Lecture 1 Flashcards
What is Anthropology?
The study of humanity. Looks at human culture and evolutionary aspects of human biology.
What are the subfields of Anthropology?
- Cultural Anthropology
- Linguistics
- Archaeology
- Biological Anthropology
What is the study of cultural anthropology? (2)
- Ethnography: Studies human culture groups by living with societies.
- Ethnology: Compares the behaviours of different cultures e.g. marriage rituals.
What is Archaeology?
Study of human past through the examination of it’s material remains.
What discipline studies extinct animals?
Paleontologists.
What is the study of linguistics?
Study of language and how it changed and evolved over time.
What is Biological (Physical) Anthropology?
Focuses on humans as biological organisms. There is an emphasis on the interaction between biology and culture. E.g: Use of birth control, reduction/size of teeth because we cook food, harnessing fire to live in colder climates.
What are the specializations within biological anthropology?
- Paleoanthropology: Study of human evolution
- Osteology: Study of the skeleton
- Primatology: Study of non-human primates
What is culture?
All aspects of human adaptation: technology, traditions, language, religion and social roles.
Culture is transmitted through ________ and not by biological or _______ means.
learning, genetic.
What was the historical development of the discipline of archaeology?
- Establishing the antiquity of the earth
- Establishing the antiquity of humankind
- Development of a theory of evolution
- Many early explanations of ancient artifacts were unscientific.
What are antiquarians?
Someone who is interested in the past and digs up antiquities unscientifically.
What is uniformitarianism?
Theory stating that Earth’s features are the result of a long term process that continues to operate in the present as they did in the past.
What was the first evidence of pre-modern humans?
In 1857, a neanderthal skull was found.
What is the great chain of being?
Hierarchal system with all species linked in a chain. Each held a permanent place with no concept of extinction or evolution. Idea of the fixity of species.
What is the fixity of species?
The notion that species once created can never change. Opposite beliefs to evolution.
What is catastrophism?
A quick series of catastrophic events accounted for changes in the earth and the fossil record.
What is the theory of acquired characteristics?
Suggested that if the external environment changes, an animals’ activity patterns would change to accommodate the new circumstances. This would result in the eventual modification of body parts.
What is natural selection?
Refers to the genetic change or changes in the frequencies of certain traits in populations due to differential reproductive success between individuals.
What are the main principles of natural selection?
- Variation
- Heritability
- Differential Reproductive Success
What are some examples of natural selection?
Peppered moths, Galapagos finches, variations of drug-resistant bacteria.
What are the major concepts of the Theory of Evolution?
- Evolution is not fixed
- Organisms that have similar characteristics probably descended from earlier forms of life
- Principle of natural selection
