Anthropology Unit One: Core Concepts

The subfield of anthropology focused on human biology and its evolution, including physical features, genetics, and adaptations.

The changes that happen in living organisms over generations, driven by natural selection and environmental factors.

Characteristics passed down from parents to offspring that determine biological traits.

Variations in human physical characteristics including body shape, skin color, and size, resulting from evolutionary adaptations.

The study of ancient cultures and societies through the analysis of material remains, such as artifacts, structures, and human fossils.

The subfield of anthropology that examines the role of language in human societies, including its structure, evolution, and cultural significance.

The study of human societies and cultures, examining social structures, beliefs, customs, and behavior.

The subfield of anthropology that examines the relationship between human biology, culture, and the environment, including the effects of culture on physical development and adaptation.

The process of transferring information using sounds, gestures, or written symbols.

The study of how language is structured, including sounds, grammar, and meaning.

How a culture's values and beliefs are reflected in its language, often through specific vocabulary and categories.

The study of how languages change and evolve over time.

The capacity to transmit cultural traits through language, separating humans from animals.

The unique ability of humans to learn multiple languages, even if they are structurally different.

The study of how language interacts with social factors, such as class, gender, and region.

A detailed description of a specific culture, based on extensive fieldwork and observation.

The comparative study of cultures and societies, analyzing data from multiple ethnographies.

Researchers conducting ethnographic fieldwork spend a significant amount of time living and observing within a specific culture.

Ethnographers collect data through various methods, including observation, interviews, and participation in daily life.

Ethnological research often analyzes data from different ethnographies to identify cultural patterns and variations.

Examples of specialized fields within socio-cultural anthropology include the anthropology of art, medical anthropology, and urban anthropology.

These specialized fields are considered applied areas of anthropology, using anthropological knowledge to address practical issues and solve problems.

The study of the gradual development of simpler forms into more complex structures in hominids, focusing on reconstructing human evolutionary history using fossils.

A branch of human evolution that focuses on studying the biological evolution of humans by analyzing prehistoric fossil remains.

Studies primates, our closest living relatives, to understand human evolution.

The study of the variation in physical traits among contemporary human populations worldwide, focusing on how DNA and RNA influence these differences.

The study of past cultures through the excavation and analysis of material remains, such as tools, buildings, and artifacts.

Objects made and used by past peoples, which can be removed from an archaeological site for further analysis.

Features created or modified by past peoples that cannot be easily removed from an archaeological site.

Non-artifactual evidence from archaeological sites, such as animal bones, plant remains, and soil samples.

Understanding human experience by seeing how individual and collective life, thoughts, and feelings are interconnected, but not necessarily rigidly organized or complete.

Anthropology's approach emphasizes the study of specific cultures, recognizing that our own culture is just one amongst many, each adapted to unique environments.

Anthropology's use of firsthand experience, detailed observation, and close interaction to understand communities and their social world.

Anthropology's research methods, including participant observation, interviews with key people, and group discussions.

The study of human civilization through all its aspects, including its history, cultures, and physical characteristics.

The benefits of studying anthropology: understanding different cultures, gaining insights into our own culture, and becoming more critical of our own community's practices.

The idea that since we are human beings, we need to understand our own civilization, and anthropology helps us achieve this.

Anthropology draws on knowledge from other fields to understand human nature and culture, such as history, sociology, and biology.

Anthropology investigates how people learn and share strategies for survival within their social groups.

Anthropology examines both common human traits and the diverse ways people adapt to different environments.

Anthropology analyzes the products of social groups, including material objects and non-material creations like beliefs and values.

Anthropology seeks to understand culture, society, and humanity through detailed studies of community life and comparisons.

Anthropology aims to explain similarities and differences among humans by examining our biological and cultural past and comparing contemporary societies.

Anthropology strives to develop a complete picture of humankind, encompassing various aspects of our existence, such as why we are tall or short, or why some practice agriculture while others hunt.

Anthropology provides two main insights: understanding the strategies for living learned by social groups and examining the diversity of human adaptations.

Anthropology is distinguished from other social sciences by its broad scope, encompassing the study of human origins, development, and cultural variations across time and space.