Physical Anthropology and Archaeology

The challenge of writing a textbook for an introductory course in physical anthropology and archaeology is finding the right balance between the details of human evolution and prehistory and conveying the larger picture so that students can understand where humans came from, where we might be going, and how knowledge about the past may be useful. This first edition ofPhysical Anthropology and Archaeologyis a much expanded and revised version of the physical and archaeology sections of Ember and Ember'sAnthropology.As always, we try to go beyond descriptions. We are interested not only inwhathumans are and were like; we are also interested inwhythey got to be that way, in all their variety. When there are alternative explanations, we try to communicate the necessity to evaluate them both logically and on the basis of the available evidence. Throughout the book, we try to communicate that no idea, including ideas put forward in textbooks, should be accepted even tentatively without supporting tests that could have gone the other way. This book has four foci. First, we focus on the physical evidence of human evolution--not only the fossils but also the genetics and evolutionary processes that help us make sense of the fossils. Second, we focus on the major "revolutions" in human cultural evolution--the emergence of patterned stone tools, the elaboration of complex culture, the development of domesticated plants and animals, and the rise of cities and states. Third, we explore contemporary variation in humans, and particularly the concept of "race:' Finally, we consider how physical anthropologists and archaeologists apply their knowledge to problems and issues of practical importance today. Part 1: Introduction CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY? Chapter 1 introduces the student to anthropology. We discuss what we think is special and distinctive about anthropology in general, and about each of its subfields in particular. We outline how each of the subfields is related to other disciplines such as biology, psychology, and sociology. We direct attention to the increasing importance of applied anthropology. There are four boxes, each focusing on an individual anthropologist and her or his work. CHAPTER 2: HOW WE DISCOVER THE PAST Chapter 2 gives an overview of archaeological research. We discuss the types of evidence archaeologists and paleoanthropologists use to reconstruct the past, the methods they use to collect the evidence, and how they go about analyzing and interpreting the evidence of the past. We also describe the many techniques used by archaeologists and paleoanthropologists to determine the age of archaeological materials and fossils. There are two boxes, one examining evidence for unilinear trends in cultural evolution, the other considering how gender is studied by archaeologists. Part II: Human Evolution: Biological and Cultural CHAPTER 3: GENETICS AND EVOLUTION Chapter 3 discusses evolutionary theory as it applies to all forms of life, including humans. Following an extensive review of genetics and the processes of evolution, including natural selection and what it means, we discuss how natural selection may operate on behavioral traits and how cultural evolution differs from biological evolution. We consider ethical issues posed by the possibility of genetic engineering. The first box examines the evidence suggesting that evolution proceeds abruptly rather than slowly and steadily. The second box discusses whether genetic engineering should be feared. CHAPTER 4: THE LIVING PRIMATES Chapter 4 describes the living nonhuman primates and their variable adaptations as background for understanding the evolution of primates in general and humans in particular. After describing the various kinds of primate, we discuss some possible explanations of how the primates differ--in body and brain sizEmber, Carol R. is the author of 'Physical Anthropology and Archaeology', published 2001 under ISBN 9780130929440 and ISBN 0130929441.