Anthropology
Terms
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- What are the four subfields of anthropology?
- 1. biological anthropology, 2. cultural anthropology, 3. archaeology, 4. linguistic anthropology
- biological anthropology
- The study of human biological and physical adaptation & variation through time & space. Ex. Why has brain size increased for the last 4.4 million years? Common goal: to understand the origin, composition, and adaptability of the human species.
- primatology
- the study of our non-human primate relatives and ancestors.
- paleoanthropology
- studies the ancient human fossil forms, known as hominids
- Evolutionary genetics & Demography
- examines the geographic distribution of human genes and diseases, and how genes have changed and adapted over time. Traits like blood types, sickle cell anemia, hair color, skin tone, and # of teeth change over time.
- forensic anthropology
- specialize in the identification of human tissue and skeletal remains, usually for legal purposes.
- ethnology
- the study of existing and recent cultures.
- archaeology
- The study of human cultures in the past through the recovery and analysis of artifacts. Based on careful recovery of artifacts, their positioning and context. Common goal: recover remains of human societies to reconstruct cultural processes in past ways of life.
- prehistoric achaeology
- studies societies from times before written records "pre-historic" is a diff. time in diff. areas
- historic archaeology
- studies societies which have written records. (Much is still unwritten).
- bioarchaeology
- examines overall health of ancient populations, interrelating disease & nutrition with demographics & behavior.