Varun Gupta 1

Lecture Notes
Anthropology:Chapters1and2
Academicanthropologistsvs.Appliedanthropologists
o Bothobservepeopleanddocument/record
o Bothpublish
o Bothareprofessors
o Appliedanthropologistsinterveneinculturallydemandingissues
Academicdonotintervene
Academicanthropologistshavenointerestinaparticularsolutiontoaproblem
Fourmajorsubfields:
o Archaeological
o Biological
o Cultural
o Linguistic
Examineschangeofhumans
Culturalanthropologyutilizesvariousmethods:
o Ethnographyfieldworkinaparticularculture
o Ethnologycrossculturalcomparisons
Comparativestudyofethnography
ArchaeologicalanthropologistsdoNOTstudybones
o Mainlystudyartifacts,garbage,burials
Biologicalanthropologyhasfourmainfoci
o Primatology
o Growthanddevelopment
o Genetics
o Paleoanthropology
Studyofreallyoldhumans
Linguisticanthropology
o Reconstructsancientlanguagesandstudylinguisticvariations
o Sociolinguisticsinvestigatesrelationshipsbetweendifferentcultures
Culturalresourcemanagementisasubfieldofarchaeologicalanthropology
Appliedlinguistsanalyzelanguagesandspeechpatternstolearnlanguages
Forensicscientistsareaformofbiologicalanthropologists
Anthropology:Chapters3and4
Anthropologistsprimaryjobistothepeople,species,andmaterialsstudied
Informedconsentmustbegivenbeforeastudy
o Peopleneedtoknowwhatthepotentialimpactis
Anthropometryisthemeasurementofhumansize
Paleoanthropologyisthestudyofhumanevolutionthroughfossilrecords
Primatologyistheclosestudyofnonhumanprimates
o Primatologistsneedtoestablisharapportwiththeprimatestheystudy
Bonebiologyisthestudyofbonestolearnabouthumanevolution

MolecularanthropologylooksatDNAtodetermineevolutionarylinks

Absolutevs.relativedating

o Absolutedatinggivesarangeofdates
o Relativedatingemploysatechniquecalledstratigraphy
LooksatdifferentlayersoftheEarthtodeterminetimeperiods
Dendrochronologyislookingattreeringstofindabsolutedating
Methodsinarchaeology:surveyandexcavation
o Mostcommonapproachistodigthroughlayersinasite
Lookatgeologicaldepressions
Humansareveryskilledatadaptingbothbiologicallyandsocially
o Adjustingtoextremetemperatures,food,disaster
Scienceemergedin18thcenturyinoppositiontoreligion
o EmergenceofCartesianDuality
Separationofscienceandeverythingelse
o FossilrecordsprovedBiblewrong
Creationistssaidthatthereweremultipledisasterlikeoccurrences
o DidntcoincidewithBible
o Linnaeusmadetaxonomiccharts
DarwinwasinfluencedbyUniformitarianism
o Presentisthekeytothepast
Ifsomenaturaldisasterhappensnow,ithappenedinthepast
Killedmanyspecies
o Cameupwithnaturalselection
Survivalandreproduction

Anthropology:Chapter4
Creationistshadtheoryofcatastrophism
o Godcreatedeventstowipeoutpopulations
Contradictsuniformitarianismssecularviews
Evolutionistscanneverprovewhatthefirst,originalspecieswas
Fornaturalselectiontooccur
o Diversitymustbethere
o Competitionforstrategicresources
GeneticsemergedafterDarwin
o Mendeliangenetics:studieswaysinwhichchromosomestransmitgenes
Focusedonselectivebreeding
o Biochemicalgenetics:examinesstructure,functionandchangesinDNA
o Populationgenetics:investigatesnaturalselection
Mutationsmostmutationsareneutralthatmakenodifferentintheenvironment
o Mostmutationschangethegenotypeinsteadofthephenotype
Crossingoverisawaytoincreasegeneticvariety

Varun Gupta 3
Lecture Notes

Twokindsofmutations:
o Basesequencemutation
o Recombination
Adaptivetraitsaretypicallymorefavoredinanenvironment
Sexualselection:selectionofcertaintraitsbecausetheyaremoresexually
favorable
Fixationisthereplacementofonetraitoveranother
Geneflowworksagainstspeciation
o Allopatricspeciationisageographicisolationoftwoormorespecies