Lecture 2 Flashcards
For most of human prehistory, we have contemplated our biological origins in terms of…
For most of human prehistory, we have contemplated our biological origins in terms of our respective religions and cosmologies
Prior to the 17th century, Western consideration of our origins was based primarily on _______
Prior to the 17th century, Western consideration of our origins was based primarily on the Old Testament
In the West, 2 ket assumptions underpinned all inquires into the natural world what were they
Humanity is unique amongst living things and has dominion over all “lower” forms of life, just as god had dominion over humanity
humanity in its current form is as it always has been, and is physically unalterable
who was Archbishop James Usher (1581-1656)
an Irish anglican bishop, he was one of many who developed a biblical chronology
when did Archbishop James Usher say the world was created
god created the earth on October 23, 4004 BC… at 9am
he gets this time from counting the decedents of all characters in the bible (Noah, etc)
this was 6000 years only
why was Archbishop James Usher’s beliefs a problem
this statement constrained the time that evolution could occur
what is the Young Earth Hypothesis
humans were considered separate from the natural world
this c. 6 000 year chronology left no time for slow processes like evolution to occur, and implies that there should be no extinct ancestral species
In the 16th century, advances in astronomy and human anatomy were establishing what
- conventional wisdom can be challenged
2. empirical investigation is necessary to know the truth
around the 16th century, what paradigm shift was happening
around this time was the shift from a geocentric model to a heliocentric model— this was a paradigm shift
what was the enlightenment of the 18th century—
a gradual movement away from churches and monarchies towards emporium and scientific endeavours
what was the enlightenment a time for
progressivism
what is progressivism
is the idea that foreword movement and betterment of societies is possible through the advancement of knowledge and industrial capacity
what does progressivism imply
it implies prehistoric and historical social development is both linear and progressive
Adherents of progressivism believed what
Adherents believed that improvement of the human condition has a universal solution— knowledge and innovation— and that a culture could move from “savagery” or “barbarism” to a civilized state
what is the problem with the progressivism mindset
these thinkers would subscribe to the thought that other countries were less developed and that they were behind
this idea assumes the existence of a cultural hierarchy
so this was both a good and bad mindset because that assumed some civilizations were better than others
what was the order of the Ladder of Being
the great chain of being god angels heaven humans beasts plants flame rocks
Scala Naturae: Racist and Eurocentric
why is The march of progress; Early Man (1965) a misleading image
misleading image: unilinear evolution
the idea that things can only move and progress in one upper direction… the humans are the result of perfection and have had one straight line of evolution
who came up with the The march of progress
Anthropologist f. Clark Howell
what did many naturalists attempted to do
reconcile their scientific observations with a universe created by God
deists believed what
that there was a supreme being ordering the workings of the universe, but doubted divine revelation and rejected organized religion defined by it
believed that through science we can better understand what the bible tells us
many deists adhered to the loose concept of what kind of philosophy
mechanical philosophy
what is mechanical philosophy
which imagines the universe as a complex machine— like a clock— designed by god, but with each component moving in response to another force not necessarily compelled by god
who was John Ray (1627-1705)
an english clergyman and amateur naturalist, he conducted extensive comparative research on plants
what did John Ray do for anthropology
he was the first to develop the categories of “species” and “genus”
what did Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) want to do
he wanted to observe and classify the world around him, his goal was not to disprove the bible
who was the “father of modern taxonomy”
Carl Linnaeus
what did Carl Linnaeus do
a Swedish botanist and zoologist, he standardized Ray’s binomial classification system, adding “class” and “order”
binomial nomenclature
what was Carl Linnaeus the first to do
he was the first to place humans in a classification scheme:
order: primates
genus: homo
species: sapiens
4-level system became the basis for what
taxonomy
did Carl Linnaeus believe in evolution
believed that the species were immutable (unchangeable)
who was George Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788)
a french intellectual, one of the first to propose a non-biblical explanation for the creation and age of the earth
what did George Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon say created the earth
said a comet collided with the sun and then creation started (not sure where he got this conclusion from)
why is George Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon important
he was able to extend the time period of the Earth many more years
he argued for the spontaneous organization of matter into life
he also believed migration to new environments could effect hereditary changed in animals– how did he explain this
idea that were an organism was on the planet, it gave forms to different forms of life (all elephants had a fixed internal mould, but where they were on the planet would result in what they looked like… the african, indian and mammoth were all elephants that just looked different but essentially had the same “mould”)
who was Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829)
a french naturalist
what did Jean-Baptiste Lamarck do
he developed a concept of evolutionary change over time that came to be known as “Lamarckism”
what is Lamarckism
he argued that certain acquired characteristics could be passes on to succeeding generations
giraffe example…
who was George Cuvier (1769-1832)
french naturalist and zoologist
what did George Cuvier do
founded the field of vertebrate palaeontology
what was George Cuvier a proponent of
catastrophism
what is catastrophism
a theory that there have been multiple creations interspersed by great natural disasters
example of massive natural disasters would be the Great Flood with Noah’s Arch… god wiped away what he didn’t want anymore
what George Cuvier an evolutionist
he was very non-evolutionist in his ideas
who was James Hutton (1726-1797)
a Scottish geologist
what did James Hutton do
he developed the theory of gradualism
he also argued the earth was incalculably old
couldn’t offer exact calculations, but said millions of years old
what is gradualism
idea that what we see around us is not the result of a big change (like catastrophism), but slow and gradual change
his idea were directly at odds with what
catastrophism
who was Charles Lyell (1797-1875)
a Scottish geologist
what did Charles Lyell ( do
further developed and popularized Hutton’s theory of gradualism into the concept of uniformitarianism
what is uniformitarianism
idea that the same processes and natural laws that act on the earth in a natural sense (earthquakes, shifting of the earth and stuff that contributed the form of the earth) is STILL happening… that gradualism isn’t something just of the past but it is still happening
who wrote “principles of geology” that actually influenced darwin
Charles Lyell
who was Thomas Malthus
an english economist and demographer
what did argue for
argued that a society’s capacity to reproduce will always exceed the environment’s capacity to support such growth
basically organisms, including humans, over produce and the environment cannot keep up (too many humans for the amount of food available)
what did 19th century archaeology bring rise to
three-age system
what did C. J. Thomsen (1788-1865) do
system of relative chronology with the three-age system
what is the three-age system
the Stone Age
the Bronze Age
the Iron Age
why is the 3 age system important
applied this taxonomy system to material culture (tools/tool productions)
this showed that taxonomy and that classification was not just to be applied to living organisms
what is important about Boucher de Perthes (1788-1868)
records archaeological evidence of the existence of prehistoric Europeans (stone tools from deep down in the Somme Ricer gravel deposits)
when and where was Neanderthal discovered
1854 by quarry workers (Neander Vally, Germany)
in one word, explain what Linneaus did
taxonomy
in one word, explain what Lamarck did
—evolution
in one word, explain what Curvier did
— palaeontology
in one word, explain what Hutton did
— gradulaism
in one word, explain what Lyell did
— uniformitarianism
