Mirror For Humanity: Ch.1 What Is Anthropology?

Front 1

What does anthropology reveal about assumptions such as "people are pretty much the same all over the world"?

Back 1

that years of comparitive, cross-cultural research prove that these assumptions are wrong

Front 2

What is anthropology?

Back 2

the exploration of human diversity in time and space: unique cross-cultural perspective, holistic discipline
the study of the human species and its ancestors

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What are cultures?

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traditions and customs, transmitted through learning, that form and guide the beliefs and behavior of the people that are exposed to them

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In the Andes of South America, people wake up in villages 16,000 feet above sea level and then trek 15,000 feet higher to work in tin mines. Tribes in the Australian desert worship animals and discuss philosophy. People survive malaria in the Tropics. What do these examples illustrate?

Back 4

anthropology's deep interest in the diversity that comes through both biological and cultural human adaptability

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As human history has unfolded, the social and cultural means of adaptation have

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become increasingly important

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what are the subdisciplines of anthropology?

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(socio)cultural anthropology
biological anthropology
archaeological anthropology
linguistic anthropology

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how have scientists historically approached the study of human biological diversity?

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through racial classifications

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what is the current, more scientifically valid, approach to the study of human biological diversity?

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the explanatory approach

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One of the many problems with using phenotype to classify human races is that phenotypical similarities and differences...

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do not necessarily have a genetic basis

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What is the most likely reason for the dark skin color shared by tropical Africans and southern Indians?

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prevention of hypervitaminosis D

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Recent research suggests that another key factor explaining the geographic distribution of skin color involves the effects of UV on folate. What is folate?

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an essential nutrient that the human body manufactures from folic acid and that plays a key role in preventing neural tube defects.

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ethnography

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provides an account of a particular community, society, or culture

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ethnology

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examines, interprets, analyzes, and compares the results of other anthropological studies

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The field that investigates the relationships between social and linguistic variation is

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socioliguistics

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Cultural resource management is an example of the application of which subfield of anthropology?

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archaeological anthropology

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society

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organized life in groups

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What are the biologiacl capacities on which culture depends?

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the ability to learn, to think symbolically, to use language, and to employ tools and other products in organizing their lives and adapting to their environment

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adaptation

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refers to the processes by which organisms cope with environmental forces and stresses, such as those posed by climate and topography or terrains, also called landforms. humans use biological and cultural means of adaptation.

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biocultural

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refers to the inclusion and combination of both biological and cultural perspectives and approaches to comment on or solve a particular issue or problem

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cultural anthropology

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-the study of human society and culture, the subfield that describes, analyzes, interprets, and explains social and cultural similarities
-uses ethnology and ethnography

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archaeological anthropology

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-reconstructs, describes, and interprets human behavior and cutural patterns through material remains
-archaeologists reconstruct patterns of production, trade, and consumption

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paleoecology

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looks at the ecosystems of the past

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biological or physical anthropology & its five special interests

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-studies human biological diversity through time and space
1. human evolution as revealed by the fossil record (paleoanthropology)
2. human genetics
3. human growth and development
4. human bioligcal plasticity (the body's ability to change as it copes with stresses, such as heat, cold, and altitude)
5. the biology, evolution, behavior, and social life of monkeys, apes, and other nonhuman primates

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paleoanthropoligst

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studies the fossil record of human evolution

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linguistic anthropology

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studies language in its social and cultural context, across time and space

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applied anthropology

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the application of anthropolgical data, perspectives, theory and methods to identify, assess, and solve contemporary social problems

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cultural resource management

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deciding what needs saving, and preserrving significant information about the past when sites cannot be saved.