Transcript physical anthropology

Chapter One
What Is Anthropology?
Key Terms

physical anthropology
The study of humans from a biological
perspective.

paleoanthropology
Area of physical anthropology interested in
reconstructing the evolutionary record of the
human species.

primatology
The study of our nearest living relatives
(apes, monkeys, and prosimians) in their
natural habitat.

Genetics
The study of inherited physical traits

population biology
The study of the relationship between
population characteristics and environment

epidemiology
The study of differential clusters of disease in
populations over time.

archaeology
The study of the lifeways of people from the
past through excavating and analyzing the
material culture they leave behind.

artifacts
Objects that have been made or modified by
humans and that can be removed from the
site and taken to the laboratory for further
analysis. (Ex. tools, arrowheads,and
fragments of pottery).

features
Objects made or modified by people that
cannot be readily carried away. (Ex. house
foundations, fireplaces, and postholes.)

ecofacts
Objects found in the natural environment
(such as bones, seeds, and wood) that were
not made or altered by humans but were
used by them.

anthropological linguistics
Branch of anthropology that studies human
speech and language.

historical linguistics
Deals with the emergence of language in
general and how specific languages have
diverged over time.

descriptive linguistics
The study of sound systems, grammatical
systems, and the meanings attached to
words in specific languages.

ethnolinguistics
Branch of anthropological linguistics that
examines the relationship between language
and culture.

sociolinguistics
Examines the relationship between language
and social relations.

cultural anthropology
The branch of anthropology that deals with
the study of specific contemporary cultures
and the more general underlying patterns of
human culture derived through cultural
comparisons.

ethnography
Detailed descriptions of the features of
specific cultures, the result of extensive field
studies in which the anthropologist observes,
talks to, and lives with the people he or she is
studying.

ethnology
The comparative study of contemporary
cultures, wherever they may be found.

paleopathology
The analysis of disease in ancient
populations.

holism
Covering as many aspects of a culture as
possible in the total cultural context.

ethnocentrism
The belief that one’s own culture is superior
to all others.

cultural relativism
The notion that any part of a culture (such as
an idea, a thing, or a behavior pattern) must
be viewed in its proper cultural context rather
than from the viewpoint of the observer’s
culture.

emic approach
Refers to the insider view, which seeks to
describe another culture in terms of the
categories, concepts, and perceptions of the
people being studied.

etic approach
Refers to the outsider view, whereby
observing anthropologists use their own
categories and concepts to describe the
culture under analysis.