Anthropology 152

Anthropology 152
Winter, 2008
H. M. McHenry

The second midterm review session will be Monday, Feb 18th, in 2016 Haring Hall from 4-6 pm.

Practice Final

Lecture 17 (Lecture 17 as a printable pdf)
Lecture 18 (Lecture 18 as a printable pdf)

SYLLABUS

Not in innocence, and not in Asia, was our lineage born. The home of our ancestors was that African highland reaching north from the Cape to the Lakes of the Nile. Here we came about--slowly, ever so slowly--on a sky -swept savannah glowing with menace.
In neither bankruptcy nor bastardy did we face our long beginnings. Our line is legitimate. Our ancestry is firmly rooted in the animal world, and to its subtle, antique ways our hearts are yet pledged. Children of all animal kind, we inherited many a social nicety as well as the predator's way.
People are a fraction of the animal world. Our history is an afterthought, no more, tacked to an infinite calendar. We are not so unique as we should like to believe. And if people in a time of need seek deeper knowledge concerning themselves, then they must explore those animal horizons from which we have made our quick little march.
Adapted from Robert Ardrey

The purpose of this class is to examine the question "who are we?" from an historical perspective. We are the products of our history and we can learn about that history from observations of the hard evidence. For the last few thousand years, this hard evidence is often in the form of written documents. But before that, it is taken from the Earth as fossilized bones or tools or refuse left by our ancestors.
This approach may seem narrow. After all, the question "who are we" is usually addressed from grand theories of philosophy, religion, or psychology. But there can be a great deal of satisfaction from this approach. It is good to know, for example, that it is self-correcting so that new material evidence or new interpretations of old evidence continually check the accuracy of our understanding of history. In this way our understanding does not get stuck in dogma. It is also satisfying when we look up from the details of the material evidence and experience the magnificence of the Universe, and of life on Earth, and especially of our own lives.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Part I: Our Place in Nature
Jan. 8 Introductory pontifications: Who are we? An answer based on history. Deep time and the interconnectedness of all things. Jan. 9 Lab #1 Getting started on the term paper. Extant Primates: Our closest cousin in the animal world. Jan. 10 Lecture #2 Our Place in Nature. To whom are we Klein (62-90), Gee(2002), Penny, Culotta (2005) most closely related among the living and (long) dead. Jan. 15 Lecture #3 Evolutionary Processes and Patterns Klein (1-18) Jan. 16 Lab #2 Phylogenetic analysis Jan. 17, 22, Lectures #4, 5 & 6 Before Hominids: The Origin Klein (90-143), 24 of Primates, Prosimians, Anthropoids and Hominoids: The fossil record of Oligocene and Culotta (2004) Miocene primates Jan. 23 Lab #3 Fossil Primates. Jan. 29 MIDTERM #1

Part II: Our Ancestors First Steps
Jan 30 Midterm Writing Assignment Due. Jan 30 Lab #4 Earliest hominids Jan. 31 Lecture 7 Klein Earliest hominids: The transition from ape to (173,184-187,193-198), Balter, Gee(2001), Gibbons (2002a,b), people Wood, Dalton. Feb. 5 Lecture #8 Australopithecus afarensis , Klein (169-171; Kenyanthropus platiops, A. garhi, and the origin 182-184,198-210), of human bipedalism. Lieberman Feb. 6 Lab #5 South African hominids Feb. 7 Lecture #9 Just before Homo: Australopithecus Klein (145-164,210-212) africanus and the the "robust" australopithecines Feb. 6 Lab #5 South African hominids Feb. 12 Lecture #10 Origin of the genus Homo, Klein (165-169, 174-180, 182, 217-221, 228-248) encephalization, tools, and phylogeny Feb. 13 Lab #6 Early Homo and The "robust" australopithecines. Feb. 14 Lecture #11 The "robust" Klein (222-228,248-254) australopithecines and phylogeny Feb. 19 MIDTERM #2

Part III: Archaic Homo and the Peopling of the Earth
Feb. 21, 26 Lectures #12 & 13 Klein (255-366), Evolution of the genus Homo: African origins, Zimmer (2004), Culotta (2007), dispersal to Eurasia, brains, tools and inferred Balter & Gibbons (2000 &2002), Gibbons(2003 &2007) behavior. Feb. 26 Lab #7 archaic Homo Feb. 27, Mar.1 Lectures #14 & 15 Klein (367-493), Lahr & Foley Neanderthals and their contemporaries Mar. 8 Lab #8 Neanderthals and their contemporaries Mar. 6 & 8 Lectures #16 & 17 Klein (494-573), Stringer, Dayton, Balter (2003) Homo sapiens and the peopling of the Earth Mar. 12 Lab #9 Homo sapiens Mar. 12 TERM PAPER DUE Mar. 13 Lecture #18 Klein (574-595) Conclusions: Anatomy, behavior, and modern human origins. Mar. 18 FINAL EXAM 80-10 A.M.

GRADING:
Lab Participation 10%
Midterms (2) on reading, thinking, lectures and labs 30%
First Writing Assignment 10%
Term Paper 30%
Final Exam 20%
REQUIRED PURCHASE: Anthropology 152 Course Packet from Davis Copy Shop, 231 3rd Street, Davis
REQUIRED READING:
Text: Klein, Richard G. (1999) The Human Career: Human Biological and Cultural Origins, Second Edition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press
Paper in Course Packet:
Balter, M. (2001) Scientists spar over claims of earliest human ancestor. Science 291:1460-1461.
Balter, M. (2003) 'Speech gene' tied to modern humans. Science 297:1105.
Balter, M. (2006) Feel it in your bones. Nature 440:1100-1101.
Balter, M. and Gibbons, A. (2000) A glimpse of human's first journey out of Africa. Science 288:948-950.
Balter, M. and Gibbons, A. (2002) Were 'little people' the first to venture out of Africa?. Science 297:26-27.
Culotta, E. (1999) A new human ancestor? Science 284: 572-573.
Culotta, E. (2004) Spanish fossil sheds new light on the oldest great ape. Science 306: 1273-4
Culotta, E. (2005) Chimp genome catalogs differences with humans. Science 309:1468-1469.
Culotta, E. (2007) The fellowship of the Hobbit. Science 317:740-742.
Dalton, R. (2006) Awash with fossils. Nature 439:14-16.

Dayton, L. (2003) Tracing the road down under. Science 302: 555.
Gee, Henry (2001) Return to the planet of the apes. Nature 412: 131-132.
Gee, Henry (2002) Aspirational thinking. Nature 420: 611.
Gibbons, A. (2002a) In search of the first hominids. Science 295: 1214-1219.
Gibbons, A. (2002b) First member of human family uncovered. Science 297: 171-2.
Gibbons, A. (2003) A shrunken head for African Homo erectus. Science 297: 171-2.
Gibbons, A. (2007) A new body of evidence fleshes out Homo erectus. Science 317: 1664.
Lahr, M.M. & Foley, R. (2004) Human evolution writ small. Nature 431: 1043-4.
Lieberman, D. E. (2001) Another face in our family tree. Nature 410: 419-420.
Pennisi, E. (2006) The dawn of stone age genomics. Science 314:1068-1071.
Penny, D. (2004) Our relative genetics. Nature 427: 208-9.
Stringer, C. (2000) Coasting out of Africa. Nature 405:24-27.
Wood, B. (2002) Hominid revelations from Chad. Nature 418:133-5.
Zimmer, C. (2004) Faster than a hyena? Running may make humans special. Science 306: 1283.
TERM PAPER
The primary evidence for human evolution is the fossil record which is surprisingly complete. Fortunately our fossil cast collection is also quite complete which gives us the rare opportunity to examine exact replicas of these precious fossils.
Your assignment is to become the leading expert on one fossil and its significance to human evolution. As the expert, you are to write the primary description of the fossil specimen in the following format:
I. Introduction: Discovery and background
II. Description of fossil based on your own observations of the cast. This should include comparisons to related fossils.
III. Discussion: Taxonomic and phylogenetic position of the fossil. Discussion of its significance to our understanding of human evolution (theme). You may include topics such as paleoecology, diet, locomotion, encephalization, associated archaeology, or any other relevant facts.
IV. Conclusions: Restate clearly and briefly what it is that your paper says.
Your 10-15 page double-spaced, typed manuscript must be ready for submission to the American Journal of Physical Anthropology on March 12, or before.
Term Paper Timetable
As we are all eager to complete assignments with the greatest ease and for the maximum amount of reward, we shall follow these procedures for the Term Paper:
January 9-23: sign up for your favorite fossil on the sheet, posted in lab (204 Young). A maximum of two people can sign up for any one specimen (unless it is Lucy).
January 30: turn in the first writing assignment containing (1) your completed library assignment (described on next page) (2) your name; (3) fossil's identity (cast #, catalogue #, and species); (4) a 500-1000 word essay introducing your fossil, its discovery, geological context (how do we know how old it is; its paleoenvironment), preservation (what parts are preserved and what is damaged), and how this fossil is important to our understanding of human evolution. A revised version of this essay will eventually serve as the introduction to your term paper; (5) bibliographic references to at least five references pertaining to your fossil and/or broader issues that you discuss in #4. (10% of course grade; if the library assignment is not completed and turned in, you will lose 20% of the first writing assignment grade).
March 12: turn in your complete manuscript including a revised first writing assignment plus the description, discussion, and conclusions. (30% of course grade)