Download Foundations – Anthropology – Main Concepts and

Learning Goal: I can
demonstrate an
understanding of the
main concepts and
theories within APS
– foundations
What
is Anthropology?
• Greek word meaning: “The
Study of People”
• Anthropology is the broad study
of humankind around the world
and throughout time.
• It is concerned with both the
biological and the cultural
aspects of humans.
Why do we need
Anthropologists?
• Don’t they tell us what we already know to be true?
• Intuition is believing something to be true because
a person’s emotions and logic support it
• Intuition is not proof of fact – this is why we need
anthropologists – they prove or disprove what we
BELIEVE to be true
Branches of Anthropology
There 2 main subdivisions (areas)
in the study of Anthropology:
• Physical Anthropology
• Cultural Anthropology
Physical Anthropology –
Main Concepts
•
How the human species has changed physically
over time (hundreds of millions of years) – called
Biological Evolution
•
Study of Primatology – primates (apes, chimps as
ancestors of humans)
•
Why we have certain physical characteristics from
our ancestors (i.e. skin colour…) - called Genetic
Inheritance
Physical Anthropology –
Main Concepts
•
Evolution refers to change or transformation over
time - how have humans changed and adapted
over time – called Adaptation.
•
Archeology - Techniques for finding, excavating,
dating, and analyzing material remains of past
societies
Careers in Physical
Anthropology - Forensics
Forensic Anthropology:
Forensic Archaeology:
• Can determine:
gender, age, stature,
racial affiliation, time
since death, cause of
death from markings
on bones, identify
illnesses and wounds
• The systematic
archaeological
recovery of buried
remains and artifacts.
• Osteology: bones
• Dentition: teeth
• Ethnobotony: plant
remains and pollen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsHgv2UnFdc&list=PL5B24BAB69625D8AF
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cogeHybySI
What is Culture?
• Culture and traditions of a group of people
(language, kinship, beliefs, food rituals…)
• The term was first used in this way by the pioneer
English Anthropologist Edward B. Tylor in his book,
Primitive Culture, published in 1871.
Culture - Edward B. Tylor
• Tylor said that culture is "that complex whole which
includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals,
custom, and any other capabilities and habits
acquired by man as a member of society.”
• For anthropologists and other behavioral scientists,
culture is the full range of learned human behavior
patterns
Kinship – Main Concept
in Anthropology
• Kinship is a family relationship based on what a
culture considers a family to be
• The family unit can vary depending on the culture
in which the family lives
• Anthropologists have concluded that human
cultures define the concept of kinship in three ways:
mating (marriage), birth (descent) and nurturance
(adoption)
Cultural Anthropology –
Main Concepts
• Linguistic Anthropology - The structure, function,
and history of languages - Verbal and nonverbal
communication
‘Ain’t Nothing' but a
Slang Thang Baby’
• Even those of us who speak English also use some kind of
slang in certain circumstances. Slang is a kind of
language that Merriam-Webster describes as "peculiar
to a particular group. An informal nonstandard
vocabulary composed typically of coinages, arbitrarily
changed words, and extravagant, forced, or facetious
figures of speech." This lesson explores different "slang
languages," and how they developed
Discuss what you think this means:
• "That ossified big six over there with the cheaters on thinks he'll get a
bearcat because he rides a gravy train!"
And this:
• "But that's baloney! He may think he's a big cheese, but a razzle dazzle
dame will fly the coop once she realizes he orders some plonk."
Translation
• http://www.alphadictionary.com/index.shtml
Modern Day Change
in Language
Early Communication
• Communication was an essential skill for our
ancestors
o Co-operation during the hunt
o Warning of potential danger
• Anatomical structures for oral language existed
in our early ancestors, but their speech was
most likely restricted to grunts and other noises
o Included body gestures & facial expressions
• Communication allows us to express feelings, describe
tasks, argue or discuss a position or ideas
Physical Attributes
Enabling Speech are:
• Larger brain
• Brain organized to allow abstract thoughts
• Development of the Broca’s area that controls
speech
• Lowered voice box and strategically positioned
hyoid bone
Communication Process
• Includes:
(a) verbal communication
– language
– writing
– speech
– sign language
(b) non-verbal communication
- body language
- tone & character of voice
- interaction distance
- outward appearance
Language - verbal
• A sophisticated communication system that
includes vocabulary and lexicon as well as a set of
grammar rules outlining its proper use
• Characteristics of human language:
o
o
o
o
Open - evolves to include new terms and concepts
Discrete – distinct messages can be sent
Arbitrary assignment of words to concepts or objects
Conveys information about events in time
Non-Verbal Communication
• Have you ever made an instant judgment about a
person, without ever speaking to him or her? Can
you tell when people are worried, afraid, or angry?
Research suggests that very little of our
communication is actually verbal. About 93% of the
information we give and receive is actually
nonverbal.
Non-Verbal Activities
• Activity 1: Non-Verbal Acting
• Activity 2: We Have to Move Now!
• Activity 3: Stack the Deck
Body Language
• The means of communicating information and
attitudes in a non-verbal manner
• i.e. facial expressions and gestures
• May be used consciously or sub-consciously
• Compliments verbal language and reinforces the
oral message
• Cross-cultural communication awareness to
prevent misunderstandings
Skills and Methods used by
Anthropologists
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Participation-observation
Collection of statistics
Field interviews
Rigorous compilation of detailed notes
Fieldwork on anthropologists is know as
“ethnography”: the scientific study of human races
and cultures
Participation-Observation
• Anthropologists have learned that the best way to
really get to know another society and its culture is
to live in it as an active participant rather than
simply an observer
• By physically and emotionally participating in the
social interaction of the host society it is possible to
become accepted as a member.
• Example: Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall's quest to work with live
animals in the wild began more than
forty years ago. After hiring Jane as an
assistant on a fossil-hunting dig at
Olduvai Gorge in Africa, noted
paleontologist and anthropologist Dr.
Louis Leakey arranged for Jane to
travel to Gombe to study the behavior
of the chimpanzees that make their
home there.
Jane's relationship with Gombe's
chimpanzees goes beyond a mere
scientific interest - it has evolved into a
genuine affection and commitment to
their survival. Fascinated by the twentysquare-mile park and its charismatic
inhabitants, Goodall established what
has become the longest continuously
running study of animals in the wild.
Jane Goodall
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5Q6-hh49mU
• Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees invites viewers to
be among the few humans who have ventured into
the realm of the wild chimpanzee to see them at
close range.
• Research has proven that chimpanzees and
humans share nearly 99% of the same DNA, making
chimps the closest relative to humans.
• Dr. Goodall's discoveries in forty years of research at
Gombe in Africa - including her groundbreaking
observations of chimpanzees making and using
tools - have not only revolutionized our
understanding of chimps, but ultimately of human
behavior itself.
The Leakeys
Anthropolgists
Big Discoveries
• East Africa has been where
the Leakeys found exciting
fossils that provide evidence
of human origins.
• Mary and Louis Leakey
(married couple) found the
remains of a skull of a
human ancestor dated to
be 1.75 million years old.
• They named it “The
Nutcracker Boy” due to the
huge cheek teeth.
• Significance: more proof
that all humans originated in
Africa and that humans had
a complicated and long
evolution process
Footprints in Volcanic Ash
• Mary also discovered the
footprints of human ancestors
preserved in volcanic ash
• Significance: human
ancestors walked upright
before they used tools;
evolution took longer than
once thought/originated in
Africa
Anthropological Theories
• Anthropology Schools of Thought
1. Functionalism
2. Structuralism
3. Culturalism –
• (Materialism, Determinism, Relativism)
Great Thinker:
Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942)
• Founder of the “functional”
school of anthropology, which
maintains that human institutions
should be examined in the
context of the culture as a whole
• Belief that all components of
society interlock to form a wellbalanced system.
• Emphasized characteristics of
beliefs, ceremonies, customs,
institutions, religion, ritual and
sexual taboos.
Functionalism:
• The Functionalists examined how a particular
cultural phase is interrelated with other aspects of
the culture and how it affects the whole system of
the society.
• The method of functionalism was based on
fieldwork and direct observations of societies.
• Societies must have a set standard of laws and
practices to provide stability. These are referred to
as social institutions.
Functionalism:
• Society is based upon the basic needs (both
physical and psychological) that must function in
the best interest by the needs of the majority
o Examples include food for hunger, and a feeling of safety
for society’s members.
• In order to understand a society, you must
understand/comprehend the culture and their
actions.
• The role of anthropologists is to explain not judge
• The belief is that all society’s actions make up their
culture and that they all serve a purpose.
Structuralism:
• Aspects of culture are based on common
properties/ties within a society.
• The goal of Structuralism is to discover universal
principles of the human mind underlying each
cultural trait and custom.
Structuralism:
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•
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Cultural aspects:
language and communication,
subsistence and other economic patterns,
kinship (family), sex and marriage,
socialization,
social control,
political organization,
class, ethnicity, gender, religion,
culture change
Structuralism:
• Theory of binary opposites - everything in society is
divided between two ends of the spectrum: good vs.
evil, male vs. female, etc.
• Binary opposites differ from society to society and are
defined in a particular culture in a way that is logical to
its members
• The divisions within society are not always considered just
right or wrong, it depends on the context in which they
are used.
o i.e.) shoes are “good” when you wear them outside but “bad”
o
if you put them on the table
Question: How does this theory apply to alcohol use?
Cultural Materialism:
• The most important factors in molding a
•
•
society are technology and economics/$$$.
This is known as materialism
There are different structures to society:
o Infrastructure (material goods)
o Structure (class system)
o Superstructure (arts, sports, etc.)
• Question: How does this apply to our culture?
Cultural Determinism:
• Determinism –the types of technology and
economic methods that are adopted determine
the type of society that develops
o i.e. Amish Society vs. Western Society
o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcmESjcmrzM&feature=related
• The culture in which we are raised determines who
we are at emotional and behavioral levels environmental influences dominate who we are
instead of biologically inherited traits
Cultural Relativism:
• Cultural relativism means that the function
•
•
and meaning of a trait are relative to its
cultural setting.
A trait is neither good nor bad in itself.
It is good or bad only with reference to the
culture in which it is to function.
Great Thinker:
Franz Boas (1858-1942)
• Pioneer of modern Anthropology
• World is full of distinct cultures rather
than of societies whose evolution
could be measured by how much
or how little "civilization" they had
• Coined “cultural relativism” -- the
principle that an individual human's
beliefs and activities should be
understood by others in terms of
that individual's own culture
(promotes understanding instead of
judgment)
Cultural Relativism Ethnocentrism:
• Different societies or cultures are analyzed
without using the values of one culture to judge
the worth of another.
• Cannot understand actions of other groups if
they are analyzed in terms of our motives and
values.
• Must interpret their behavior in the light of their
motives, habits and values if we are to
understand them.