromosomes
Nondisjunction
Cell Division mistake that can happen in sex chromosomes or autosomes
failure of chromosomes to separate during meiosis resulting in incorrect number of chromosomes
Monosomy
1 less chromosome
ex. Turner Syndrome
Turner Syndrome
example of monosomy
women with only 1 X chromosome
impacts sex chromosomes
Trimsomies
1 more chromosomes
ex: T21, T18, T13, XXY, XXX, XYY
T21 - Down Syndrome
example of a trisomy
impacts autosomes
T18 - Mental retardation
example of trisomy
impact autosomes and development
T13 - Congenital malformation
example of trisomy
impacts autosomes, nervous system developmental problems
XXY - Klinefelter Syndrome
example of trisomy in the sex chromosomes
Males, problems with fertility, enlarged breasts, behavior disabilities
XXX
example of trisomy in the sex chromosomes
women may be taller than average, does not affect fertility
XYY
example of trisomy in the sex chromosomes
males, delayed development of speech and motor skills, taller than average, fertility problems
Law of Segregation
particles do not blend, instead parents contribute equal hereditary material to make offspring
Gene
basic unit of heredity that codes for a protein
Allele
variation of gene
Dominant vs Recessive Traits
Dominant more likely to be expressed than recessive
dominant does NOT mean better, recessive does not mean worse
Locus
position of a specific gene on a chromosome
Homozygous
two of the same traits (either 2 dominant or 2 recessive)
Heterozygous
1 dominant allele and 1 recessive
Genotype
genetic information of an organism
Phenotype
Physical expression of a genotype
Law of Independent Assortment
Each trait assorts independently – alleles for one gene does not affect another
“simple” inheritance
Mendelian traits, one locus, discrete
ex: hitchhiker’s thumb, hairline, earlobes, blood type
Co-dominance
2 alleles expressed, ex: AB Blood type
Polymorphic
Many variations of the same phenotype
Mendelian Disorder: Dominant
Achondroplasia: dwarfism
Brachydactyly: short fingers
Mendelian Disorder: Recessive
Sickle Cell Anemia: changes shape of blood cells
Tay-Sach: nervous system disorder
PKU: affects the way you digest enzymes
Mendelian Disorder: Recessive Carriers
have the recessive gene that can be passed on to offspring but not manifested in you
Heterozygote Expression
the recessive allele does have some effect on an individual but is very discrete and limited
Sickle Cell Allele/ Malaria
Balanced polymorphism
Sickle Cell is a recessive mendelian disorder that blocks the flow of blood through arteries and veins – high frequency near the equator
Malaria is endemic in same region, diseased caused by parasite
homozygous for SCA - fitness decreased (recessive: Sickle Cell, dominant: more likely to get Malaria)
Heterozygous for SCA has greater fitness
“voyages of Discovery”
encountering different people and trying to figure out how they came to be
Monogenism
idea that all humans descended from a single original pair, observed variations were due to environment
Polygenism
different populations groups descended from different pairs (multiple origins for the different population groups)
Early Studies (18th - 19th Centuries)
describing variation and classifying
Biological Determination (Mid 19th Century)
behavior attributes are governed by biological traits
extremely racist – just because you look a certain way, you will act a certain way
Eugenics (Mid 19th Century)
one step away from Biological determination
there is a type of population that is “ideal” and everyone should be part of it ex: Hitler during WWII
Common Usage for “race”
- Species (human race)
- cultural/ethnic identity (common background)
- religious Identity (jewish race)
- Physical characteristics (tend to group based on what we see)
“Ethnicity” “Ancestry”
in some ways replaced the use of race
Ethnicity: cultural
Ancestry: type of geography
“Race doesn’t exist”
there is no significant difference in genetics compared to the differences in physical characteristic
Problems with “race”
racisms, no reliable way to distinguish groups, entire populations that cannot be categorized
Use of Patterns in Anthropology
adaptive significance, forensic identification, understand and treat diseases, phenotypic variation
Cline
distribution of phenotype across geographic space
ex: darker skin closer to the equator
Human variation from the Biological Anthropologist Prospective
one polytypic species, phenotypic variation exists (geographically patterned), cultural affiliation (biological effects)
4 levels of response to environmental stress
- Cultural (behavioral)
- Acclimatization
- Developmental Response
- Genetic Response
Responses to Environmental Stress:
1. Cultural (behavioral)
modify behavior to deal with the extremes
ex: clothing based on temperature, people who work in heat take a break
Responses to Environmental Stress:
2. Acclimatization
short-term response on the individual level to environmental stimuli - not permanent
ex. sunburn or tan when overexposed to UV Radiation
Responses to Environmental Stress:
3. Developmental Response
response to stress that occurs during a period of growth and development
occurs at the individual level but is observed in the population
ex: increased lung capacity and heart size in individuals born in higher altitudes
Responses to Environmental Stress:
4. Genetic Response
“adaptation” evident in populations
results from many generations of natural selection ex. skin color
Purpose of Responses to Environmental Stress
maintain homeostasis (internal equilibrium)
Indirect studying of Human Variation
live amongst a group of people and see how they respond to the different pressures in their environment
Direct studying of Human Variation
researchers subject people to certain extremes and see how they react and identify patterns
“Vitamin D Hypothesis”
they body’s ned for Vitamin D provided a selective pressure for lighter skin in northern latitudes
Solar Radiation/Skin Color:
More UV toward equator
selective pressure for more melanin production as protection from solar radiation
only the individuals skin survived and reproduced
Solar Radiation/Skin Color:
Migration toward the poles
body needs a little UV to produce Vitamin D needed for bone strength and development
high melanin, low vitamin D resulting in lower fitness due to bowed legs and pelvis deformation
people with less pigmentation were able to produce vitamin D better and able to survive and reproduce
As a species, human are better able to deal with (hot or cold)
Hot
Body responses to Heat
sweating and Vasodilation
Sweating
when sweat evaporates, it cools the skin
can be dangerous because the body loses water and nutrients
Vasodilation
capillaries at the skin’s surface dilate enabling blood to flow away from the core and to the surface of the skin to cool down the body
Body responses to cold
shivering and vasoconstriction
Shivering
creates heat and energy in muscles to increase body temperature
burns energy so the body must take in more nutrients
Vasoconstriction
capillaries constrict and reduce blood flow to extremities to keep blood toward core and vital organs at regular temperature
leads to frostbite – tissue dies
BMR in populations that have lived in the cold for many generations
Basil Metabolic Rate higher than people living in warmer climates to continually generate heat
Ecogeographic Patterning
refers to patterns in body size and limb length in various species
Bergmann’s Rule
Within a species, body size increases as distance from the equator increases
less surface area, less heat loss
Allen’s Rule
Limb length decreases as distance from the equator increases
less surface area, less heat loss
Balanced Polymorphism (heterozygote Advantage)
the maintenance of two or more allele in a population due to the selected advantage of the heterozygote
Polygenic traits
wide range of variation in how they are expressed
more than 1 locus, continuous expression
ex. skin color: the more melanin you produce, the darker the skin. Multiple loci contribute, codominant alleles
ex. hair color
Environmental Influence on polygenic traits
the environment has more of an impact on polygenic traits than mendelian
Pleiotropy
one gene that impacts many traits
Evolution
changes in allele frequency
production and distribution of genetic variation combined with natural selection will lead to different reproductive success
Microevolution
small scale adaptive changes within a population
Found on the species level, happen within 3/4 generations
Macroevolution
large scale adaptive changes that are recognized as having occurred in the species level or above it
Deme (population)
a community of individuals from which mates are selected
demes share a gene pool (the total genetic information in the population)
Hardy-Weinburg Equilibrium
predicts allele distribution for a particular trait in a population under ideal conditions
Influences on Allele Frequency:
Mutation
a change in the DNA sequence
cane naturally or unnaturally occurring
only way to get complete new variation
Influences on Allele Frequency:
Gene Flow
the interaction of genes
there needs to be interbreeding to have gene flow
Influences on Allele Frequency:
Genetic Drift
Changes in allele frequencies caused by random events
ex: bottleneck effect, flounder effect
Bottleneck Effect
Example of genetic drift
a large genetically diverse population that is suddenly drastically reduced. When the population rebounds, the descendent population will have decreased genetic diversity
Flounder Effect
Example of Genetic Drift
a small number of individuals separate themselves out from a larger population and start a new colony. All of the future generation will be descendants of this new colony
Ellis-Van Creveld Syndrome
