Anthropology - Definition, Evolution, and Investigative Branches

This article discusses the definition and evolution of anthropology, physical anthropology, and its investigative branches such as paleoanthropology, genetics, and primatology. It also includes a research project on hunting caribou and a comparison of biological and sociocultural anthropology.

Running head: ANTHROPOLOGY 1
Anthropology
Name
Institution

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ANTHROPOLOGY
Q1. Evolution Definition
According to Lamarck's evolution is the change over time of an organism as a result of
alterations inheritable physical or behavioral traits. Evolution can also be defined as the process
of continuous development change from common trunks which was said by Stephen Jay Gould.
This pattern which cannot be reversed and separated gives life its direction. Evolution is not
considered as the developmental change in living things as they grow (Fuentes, 2016).
Q2. Physical Anthropology Definition
Physical anthropology is the part that talks about the development of human beings,
adaptations to their environmental stresses and their variability. This is according to Alison
Galloway. Culture is the way of behavior of human beings like the beliefs, the institutions, the
material goods, the social structure and the language. Within this part of physical anthropology,
there are several areas of investigating evolution. They include
a. Paleoanthropology: This the branch of physical anthropology that talks about the hominids
and of primates’ evolution from the fossil documentations and from whatever can be established
via comparative anatomy alongside social structure together with behavior studies from the
people’s adjoining alive relatives (Scupin & DeCorse.2016).
b. Primatologist: this branch deals with the study of prosimians, monkeys and the apes.
c. Genetics: this is the study of inheritance and variation in individuals and actions of the genes
which are responsible for them.

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d. Growth and Development: The former is the change in the kids or parts of a kid’s size while
latter is the continuous acquisition of different skills and abilities including learning, speaking,
head support, feelings expression as well as and relationship with others.
Q3. Socio-Anthropological research project:
The inventor of this theory is Alan Benard. He argues that social anthropological has
much to contribute to our understanding of human evolution including changes in technology. It
has got significance in the evolution since it is showing how human evolved, changes and
development of language, human genetics and the study of primates. This has helped the
historians to expand their knowledge of the evolution of these aspects (Hardy et al., 2015).
Q4. Biological (or Physical) Anthropology
They tend to explain how human beings acclimatize to different surroundings and again
how cultural and biological processes are working collaboratively to shape the behavior, growth,
or development. It is true that they are more interested in origins of human, variation as well as
evolution. The anthropologist, biologist, and culturalism give principal attention to the
investigation alongside explanation of queries about evolutionary theory, plight of humans in
nature, people’s adaptation together with variation (Ivanovich, 2015). Those who studied
biological anthropology tends to learn more about other parts of the primates, fossil records, pre-
historical people and the biology like hormones, health, and growth.
Q5. Ways Anthropologist Investigate Evolution
The branches of biological anthropology include:

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i. Paleoanthropology: This study the remains evidence for evolution, this was done using the
remains of the extinct species that existed earlier to uncover behavioral and morphological
alterations in the development of humans.
ii. Human biology: This deals with the study of human beings and its population in the natural
ecosystem. It comprises all the aspects of the human beings like the ecology, nutrition genetics
among others.
iii. Primatology is the study of the behaviors, genetics, and morphology of monkeys, baboons
among others. The scientist who studied primatology utilize phylogenetic techniques when
inferring to humans’ characteristics similar to additional primates and those that are specific to
adaptations of humans.
iv. “Human behavioral ecology” describes a study of human beings adaptations behaviorally
from the ecologic and evolutionary perspective. It emphases on the adaptive reactions of human
to stresses in the environment.
v. “Bioarchaeology” describes the study of the remains of people and another primate which
acts as the evidence of the past life in the evolution to provide the information. These materials
were being found in the archeological sites where preservation was being made (Wiley & Allen,
2016). The remains are like the bones, the tools that were used among others.
vi. Paleopathology describes a kind of biological science that deals with the pathological state
found in antique animal and human remains.
vii. Pathologies, these abnormalities in biologic individuals and systems, may be intrinsic to
the system itself or caused by an extrinsic

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Q6. Research Project
A suitable external source identifying a particular study project whereby anthropologists
in biological anthropology is “Hunting caribou: subsistence hunting along the Northern Edge of
the Boreal Forest”. This research has enabled the students to know how man began to evolve
until they become perfect humanity. During the early age, the man was carrying outs it's
biological life in a manner that hunting was the only source of obtaining food until later when
they invented other sources of getting food like planting and getting some jobs apart from
hunting and gathering of fruits (Fuentes, 2015).
Q8. Comparison and Contrasting Study of Evolution
Biological anthropology is a scientific discipline which is about behavioral and biological
perspective of human beings, their associated non-human primates, and their nonexistent human
ancestors (Kurtz, 2018). Physical anthropology gets its name from the concept that remains, such
as bones, are the physical element of the human experience, versus the immaterial aspect of
Culture which sociocultural anthropology focuses. Since the field is based on anthropological
perspectives on human biology, biological anthropology seemed to fit. Additionally, since the
advent of genetic and molecular/cellular, anthropology, the field is no longer based on pure
physical traits, promoting the move to the more accurate Biological Anthropology (Betzig,
2018).
9. Discussion and Reflecting on Evolution
Evolution has got a lot to be learned from all things that are being used nowadays just
evolved from some ages/periods. Evolution has developed different fields in the world.
Therefore, it should be studied since it has got a lot of history.

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References
Betzig, L. L. (2018). Despotism, social evolution, and differential reproduction. Routledge.
Fuentes, A. (2015). Integrative anthropology and the human niche: toward a contemporary
approach to human evolution. American Anthropologist, 117(2), 302-315.
Fuentes, A. (2016). The extended evolutionary synthesis, ethnography, and the human niche:
Toward an integrated anthropology. Current Anthropology, 57(S13), S13-S26.
Hardy, K., Brand-Miller, J., Brown, K. D., Thomas, M. G., & Copeland, L. (2015). The
importance of dietary carbohydrate in human evolution. The Quarterly review of
biology, 90(3), 251-268.
Ivanovich, M. V. (2015). The Evolution Of Ethical Concepts And The Phenomenon Of"
Willpower" In Anthropology Of Ia Goncharov. Vestnik Slavianskikh Kultur-Bulletin Of
Slavic Cultures-Scientific And Informational Journal, (36), 123-135.
Kurtz, D. V. (2018). Political anthropology: power and paradigms. Routledge.
Scupin, R., & DeCorse, C. R. (2016). Anthropology: A global perspective. Pearson Education.
Wiley, A. S., & Allen, J. S. (2016). Medical anthropology: a biocultural approach. Oxford
University Press.