1. Physical Anthropology 1 Milner-Rose
Chapter 1
What is Physical Anthropology?
Our Origins
By Clark Spencer Larsen

2. What is Anthropology? Anthropology is the study of humankind
Viewed from the perspective of all peoples and all times
Our central question: “What is humankind?”
All our research is aimed at describing and defining ourselves as a species that has changed over time and that varies over geographic space.

3. Human History and Prehistory Over Time and Space
Biologically Modern Humans Appear in Africa
200 Kya
SPACE
1 Mya
Archaic Hominids Present in Asia and Europe
2 Mya
First Hominids out of Africa
3 Mya
Robust and Gracile Hominids
4 Mya
Several Types of Hominids in Africa
5 Mya
Bipedal Hominids spreading in Africa
TIME 6 Mya only in Africa

4. What is Anthropology? The Four subfields of anthropology are
Cultural or social anthropology
Archaeology
Linguistic anthropology
Physical or biological anthropology

5. Franz Boas Onboard the Germania in 1883,
on his Expedition to Baffin Island
Our Origins, 2th Edition
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6. Boas, here Dressed and Equipped for Arctic Exploration
Our Origins, 2th Edition
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Boas, here Dressed and Equipped for Arctic Exploration

7. Figure 1.2 The Four Branches of Anthropology
Our Origins, 2th Edition
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Figure 1.2 The Four Branches of Anthropology

8. What is Anthropology? Cultural anthropology Archaeology
Studies living people, face-to-face
Culture is defined as transmitted, learned behavior shared by a group
Archaeology
Studies and reconstructs past human cultures and societies
Focuses on material remains and the processes behind them

9. What is Anthropology? Linguistic anthropology
Studies the structure, use and change of language by human societies
Language is defined as a set of heard or seen symbols that refer to things
Physical or biological anthropology
Studies all aspects of present and past human biology
Deals with the evolution of and variation among human beings and their relatives

10. What is Anthropology?
No anthropologist is an expert in all four branches of anthropology.
Anthropologists study the diversity of humans culturally and physically.
Within the field there is a commitment to the notion that humans are both cultural and biological beings.
We are interested in what is universally true about humankind and what is unique about us compared to other animals.

11. What is Anthropology? The Biocultural approach
Humans are a result of a combination of inherited (biological) traits and cultural (learned) traits.
Anthropology uses a broad, historical and comparative (holistic) approach over time and space.
Anthropology is interested in how and why humankind has changed.

12. What is Physical Anthropology?
Anthropology generally asks, “Why do people look, speak, and behave differently in different places and times? Boas’ answer was that people are adapting to their environment with their particular historical backgrounds.
Following Boas, physical anthropologists study human biological evolution and human biocultural adaptations.

13. Figure 1.9 Forests Our Origins, 2th Edition
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Figure 1.9 Forests

14. Figure 1.8 Grasslands Our Origins, 2th Edition
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Figure 1.8 Grasslands

15. What is Physical Anthropology?
Two key concepts:
Each person is a product of the evolutionary history of our species
Including all biological changes that have brought humans to their present form.
Each person is a product of an individual life history.
We are a combination of our genetics and environment (including social and cultural factors), a unique individual with our own nature and nurture during our lifetime.

16. What Do Physical Anthropologists Do?
Study all living people to describe our diverse and universal biological traits.
Study other living primates to discover what behaviors & anatomy may be like that of our fossil ancestors.
Study past remains to discover the bio- cultural changes that humankind has gone through.
Always seeking, “What is humankind?”

17. Figure 1.3a A Sample of What Physical Anthropologists Do
Our Origins, 2th Edition
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Figure 1.3a A Sample of What Physical Anthropologists Do

18. What Do Physical Anthropologists Do?
Apply anthropological knowledge and methods to societal issues or concerns
Forensic anthropology
Study all biological aspects of the human species. Ex. Human genetics by mapping the DNA of living people and DNA extracted from fossil bones.

19. Physical anthropologists, forensic anthropologists in particular,
played a vital part in identifying the remains of the victims
following the events of 9/11
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20. What Do Physical Anthropologists Do?
We are a biological science as well as a cultural science
Biology is studied within the context of culture and biology
We are an Interdisciplinary science
Utilizes theories and methods from a wide variety of other fields

21. Figure 1.3b A Sample of What Physical Anthropologists Do
Our Origins, 2th Edition
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Figure 1.3b A Sample of What Physical Anthropologists Do

22. Figure 1.3c A Sample of What Physical Anthropologists Do
Our Origins, 2th Edition
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Figure 1.3c A Sample of What Physical Anthropologists Do

23. What Is So Different about Humans from Other Animals
What Is So Different about Humans from Other Animals? The comparative method shows that hominids have evolved through
Six Steps to Humanness: Humans differ from other animals in several important ways.
Bipedalism (first evolved 6mya)
Defined as walking on two feet
Nonhoning chewing (next to evolve)
Loss of a large canine (as other apes have)

24. Figure 1.10 Bipedalism Our Origins, 2th Edition
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Figure 1.10 Bipedalism

25. Figure 1.4a The Six Big Events of Human Evolution: 1. Bipedalism,
2. Nonhoning Chewing, 3. Dependence on Material Culture, 4. Speech/Language,
5. Hunting/Cooking, & 6. Domestication of Plants/Animals
Our Origins, 2th Edition

26. What Is So Different about Humans from Other Animals?
The Six Steps to Humanness:
Complex material culture and tool use
Humans depend completely on culture for
day-to-day living and species survival. (first
evidence of stone tool making at 2.6mya)
Other great apes exhibit some forms of
cultural behavior.
Hunting with tools and cooking (deduced at 2mya from increase in brain size)
Group pursuit of animals for food using tools
Use of fire to alter the digestibility of food and provide
safety at night from predators
Group consumption and sharing of food

27. Figure 1.6 Tool-Making Our Origins, 2th Edition
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Figure 1.6 Tool-Making

28. What Is So Different about Humans from Other Animals?
The Six Steps to Humanness:
Speech/Language (estimate 1.5mya)
The only animal that communicates by talking
using symbols, either heard or seen
Dependence on domesticated foods
Development of ability to raise domesticated
plants and animals, control their reproduction
(evidence of domestication at 10kya)

29. Figure 1.4b The Six Big Events of Human Evolution: Bipedalism,
Nonhoning Chewing, Dependence on Material Culture, Speech/Language,
Hunting/Cooking, & Domestication of Plants and Animals
Our Origins, 2th Edition
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30. How We Know What We Know: The Scientific Method
Systematic observation of the world
Observations form the basis for the rest of the process.
Identifying problems, developing questions, and gathering evidence (data)
Data are used to test hypotheses.
Hypotheses explain, predict, and can be refuted and replaced by better hypotheses.

31. Figure 1.3d A Sample of What Physical Anthropologists Do
Our Origins, 2th Edition
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Figure 1.3d A Sample of What Physical Anthropologists Do

32. How We Know What We Know: The Scientific Method
This process is called the scientific method.
A way of knowing the world around us through observation an experiment
Results in an ever-expanding knowledge base, with corrections
Empirical, or based on observation and subject to proving or disproving by other scientists

33. How We Know What We Know: The Scientific Method
Scientific Theory is developed through the process of the scientific method.
Scientific Theories are explanations of the way things work.
Theories can be modified by new evidence.
In Science, Theories are not “theoretical”, they are functional (or they are discarded).

34. Figure 1.5 First Tools Our Origins, 2th Edition
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Figure 1.5 First Tools

35. How We Know What We Know: All Sciences use The Scientific Method
If a theory proves absolutely true, it becomes scientific law. Ex: gravity, thermodynamics, and motion
“Hard” sciences like math, physics and chemistry need to have theories that are lawful and work 100% of the time.
“Soft” sciences like biology and behavioral science produce theories that work from 60%-100% of the time. This because of individual variability in those realms.

36. Figure 1.3f A Sample of What Physical Anthropologists Do
Our Origins, 2th Edition
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Figure 1.3f A Sample of What Physical Anthropologists Do

37. Figure 1.3e A Sample of What Physical Anthropologists Do
Our Origins, 2th Edition
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Figure 1.3e A Sample of What Physical Anthropologists Do