Anthropology 100 - Lecture notes all PDF

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Anthropology 100 The Lens of Anthropology ● All ways of knowing have a framework, an anthropological one is a “lens” ● Like a lens, it provides focus and clarity ● Basic structure to organize thoughts, methods, theories, ethics, views, and research results Definitions ● Anthropology: The study of hu...

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Anthropology 100 The Lens of Anthropology ● All ways of knowing have a framework, an anthropological one is a “lens” ● Like a lens, it provides focus and clarity ● Basic structure to organize thoughts, methods, theories, ethics, views, and research results Definitions ● Anthropology: The study of humans ● Humans: Homo sapiens or a large group of hominins ● Culture: The learned and shared things that people think, do, and have Anthropology aims to describe in the broadest sense what it means to be human ● Focus on linkages, change, evolution, and comparison ○ Social norms, traditions, change Goals of Anthropology ● Discover what makes people different from one another ● What all people have in common ● Look at our own knowledge & new theories ● Look at our own culture more objectively Holism ● Anthropology tries to integrate all that is known about human beings and their activities ○ physical/biological, sociocultural, linguistic, and archeology Comparison ● Considering similarities and differences as a wide range of human societies as possible before generalizing human nature, society, or the human past ○ Ethnography: an in-depth study of one group ○ Ethnology: one theme, multiple groups Field Work ● Gains practical experience & knowledge through firsthand observation ● Gathering of data through the observations in the field Evolutionary ● Requires putting observations about humans in a temporal framework that takes into consideration change over time Anthropology Relies on the Concept of Culture to Explain the Diversity of Human Ways of Life ● Sets of learned behaviours & ideas that humans acquire as members of society (culture)

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Languages are taught, not nature Humans use culture to adapt and transform the world in which they live

Four (FIve?) Major Subfields ● Biological/ Physical ● Cultural/Social ● Archaeology ● Linguistics ● Applied Anthropology Biological ● Begun as an attempt to classify all the world’s population into different races ○ Modern: interest in human beings including their evolution ● Medical anthropologists’ concerns with human health ○ The way humans deal with illness Cultural ● The study of living people and their cultures, variation and change Digital ● Gaming cultures ● Social media ● Technology in research Archaeology ● Study of past human cultures through material remains ○ Through recovery and analysis of artifacts Chapter 8 ● Emic perspective: inside perspective ● Etic perspective: outside perspective ● Enculturation: the process by which a child learns his/her culture ●

Tylor’s stages of the evolution of religion: ○ Monotheism ○ Polytheism ○ Animism

Morgan’s Stages of the Evolution of Societies ● Civilization ● Barbarism ● Savagery “Kulturbrille” ● A set of “cultural glasses” that each of us wears through which we interpret the world ● Franz Boas

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All cultures are equally valid and each can be understood only in its own context Ethnography: the process/product of research study in cultural anthropology

The Culture Concept ● Culture is a set of shared understandings that guide our behaviours ○ Culture is like an “app” that codes for what we think (cognition) and what we do (action) and what we have to make (material culture) Identity ● The term “ethnicity” includes heritage, language, and geography ● Cultural identity refers to gender, social roles, socioeconomic status, occupation, interests, etc Human Culture is… ● Learned ● Shared ● Symbolic ● Holistic ● Patterned ● Adaptive ○ It did not emerge all at once but evolved over time Human Capacity for Culture Depends on… ● Transmission: ability to copy by observing/learning ● Memory: ability to remember behaviours ● Reiteration: ability to reproduce/imitate behaviours ● Innovation: ability to develop new behaviours ● Selection: ability to know which behaviours to record Culture is Shared ● Within groups and across groups ○ Culture is a part of human nature ○ Culture is all-encompassing ○ Culture is integrated Culture is Symbolic ● Symbol: something that stands for something else ● Symbols are often linguistic ● Language -- distinctive possession of Homo sapiens ○ No other animal has elaborated cultural abilities to extent that Homo sapiens have Culture is Patterned ● Culture is varied but patterns exist ● Models and patterns should be treated as flexible

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Patterns are tools for understanding Patterns tend to change/evolve

Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism ● Ethnocentrism is the belief that others are wrong for having different beliefs ○ The opinion that one’s way of life is natural or correct, and the only true way of being fully human ● Can it be avoided? ○ Acknowledge your own enculturation ○ Learning about other cultures ○ Challenge ideas about “truth” ○ Recognise & respect different cultural traditions Cultural Relativism ● Understanding another culture in its own terms sympathetically ○ Behaviour in one culture should not be judged by standards of another culture The Primates ● Primatology: ○ The study of non-human primates -- fossil and living apes, monkey and prosimians, including their behaviour and social life ● Inferences about early social organization Comparing Primates and Humans ● Study primate diversity ● Compare phenotypes and adaptations ○ Primate suborders Homologies ● Similarities -- common ancestry ● Principal factor in determining how organisms are assigned to taxonomic categories ● Analogies ○ Similar in function but not due to common ancestry ■ Example: birds being genetically closer to reptiles than dragonflies Reconstructing Evolutionary Relationships ● Homologies & Analogies ● “Primitive” trait = inherited from an (ancient) common ancestor ● “Derived” trait = newly evolved trait Flexibility of Adaptations: ● Adapt to different environments ● Try out new foods ● New social arrangements

Primate Homologies (Haplorihini) ● Grasping ● Smell to sight ● Nose to hand ● Brain complexity ● Parental investment ● Sociality ○ There is an enormous range of diversity among primates Defining Characteristics of Primates ● Head ○ Postorbital bar, big brain ○ Stereotypic vision ○ Poor sense of smell ● Development and behaviour ○ Long gestation period ○ Smaller litter size (usually 1), long juvenile period Evolutionary Traits ● Increased brain size, reduction of sense of smell, increased dependence of sight, fewer teeth The Apes ● Hominoidea ○ Lesser apes ○ Greater apes ● Apes are typically larger, larger brain size, no tails, more developed than other species Hominin (homini) ● Bipedal hominoid ● The most advanced grade of primate evolution -- humans and near-humans Orangutans ● Indonesia ● Arboreal ● Frugivorous ● Sexually dimorphic ● Tool use ● Male aggression Gorillas ● Western & eastern species ● Knuckle-walkers ● Frugivorous/folivorous ● Tool use

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Sexual dimorphic Male aggression

Apes of the Pan Genus ● Chimpanzee and Bonobo ● Pan traglodytes -- common chimpanzee ○ Omnivorous, aboreal and terrestrial foragers ○ Knuckle-walking, large multi-male/female groups ● Pan paniscus -- Bonobo ○ Omnivorous, aboreal and terrrestrial ○ Knuckle-walking, large multi-sex/multi-age groups What is so Special About Humans? ● “Unique” human behaviours have been observed in chimpanzees and other primates ○ Organized hunting ○ Interpersonal violence and warfare ○ Tool use Tool Use ● Examples of tools that chimpanzees use: ○ Termite sticks ○ Spears ○ Hammer stones ○ Leaf sponges Why is Evolution Important to Anthropologists? ● Evolutionary theory is a testable, unified and fruitful theory ● Evolution: the process of change over time Principles of Science ● There is a real and knowable universe ● The universe operates according to understandable laws ● The laws are unchanging Before Darwin ● Living things were divided into “natural kinds” ● Great chain of being ○ God’s creation ● Linnaeus ○ Taxonomy ○ Sorted living things into species ● Lamarck, Hutton and Lyell Catastrophism ● Ancient life forms destroyed by catastrophes then replaced by new, divinely created species

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Transformism (evolution) ○ Species arise from others through long, gradual process of transformation Uniformitarianism ○ Present is key to the past (Hutton and Lyell) ○ Darwin applied uniformitarianism and transformism to living things

Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection ● All species either can reproduce more offspring than can survive ● There is variation within all species ● There is competition for resources ○ Some variations must be advantageous ● Some variation means more offspring ● Advantageous variations passed into the next generation ● Over time, accumulations of variations = new species Darwin’s Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection ● Principle of variation ● Principle of heredity ● Principle of natural selection Artificial Selection ● Un-natural reproducing ● Breeding cats/dogs ○ Banana changed over time when people farmed and seeded the sweeter fruit Mendelian Genetics ● Two basic forms of traits: ○ Dominant traits: mask recessive forms in hybrid (mixed) individuals ○ Recessive traits: appear in later generations Population Genetics ● Gene pool: alleles, genes, chromosomes, and genotypes within a breeding population ● Genetic evolution: change in gene frequency in a breeding population from generation to generation Two Major Types of Genetic Drift ● Founder effect: occurs when a new colony is started by a few members of the original population ● Bottlenecks: a sharp reduction in the size of a population due to environmental events (floods, fires, etc) or human activities (genocide) Human Adaptability ● Humans among most adaptable animals ○ Able to inhabit widely variant ecological niches ○ Humans share both society and culture

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Society: organized life in groups Cultures: traditions and customs

Human Biological Diversity and the Race Concept ● Racial classifications do not accurately describe skin colour ● Three “great races” do not include everyone ● Phenotypical similarities and differences do not necessarily have a genetic basis ● Bodies vary from culture to culture and within one culture over time Human Ancestors ● Finding cites ○ Returning to the same area ○ Searching in the correct time period ○ Looking in places where preservation of organic material is good ○ Looking in caves Fossils and Preservation ● “Human fossil remains” refer to not only organic material turned to stone, but to any remains ● Taphonomy is the study of what happens to organic remains after death ● Preservation is rare, and often best when removed from the earth What Makes us Human ● Brains, skulls, and childhood dependency ○ Brain size and skull size increased, especially with advent of Homo ○ Human children have higher dependency on mothers because of increased brain size -- it takes longer for the brain to fully develop ● Tools ○ First evidence of a human stone tool manufacture dates back to 2.5 million years ago ● Teeth ○ Early hominins -- large back teeth and smooth enamel ○ Lost during evolution ● Bipedalism ○ Upright two-legged locomotion differentiates early hominins from apes Lucy (Dinkenesh AL - 288-1) ● Oldest found hominin ● Found in Hadar, Ethiopia ● She lived 3.2 million years ago ● Lucy was 1.1 m (3’7”) tall ● Bipedal Case Study: Au. afarensis ● Certain features of dentition are similar to those of apes ● Evidence of powerful chewing; diet included tough vegetation

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Cranial capacity smaller than later hominins Bipedalism ○ Fossilized footprints at Laetoli (3.6 million years ago) ○ Structure of postcranial features

Lucy’s Baby -- a Bipedal Climber? ● Selam (DIK - 1-1) ○ 3.3 million year old fossilized afarensis toddler ○ Not actually Lucy’s baby, just a nickname ○ Found in North Ethiopia ○ No prolonged, dependant childhood? ○ Walked upright but hints of still climbing trees ● The most complete, oldest skeleton Homo naledi ● Why is this find significant? ○ A new species ○ Possible burial practice (evidence of burials in caves) ○ Location ○ 15 individuals ○ Near complete skeletons Extinction of Australopithecines ● Competition with homo populations ● Australopithecines not as adaptive? ○ Homo used tools ○ Homo expanded habitat beyond savannah, Australopithecines did not ● Greater reliance on hunting and improved cultural means of adaptation (including tools) separated H. erectus from H. habilis and AU boisei The Palaeolithic (old stone age) ● Lower paleolithic: period of hominid development ● Middle paleolithic: Neanderthals/ Homo sapiens appear ● Upper paleolithic: Homo sapiens (and floresiensis) Lower Paleolithic Cultural Developments ● Oldowan stone tools, likely created and used by Homo habilis (and AU. garhi) ● Homo erectus ○ Acheulan hand axe, more complex stone tool ○ Likely controlled fire ○ Hunting and meat-eating ○ 2.5 million years ago - 500,000, Africa, Asia, and Europe Middle Paleolithic ● Advances in lithic technology ● Evidence of finely crafted spears

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Some suggestions of deliberate burials, art and jewelry People extended territories into Northern latitudes Archaic H. sapiens, H. heidelbergensis, Neanderthals ○ 500,000-40,000 years ago, Africa, West Asia, Europe

Upper Paleolithic ● Continued advances in technology ● Undisputed evidence of deliberate burials and art ● Invention of atlatl (spear power) ○ 40,000-12,000 years ago, mostly Europe ○ Mostly Homo sapien sapiens Out of Africa: H. erectus Adaptive Strategies ● Interrelated biological and cultural changes increased human adaptivity ○ Rugged “modern” skeleton (endurance) ○ Average Homo erectus brain size ○ Use of fire ○ Hunting Trends in Human Biological Evolution ● Proficiency in bipedalism ● Changes in size and shape of skull ● Decreased prognathism ● Smaller teeth ● “Loss” of body hair ● Darker skin pigmentation first, then lighter as humans migrated out of Africa and adapted to different environments Archaeology ● A cultural anthropology of the human past focusing on material evidence of human modification of the physical environment ● Archaeological record ○ All physical remains created by humans or near-humans ○ Basic facts about the past, records (maps, photos, etc) What Archaeologists do: ● Trace patterns in past human cultures by: ○ Identifying sites and religions of human occupation ○ Recovering artifacts, features, and other remains of human activity from these sites ○ Recording information about the context in which these remains are found ■ Archaeology is destructive Relative Dating ● Provides a time frame in relation to other strata or materials ○ Stratigraphy

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Seriation Typology

Dating the Past ● Stratigraphy: examines accumulation of sediments in layers (strata) ● Law of superposition ● The lower the sediment layer, the older the time period Artifacts (Artefacts) ● Objects that have been deliberately and intelligently shaped by human or near-human activity Assemblages ● Artifacts and structures from a particular time and place in a site Archaeological Biases ● Inorganic materials (stone, ceramic) ● Trash and sites that were abandoned ● Male bias, especially in the early years of the discipline ● East Africa and Europe Subsistence and Diet ● Reconstructing diet ○ Using plant and animal remains ○ Examining residue left on artifacts ○ Examining isotypes in human skeletons ● Reconstructing subsistence patterns ○ Scavenging ○ Hunting Plant and Animal Remains ● Ecofacts: plant and animal remains used to make inferences about palaeoenvironments and diet ● Botanical (plant) remains ● Faunal (animal) remains Major Cultural Developments 15,000-10,000 Years Ago ● Transitions in many parts of the world to food production, rather than foraging ● Megafauna (mammoth) hunting in North America ● 10,000-5,000 years ago ○ More people adopt food production as subsistence strategy ○ Significant population growth around the world ○ Cultural and political growth Kennewick Archaeological Site ● Discovered by accident on Columbia River

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Military property, but traditionally on native land Thought to be a murder case, until realizing it was archaeological ○ Skeleton found in 1996 ○ 9300 years old (radiocarbon date) Assumed to be a settler Reburied on Saturday, February 18th, 2017

Fluted Points ● Invented about 12,000 years ago, used until 9,000 years ago ● Triggered population explosion ● Used to hunt mastodon and mammoth ● Likely hafted to spears Adaptive Strategies ● Foraging ○ All humans were foragers until 10,000 BP ○ Modern foragers at least partially dependent on food production ○ Foraging mainly survives in marginal environments ● Correlates of foraging ○ Gender-based division of labour ■ Exists in all human societies ○ Among foragers: ■ Men typically hunt and fish, women gather and collect Transition to Food Production ● Around 15,000 to 12,000 years ago, people began to cultivate and simply not rely on local foraging ● Plant and animal domestication began ● This allowed populations to grow to fill increased carrying capacity of the land Neolithic ● First cultural period in region in which first signs of domestication are present ● Neolithic Revolution: transition from hunting/gathering to farming ○ Sedentism; village/town life; labour diversification; expansion of trade; development of states Case Study: The Natufians ● Foragers in the Middle East, 12,500-10,500 BP ● Collected wild grains and hunted gazelles ● Needed storage and therefore established villages The First Farmers and Herders in the Middle East ● Domesticated crops: ○ Larger seeds, higher yield per unit of area, loss of natural seed dispersal mechanisms, more brittle husks, tougher connective tissue (axes) holding seed pods to the stems

Potential Trade-offs of Food Production ● Sedentism vs. mobility ● Security vs. risks of focusing on one or two crops/animals ● Increasing population through crop cultivation vs. cycle of increasing production to keep up with demand Food-Getting ● Many different methods in which a society gets food: ○ Raising their own ○ Foraging their food ○ Seek food from grocery stores ● How food is obtained is very important and dictates ideas: ○ Daily schedules ○ Interactions with the environment ○ Gender roles Adaptive Strategies ● Foodways: the way in which a society gets their food ● Foodways change due to: ○ Environmental factors ○ Proximity to other cultures ○ Threat of other societies ○ Introduction to new technologies Food-Getters ● Food foragers: ○ Hunter-gatherers ○ These societies actively go out in search for food ● Food raisers: ○ These societies raise or grow their own food Foraged Foods ● Wild vegetation ○ Berries, flowers, roots, and seaweed ● Animals ○ Large and small animals, reptiles, birds, insects ○ Animal products: honey, eggs, etc ● Marine Animals ○ Fish, marine animals(whales) crustaceans Traditional Ecological Knowledge ● TEK ● Most foraging societies utilize TEK ● Set of tools and knowledge to help Reciprocity

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A set of social rules to govern the sharing of food and other items The central method of food-getting and sharing in foraging societies ○ Practiced by food-producing cultures as well Generalized reciprocity ○ Much more relaxed concept, the value of gift is not established upon exchange and is practiced between families and friends

Reciprocity and the Environment ● Reciprocity extends to the environment as well ● The idea that if the environment is respected then nature will give back ○ Not taking more than needed from nature ○ Giving thanks for what you have taken ○ Believed that animals give themselves to hunters. Must not mistreat the animal and treat it with respect Cultivation: Horticulture ● Horticulture = cultivation that does not make intensive use of land, labour, capital, or machinery ● Plant small-scale farms when carrying capacity of the land no longer supports only foraging ● Swidden cultivation ● Sedentary village life; no longer nomadic ● Economists: reciprocity, leveling mechanisms Cultivation: Agriculture ● Agriculture = cultivation of land that involves intensive and continuous use of land ○ Mo...