Exam 1

Question 1

What is culture?

Answer 1

the sum total of learned behavior of a group of people

Question 2

What is adaptation?

Answer 2

The way humans change often to better suit their physical or social environments

Question 3

What are the four fields of Anthropology?

Answer 3

Cultural anthropology
Linguistic anthropology
Archaeology
Biological anthropology

Question 4

Four sub disciplines of physical anthropology?

Answer 4

Paleoanthropology
Primatology
Bioarchaeology
Forensic anthropology

Question 5

What is the holistic approach?

Answer 5

Part of a system interacting and interconnecting to make up a whole.

Question 6

What does a forensic anthropologist do?

Answer 6

Help law enforcement identify remains, gather evidence, solve cases, remove soft tissue.

Question 7

How do anthropologists differ from medical examiners?

Answer 7

Cannot determine cause of death. Deal with bone.

Question 8

Why are they called into mass casualties like 9/11?

Answer 8

To help recover remains and identify them based on limited evidence,

Question 9

How do anthropologists use x-ray, photos, and facial reconstruction to identify a set of remains

Answer 9

By comparing ante/peri-mortem photos/medical records and comparing them to post-mortem remains to draw parallels and find similarities in individuals.

Question 10

How do they determine if remains are human?

Answer 10

looking at the bone structure. (cortical and trabecular bone with distinct layers)

Question 11

What are the steps in the identification process?

Answer 11

Is it bone
Is it human
Is it modern
How many
Who is it
Evidence of trauma
What happened after death

Question 12

What are the main skeletal indicators used to identify a subadult’s remains?

Answer 12

unfused bone (epithelial fusion), teeth (dental records)

Question 13

What are the main skeletal indicators used to identify a young adult’s remains (13-21)?

Answer 13

unfused/partially fused bone, teeth

Question 14

What are skeletal indicators from an adult?

Answer 14

complete epiphyseal union/fusion

Question 15

What are skeletal indicators of advanced aging? (35

Answer 15

arthritis, eroded bone, ribs

Question 16

How are males different from females?

Answer 16

Bigger bones, narrower hips, big ass heads

Question 17

Why is it difficult to differentiate between different races?

Answer 17

Because race is technically a social construct. Also because physical characteristics are subjective!

Question 18

What types of bones are most used to reconstruct stature?

Answer 18

long bones. Femur.

Question 19

How do you differentiate between an entrance wound and exit gunshot wound? (skull)

Answer 19

Entrance wounds are smoother and exit wounds are fragmented.

Question 20

What can a forensic anthropologist tell you from a fracture?

Answer 20

Time of fracture (peri, ante, post mortem), type of tool/weapon, etc.

Question 21

What is sexual dimorphism?

Answer 21

difference in size and appearance between sexes.

Question 22

What is robust?

Answer 22

Strong, healthy, sturdy.

Question 23

What is taphonomy?

Answer 23

Branch of paleontology that deals with the fossilization process.

Question 24

What does morphological mean?

Answer 24

Form or structure