Transcript Collections III: Hominids - South Kingstown High School

Collections III: Hominids
Anthropology
Anthropology Overview
• The study of human diversity
• 2 main areas of study:
– Physical anthropology
• Evolutionary development/ Biological variations
within the species
– Cultural anthropology
• Archaeology
• Linguistics
• Ethnology
Cultural Anthropology:
Archaeology
• Studies material remains (“artifacts”) 
– Describes or explains human behavior
– Examples: tools, pottery, and written
documents (anything man-made)
– Garbage Project  To study household waste
as a function of contemporary social issues
• Alcohol consumption
• Meat price increases/increased waste of meat
• Landfill decay issues
Breakout Class Activity
• If this school was to be unearthed 500 years from
now what would archaeologists view as artifacts?
What would they be able to tell from the artifacts
collected?
– Take 5 minutes to walk through the school to find
(appropriate) artifacts that would best represent what
this site was used for. You must have written
permission of a teacher or administrator for each
artifact you bring back. You will also be responsible
for returning the artifact before the end of the day.
Your group is required to collect at least 2 artifacts.
Class Discussion
• What is your artifact?
• What does it tell you about this archaeological
site?
• What artifacts seem to be missing from this
settlement/site that are commonly found at a
campsite/homestead?
• What can you infer about the humans that
inhabited/visited this site?
• What misconceptions could be inferred from
your artifacts?
Cultural Anthropology:
Linguistics
• The study of human language
• Language allows for transmission of
culture from one generation to the next.
• Allows scientist to understand how people
perceive themselves and the world around
them.
Breakout Class Activity
• Take 5 minutes and make a list of all the
things in our society that you use slang for.
• Take 2 minutes and create another list of
all the words that mean “money”.
Discussion
• For each list:
– What does each word mean?
– Where did you learn these words? Friends?
Family? Community members?
• What does this tell you about the
importance of certain things in our culture?
Cultural Anthropology:
Ethnology
• Study of present-day cultures
• Human behavior that can be seen, experienced,
and discussed
• Participant observation  holistic perspective
(view a culture in a broad way instead of
focusing on individual components of the
culture)
• Researcher tries to be bias-free
– Difficult because of prior knowledge of one’s
own cultural rules
Class Activity
• Read the following first-hand account of a
researcher on the islands of Truk.
Discussion
• What was going through your mind when the
researchers were first attacked by the first young
man? The continued attacks?
• What would you have done?
• Why did you think the men drank while the
women did not?
• What did the researcher do that his professors
told him never to do? Why?
• What was the result? What did he learn about
this culture?
• How is our culture different or the same?
Physical Anthropology
• Heredity (genetics)
• Forensic anthropology
– Identification of human remains
• Changes in humans over time
– Tracing the evolutionary development of
human skulls over time