Physical Anthropology - Foothill College (Prof. Connell) Flashcards
Anthropology
the study of human-kind from all people at all times
Cultural Anthropology
the study of modern human societies through the analysis of origins, evolution, and variation of culture
Archaeology
the study of pre-historic human populations through the analysis of material remains
Linguistic Anthropology
the study of the construction, use, and form of langue in human populations
Physical (Biological) Anthropology
the study of the evolution, variation, and adaption of humans and their past and present relatives
Culture
Learned behavior that is transmitted from person to person
Artifacts
material objects from past cultures
Language
a set of written or spoken symbols that refer to things other than themselves
Sociolinguistics
the science of investigating languages in social contexts
Forensic Anthropology
the scientific examination of skeletons in hopes of identifying the people who’s bodies they came from
(specialty within physical anthropology)
Biocultural Approach
the scientific study of interrelationships between what humans have inherited genetically and culture
Hominin
humans and human like ancestors
Genome
the complete set of genetic information - chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA - for an organism or species that represents all of the inheritable traits
Primates
a group of mammals in the order primates that have complex behavior, varied forms of locomotion, and unique suite of traits, including large brains, forward, facing eyes, fingernails, and reduced snouts
6 Steps to Human Evolution where 1 is 6MYA and 6 is 11,000 years ago
- Bipedalism
- Non-honing chewing
- Material Culture
- Speech
- Hunting
- Domesticated Foods
Non-Honing Canine
upper canine that, as part of a non-honing chewing mechanism, is not sharpened against the lower third premolar
Bipedalism
walking on 2 feet
Material Culture
the part of culture that is expressed as objects that humans use to manipulate environments
Social Learning
the capacity to learn from other humans, enabling the accumulation of knowledge across many generations
Data
evidence gathered to help answer questions, solve problems, and fill gaps in scientific knowledge
Hypotheses
testable statement that potentially explain specific phenomena observed in the natural world
Empirical
verified through observation and expiriment
Scientific Method
an empirical research method in which data are gathered from observations of phenomena, hypothesis are tested, and conclusions are drawn
Theory
a set of hypotheses that have been rigorously tested and validated, leading to their acceptance as a explanation to a specific phenomena
