Concepts
Core concept in Anthropology
Culture
When an ethnic group is assumed to have a biological bases (shared blood or genes). This is now considered a discredited concept.
Race
Characteristic which separates our early human ancestors (Australopithecus) from apes
Bipedalism
Lived in extended families, polygynous marriages, large compounds, patrilineal descent and patrilocal residence.
Bambara in Mali
Argues that the moral rules of all cultures deserve equal respect
Cultural Relativism
Refers to an organism's evident traits, or physical appearance
Phenotype
Lucy's Baby, also called "Selam" is the actual baby of Lucy. True or False?
False
Thighs
Viewing another culture in terms of your own culture and values
Ethnocentrism
Originally formulated by Charles Darwin - the process by which nature selects the forms most fit to survive and reproduce in a given environment, such as the tropics.
Natural Selection
Early ancestor found in Northern Chad, approximately 6 million year old Skull, by French paleontologist Michel Brunet.
Toumai or (Sahelanthropus tchadensis)
Mother or Evil spirits
Who is usually blamed if a child is born with something the matter.
View that cultural diversity in a country is something good and desirable
Multiculturalism
Change in the DNA molecules from which genes and chromosomes are built
Mutations
Most of our early ancestors have been found in this location in Africa
The Great Rift Valley or East Africa
Metaphor used to discuss relationship between population and resources. Detwyller uses to metaphor to help us understand differences between wealth in U.S. vs. Mali.
Pizza metaphor
Describes the process of change that members of an ethnic group may experience when they move to a country where another culture dominates
Assimilation
The exchange of genetic material between populations of the same species through direct or indirect interbreeding
Gene Flow
Current evidence suggest that the last common ancestor of hominins and African apes existed how long ago?
5 to 7 mya or 6 mya.
Ignorance, Inappropriate cultural beliefs and practices, as well as lack of knowledge about the relationship between food and health.