Actually, quite a few people have been asking, "Yo, CJS, why don't you post your notes anymore?" Well, I haven't really been recording notes, but I have a huge anthropology exam coming up, so here are some of the terms from my exam. There is a Tl;dr at the end if you don't care to read over everything and you want a small summary. Primates/Primatology: Primatology is the study of nonhuman primates including their behavior and social life. Homologies: similarities that organisms share because of common ancestors. Analogies: similar traits that arise if species experience similar selective forces and adapt to them in similar ways. Paleontology: study of life through the fossil record Phylogenetic tree: hypothesis of evolutionary history of a group of organisms. Similarities between humans and primates: learning, behavior and social life not programmed by genes, learned behavior is observed in monkeys and apes, play is an important part of learning. Use of tools, constructed for either water collecting, food, flaking stone, use of weapons in threats of dominance displays. Predation and hunting, forming large hunting parties, opportunistic and planned. Sexual dimorphism: differences between male and female: the existence of differences in the appearance of the male and female of a species Gibbons: 1m tall, 25lb forest dweller Siamangs: siamangs are larger than gibbons Great Apes: arms are longer than legs, reflecting locomotion and arboreal adaptations. Dentition; larger canines in non-human great apes. Sexual dimorphism is marked. Locomotion: quadrupedalism: walking on all fours. Brachiation: under the branch swinging. Bipedalism: walking on two legs. Primate tendencies: grasping with fingers, excellent vision, less sense of smell. Opposable thumb. Parental investment, sociality. “Piltdown Man”: A classic fraud that had anthropologists fooled that the cradle of humanity was actually somewhere in Europe. He had found and modern human skull and replaced the jaw with an Orangutan’s jaw, and made Darwin’s theory of evolution largely ignored until the 1950s. (Exposed as fraud in ’53) Nobody could find comparable fossils, and hypotheses must be tested, verified to actually carry weight. Skeletal characteristics of bipedalism: Lumbar curve in the spine, pelvis structure is more elongated, and the skull shape has changed. Australopithecus afarensis: 6MYA, first to be fully bipedal, originated in Africa. Long, dangling arms similar to apes, however skeleton shows more efficiency with walking Australopithecus africanus: Very gracile, as well as Afarensis, smaller, leads to Homo habilis. 2.5M years old. Foramen magnum is situation above the spine, had an upright posture. Similar to humans but no other primates. Austrapithecus boisei: Has a large and prominent sagittal crest, ate mostly vegetation and went quickly extinct due to the inability to adapt. Homo Habilis: 2MYA, first use of stone tools made out of crude stone. (Olduwan) may have co-existed with boisei. Homo erectus: 1.7MYA, first to leave Africa, first to actually control a fire. Homo neanderthalensis: Radiometric dating: the use of measuring isotopes in an area that will give a highly accurate answer of the time. It measures using, nitrogen, carbon, or any other unstable element that can be measured. AMH (Anatomically modern humans): relied on symbolic thought, had created maps, possibly had a form of speech that was much more intricate, while not as complex as our own, than apes. Elaborating on cultural creativity. “Walking with Caveman video”: answer general questions. Weird as hell movie. Olduwan tool tradition: blunt, easy to make, striking a hammer stone against another stone to chip off flakes and shape a tool. Archeulian tool tradition: much more complex, very intricate, was mainly a “swiss army knife” for the time because it had a broad side for grasping, digging, all the while it has a sharp side of cutting, sharpening, stabbing, etc. Mousterian tool tradition: smaller tools, like drill bits, scrapers for hides, specialization tools that had a large variety. Laetoli footprints: footprints that have stayed in the ground due to (possibly a volcanic eruption), but shows us footprints, and only footprints, which gives us evidence that they did not use their hands to walk around, like the Great Apes do today, and they were largely bipedal. There was also an in-line toe. Human tendencies: bipedalism, increasing brain size and capacity, childhood dependency, tool use Evidence of African origins for humanity: There are skeletons found across the world that had little to no genetic variation from those in Africa. There were the same types of tools that were made and found all over the world, (except for out towards Asia where bamboo may have been a substitute, but Bamboo is largely biodegradable and would not have survived in order to be analyzed today. (At least not in large quantities). Sagittal Crest: a ridge of bone running length-wise over the middle of the head and is commonly found in mammals or reptiles. Behavioral modernity: Creative explosion, there were paintings on the walls, use of symbolic maps, and they created body paint or jewelry such as shelled necklaces for body ornamentation. Global migrations: The Homo Erectus was the first to leave Africa, and had traveled North, then West and crossed the Bering Land Bridge, and South into the Deep South America, over a time course of generations and generations. (They may have been following sources of food, water, migration patterns of animals, etc.) Bering Land Bridge: Beringia: A region between Western Siberia and Northern America, which includes the Bering land bridge. A theory that Homo Erectus had left Africa, going north and then west across the Bering Land Bridge (which may have existed during that time) in order to get into what is now North America. “Clovis-First” Theory: The Clovis are considered to be the ancestors of indigenous, and native north and south American people. Found with distinct ivory and bone tools, “Clovis points” Broad spectrum foraging: begins in Mesolithic, more generalized economy where wider range of plants and animals collected. Reliant on natural resources. Paleolithic: old stone age. 2,000,000-10,000 B.C. Mesolithic: middle stone age, c. 10,000-5,500 B.C., the use of sharpening tools, settling in one place where people can gather and meet. Neolithic: new stone age, 5,500-2,500 B.C., beginning of domestication of plants and animals. Large populations, and a more sedentary lifestyle. Domestication Plants/Animals: self-explanatory Fertile Crescent: fertile area in Middle East: area of fertile land in Southwest Asia reaching from Israel to the Persian Gulf and incorporating the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq. Vertical Economy of the Neolithic Middle East: high plateau, hilly planks, steppe, alluvial plain. Geographically close but large contrasts in environments. Allowed access to different plants, animals, resources in relatively small geographical areas. Centers of Domestication: middle east, domesticating animals and plants. Benefits and Costs of Food Production: increased economic production, reliable yield crops, higher populations… more disease, slavery, less nutritious diets, hard/longer work. Tl;dr This isn't a very intricate compilation of notes, so if you are not interested in expanding your anthropological or general knowledge, then it isn't really worth reading. This encompasses about five or six chapters of my textbook, and it isn't cumulative. If you are religious and do not believe in the theory of evolution, I don't really care, I don't mean to offend you. These are just notes, I don't mean to bash your beliefs. To each their own. If you are more experienced in the field, feel free to correct me, or add on to information where you see fit. I appreciate all feedback, positive or negative. Stay Frosty, -CJS ️
I loved anthropology. Was one of the most beneficial classes to me in broadening my scope of understanding about people which was essential in the field of study I was in.
So man evolved from monkey. Could it be monkey from man? I evolved from a beautiful butterfly (no butterfly emoji)