ANTH 205 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Homo Habilis, Homo Erectus, Vitamin B6
The Discipline of Anthropology
o Anthropology-the comparative and holistic study of human biology and
nature
• 4 sub-disciplines
o biological anthropology
▪ human paleontology
▪ forensics
▪ anthropometry
▪ population genetics
▪ osteology
o cultural anthropology
▪ medical anthropology
▪ ethno history
▪ comparative religions
▪ nutritional anthropology
▪ economic anthropology
o paleontology-study of the human and primate fossil record
• Australopithecines > modern humans; ex. “Lucy”
• Homo habilis “handy man” were the first to use stone tools
• Homo erectus were the first hominids to radiate from Africa and use
fire
• Archaic homo sapiens were “Neanderthals”
o Known as the first to bury their dead
o Osteology-study of the human skeleton
• Can tell age, sex, age, signs of catastrophic death, nutrition, etc.
from osteology
o Ex. Chronic hyperostosis-severe iron deficiency that causes
the skull to become thick and porous
o Ex. Harris Lines-chronic malnutrition; if a child doesn’t get
enough food, the body begins to shut down
o Human variation-works with living groups
• Uses population samples
• Anthropometry-studies human weight and measurements
• Hypoxia-altitude sickness
o Ex. Inca peoples during the Spanish conquering of Peru;
native women very fertile while Spanish women were barren;
Spanish moved capitol of Peru from Cuzco to Lima and the
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Spanish women were fertile again; blamed temporary
infertility of “evil spirits” from the natives; most likely caused
by hypoxia because of Cuzco’s high altitude
o Archaeology- study of human and cultural remains; reconstructs life ways
of past human societies
• Artifacts buried with people and how elaborate burials were shows
the differences and status of each person
o Neanderthals-simple burials no qualitative difference from
person to person
o Lascaux cave-modern humans during Magdalenian period;
one burial of a 15-year-old girl has a mural of 15 life-size
horses above her, she was dressed in a coat of seashells
traced to a beach 300 miles away which signifies her high
status; all other tombs are simple with no real differentiation
between them
o Mississippian culture-high social stratification
▪ Etowah Indian mounds-had burial mounds dedicated to
soldiers, clergy, and royalty
o Aztec burials-high stratification, huge difference from mound
to mound
o Linguistic anthropology-the study of human language using comparative
and historical methods
• Glottochronology-looks at language origins
o Specifically looks at core words, verbs/adverbs, adjectives,
and nouns
o Ex. Romance languages all stem from Latin
▪ Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French
o Cultural anthropology-comparative and holistic study of human historical
and contemporary culture
• Began as an attempt to separate what is universal and what is
human nature
• Hundreds of different specializations
• Comparative study-comparing things such as religion, subsistence
patterns, technology, values, etc.; cross-cultural analysis
o Ex. Premarital chastity highly emphasized in areas where
dowry and bride price is prominent
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• Holistic study-eclectic; examines all perspectives to explain human
phenomena
o Ex. Beri Beri disease in Thailand caused by lack of Vitamin B6
because even though the rice they ate was high in B6 the fish
sauce destroyed it
o Special Tools
• Participant observation-when anthropologists live with their
subjects and participate in their culture
o Ex. Chagnon and Yanamamo-Amazonian tribes were
experiencing a measles epidemic so Chagnon went to vaccine
ate them and study the culture; later found out people lied to
him when he asked about their dead relatives and gave him
fake names because asking about them is considered rude
o Ethnography and Ethno history
• Emic perspective-how people view their own culture; insider’s POV
• Etic perspective-outsider’s POV
o Ex. Elephantiasis in India caused by a mosquito virus; causes
lower extremities to swell and die; local tribes believed it was
caused by bad karma for infidelity so they shunned whoever
got it
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Document Summary
Chronic hyperostosis-severe iron deficiency that causes the skull to become thick and porous: ex. Harris lines-chronic malnutrition; if a child doesn"t get enough food, the body begins to shut down: human variation-works with living groups, uses population samples, anthropometry-studies human weight and measurements, hypoxia-altitude sickness, ex. Inca peoples during the spanish conquering of peru; native women very fertile while spanish women were barren; Spanish moved capitol of peru from cuzco to lima and the. Premarital chastity highly emphasized in areas where dowry and bride price is prominent: holistic study-eclectic; examines all perspectives to explain human phenomena, ex. Elephantiasis in india caused by a mosquito virus; causes lower extremities to swell and die; local tribes believed it was caused by bad karma for infidelity so they shunned whoever got it. Religion, values, language, etc: horizontal: between peers; changes faster, ex. Drug and alcohol use, style, music tastes: oblique: one to many; media to public, ex.
