AN_100_Sept._21.docx

September 21, 2010 Characteristics of Hunters and Gatherers: Subsistence based on entirely wild resources Live in bands of 50-100 people Simple, portable technology Nomadic Egalitarian Division of Labor based on sex Subsistence method for 99% of human history Today only found in marginal environments Decisions made at family level There are no laws There are no chiefs or leaders so the decisions are made by the highest ranking male member of your family Because everyone has equal access to resources Here a hunting and gathering family can do just as well as another hunting and gathering family If a family just decides to leave the group, since they have equal access to resources they can just leave. No big deal. RACE The Environment Remember the driving force of evolution is the environment. Evolution is not producing the strongest or the most perfect creatures, yet the environment is changing and pressure to keep up causes evolution. The goal for any and all species is to adapt to the environment and to survive. Diversity past and present Causes of diversity Biological aspect Great Chain of Being: Gods Men Women ???. Horses Hierarchical racial terms Empirialism Race starts to become an issue in the 16 and 17 hundreds Age of Exploration (16th and 17th centuries) People encountered biological and cultural variation of all sudden No sense of gradations Land on new short and see people distinct from themselves Threw people together that wouldn?t have necessarily met Before that if someone were to go somewhere else it would takes years and they would slowly encounter these differences so you would hard notices Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) Biological Nomenclature Placed humans in genus ?Homo? and species ?sapiens? Divided Homo sapiens into four groups based on geography: African, American, Asian, European Johann Blumenback (1752-1840) German Anatomist Racial Classification based on skin color Black, Brown, Red, White, Yellow George Gliddon and Josiah Nott Types of Mankind (1854) Polygenism ? each human race is the result of a different creation event Support from the Bible and Young Earth Polygenism Used to justify slavery Blacks created later and inferior Polygenisism ? (Poly-many; Genisis-origin) Believed each race was created by a different event and that black people were created after genesis This was used to justify slavery Geology & Evolutionary Theory Young Earth: The Earth is 6,000 years old Archbishop Ussher counted up the lineages of the Bible He determined that Earth was created ?.BC at 9:30AM Scientist have determined that Earth is actually about 4 ½ billion years old History of Race Concept What is Race? ?A distinct group of people, the members of which share a certain inherited physical characteristics.? Which physical characteristics? How judge typology? Can only judge by the question being asked? so you can have many different ways of subdividing the same things! What is the question, when dividing people into races? Pre Evolutionary Theory Outgrowth of GCB Tied to politics, greed, power and subjugation Always easier to exploit if you have dehumanize Different cultures divide races differently What has reality in biology? Individual Male-Female Species All other divisions are arbitrary, so much de done to answer a question In reality race has no biological validity Species- ability to breed and produce fertile offspring How do we explain human skin color differences? Cline ? regular variation in a trait over geographic space maintained by natural selection This is how scientists think of a trait such as skin color Skin Color varies by latitude Solar Radiation differs with latitude Greatest solar radiation in equatorial regions Least solar radiation toward the poles What does solar radiation do? Variation in skin color within a human population Selection for dark skin Avoid too much solar radiation Skin cancer Hypervitaminosis D ? calcification of internal organs Different cultures divide races differently How do we explain human skin color differences? Cline- Regular variation in a trait over geographic space maintained by natural selection This is how scientists think of a trait such as skin color Humans adapt to their environment, primarily they do so through culture. Variation of skin color across geographic space Solar radiation differs with latitude Greatest solar radiation is in equatorial reasons Least solar radiation toward the poles What does solar radiation do? Solar radiation also synthesizes vitamin components such as Vitamin D The amount of radiation you can take Dark skinned people have more sun tolerance -Has to do with the way they evolved Natural Selection Selection for dark skin Avoid too much solar radiation Skin cancer Hypervitaminosis D- calcification of internal organs Darker skinned people are resistant to against Hypervitaminosis D (Hypervitaminosis D can cause your internal organs to turn into stone) **** Key to understanding evolution is the environment Leave out individuals who are not suited for that environment People who are not suited for the environment do not survive to reproduce Enviornment is the predictor for traits that are being selected for Selection for light skin Insure get enough solar radiation Hypovitaminosis D- effects bone growth and strength Less susceptible to frost bite Natural selection favors light skin in the North -Light skin makes sure to get enough solar radiation -People with light skin are less susceptible to sunlight (people with dark skin don?t need this because equatorial regions don?t get as cold) If you can?t soak up enough vitamin D from sunlight you get Hypovitaminosis D (Ricketts) Substituting Cline for Race? No! Cline explains skin color differences Race is linked to ranking people subjugation, and slavery Linked to ranking people and subjugation and slavery Can NOT substitute cline for race Race is a more complex issue, it is a cultural issue. Has to do with the way people see each other Racism The belief that physical characteristics are inevitable associated with mental or emotional capabilities For example, a blue beard indicated that you are mentally unstable You can bring a baby from anywhere (for example: China), raise it in our society and it will be adapted to the United States fully (love apple pie, have English as their first language, etc.) but we still use racial stereotypes. (Like thinking they?re better at math, love rice, etc.) This idea comes from the fact that the person is Asian and they might still have something hanging in there, something that makes them ?Asian? Mental and emotional Race & IQ This became a major media issue again in 1994 with publication of The Bell Curve by Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray Since introduction of IQ tests have attempted to develop culture free test Separate genetic VS environment No such test exists Socio-environmental Factors Studies show that when IQ scores are examined with regard to socio-environmental factors differences between races drop to an insignificant level People within ?the same race? can have more biological variation Variation is the norm in nature Phenotype- Observable trait or characteristic of an organism Ex: Skin color Genotype ? Genetic makeup Within genotypes there is a LOT of variation Race is about subjectation, typing people What are the English describing? This people, then is truly barbarous, being not only barbarous in their dress, but suffering their hair and beards to grow enormously in an uncouth manner (12th century) The Irish! Race is a Social Fact Just because Race has no biological validity do you think it is still important to study it? Yes! Remember the definition of Anthropology? What are some questions anthropologists may be interested in and why? How different races were affected by different diseases How come some races are effected more heavily (Why did small pox wipe out Native Americans)? Race & Racism All attempts to classify people into races and rank them based on that classification have failed This is despite over two hundred years of trying Unfortunately race and racism remain important in modern politics However, race is not scientific! Study for Test Example Essay Questions: What is the value of studying hunter and gatherer tribes today? H&g subsistence accounted for 99% of human history Makes good analogy It can give us a good idea of what was it like to be a human 14,000 years ago Describe the Yanomamo process of agriculture Slash and burn agriculture Pastoralization in the Amazon today makes the soil like concrete How do anthropologist do fieldwork What is culture What is anthropology Tell definition, subfields, holism and comparative nature. How it differs from sociology, history or economics Why do people look different in terms of skin color? Biological and physical reasoning Race is a social fact The agenda of typing people Subjugation List of hunter and gatherer characteristics Two articles about the Kumb and process of sharing Sharing is essential for group survival in the Kumb Reciprocity and its importance in Kumb Answer should relate to both articles Aspects of culture Culture is shared, integrated, passed down from generation (six aspects are listed on the first or second slide) Might be question about specific articles Tell about reciprocity with the Kumb article or Hamlet in the Bush SHAKESPEARE IN THE BUSH and EASTER ISLAND are the favorites Describe lifestyles of Yanomoa peope in Chagnon?s views May talk about slash and burn agriculture May talk about violence