Anthropology Final

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paleontology

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the study of ancient life through the fossil record

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paleoanthropology

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studies the fossil record of human evaluation

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fossils

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remains, traces, or impressions of ancient life forms

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systematic survey

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provides a regional perspective by gathering information on settlement patterns over a large area

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Excavation

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scientists dig through the layers of deposits that make up a site

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taphonomy

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the study of the processes that affect the remains of dead animals

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relative dating

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provides a time frame in relation to other strata or materials rather than absolute dates in numbers

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stratigraphy

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the science that examines the ways in which earth sediments accumulate in strata (singular, stratum)

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absolute dating

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dating more precisely with dates in numbers

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molecular anthropology

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uses genetic analysis (of DNA sequences) to date, and to estimate evolutionary distance between, species

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bone biology

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the study of bone as a biological tissue, including its genetics, cell structure; growth, development and decay; and patterns of movement

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anthropometry

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the measurement of human body parts and dimensions including skeletal parts

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participant observation

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taking part in the events one is observing, describing, and analyzing

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sample

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a small manageable study group from a large population

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interview schedule

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the ethnographer talks face to face with people, asks the questions, and writes down the answers

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genealogical method

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a well established ethnographic technique

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Key cultural consultants

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people who by accident, experience, talent, or training can provide the most complete or useful information about the particular aspects of life

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life history

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recollection of a lifetime of events

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emic

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how local people think

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cultural consultant

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individuals the ethnographer gets to know in the field, the people who teach him or her about their culture, who provide the mic perspective

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etic

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shifts the focus from local observations, categories, explanations, and interpretations to those of the anthropologist

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longitudinal research

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long term study of an area or a populations usually based on repeated visits

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survey research

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sampling, impersonal data collection, and statistical analysis

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variables

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attributes that vary among members of a sample and population

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informed consent

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agreement to take part in the research after having been informed about its nature, procedures, and possible impacts

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creationism

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biological similarities and differences originated at the creation

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catastrophism

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the theory that the Earth has been affected in the past by sudden, short-lived, violent events, possibly worldwide in scope.

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evolution

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species arise from others through a long and gradual process of transformation or descent with modification

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uniformitarianism

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states that the present is the key to the past

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theory

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a set of ideas formulated to explain something

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natural selection

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the process by which the forms most fit to survive and reproduce in a given environment do so in a greater numbers than others in the same population

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mendelian genetics

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studies the ways in which chromosomes transmit genes across the generations

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population genetics

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investigates natural selection and other causes of genetic variation, stability,and change in breeding populations

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dominant

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most important, powerful, or influential.

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recessive

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relating to or denoting heritable characteristics controlled by genes that are expressed in offspring only when inherited from both parents, i.e., when not masked by a dominant characteristic inherited from one parent.

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chromosomes

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arranged in matching pairs

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gene

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determines, wholly or partially, a particular biological trait such as whether ones blood type is A,B, or O

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alleles

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biologically different forms of a given gene

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heterozygous

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offspring were mixed, each had two dissimilar alleles of that gene

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homozygous

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possessing two identical alleles of that gene

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genotype

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what you really are genetically

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independent assortment

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traits are inherited independently from each other

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mitosis

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ordinary cell division which continues as the organism grows

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meiosis

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the special process by which sex cells are produced

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gene pool

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refers to all the alleles, genes, chromosomes and gentles within a breeding population-the pool of genetic material available

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genetic evolution

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change in gene frequency

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phenotype

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organisms evident genetic characteristics (physical aspects)

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adaptive

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favored by natural selection

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sexual selection

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certain traits of one sex are selected because of advantages they confer in winning mates

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balanced polymorphism

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frequencies of two or more alleles of a gene remain constant from generation to generation

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mutations

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changes in the DNA molecules of which genes are chromosomes are built

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random genetic drift

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this is a change in allele frequency that results not from natural selection but from chance

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gene flow

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the exchange of genetic material between populations of the same species

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species

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a group of related organisms whose members can interbreed to produce offspring that can live and reproduce

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speciation

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the formation of new species

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racial classification

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the attempt to assign humans to discrete categories based on common ancestry

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clines

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gradual rather than abrupt shifts in gene frequencies between neighboring groups.

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haplogroup

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a lineage or branch of such a genetic tree marked by one or more specific genetic mutations

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melanin

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the primary determinant of human skin color

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phenotypical adaptation

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when adaptive changes occur during an individuals lifetime

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primatology

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the study of nonhuman primates

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primates

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fossil and living apes, monkeys, and prosimians

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taxonomy

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the assignment of organisms to categories according to their relatedness and resemblance

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homologies

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the similarities used to assign organisms to the same taxon

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analogies

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similarities in selective forces and the way species adapt to them

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convergent evolution

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the process by which apologies are produced

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arboreal

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living in trees

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anthropoids

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a higher primate, especially an ape or apeman.

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prosimian

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a primitive primate of a group that includes the lemurs, lorises, bushbabies, and tarsiers.

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opposable thumbs

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the thumb can touch the other fingers

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bipedal

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two footed locomotion

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hominoid

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a primate of a group that includes humans, their fossil ancestors, and the great apes.

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brachiation

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hand over hand movement through the trees

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terrestrial

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primates that live on the ground rather than the trees

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Ardipithecus

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the earliest widely accepted hominid genus (5.8-4.4 MYA) a genus of extinct early hominids known from skeletal remains from northeastern Ethiopia that includes two identified species (A. ramidus and A. kadabba) having a grasping big toe and capable of some form of upright walking

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Australopithecines

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an extinct genus of small-brained,large-toothed bipedal hominids that lived in Africa between one and four million years ago.

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A. anamensis

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has a combination of traits found in both apes and humans. The upper end of the tibia (shin bone) shows an expanded area of bone and a human-like orientation of the ankle joint, indicative of regular bipedal walking (support of body weight on one leg at the time). Long forearms and features of the wrist bones suggest these individuals probably climbed trees as well.

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A. Afarensis

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an extinct species of early hominid whose fossil remains were discovered in Ethiopia and have been dated at between 3.5 and 4 million years of age.

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Australopithecus Africanus

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is an extinct (fossil) species of the australopithecines, the first of an early ape-form species to be classified as hominin (in 1924). Recently it was dated as living between 3.8 to 2.0 million years ago, or in the late Pliocene and early Pleistocene times; it is debated as being a direct ancestor of modern humans.

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gracile

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small and light A. Africanus

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robust

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Big and heavy A. robust

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A. boisei

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an early hominin, described as the largest of the Paranthropus genus. It lived in Eastern Africa during the Pleistocene epoch from about 2.3 until about 1.2 million years ago.

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Homo habilis

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This species, one of the earliest members of the genus Homo, has a slightly larger braincase and smaller face and teeth than in Australopithecus or older hominin species. But it still retains some ape-like features, including long arms and a moderately-prognathic face.Its name, which means ‘handy man’, was given in 1964 because this species was thought to represent the first maker of stone tools. Currently, the oldest stone tools are dated slightly older than the oldest evidence of the genus Homo.

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Oldowan pebble tools

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worlds oldest formally recognized stone tools

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Homo Erectus

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an extinct species of very rugged, large-toothed bipedal hominid, formerly known as Zinjanthropus boisei, that lived in eastern Africa one to two million years ago. meaning upright man

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Acheulean

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of, relating to, or denoting the main Lower Paleolithic culture in Europe, represented by hand-ax industries, and dated to about 1,500,000–150,000 years ago.

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Paleolithic

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of, relating to, or denoting the early phase of the Stone Age, lasting about 2.5 million years, when primitive stone implements were used.

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Archaic Homo Sapiens

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Middle Pleistocene hominins that morphologically and behaviorally fall somewhere in between H. erectus and modern H. sapiens. They encompass the earliest members of our species

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Pleistocene

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the epoch of early human life

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Glacials

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major advances of continental ice sheets in Europe and North America

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interglacials

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long warm periods between the major glacials

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Mousterian

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a style of predominantly flint tools (or industry) associated primarily with Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) and dating to the Middle Paleolithic, the middle part of the Old Stone Age

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Anatomically Modern Humans

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individual members of the species Homo sapiens with an appearance consistent with the range of phenotypes in modern humans.

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Cro-Magnon

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a common name that has been used to describe the first early modern humans (early Homo sapiens sapiens) that lived in the European Upper Paleolithic.

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Herto

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skulls that are anatomically modern that are long with broad mid faces, featuring tall, narrow nasal bones.

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Denisovans

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an extinct species of human in the genus Homo. The species is sometimes given the name Homo sp. Altai, and Homo sapiens ssp. Denisova.

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Behavioral modernity

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relying on symbolic thought, elaborating cultural creativity, and as a result becoming fully human in behavior as well as in anatomy

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Upper paleolithic

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the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago, roughly coinciding with the appearance of behavioral modernity and before the advent of agriculture.

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blade tools

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the portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with an edge that is designed to cut and/or puncture, stab, slash, chop, slice, thrust, or scrape surfaces or materials.

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Clovis tradition

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a sophisticated stone technology based on a point that was fastened to the end of a hunting spear

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broad-sprectrum revolution

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the period beginning around 15000 years ago in the Middle East and 12000 years ago in Europe during which a wider range, or broader spectrum, of planet and animal life was hunted,gathered, collected, caught and fished.

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Mesolithic

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The culture between paleolithic and neolithic.

Characteristic tool type-small stone

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Neolithic

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of, relating to, or denoting the later part of the Stone Age, when ground or polished stone weapons and implements prevailed.

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hilly flanks

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a subtropical woodland zone that flanks those rivers to the north

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Sedentism

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sedentary (settled) life in villages

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Natufians

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collected wild cereals and hunted gazelles

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Mesoamerica

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Middle America, including Mexico, Guatemala and Belize)

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Maize

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corn, was the first domesticated in tropical low-lands of southwestern Mexico

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Manioc

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cassava, it was domesticated in South American lowlands, where other root crops such as yams and sweet potatoes also were important

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teosinte

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The wild ancestor of maize is a species of wild grain. It is native to the Rio Balsas watershed of tropical southwestern Mexico

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state

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a form of social and political organization that has a formal, central government and a division of society into classes

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primary states

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states that arose on their own and not through contact with other state societies

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Halafian

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an early widespread pottery style. refers to a delicate ceramic style

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egalitarian society

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most typically found among foragers, lacks status distinctions except for those based on age, gender, and individual qualities, talents, and achievements

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ranked societies

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ranks individuals in terms of their genealogical distance from the chief. Closer relatives of the chief have higher rank or social status than more distant ones. When individuals and groups rank about equally, competition for positions of leadership may occur.

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stratification

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a system or formation of layers, classes, or categories.

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chiefdoms

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societies in which relations among villages as well as among individuals were unequal

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cuneiform

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denoting or relating to the wedge-shaped characters used in the ancient writing systems of Mesopotamia, Persia, and Ugarit, surviving mainly impressed on clay tablets.

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metallurgy

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the branch of science and technology concerned with the properties of metals and their production and purification.

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smelting

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extract (metal) from its ore by a process involving heating and melting.

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bronze

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a yellowish-brown alloy of copper with up to one-third tin.

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Zapotec

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The first mesoamerican state, emerged in about 2100 before present. the people from this place developed a distinctive art style.

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Teotihuacan

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flourished 1900 and 1300 before present.the ruins of an ancient Mesoamerican city in central Mexico, near Mexico City, and is the site of the pyramids of the Sun and Moon and of many temples, palaces, and dwellings.

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settlement hierarchy

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a way of arranging people into a hierarchy based upon their population or some other criteria.

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Aztec

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a member of the American Indian people dominant in Mexico before the Spanish conquest of the 16th century.

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ethnic group

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these people share certain, values, habits, customs, and norms because of their common background

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ethnicity

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identificationn with and feeling part of an ethnic group and exclusion from certain other groups because of this affiliation

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minority groups

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a term referring to a category of people differentiated from the social majority, subordinate

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majority groups

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superordinate, dominant or controlling

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race

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A group of people identified as distinct from other groups because of supposed physical or genetic traits shared by the group.

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racism

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discrimination against people due to their race

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descent

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the origin or background of a person in terms of family or nationality.

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hypodescent

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used to define the race of children of mixed-race couples where one of the parents is classified as "black" or either is considered to have any trace of African descent.

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nation-state

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autonomous political entity, a country-like the united states

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nationalities

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ethnic groups that once had or wish to have or regain, autonomous political status

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Assimilation

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the process of change that a minority ethnic group may experience when it moves to a country where another culture dominates

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plural societies

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a society combining ethnic contrasts, ecological specialization and the economic interdependence of those groups

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multiculturalism

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the view of cultural diversity in a country as something good and desirable

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prejudice

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devaluing a group because of its assumed behavior, value, capabilities or attributes

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stereotypes

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fixed ideas often unfavorable- about what the members of the group are like

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discrimination

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policies and practices that harm a group and its members

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genocide

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the deliberate elimination of a group

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ethnocide

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the deliberate and systematic destruction of the culture of an ethnic group.

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refugees

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people who have been forces or who have chosen to flee a country to escape persecution of war

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cultural colonialism

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internal domination- by one group and its culture or ideology over others.