Anthropology Exam 1

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anthropological linguistics

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The anthropological study of languages.

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anthropology

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A discipline that studies humans, focusing on the study of differences and similarities, both biological and cultural, in human populations.

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applied (practicing) anthropology

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The branch of anthropology that concerns itself with applying anthropological knowledge to achieve practical goals, usually in the service of an agency outside the traditional academic setting.

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biological (physical) anthropology

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The study of humans as biological organisms, dealing with the emergence and evolution of humans and with contemporary biological variations among human populations.

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cross-cultural researcher

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An ethnologist who uses ethnographic data about many societies to test possible explanations of cultural variation to discover general patterns about cultural traits - what is universal, what is variable, etc.

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cultural anthropology

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The study of cultural variation and universals in the past and present.

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descriptive (structural) linguistics

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The study of how languages are constructed

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ethnographer

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A person who spends some time living with, interviewing, and observing a group of people to describe their customs.

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ethnography

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A description of a society's customary behaviors and ideas.

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ethnohistorian

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An ethnologist who uses historical documents to study how a particular culture has changed over time.

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ethnology

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The study of how and why recent cultures differ and are similar.

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fossils

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The hardened remains or impressions of plants and animals that lived in the past.

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historical archaeology

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A specialty within archaeology that studies the material remains of recent peoples who left written records.

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historical linguistics

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The study of how languages change over time.

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holistic

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Refers to an approach that studies many aspects of a multifaceted system.

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Homo sapiens

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All living people belong to this one biological species, which means that all human populations on earth can successfully interbreed.

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human paleontology/paleoanthropology

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The study of the emergence of humans and their later physical evolution.

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human variation

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The study of how and why contemporary human populations vary biologically.

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prehistory

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The time before written records.

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Primate

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A member of the mammalian order divided into the two suborders of prosimians and anthropoids.

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sociolinguistics

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The study of cultural and subcultural patterns of speaking in different social contexts.

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behavioral ecology

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Typically tries to understand contemporary human behavior using evolutionary principles.

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cultural ecology

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The analysis of the relationship between a culture and its environment.

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dual-inheritance theory

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In contrast to other evolutionary ecological perspectives, this theory gives much more importance to culture as apart of the evolutionary process, referring to both genes and culture playing different, but nonetheless important and interactive, roles in transmitting traits to future generations.

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ethnoscience

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An approach that attempts to derive rules of thought from the logical analysis of ethnographic data.

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eugenics

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Selectively breeding humans with desirable characteristics and preventing those with undesirable ones from having offspring.

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evolutionary psychology

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A type of ecological approach that is particularly interested in universal human psychology, arguing that human psychology was primarily adapted to the environment that characterized most of human history - the hunting-gathering way of life.

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functionalism

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The theoretical orientation that looks for the part that some aspect of culture or social life plays in maintaining a cultural system.

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general evolution

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The notion that higher forms of culture arise from and generally supersede lower forms.

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genus

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A group of related species.

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group selection

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Natural selection of group characteristics.

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hermeneutics

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The study of meaning.

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individual selection

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Natural selection of individual characteristics.

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political economy

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The study of how external forces,particularly powerful state societies, explain the way a society changes and adapts.

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sociobiology

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Systematic study of the biological causes of human behavior.

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specific evolution

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The particular sequence of change and adaption of a society in a given environment.

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structuralism

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The theoretical orientation that human culture is a surface representation of the underlying structure of the human mind.

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theoretical orientation

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A general attitude about how phenomena are to be explained.

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absolute/chronometric dating

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A method of dating fossils in which the actual age of a deposit or specimen is measured.

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40Ar-39Ar dating

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Used in conjunction with potassium-argon dating, this method gets around the problem of needing different rock samples to estimate potassium and argon.

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artifact

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Any object made by a human.

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context

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The relationships between and among artifacts, ecofacts, fossils, and features.

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culture history

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A history of the cultures that lived in a given area over time; building these was a primary goal of archaeological research

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ecofacts

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Natural items that humans have used; things such as the remains of animals eaten by humans or plant pollens found on archaeological sites are examples of ecofacts.

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excavation

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The careful removal of the aracheological deposits

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falsification

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Showing that a theory seems to be wrong by finding that implications or predictions derivable from it are not consistent with objectively collected data.

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features

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Artifacts of human manufacture that cannot be removed from an archaeological site, i.e. hearths, storage pits, buildings

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fieldwork

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Firsthand experience with people being studied and the usual means by which anthropological information is obtained.

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half-life

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The time it takes for half of the atoms of a radioactive substance to decay into atoms of a different substance.

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indicator artifacts

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Items that changed relatively rapidly and which, thus, can be used to indicate the relative age of associated items.

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laws

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ASsociations or relationships that almost all scientists accept.

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lithics

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The technical name for tools made from stone.

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measure

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To describe how something compares with other things on some scale of variation.

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operational definition

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A description of the procedure that is followed in measuring a variable.

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participant-observation

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Living among the people being studied - observing, questioning, and, when possible, taking part in the important events of the group.

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potassium-argon (K-Ar) dating

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A chronometric dating method that uses the rate of decay of a radioactive form of potassium into argon to date samples from 5,000 years old to 3 billion years old.

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probability value

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The likelihood that an observed result could have occurred by chance.

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radiocarbon/carbon-14 dating

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A dating method that uses the decay of carbon-14 to date organic remains; reliable for dating once-living matter up to 50,000 years old

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random sample

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A sample in which all cases selected have had an equal chance to be included.

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relative dating

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A method of dating fossils that determines the age of a specimen or deposit relative to a known specimen or deposit

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sampling universe

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The list of cases to be sampled from.

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sites

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Locations where the material remains of human activity have been preserved in a way that archaeologists or paleoanthropologists can recover them.

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statistical association

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A relationship or correlation between two or more variables that is unlikely to be due to chance.

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statistically significant

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REfers to a result that would occur very rarely by chance

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stratified

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An archaeological deposit that contains successive layers or strata

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stratigraphy

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The study of how different rock formations and fossils are laid down in successive layers or strata

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theoretical construct

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Something that cannot be observed or verified directly.

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adaptive customs

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Cultural traits that enhance survival and reproductive successes in a particular environment

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allele

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One member of a pair of genes.

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balancing selection

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A type of selection that occurs when a heterozygous combination of alleles is positively favored even though a homozygous combination is disfavored.

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chromosomes

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Paired rod-shaped structures within a cell nucleus containing the genes that transmit traits from one generation to the next.

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cline

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The gradually increasing or decreasing frequency of a gene from one end of a region to another.

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crossing-over

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Exchanges of sections of chromosomes from one chromosome to another.

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directional selection

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A type of natural selection that increases the frequency of a trait (the trait is said to be positively favored, or adaptive).

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DNA

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A long, two-stranded molecule in the genes that directs the makeup of an organism according to the instruction sin its genetic code.

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dominant

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The allele of a gene pair that is always phenotypically expressed in the heterozygous form.

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gene

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Chemical unit of heredity

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gene flow

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The process by which genes pass from the gene pool of one population to that of another through mating and reproduction

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genetic drift

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The various random processes that affect gene frequencies in small, relatively isolated populations.

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genotype

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The total complement of inherited traits or genes of an organism

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heterozygous

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Possessing differing genes or alleles in corresponding location son a pair of chromosomes.

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homozygous

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Possessing two identical genes or alleles in corresponding locations on a pair of chromosomes.

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hybridization

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The creation of a viable offspring from the mating of two different species.

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maladaptive customs

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Cultural traits that diminish the chances of survival and reproduction in a particular environment.

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meiosis

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The process by which reproductive cells are formed; the number of chromosomes in the newly formed cells is reduced by half, so that when fertilization occurs the resulting organism has the normal number of chromosomes appropriate to its species, rather than double that number.

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messenger RNA (mRNA)

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A type of ribonucleic acid that is used in the cell to copy the DNA code for use in protein synthesis.

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mitosis

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Cellular reproduction or growth involving the duplication of chromosomes.

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mutation

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A change in the DNA sequence, producing an altered gene.

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natural selection

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The outcome of processes that affect the frequencies of traits in a particular environment.

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normalizing selection

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The type of natural selection that removes harmful genes that arose by mutation.

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phenotype

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The observable physical appearance of an organism, which may or may not reflect its genotype or total genetic constitution.

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recessive

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An allele phenotypically suppressed in the heterozygous form and expressed only in the homozygous form.

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ribosome

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A structure in the cell used in making proteins.

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segregation

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The random sorting of chromosomes in meiosis.

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sociobiology

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Systematic study of biological causes of human behavior.

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speciation

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The development of a new species.

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species

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A population that consists of organisms able to interbreed and produce viable and fertile offspring.

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acclimatization

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Impermanent physiological changes that people make when they encounter a new environment.

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adaption

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Refers to genetic changes that allow an organism to survive and reproduce in a specific environment.

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Allen's rule

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The rule that protruding body parts (particularly arms and legs) are relatively shorter in a cooler areas of a species' range than in the warmer areas.

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Bergmann's rule

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The rule that smaller-sized subpopulations of a species inhabit the warmer parts of its geographic range and larger-sized subpopulations the cooler areas.

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Gloger's rule

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The rule that populations of birds and mammals living in warm, humid climates have more melanin (and therefore darker skin, fur, or feathers) than populations of the same species living in cooler, drier areas.

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hypoxia

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A condition of oxygen deficiency that often occurs at high altitudes. The percentage of oxygen in the air is the same as at lower altitudes, but because the barometric pressure is lower, less oxygen is taken in with each breath.

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race

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In biology, this refers to a subpopulation or variety of a species that differs somewhat in gene frequencies from other varieties of the species; all members of a species can interbreed and produce viable offspring. Many anthropologists do not think that this concept is usefully applied to humans; this category is largely culturally assigned in humans.

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racism

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The belief, without scientific bases, that some races are inferior to others.

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sickle-cell anemia (sicklemia)

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A condition in which red blood cells assume a crescent shape when deprived of oxygen, instead of the normal disk-like shape, causing them to not move through the body as readily as normal cells, and thus causing damage to the heart, lungs, brain, and other vital organs.

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anthropoids

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One of the two suborders or primates includes monkeys, apes, and humans.

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arboreal

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Adapted to living in trees

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bilophodont

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Having four cusps on the molars that form two parallel ridges, the common molar pattern of Old World monkeys

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bipedalism

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locomotion in which an animal walks on its two hind legs

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brachiators

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Animals that move through the trees by swinging hand over hand from branch to branch; they usually have long arms and fingers

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canines

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the cone-shaped teeth immediately behind the incisors; used by most primates to seize food and in fighting and display

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catarrhines

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the group of anthropoids with narrow noses and nostrils that face downword, including monkeys of the Old World (Africa, Asia, and Europe), apes, and humans

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cercopithecoids

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Old World monkeys

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cerebral cortex

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The gray matter o the brain; the center of speech and other higher mental activities

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disastema

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a gap between the canine and first premolar found in apes

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diurnal

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Active during the day.

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hominids

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The grou pof hominoids consisting of humans and their direct ancestors.

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hominoids

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the grou pof catarrhines that includes both apes and humans

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hylobates

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the family of hominoids that includes gibbons and siamangs; often referred to as the lesser apes (as compared with the great apes such as gorillas and chimpanzees)

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incisors

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the front teeth, used for holding or seizing food and preparing it for chewing by the other teeth

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knuckle walking

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a locomotor pattern of primates such as the chimp and gorilla in which the weight of the upper part of the body is supported on the thickly padded knuckles of the hands

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molars

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the large teeth behind the premolars at the back of the jaw; used for chewing and grinding food

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nocturnal

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active during the night

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omnivorous

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eating both meat and vegetation

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opposable thumb

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a thumb that can touch the tips of all the other fingers

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platyrrhines

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the grou pof anthropoids that have broad, flat-bridge noses, with nostrils facing outward; these monkeys are currently found only in the New World (Central and South America)

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pongids

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hominids whose members include both the living and extinct apes

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prehensile

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adapted for grasping objects

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premolars

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the teeth immediately behind the canines; used in chewing, grinding, and shearing food

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Y-5 pattern

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refers to the pattern of cusps on human molars

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prosimians

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literally "pre-monkeys," one of the two suborders of primates; includes lemurs, lorises, and tarsiers

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quadrupeds

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animals that walk on all fours

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sexually dimorphic

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a marked difference in size and appearance between males and females of a species

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terrestrial

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adapted to living on the ground

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vertical clinging and leaping

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a locomotor pattern characteristics of several primates, including tarsiers and galgos; the animal normally rests by clinging to a branch vertically and uses its hind limbs to push off from one position to another

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adapid

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a type of prosimian with many lemurlike features; appeared in the early eocene

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Aegyptopithecus

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An Oligocene anthropoid and probably the best-known propliopithecid.

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Carpolestes

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A mouse-sized arboreal creature living about 56 million years ago; a strong candidate for the common primate ancestor

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continental drift

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the movement of the continents over the past 135 million years

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Cretaceous

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Geological epoch 135 million to 65 million years ago, during which dinosaurs and other reptiles ceased to be the dominant land vertebrates, and mammals and birds began to become important

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Dryopithecus

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Genus of ape from the later Miocene found primarily in Europe; had thin tooth enamel and pointed molar cusps very similar to those of the fruit-eating chimps of today

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Eocene

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A geological epoch 55 million to 34 million years ago during which the first definite primates appeared

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Fayum

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A site southwest of Cairo, Egypt, wehre the world's best record of Oligocene primate fossils has been found.

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insectivore

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the order or major grouping of mammals, including modern shrews and moles, that is adapted to feeding on insects.

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Kenyapithecus

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An apelike primate from the middle Miocene found in East Africa; had very thickly enameled teeth and robust jaws, suggesting a diet of hard, tough foods; probably somewhat terrestrial

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Miocene

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The geological epoch from 24 million to 5.2 million years ago

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Oligocene

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The geological epoch 34 million to 24 million years ago, during which definite anthropoids emerged

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omomyid

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A type of prosimian with many tarsierlike features that appeared in early Eocene

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Paleocene

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The geological epoch 65 million to 55 million years ago

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parapithecids

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Small monkeylike Oligocene primates found in the Fayum area of Egypt

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Pierolapithecus

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A middle Miocene ape that has wrists and vertebrae that would have made it capable of brachiation, but also has relatively short fingers like modern monkeys

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Plesiadapis

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The most well known of the plesiadipiforms, possibly an archaic primate

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Proconsul

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The best-known genus of proto-apes from the early Miocene

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propliopithecids

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Apelike anthropoids dating from the early Oligocene, found in the Fayum area of Egypt

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Sivapithecus

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A genus of ape from the later Miocene known for its thickly enameled teeth, suggesting a diet of hard, tough, or gritty items; found primarily in western or southern Asia and now thought to be ancestral to orangutans.

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anthropometry

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Refers to the study of variation in the size and shape of the human body

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Ardipithecus ramidus

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Perhaps the first hominid, dating to about 4.5 million years ago; its dentition combines apelike and australopithecine-like features, and its skeleton suggest it was bipedal

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Australopithecus

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Genus of Pliocene and Pleistocene hominids

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Australopithecus aethiopicus

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An early robust australopithecine

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Australopithecus africanus

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A species of Australopithecus that lived between about 3 million and 2 million years ago.

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Australopithecus anamensis

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A species of Australopithecus that lived perhaps 4.2 million years ago.

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Australopithecus bahrelghazali

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An early, slender australopithecine, dating to about 3 million years ago, and currently represented by only a single jaw; species found in western Chad, distant from the East African Rift Valley where all other early australopithecines have been found.

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Australopithecus boisei

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An East African robust australopithecine species dating from 2.2 million to 1.3 million years ago with somewhat larger cranial capacity than A. africanus; no longer thought to be larger than other australopithecines, it is robust primarily in the skull and jaw, most strikingly in the teeth.

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Australopithecus garhi

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A slender australopithecine, dating to about 2.5 million years ago.

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Australopithecus robustus

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A robust australopithecine species found in South African caves dating rom about 1.8 million to 1 million years ago. not as large in the teeth and jaws as A. boisei.

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anthropometry

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Refers to the study of variation in the size and shape of the human body

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Ardipithecus ramidus

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Perhaps the first hominid, dating to about 4.5 million years ago; its dentition combines apelike and australopithecine-like features, and its skeleton suggest it was bipedal

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Australopithecus

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Genus of Pliocene and Pleistocene hominids

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Australopithecus aethiopicus

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An early robust australopithecine

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Australopithecus africanus

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A species of Australopithecus that lived between about 3 million and 2 million years ago.

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Australopithecus anamensis

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A species of Australopithecus that lived perhaps 4.2 million years ago.

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Australopithecus bahrelghazali

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An early, slender australopithecine, dating to about 3 million years ago, and currently represented by only a single jaw; species found in western Chad, distant from the East African Rift Valley where all other early australopithecines have been found.

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Australopithecus boisei

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An East African robust australopithecine species dating from 2.2 million to 1.3 million years ago with somewhat larger cranial capacity than A. africanus; no longer thought to be larger than other australopithecines, it is robust primarily in the skull and jaw, most strikingly in the teeth.

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Australopithecus garhi

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A slender australopithecine, dating to about 2.5 million years ago.

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Australopithecus robustus

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A robust australopithecine species found in South African caves dating rom about 1.8 million to 1 million years ago. not as large in the teeth and jaws as A. boisei.

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Australopithecus afarensis

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A species of Australopithecus that lived 4 million to 3 million years ago in East AFrica and was definitely bipedal.

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foramen magnum

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Opening in the base of the skull through which the spinal cord passes en route to the brain.

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gracile australopithecines

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The earliest group of australopithecines, usually differentiated from the robust australopithecines by their lighter dentition and smaller faces.

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Keynanthropus platyops

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A nearly complete 3.5 million year old skull found in western Kenya; thought by some scholars to be a species of gracile australopithecine and hence should not be regarded as a separate genus

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Orrorin tugenensis

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An apparently bipedal primate dating to between 5.8 and 6 million years, making it possibly the earliest known hominid

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osteology

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refers to the study of bones

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Pliocene

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The geological epoch 5.2 million to 1.6 million years ago during which the earliest definite hominids appeared

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robust australopithecines

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A later group of australopithecines usually differentiated from the gracile australopithecines by their heavier dentition and larger faces.

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sagittal crest

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A ridge of bone running along the top of the skull in Homo erectus

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Sahelanthropus tchadensis

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A hominoid found in Chad dating to around 7 million years ago

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savanna

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Tropical grassland

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Acheulian

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A stone toolmaking tradition dating from 1.5 million years ago

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bifacial tool

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A tool worked or flaked on two sides

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hand axe

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A teardrop-shaped stone tool characteristic Acheulian assemblages

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hard hammer

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A technique of stone tool manufacture where one stone is used to knock flakes from another stone; flakes produced through hard hammer percussion are usually large and crude

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Homo

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Genus to which modern humans and their ancestors belong

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Homo erectus

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The first hominid species to be widely distributed in the Old World; earliest finds are possibly 1.8 million years old; brain was larger than that found in any of the australopithecines or H. habilis but smaller than the average brain of a modern human

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Homo floresiensis

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A dwarf species of hominid that lived on the INdonesian island of Flores until about 12,000 years ago and probably descended form an isolated Homo erectus population

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Homo habilis

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Dating from about 2 million years ago, an early species belonging to our genus, Homo, with cranial capacities averaging about 630-640 cc, about 50 percent of the brain capacity of modern humans

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Homo rudolfensis

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Early species belonging to our genus, Homo. Similar enough to Homo habilis that some paleoanthropologists make no distinction between the two.

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Lower Paleolithic

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The period of the Oldowan and Acheulian stone tool traditions.

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occipital torus

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A ridge of bone running horizontally across the back of the skull in apes and some hominids

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Oldowan

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The earliest stone toolmaking tradition, named after the tools found in Bed I at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, from about 2.5 million years ago; stone artifacts include core tools and sharp-edged flakes made by striking one stone against another

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percussion flaking

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A toolmaking technique in which one stone is stuck to another to remove a flake

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prognathic

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A physical feature that is sticking out or pushed forward, such as the faces in apes and some hominid species

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sagittal keel

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An inverted V-shaped ridge running along the top of the skull in Homo erectus

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soft hammer

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A technique of stone tool manufacture in which a bone or wood hammer is used to strike flakes from a stone

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taurodontism

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having teeth with an enlarged pulp cavity

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unifacial tool

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A tool worked or flaked on one side only