Anthropology Terms

Derived from the French village of St. Acheul, where these tools were first identified; Lower Paleolithic tool tradition associated with H. erectus.

Dating techniques that establish dates in numbers or ranges of numbers

A biochemical difference involving a particular gene

Members of Anthropoidea, one of the two suborders of primates; monkeys, apes, and humans are anthropoids.

study of human

Tree-dwelling

(H. heidelbergensis) Early H. sapiens, consisting of the Neandertals of Europe and the Middle East, 300-400,000 years ago

Ethiopia 4.4mya, looks like ape, not bipedal

Early form of Australopithecus, found in Ethiopia at Hadar ("Lucy") and in Tanzania at Laetoli; dating to the period between 3.8 and 3.0 m.y.a.

The branch of anthropology that studies human biological diversity in time and space—for instance, hominid evolution, human genetics, human biological adaptation; also includes primatology

Upright two-legged locomotion, the key feature differentiating early hominins from the apes.

Swinging hand over hand through trees (arboreal & New World monkeys)

All meat diet

strong bond between mother and child, sleep in trees, able to use tools

uses and evolutionary tree to categorize all living things

characteristic of primates and humans

The position that the values and standards of cultures differ and deserve respect. Anthropology is characterized by methodological rather than moral relativism: In order to understand another culture fully, anthropologists try to understand its members' beliefs and motivations. Methodological relativism does not preclude making moral judgments or taking action.

Traditions and customs that govern behavior and beliefs; distinctly human; transmitted through learning.

behavior of animals that are active in the daytime

The research strategy that focuses on anative explanations and criteria of significance

The research strategy that emphasizes the observer's rather than the natives' explanations, categories, and criteria of significance.

The tendency to view one's own culture as best and to judge the behavior and beliefs of culturally different people by one's own standards.

fieldwork in a particular culture

transition from archais to modern H. sapiens; took place in Africa.

ashes dating 500-700,000 years ago in Thailand

identify bodies

remains (e.g. bones), traces or impressions (e.g. footprints) of ancient life.

gor from a natural grass fire and transported; used for heat, soften and cook meat, light, and protection

Exchange of genetic material between populations of the same species through direct or indirect interbreeding.

All the alleles and genotypes within a breeding population—the "pool" of genetic material available.

Area in a chromosome pair that determines, wholly or partially, a particular biological trait, such as whether one's blood type is A, B, AB, or O.

set of rules by which DNA is translated into proteins by living cells

Change in gene frequency that results not from natural selection but from chance; most common in small populations.

An organism's hereditary makeup

Primatologist and activist; studied chimps in Goma, Africs

Archulean technique; chipped rock to form a sharp edge

- idea that something as a whole is greater than the sum of its parts; ex. One child per family ~ kill girls and keep the boys in order to continue lineage

2-3mya in Africa ;bipedal

780,000 year ago in Spain; oldest in Europe

Turkana boy; 350,000 years ago in Kenya

ancestor or contemporary of H. erectus; lived from about 1.9 to 1.44 m.y.a.

500,000 years ago in Germany; 30 complete skeletons found in the Pit of Bones, buried with pink quartz hand axe

populated the world 50,000 years ago, painted wallart, seafood, jewelry, evolved from H. erectus in Africa

traits that organisms jointly inherit from their common ancestor

An expert on a particular aspect of local life who helps the ethnographer understand that aspect

H. heidelbergensis and Neanderthal specialized tools for specific jobs

system used to name and categorize all livingcreatures; share similarities

Long-term study of a community, society, culture, or other unit, usually based on repeated visits.

A. afarensis; 3mya

Special process by which sex cells are produced; four cells are produced from one, each with half the genetic material of the original cell.

all humans migrated from Africa

Organelles responsible for producing energy

Ordinary cell division; DNA molecules copy themselves,creating two identical cells out of one.

H. sapiens; bipedal, brain size of 1350cc

Middle Paleolithictool-making traditionassociated with Neandertals.

(mitochondria DNA) DNA difference among species

all populations of archaic H. sapiens areeasily derivable from earlier populations of H. erectus from the same region

change in the DNA molecules of which genes and chromosomes are built

Originally formulated by Charles Darwin andAlfred Russel Wallace; the process by which nature selects the forms most fitto survive and reproduce in a given environment, such as the tropics.

H.sapiens neanderthalensis, representing an archaic H.sapiens subspecies, lived in Europe and the Middle East between130,000 and 30,000 B.P.

Platyrrhini- S/C America, flat nose and longtail Anthropoids

Catarrhini- Asia and Africa, bignose and short/no tail

Live at night

Earliest (2.0 to 2.5 m.y.a.) stone tools; first discovered in 1931 by L. S. B. and Mary Leakey at Olduvai Gorge.

plant and meat diet

field study (no digging) of human vs. primate bones

The study of hominin evolution and human lifeas revealed by the fossil record.

A characteristic ethnographic technique; takingpart in the events one is observing, describing, and analyzing.

An organism's evident trais; its "manifest biology"—anatomy and physiology.

appendages that have adapted for grasping/holding (feet, tails, claws)

The study of the biology, behavior, social life,and evolution of monkeys, apes, and other nonhuman primates.

buried together = same time period

date according to layer

The primate suborder that includes lemurs, lorises,and tarsiers.

The attempt to assign humans to discretecategories (purportedly) based on common ancestry

males: mate as much aspossible to produce more offspring and continue lineage; women: mate once

fault line in E. Africa; location of Turkana boy/H. erectus

marked differences in male/female biology besidesbreasts and genitals

mutation as a result of having bothmalaria-resistant chromosomes

• Biological/Physical (paleoanthro,primatology, osteology, forensic)
• Archaeology
• Linguistics
• Applied Anthro(medical, urban, education)
• Social/Cultural (ethnography and ethnology)

Classification scheme; assignment to categories

humans evolved from apes, Charles Darwin