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Anthropology 1030
Introduction to Physical Anthropology
and Archaeology
Fall: 2006
Instructor:
Dr. J. Erwin
Section 002 Classroom: ED 3034A - Slot 13 (Mon
& Wed 2:00-3:15pm)
Section 004 Classroom: ED 2018A - Slot 19 (Tues & Thurs 2:00-3:15pm)
e-mail: jerwin@mun.ca
Office Hours: by
appointment only
Announcements:
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Course Objectives
This course provides a broad overview of Archaeology and Physical
Anthropology
introducing the concepts of human biological and cultural evolution and
the methods and techniques by which these are investigated. The course
is designed to provide the basis for further study in these
disciplines.
Grading
25% Mid Term Exam I
35% Mid Term Exam II
40% Final Exam
Required Text
2007 Feder, K.L. & M.A. Park
Human Antiquity: An Introduction to Physical Anthropology and
Archaeology,
Fifth Edition. Mayfield Publishing Company.
LECTURE SCHEDULE AND LINKS TO COURSE
NOTES
COURSE INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
Introduction to course, text, required readings, marking, evaluation,
mid term and final exam dates.
INTRODUCTION TO PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND
ARCHAEOLOGY
What is Anthropology? How can we define of Culture? What is the
Scientific
Approach, and how do Anthropologists use it to understand Human
Evolution?
Discussions include: The origins of Evolutionary Ideas; Concepts of
Evolution,
Past and Present; The development of Cultural Evolutionary Theory,
Cultural
Ecology, New Archaeology and Post-Processual concepts in Archaeology.
Required Reading: Text Chapters 1, 2 and 3
LEARNING ABOUT THE PAST: THE MATERIAL RECORD
What is archaeology? How do physical anthropologists and archaeologists
"discover"
the past? How do we find sites, and how are they excavated and
documented?
What are the dimensions of the archaeological record, and how are they
recorded?
Why study human remains?
Required Reading: Text Chapter 7
MID TERM I (25% OF FINAL
GRADE)
EVOLUTION, PRINCIPLES OF INHERITANCE AND
POPULATION GENETICS
How does evolution work? Why do we need to know a little about cell
biology,
embryology and molecular genetics to understand how physical traits are
passed
on between parents and offspring? What is DNA, and why are they
referred
to as the "building blocks of life"? What is a Punnet Square, and how
do
I use it? Calculating expected and observed allele frequencies using
the
Hardy Weinberg Theorem. So what makes evolution work?: A discussion of
Mutation,
Natural Selection, Genetic Drift and Gene flow. Click here for the Hardy-Weinberg example.
Required Reading: Text Chapter 4
PRIMATE EVOLUTION, ECOLOGY AND ADAPTATION
An overview of Primate evolution and a look at the primate nutrition,
locomotion,
reproduction, intelligence and social behavior. What are the genetic
relationships
between human and non-human primates? What can we learn about human
evolution
and adaptation from non-human primates? Assessing the hunter-gatherer
"Ethnographic"
analogy and Optimal Foraging Theory. Click here for a summary chart of known
fossil finds.
Required Reading: Text Chapters 5 and 6
HUMAN ORIGINS AND THE FOSSIL RECORD
Establishing
the human lineage: What do we know about now-extinct early hominid
lineages?
Who were the Australopithecines, and why is Lucy the most famous?
More
Robust early hominids: An evolutionary dead end? So just where does the
Genus
Homo fit in? Click here for a
summary of Early Hominid Fossils.
Required Reading: Text Chapter 8
THE EVOLUTION OF THE GENUS HOMO & THE
NEANDERTHAL PROBLEM
Establishing the genus Homo. Hominid radiation out of Africa. Was Homo
the
first toolmaker? "Quest for Fire". Homo the Hunter or Homo the
Scavenger? Who were the Neanderthals?
Required Reading: Text Chapter 9
MID TERM II (35% OF
FINAL
GRADE)
THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN HUMANS
Testing the
models
of human evolution. Out of Africa or the
Multi-regional
hypothesis: Toward the development of fully modern humans.
Required Reading: Text Chapter 10
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE UPPER PALAEOLITHIC
Technological developments of the Lower, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic:
A
Review of Upper Palaeolithic Developments. Major shifts in technology
and
behavior and the appearance of modern humans. The emergence of
art
and social complexity. Population migrations and the population of new
continents.
Required Reading: Text - Chapter 11
THE EMERGENCE OF FOOD PRODUCTION AND THE EVOLUTION
OF CIVILIZATION
Environmental Change and Human adaptation to Post-Pleistocene
Landscapes.
Evidence for the
earliest
instances of agriculture. Models on the origin of Agriculture. Food
Production,
domestication and agriculture: Why bother? The "affluence" of
hunter-gatherers
revisited.
What is civilization? What are city-states and how do they form? A very
brief survey of the world's ancient civilizations from
archaeological
perspectives.
Required Reading: Text - Chapter 12 & 13
FINAL EXAM: TO BE SCHEDULED BY THE
REGISTRAR
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