Transcript Lecture: Biological Anthropology

What is
Biological/Physical
Anthropology?
What is Anthropology?
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Scientific study of the origin, behavior,
physical variation, and cultural
development of human beings
Deals with the whole of humanity, past and
present
Generally divided into 5 broad categories
that describe the subjects that are treated
These categories or subfields are: Physical,
Cultural, Linguistic, Archaeology, and
Applied
What is Anthropology?
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Holistic = To understand what it means to
be human, we need to study the interrelationships among all the parts of
anthropology: culture, biology, prehistoric
past, linguistics, and solving problems!
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Ex. = capacity for learning language is
genetically programmed into our DNA (our
biology); however, our environment
determines which language/s we end up
learning (our culture)
Five Subfields of Anthropology:
1) PHYSICAL
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study of human biology, particularly
the origins, diversity, and adaptations
of modern people and our ancestors
To place humans in a comparative
perspective, physical anthropologists
also study the origins and biology of
the non-human Primates, the group of
mammals that includes humans and
our closest nonhuman relatives.
1) PHYSICAL (cont.)
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Physical Anthropology diverges
from other disciplines of biology
by its focus on the development
of humans in the natural world,
or “in context.”
Five Subfields of Anthropology:
2) CULTURAL
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study of human culture = patterns of
learned behavior and thought that are
shared and passed down among
members of a society. Culture is not
the result of biological inheritance
Culture includes: language,
knowledge, beliefs, morals, laws,
customs, kinship systems, values, art,
folklore, food, etc.
2) CULTURAL (cont.)
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interconnections between “culture”
and “power,” focus of the Ph.D.
Program at UC Santa Cruz
1) how humans are positioned within
and negotiate systems of inequality
2) how and why dominant cultures or
ways of thinking (“hegemony”) work
in the world. For ex., what happens
when we question a dominant way of
thinking, such as the idea that the
“nuclear family” is best
2) CULTURAL (cont.)
3) critically examine the privileged
position of the anthropologist in
gathering data and representing
other people
Anthropologist Jane
Goodall and her
chimp friend
Five Subfields of Anthropology:
3) ARCHAEOLOGY
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focuses on the material record:
artifacts, fossils, or other evidence of
human activities
techniques of excavation &
documentation are also used to
recover evidence from a crime scene
terms “bioarchaeologist” & and
“zooarchaeologist” identify specialists
who deal with human or other animal
bones from archaeological site
Five Subfields of Anthropology:
4) LINGUISTICS
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studies human communication
systems
Topics range from language to the
dynamics of human interaction
closely tied into studies of cognitive
psychology and the origins of
language as a uniquely human
adaptation
Five Subfields of Anthropology:
5) APPLIED
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Application of
anthropological
data, perspectives,
theory, and methods
to identify, assess,
and solve
contemporary social
problems
Ex. = Anthropologist
Paul Farmer’s work:
5) APPLIED (ex.)
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The Partners in Health Vision:
Whatever It Takes
PIH is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
corporation with a presence in
Latin America, the Caribbean,
Russia, and the United States. We
coordinate innovative programs
to combat AIDS and women's
health problems in rural Haiti and
urban Massachusetts,
groundbreaking tuberculosis
treatment projects in the prisons
of Siberia and the shantytowns of
Lima, and health policy initiatives
on a global scale.
Haitian child living
with HIV
http://www.pih.org/index.html
What is Science?
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Way of understanding the world, a
method of inquiry
Physical anthropologists use scientific
methods in their studies. Science is not
a body of knowledge
Creative activity whereby we try to
understand the natural processes that
shape our universe
What is Science? (cont.)
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“guessing” that is verified by
observation or experience
each guess is discarded when faced
with contrary evidence or a simpler
explanation
The practice of thinking critically
The Scientific Method
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Hierarchy of steps from events to
hypotheses that might be organized
in the following 8 steps:
1. Experience = A person experiences
the real world of events, processes,
and objects.
2. Naming = Events, processes, or
objects are named so they can be
described and studied.
3. Data = Observation or experience forms
a body of data
4. Interpretation = The meaning of the
data is interpreted
5. Relationships = Relationships are
perceived.
6. Hypothesis = Guessing about the nature
of these relationships
7. Testing Hypotheses = On new sets
of observations
8. Theory = Useful explanations
about how the world works, or
how things work in the world
Hypothesis Testing
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Once a hypothesis or theory is
formulated, it is tested by further
experiment
Majority of scientific work spent in
levels 1 – 5
Work at level 7 or 8 receives highest
acclaim because it promotes
understanding, offering organizing
principles which can give us insights
Science as a “Discipline”
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Not all scientists work at all levels of
scientific method
Some specialize in creating new
theory and some generate data sets
Both are important, but in
anthropology, documenting new
observations may be dangerous to life,
health and bank account!
Science as a “Discipline”
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In terms of income & recognition,
most scientific disciplines pay
much “fame and fortune” for
“creative theory” than for
generating new data bases
In reality, scientific progress
requires achievement at both
ends of the spectrum: data AND
theory!
Puzzle:
Which does not belong
and why?
a)
b)
c)
d)
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earth
flat
hook
sharp
Explain your hypothesis for what
doesn’t belong: