CHAPTER ONE
WHAT IS BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY?
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading and carefully considering Chapter One, students should be able to:
● 1.1: Identify the subfields of Anthropology and explain their applications to the
study of the human species.
● 1.2: Explain the subfields within biological anthropology and discuss how they try
to answer key questions
about the human species.
● 1.3: Review the development of biological anthropology in the United States,
including change in focus
over time.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE SUMMARY
ANTHROPOLOGY AND ITS SUBFIELDS
1.1 Identify the subfields of Anthropology and explain their applications to the study
of the human species.
• Anthropology is the study of humankind in a cross-cultural perspective.
• Anthropologists study cultures in far-flung places, and they also study subcultures in our
own society.
,• Anthropology has four subfields.
THE SCOPE OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
1.2 Explain the subfields within biological anthropology and discuss how they try to
answer key questions about the human species.
• Biological anthropology is one of Anthropology’s four subfields, along with archaeology,
cultural anthropology, and linguistic anthropology.
• It is the study of humans as biological creatures: where we came from, our evolution, and
how our biology interacts with our culture today.
THE ROOTS OF MODERN BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
1.3 Review the development of biological anthropology in the United States, including
its change in focus over time.
• Evolution by natural selection is the principle by which biological anthropologists
understand the place of humans in the natural world.
• Biological anthropology seeks to answer a few basic questions: What does it mean to be
human? How did we become who we are today? How does our biological past influence our
lives in the environments of the present? What is the place of human beings in nature?
LECTURE OUTLINE
I. Introduction
A. Links between biologists in different subfields
B. Biological anthropologists try to understand details of evolution
1. How do they shape who we are today?
, 2. Debzhansky: “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of
evolution.”
C. The evolutionary process is slow and inefficient
II. Anthropology and its subfields
A. Anthropology is the study of humankind in all its forms
1. Distinguished by its cross-cultural, holistic nature
2. Culture: the sum total of learned traditions of a group of people (e.g.,
language)
3. Debate over interplay of biology and culture
B. Other subfields of anthropology
1. Cultural anthropology: the study of human societies in a cross-cultural
perspective
a. Ethnology: a subfield of cultural anthropology, the study of
behavior within human societies
2. Linguistic anthropology: the study of the form, function, and social context of
language
3. Archaeology: the study of how people used to live, based on artifacts they
left behind
a. Historical archaeologists study past civilizations that left a written record
III. The Scope of Biological Anthropology
A. Paleoanthropology: the study of the fossil record for humankind
1. Includes fossilized remains with the most direct physical evidence of human
ancestry
2. Famous examples include Lucy or the Peking Man
3. Discovery of new human fossils every decade or so
4. Research takes place in the field as well as in museums and laboratories
5. Comparisons between extinct and living forms (e.g., presence of canine
teeth)
, 6. Tree with many branches has replaced linear view of human evolution
B. Skeletal Biology and Human Osteology
1. Osteology: study of the skeleton
2. Identify what sort of animal the fossil/fragment was in life
3. Keen spatial sense of how jigsaw-puzzle-like array fits together
4. Among the first generation of biological anthropologists
5. Relationship between genetics, human growth and stature, and geographic
variation
6. Skeletal anthropology: includes patterns and processes of human
growth, physiology, and development
C. Paleopathology and Bioarchaeology: the study of disease in ancient human
populations
1. Goes hand-in-hand with the study of human remains in archaeological
context
2. Study effects of trauma, epidemics, nutritional deficiencies, and infectious
diseases
D. Forensic anthropology: study of the identification of skeletal remains
1. Includes means by which an individual died
2. Applications in historical study and criminal investigations
E. Primatology: study of the anatomy, physiology, behavior, and genetics of
both living and extinct monkeys, apes, and prosimians
1. Best known through the work of Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey
2. Desire to learn more about patterns of behavior
3. Learn about how evolution molded the human species
F. Human Biology: study of human growth and development, adaptations to
environmental extremes, and human genetics
1. Nutritional anthropologists study diet, culture, and evolution
2. Biological and cultural forces
WHAT IS BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY?
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading and carefully considering Chapter One, students should be able to:
● 1.1: Identify the subfields of Anthropology and explain their applications to the
study of the human species.
● 1.2: Explain the subfields within biological anthropology and discuss how they try
to answer key questions
about the human species.
● 1.3: Review the development of biological anthropology in the United States,
including change in focus
over time.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE SUMMARY
ANTHROPOLOGY AND ITS SUBFIELDS
1.1 Identify the subfields of Anthropology and explain their applications to the study
of the human species.
• Anthropology is the study of humankind in a cross-cultural perspective.
• Anthropologists study cultures in far-flung places, and they also study subcultures in our
own society.
,• Anthropology has four subfields.
THE SCOPE OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
1.2 Explain the subfields within biological anthropology and discuss how they try to
answer key questions about the human species.
• Biological anthropology is one of Anthropology’s four subfields, along with archaeology,
cultural anthropology, and linguistic anthropology.
• It is the study of humans as biological creatures: where we came from, our evolution, and
how our biology interacts with our culture today.
THE ROOTS OF MODERN BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
1.3 Review the development of biological anthropology in the United States, including
its change in focus over time.
• Evolution by natural selection is the principle by which biological anthropologists
understand the place of humans in the natural world.
• Biological anthropology seeks to answer a few basic questions: What does it mean to be
human? How did we become who we are today? How does our biological past influence our
lives in the environments of the present? What is the place of human beings in nature?
LECTURE OUTLINE
I. Introduction
A. Links between biologists in different subfields
B. Biological anthropologists try to understand details of evolution
1. How do they shape who we are today?
, 2. Debzhansky: “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of
evolution.”
C. The evolutionary process is slow and inefficient
II. Anthropology and its subfields
A. Anthropology is the study of humankind in all its forms
1. Distinguished by its cross-cultural, holistic nature
2. Culture: the sum total of learned traditions of a group of people (e.g.,
language)
3. Debate over interplay of biology and culture
B. Other subfields of anthropology
1. Cultural anthropology: the study of human societies in a cross-cultural
perspective
a. Ethnology: a subfield of cultural anthropology, the study of
behavior within human societies
2. Linguistic anthropology: the study of the form, function, and social context of
language
3. Archaeology: the study of how people used to live, based on artifacts they
left behind
a. Historical archaeologists study past civilizations that left a written record
III. The Scope of Biological Anthropology
A. Paleoanthropology: the study of the fossil record for humankind
1. Includes fossilized remains with the most direct physical evidence of human
ancestry
2. Famous examples include Lucy or the Peking Man
3. Discovery of new human fossils every decade or so
4. Research takes place in the field as well as in museums and laboratories
5. Comparisons between extinct and living forms (e.g., presence of canine
teeth)
, 6. Tree with many branches has replaced linear view of human evolution
B. Skeletal Biology and Human Osteology
1. Osteology: study of the skeleton
2. Identify what sort of animal the fossil/fragment was in life
3. Keen spatial sense of how jigsaw-puzzle-like array fits together
4. Among the first generation of biological anthropologists
5. Relationship between genetics, human growth and stature, and geographic
variation
6. Skeletal anthropology: includes patterns and processes of human
growth, physiology, and development
C. Paleopathology and Bioarchaeology: the study of disease in ancient human
populations
1. Goes hand-in-hand with the study of human remains in archaeological
context
2. Study effects of trauma, epidemics, nutritional deficiencies, and infectious
diseases
D. Forensic anthropology: study of the identification of skeletal remains
1. Includes means by which an individual died
2. Applications in historical study and criminal investigations
E. Primatology: study of the anatomy, physiology, behavior, and genetics of
both living and extinct monkeys, apes, and prosimians
1. Best known through the work of Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey
2. Desire to learn more about patterns of behavior
3. Learn about how evolution molded the human species
F. Human Biology: study of human growth and development, adaptations to
environmental extremes, and human genetics
1. Nutritional anthropologists study diet, culture, and evolution
2. Biological and cultural forces
