Culture :

biological processes are universal, but cultural expectations of the normal lead to very different
expressions of those biological processes

Characteristics of culture: Culture is an adaptive system, Culture is learned - by guidance,

observation, and practice

“This 'five-second rule' claims that if food spends just a few seconds on the floor, dirt and germs won't
have much of a chance to contaminate it.”

“If we can abstract pathogenicity and hygiene from our notion of dirt, we are left with the old definition
of dirt as matter out of place.– Mary Douglas,

Characteristics of culture: Signs

(Human culture is stored and accumulated in the form of signs.

Culture is made with symbols

Symbols are arbitrary

Meanings can change.

Humans are the only species who use symbolic way of communication, Human culture is qualitatively
different from other animals’ adaptive system, strategies, patterned behaviors.

Language
the system of arbitrary symbols human beings use to encode and communicate about their experience”,
a language is a set of rules for generating speech.

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis : People’s worldview is relative to the language they speak

S: the language of Paiute labels each geographic feature with separate names because of its’ relative
interest and importance in that culture.

W: people’s misinterpretation of ‘empty’ which usually refers to ‘void, null, negative’, so they think it is
safe, but in reality it’s not.

SAE (Standard American English): Past – Present – Future, Each time frame is definitely divided.Time
is linear concept

Hopi language: Casual progress ->they don’t think time can be divided into pieces, measured, or
linear. ->NO tense in Hopi language. Past does not end at some point because it affects present, Time
is circle, accumulation rather than definite units.

 Language is a lens through which people view the world

 Language influences how we look at the world

Anthropology = anthropos (‘human’) + logos (‘study’)

 1. The study of mankind, humanity, evolution and adaptation

2. Study of human behavior, culture, interaction, and relationship between humans and
the environment

3. Easy to define, but hard to describe

4. The common goal in all the areas and topics: knowledge of ‘who we are’ ‘how we came
to be this way’ and ‘where we may go in the future’

The scope of anthropology : Broad in scope

- the study of humankind in all times and places

- Anthropologists are interested in learning about both the biological and cultural aspects of humanity
around the globe and throughout time. Includes studying other primates to look for clues about our
ance:stral origins  Interdisciplinary in its nature

The Holistic Approach Anthropology is a unique discipline because it employs a holistic, or multifaceted,
approach to the study of human beings.

Comparative method:

 To explain similarities and differences among people holistically.

 To uncover principles of behaviors that apply to all human communities.

Fields of anthropology :

Biological (physical) Anthropology

Cultural Anthropology

Archaeology

Anthropological Linguistics

Applied Anthropology

The Relevance of Anthropology: Anthropological studies

- can illustrate why other people behave the way they are, both culturally and physically.

- Can help us to think about what it means to be human in the past, present, and the future

Human Evolution
• Evolution = change

• Continuity, Diversity, Extinction

living species can change over time and become new kinds of species

Humans do belong to the same taxonomic family as the great apes, like gorillas.

It is also true that the closest known living relative to Homo sapiens is the chimpanzee.

However, this does not mean humans "evolved from monkeys".

Evolution of Humans

 Humans have adapted to many different climates and ecosystems.

 All humans are members of the biological family Hominidae.

 Humans fall into two genera (genus): Australopithecus and Homo.

Homo sapiens? we are about 98.3 – 98.6% genetically identical with the African ape. It has been
estimated that differences in only about 50 genes separate them from us.

How do you know that Selam as a baby, Lucy as a female, and they walked upright ?

Anthropology, Neuroscience, Genetics, Biogeography, Geology, Comparative Anatomy, Biochemistry,

M:athematics, and Molecular Biology

Bipedalism Humans are currently the only recognized bipedal mammal.

• Walking upright on two legs is the trait that defines the hominid lineage

• Bipedalism separated the first hominids from the rest of the four-legged apes

Advantages:

Bipedalism was a behavioral innovation that led the way to making everything possible for our
evolution.

our ancestors, pre-Lucy, became upright in the protection of the forests, with fewer dangers.

Our hands were free to make and use tools, we could walk long distances to collect and carry food.

- eventually development of brain, language….

an adaptation to efficiently cool the body in hot temperatures, known as thermoregulation.

It saved energy.

Disadvantages

• Bipedal primates, unlike the quadrupedal kind, are slow, clumsy, and unstable and prone to falls
and injury.

• Back pain is the leading health problem.

• The adding on two feet caused our knee and hip joints to expand.
 • Bidepalism resulted in more difficult child births with a narrowing of the pelvis.

Evolution comes with full of dilemmas Depending on our environment, we can have positive or
negative traits, and what’s beneficial in one place or time period may not work so well in different
circumstances

• Problem/Advantage come together

Ex: sickle cell anemia : red blood cells to take on a curved, crescent-like shape, which leads to
anemia (a problem), but also protects against malaria by keeping parasites out of cells

The human species: Homo sapiens

a culture-bearing, upright-walking species that lives on the ground and very likely first evolved in

Africa about 200,000 years ago.

Race
‘Race’ as a (roughly) biological concept, Race is a geographically (hence, reproductively) isolated
subdivision of a species, or subspecies. If reproductive isolation lasts long enough, then a new species is
produced.

Human populations have not been reproductively isolated long enough to have developed into biological
races.All humans are part of a single species.

Traditionally, human classification into races have been dependent solely on the evaluation of phenotype
(manifest biology—appearance, skin color, hair texture, etc.).

• Adaptive traits, such as skin color, have frequently been used to define races in humans

• BUT, such adaptive traits reflect the underlying environmental factor to which they are adaptive

 not overall genetic differentiation.

• There are no objective criteria for choosing one adaptive trait over another to define race.

 adaptive traits do not define races in humans.

human variation

• Human variation essential for adaptation and survival of the species.

• Some differences attributed to “races” the result of biological adaptive response to climate to
certain regions of the world.

• Humans groups have never been isolated long enough to form true biological subspecies.
• ‘Race’ is sociocultural construct, rather than biological concept when we use it to categorize
humans.