Anthropology Exam 1 Flashcards
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Anthropology
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the holistic, scientific study of humankind- holistic study of all humankind from its origin to the present
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Archaelogy
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the subfield of anthropology that recovers evidence of the human cultural past and reconstructs past cultural systems- study of material remains of past human behavior- get materials from: refuse- trash, architecture- foundations or stains, shipwrecks- see what's being traded- can trace routes- development of ships, landscapes- where people choose to settle- how people manipulated it
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Biological Anthropology
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the subfield of anthropology that studies humans as a biological species. Focus on physical, biological human- genetics, evolution, fossil record, modern primates Physical anthropology- the impact of culture on the human body
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Culture anthropology
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the subfield of anthropology that focuses on human cultural behavior and cultural systems and the variation in cultural expression among human groups. Study of culture and behavior- all aspects of life have affects and are culture- done in living communities How people's behaviors adapt to different situations How people will interpret there cultural upbringing
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ethnographic fieldwork
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going into living communities- description of a cultural system based on fieldwork within that culture
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ethnocentrism
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making value judgments about another culture from the perspective of one's own cultural system
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cultural relativism
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studying another culture from its point of view without imposing our own cultural views
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Franz Boas
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father of American Anthropology- redefined race
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Participant Observation
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In ethnography, the technique of learning a people's culture through social participation and personal observation within the community being studied, as well as interviews and discussion with individual members of the group over an extended period of time.
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Frequency seriation
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changes in frequency (number) over time
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Linguistics
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the subfield of anthropology that studies language as a human characteristic and attempts to explain the differences among human languages and the relationship between a language and the society that uses it study of language as a human characteristic and attempt to explain the differences among the 3,000 or so existing human languages Physical features- mouth, throat, brain Historical linguistics- how language has changed over time and how that reflects our different culture Culture- how culture effects language- texting, internet
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Forensic anthropology
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the subfield of anthropology applied to legal matters. Usually involved in identifying skeletal remains and assessing the time and cause of death.
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world view
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the collective interpretation of and response to the natural and cultural environments in which a group of people lives- their assumptions about those environments and values derived from those assumptions- a set of assumptions about the way things are
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Hutterites
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focused on living in a community of goods and absolute pacifism, 19th century found a new home in North Ameria
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Holistic approach
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assuming an interrelationship among the parts of a subject
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Biocultural perspective
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focusing on the interaction of biology and culture
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comparative approach
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comparing cultures or societies- similarities and differences
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culture
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ideas and behaviors that are learned and transmitted. Nongenetic means of adaptation.
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society
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a group of organisms living together in an ordered community. In the case of humans, a group with a shared culture.
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material culture
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physical, tangible aspect of culture- desk, phone- how we interact with material affects how we behave
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scientific method
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the process of conducting scientific inquiry- use a theory to develop a hypothesis- testing hypothesis
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induction
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the process of developing a general explanation from specific observations
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deduction
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suggesting specific data that would be found if a hypothesis were true. Works from the general to the specific
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belief system
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ideas that are taken on faith and cannot be scientifically tested
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behavior
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how people interact with the world, people and their environment
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fieldwork
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field- place you go to do observations- fieldwork involves a goal or a question and collecting data- often among a single culture or site but can be multi-sited
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active learning
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extragenetic transmission
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passive learning
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observed transmission, imitation
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biological determinism
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the idea that human behaviors have a biological basis with minimal influence from culture
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cultural constructionism
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a theory that explains human behavior and ideas as shaped mainly by learning
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prehistoric archaeology
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pre written record
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historical archaeology
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the archaeology of a society that has written records- spread of Europeans- 1492 on
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symbols
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something that stands for something else, with no necessary link between the symbol and its meaning
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artifacts
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any object that has been consciously manufactured. Usually refers to human made objects but now includes some items made by other primates.
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archaeological methods
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-a set of scientific procedures for recovering evidence from the ground
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survey
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plot a map of (land)
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excavation
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the systematic removal of layers of earth
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stratigraphy
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the study of the earth's strata, the layers of rock and soil under the surface of the earth or the socioeconomic levels within a society
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law of superposition
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youngest layers on top and oldest on the bottom
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relative dating
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dating that indicates the age of one item in comparison to another
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absolute dating
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dating that gives a specific age, year, or range of years for an object or a site. - radio carbon dating- C14
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seriation
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chronological sequence- assume gradual change- similar objects closer together
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taxonomy
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a classification using nested sets of categories of increasing specificity
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Carolus Linnaeus
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Swedish botanist (1707-1778) devised a system of names that would reflect the relationship of plants and animals- system of nested categories of increasing specificity
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Cladogram
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a tree diagram used to illustrate phylogenetic relationships
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Protoculture
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a behavior having most but not all of the characteristics of a cultural behavior
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primates
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a large-brained, mostly tree-dwelling mammal with three dimensional color vision and grasping hands. Humans are primates. A primate is a mammal adapted to an arboreal environment through well-developed vision, manual dexterity, and large, complex brains that rely on learned behavior. The latter is aided by the birth of few offspring and the direct and extensive care of those offspring during a long period of dependency while they socialized into groups based on differential relationships among individuals.
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new world monkeys
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located in the Americas, 2133 dental structure, with gripping tails includes Spider, Howler, Capuchin, Squirrel Monkeys, Tamarins, and Marmosets
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old world monkeys
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located in asia and africa, 2123 dental structure, non-gripping tails, include Baboons, Mandrills, Macaques, and Colobus monkeys.
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chimpanzees
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Found in Equatorial Africa Knuckle-walking, brachiation, sometimes bipedal Less sexually dimorphic Omnivores, organized hunts: M and F group hunting effort Small - large mammals Share meat
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great apes
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a category of large and tailless primates that includes orangutans, gorillas, chimps, and bonobos and humans
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lesser apes
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gibbons and siamongs; arboreal, brachiators (hand over hand swinging); small body size, extremely long arms relative to body and legs;
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prehensile
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having the ability to grasp, especially by wrapping the hand or foot around an object
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opposability
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the ability to touch the thumb to the tips of the other fingers on the same hand
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brachiation
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moving using arm over arm swinging
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dentition
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the kind and number and arrangement of teeth (collectively) in a person or animal
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binocular vision
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ability to merge visual images from both eyes, which provides depth perception and a three-dimensional view of the world
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arboreal
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adapted to life in the trees
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omnivore
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an animal that feeds on both animal and vegetable substances
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herbivore
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any animal that feeds chiefly on grass and other plants
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Charles Darwin
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(1809-1871)- idea of natural selection- evolutionary change based on the differential reproductive success of individuals within a species
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Alfred Wallace
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(1823-1913)- English naturalist- came up with evolution at the same time as Darwin
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Natural selection
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evolutionary change based on the differential reproductive success of individuals within a species
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Uniformitarianism
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the idea that present day geological process can also explain the history of the earth. Can be applied to biological change as well.
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Catastrophism
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the idea that the history of the earth and its life is accounted for by a series of global catastrophes
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Jean Baptiste Lamark
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inheritance of acquired characteristics- the incorrect idea that adaptive traits acquired during an organisms lifetime can be passed on it its offspring
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Thomas Malthus
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principles of population (1798)- all organisms out produce their food supply- when this occurs population check must happen- a high degree of mortality keeps population growth at an even rate
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Four Forces of Evolution
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mutation, genetic drift, gene flow, natural selection
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Herbert Spencer
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used the phrase survival of the fittest
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\"survival of the fittest\"
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cultural/ social- used to show superiority
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Archaic Humans
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• Modern body proportions • Increased brain size (within range of modern humans, with Neandertals actually having larger average brain size) • Neanderthals - cave paintings, buried dead away from camp site (Lascaux) • Limited evidence of symbolic behavior seen in later forms (e.g., Neandertals) - huge bodies. • Range expanded into northern portions of Europe and western Asia
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Hominid
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modern humans and African apes and their direct ancestors.
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Hominins
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under the cladistic taxonomy, humans and our direct ancestors. Habitually bipedal primates
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bipedalism
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walking on two legs
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Homo florensis
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Very small hominin found in Indonesia. They show a combination of modern and australopith characteristics. Small size could be due to island dwarfism or microcephalism
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Homo erectus
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extinct species of primitive hominid with upright stature but small brain
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Genus Homo
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the genus of bipeds that appeared 2.5 million years ago characterized by increasing brain size compared to earlier bipeds. The genus is divided into various species based on features such as brain size, skull shape, and cultural capabilities
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Austrolopithicine
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The first to walk on two feet,
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Stone tools
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They were the most common technology until about 12,000 years ago.
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Human Origins debate
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multiregional (originate in lots of places) vs recent African origins (modern humans walked out of Africa) vs genetic replacement (modern humans walked out of Africa and could interbreed with regional archaic humans)
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Neanderthal culture
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Care of old and sick, cosmology and ritual (burial) art and andornment (pierced teeth, incised tooth)
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Race
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in biology, the same as subspecies. In culture, categories that classify and account for human diversity
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Clines
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a geographic continuum in the variation of a trait
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skin
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skin color is adaptive to the physical environment
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polygenism
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human differences= separate human species- origins in different places around the world
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monogenism
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origin from a single source- degeneration- decline to various degrees
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hypodescent
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A rule that automatically places the children of a union or mating between members of different socioeconomic groups in the less privileged group.
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Wycliffe mounds
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...
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Paleoanthropology
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human ancestors and human evolution
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Primatology
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studying our closest relatives to learn about our ancestors or to learn about disease
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Forensics
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crime scene- why the person did something?-the subfield of anthropology applied to legal matters. Usually involved in identifying skeletal remains and assessing the time and cause of death.
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Medical anthropology
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how people try to treat illness
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Culture
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the ideas and behaviors that are learned and transmitted between generations- culture is a set of learned behaviors and ideas that human beings acquire as members of society - use culture to adapt to and transform the world in which we live- learned and involves concepts, generalizations, abstractions, assumptions, and ideas and shared through the extra genetic transmission of symbols and realized through the use of artifacts, both concrete and abstract
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stylistic seriation
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based on presence or absence
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Applied Anthropology
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fifth field- specialize in different areas- practical application- often part of development studies
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Reflexivity
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how people reflect on their own culture
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Taxonomy
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a classification using nested sets of categories of increasing specificity- 7 categories: kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species- reflects evolutionary relationships
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Phonetics
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a classification system based on existing phenotypic features and adaptions
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Cladistics
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a classification system based on order of branching rather than on present similarities and differences
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Ecofacts
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an unmodified natural object used as a tool
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R-complex
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first, deepest, and oldest part in self- preservation behaviors like mating, aggressiveness and territoriality
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Limbic system
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a portion of the brain involved in emotions such as fear, rage, and care of young- also areas dealing with basic sexual function and sense of smell- also involved with some aspects of memory
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Neocortex
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a portion of the brain involved in conscious thought, spatial reasoning, and sensory perception
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Evolution
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idea that species change over time and have a common ancestry
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Fossils
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remains of life forms from the past
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Strata
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layers of rock and soil under the earth's surface
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Natural Selection
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differential success to survive and reproduce
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mutation
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random change in the inheritance of material, affecting genes, chromosomes- spontaneous, unpredictable change
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gene flow
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interbreeding of populations- often in geographic proximity
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genetic drift
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changes in allele frequencies due to random events- fission and founder effect
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Sagittal Crest/ Sagittal Keel
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how strong the jaw muscles
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foramen magnum
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how standing
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brow ridges
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muscle attachments
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length, width
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brain size
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teeth
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specialized or generalized
