Biological Anthropology

Introduction to Biological Anthropology

What is Anthropology?

Anthropo logy from the Greek from the Greek

anthropos - ἄνθρωπος

meaning “man; man-faced; a human being” legein - λέγω meaning “to speak”

Four-Field Anthropology

 Cultural Anthropology  Archaeology  Linguistic Anthropology  Biological (or Physical) Anthropology

Cultural Anthropology  Focuses on the role culture plays in human life  Culture is  Learned by individuals as they grow up within a group  The primary means by which a human is enculturated into his/her culture  Passed on from generation to generation  Constantly changing

Three Components of Culture

• Material • Behavioral • Ideational

Archaeology  Focuses on human life in the past  Humans of the past  Relied on their cultures to adapt  Shared many common features with recent and modern humans  Saw their cultures change as a result of the same processes that change cultures today

Linguistic Anthropology  Focuses on the role language plays in human life  Language is  Learned by individuals as they grow up within a group  Passed on from generation to generation  The primary means by which a human learns his/her culture  Constantly changing

Biological Anthropology

( aka“Physical Anthropology”)  Focuses on humans as biological organisms  Biological organisms  Have similar features and needs  Are the products of evolutionary and environmental forces  Are genetically unique

Four-Field Anthropology  Cultural Anthropology  Archaeology  Linguistic Anthropology  Biological (or Physical) Anthropology  Applied Anthropology (aka the “fifth field”) the cultural fields the biological field making it relevant

Anthropology is a Biocultural Discipline

Regards humans as

biological

organisms whose primary means of adapting to the world is

culture

Biological Anthropology  Humans are individual organisms whose patterns of thought, feeling, and activity are at least partially by the other humans with whom we interact  An explicitly scientific field  uses the tools of biology and other sciences

The Six Steps to Humanness

1. bipedalism 2. non-honing canine 5. hunting 3. material culture and tools 4. speech 6. domesticated foods