Day |
Date |
Class
Topics and Assignments
Except for most of the video materials, actual presentation
will likely vary from this schedule,
including the date for the midsemester quizes. |
Week 01
REM: PCForum
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Week:
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
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15
16
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(01) |
Wed.
08
Sept.
1999
|
SCHEDULE / ASSIGNMENT CHANGES
The course materials schedule may be changed to meet the particular
needs of this group, and to adjust to unforeseen circumstances (earthquakes,
snowstorms, floods, deaths, and other "acts of god"). You are responsible
for any amendments to the schedule that are announced in class or
on E-mail.
PCForum
Assignments:
- At a minimum of once a week post a meaningful message on the class
discussion on-line chat board located at PCForum. At least one topic of your weekly posting(s) should
be related to the class topic(s) of the week. (I.e., in Week 02, for example, you should discuss a topic related to
what is happening in class d uring Week 02.) At the very end of
the semester, i.e., in Week 15, post a course
evaluation of the class itself.
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- Log on to the course WorldWide WebHomePage
and look over the remainder of this
Reading and Class Materials Schedule. Its URL (Web Address)
is:
http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anth1602/pcreadsc.html
(The easiest way to get to the class HomePage
from the UMD HomePage is to add a
~troufs and then click on "Prehistoric Cultures.")
Reading Assignment:
- All readings are from Humankind
Emerging (7th ed), by Bernard G. Campbell and James D. Loy (NY:
Harper Collins, 1996).
It's an excellent text.
The text was adapted in part from materials published by Time-Life
Books in two series: The Emergence of Man and The LIFE Nature Library.
- Read assignments following the course outline. Do not get behind
in your readings. Please read the assigned material by the date
listed on the schedule, and be prepared to discuss it (and / or
write about it) in class.
- Some of the assigned readings we will discuss in class, others
we will not. Whether or not we discuss the assignments you should
read them carefully and think about the exercises following each
reading.
- You should usually read the assignments prior to consideration
of their related topics in class. If you have read the texts prior
to presentation of the materials in class, you will more easily
keep track of what is going on.
- If you have any difficulty with either the terms or with any of
the various topics, stop by my office
and I'll go over the materials with you. However, please do not
wait until the day before the quiz or exam.
- Read "Introduction," pp. xv-xvii
- Look over the "Glossary," pp. 549-565
- Read "New Discoveries" Article(s) TBA
|
(02) |
Fri.
10
Sept.
1999
|
- Discussion of Case Study #1
- Introduction to Prehistoric Cultures: Overview of History of New
Discoveries
Handouts:
Slides
WorldWide
Web Assignment:
- Case Study #1: What's New? Current Trends and New Discoveries.
First of all, have a look at the Texas A & M WebSite Anthropology
in the News found at http://www.tamu.edu/anthropology/news.html.
Scroll through the site, noting, in general, the of items
that are being reported in the area of Prehistoric Cultures.
- "Kinds of items" includes things like people in the news,
new fossils found, new prehistoric archaeological sites discovered,
current controversies discussed, what's new with non-human primates
(especially the great apes: chimps, gorillas, orangutans ) reviewed,
new methods explained, old things reinterpreted, unusual and
/ or special events noted, and things like that.
- After you have had a look at the entire Texas A & M WebSite,
Anthropology
in the News, write a paragraph or two about what you found.
If one or more of the subjects sounds interesting to you, or the
"headline" doesn't make sense to you, click on it and have a look.
After you have had a look at the entire Texas A & M WebSite, write
a paragraph or two about what you found. This will be the "Introduction"
to your first Case Study.
- For this Case Study -- and all of the
Case Studies -- you may also use traditional library materials,
and, where appropriate, interviews and videotapes. So have
a look at one or more of the daily papers to see what t hey're reporting.
- Next, pick one of those trends or discoveries that you
mentioned in your introduction and explore it in greater depth.
If you are looking at Anthropology
in the News those items lis ted with several entries grouped
together are usually the easiest ones to do.
- Try getting more information by looking at other sites on
the web:
- Try surfing the web by searching with the "Search Engines"
button found on all of the course WebPages. Or use the search
engines found on the course Search
Engines Page.
- Hint: When you do a search on an item that has more than
one word, like "stone tools," click on the "phrase" button
of the search engine -- otherwise it will search out everything
with "stone" and everything with "tools," and the list of
"hits" could get quite large. (I once got 52,000+ hits on
one search.)
- These keywords might be useful to your project:
anthropology, archaeology, prehistory, human origins,
paleoanthropology, primates, nonhuman primates, apes,
hominids, lithics, stone
tools, and ice age
- Use the PCforum
to discuss your paper with others in the class.
- You may work on any or all Case Studies in
a small group (3 - 5 people), but when you do that you need to first
check with the instructor.
- On day (04) you will be required to find and
translate at least one foreign language source AltaVista
Translation Service (which is found at the top of each class
WebPage). You might want to start that part of the project now,
especially if your project deals with something found in another
country (for e.g., Neanderthal in Germany, Chauvet Cave in France,
"Ötzi" the "Iceman" now in Bolzano Italy).
If you are not familiar with foreign languages, use the Language
Identifier WebPage to help you figure out a WebPage's
language. Language Identifier identifies more than a dozen
languages: 1. English, 2. French, 3. Spanish, 4. German, 5. Italian,
6. Dutch, 7. Afrikaans, 8. Norwegian, 9. Danish, 10. Swedish,
11. Portuguese, 12. Icelandic, and 13. Latin.
Or use Xerox's "Language
Identifier."
- Due on or before Day (10). Unexcused late
Case Study papers will result in a loss of 2% of the final course
grade.
- Suggestion: Don't put off the Web Assignments.
The web doesn't always work when you want it to.
- See the "Preparing
the Final Draft" section of the Sociology
- Anthropology -Criminology - Humanities / Classics Writin g Guide
to see the details of what your Case Study report should look like
when you hand it in. Basically, it should look like this:
Reading Assignment:
- Ch. 1 -- "The Search for Human Origins," pp. 2-18
|
(03) |
Mon.
13
Sept.
1999
|
- culture: as a primary concept
- comparative methods: as major approaches to the study of human
behavior development and structure
- wholism: or the study of "humankind" as a whole, as a primary
goal of anthropology
- The approach used in this class emphasizes the "wholistic"
anthropological view which combines observations of "culture"
and behavior with considerations of the physical and developmental
aspects of humans
and their civilizations.
Recommendations on studying for this course
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- Go back to the Web and start refining your search. If,
for example you searched on the keywords
from Day 02 "primates, nonhuman primates, apes,
and hominids," and found something you found interest ing about
apes, this time try more specific items like "gorilla, chimpanze,
bonobo, gibbon, and orangutan."
- Hint: Keep good records of where you find things. The Encyclopędia
Britannica Online suggests the following citation when looking
at their entry for "bonobo":
To cite this page:
"bonobo" Encyclopędia Britannica Online.
<http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?eu=82793&sctn=1>
[Accessed September 7 1999].
- See "Documenting Electronic Sources in Specific Disciplines" from for information on how to cite
items from the web.
Reading Assignment:
- Ch. 1 -- "The Search for Human Origins," pp. 19-34
|
Week 02
REM: PCForum
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Week:
01
02
03
04
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|
(04) |
Wed.
15
Sept.
1999
|
PCForum Assignment
- Posting(s) for Week 02
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- Find at least one foreign language web site and translate it using
the AltaVista
Translation Service found at the top of each class web page.
See also note from Da y 02.
If you are not familiar with foreign languages, use the Language
Identifier WebPage to help you figure out a WebPage's
language. Language Identifier identifies more than a dozen
languages: 1. English, 2. French, 3. Spanish, 4. German, 5. Italian,
6. Dutch, 7. Afrikaans, 8. Norwegian, 9. Danish, 10. Swedish,
11. Portuguese, 12. Icelandic, and 13. Latin.
Or use Xerox's "Language
Identifier."
- Write a rough draft of paper #1.
Reading Assignment:
- Ch. 2 -- "Evolutionary
Mechanisms I. The Riddle of Heredity," pp. 35-42
- Read this for basic historical and conceptual ideas.
- Do not try to memorize this chapter.
|
(05) |
Fri.
17
Sept.
1999
|
xxxxx
- "The Search . . . " continues
- Videotape: Yanomamö:
A Multidisciplinary Study (1970, 45 min., VC 1290)
FONT>
Cultures
Terms / Concepts:
- ethnographic analogy
- interdisciplinary research
- hukura
- anthropometric measurements
- slash and
burn ("swidden") agriculture
- population structure (birth rates, death rates. . . .)
- invention, diffusion, migration
- trade / trade routes, reciprocity,
Individuals:
Publications::
- Chagnon, Napoleon A. 1967. "Yanomamö -- The Fierce People."
Natural HIstory Magazine 76:1:22-31.
- Chagnon, Napoleon A. 1968. Yanomamö The Fierce People.
NY: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
- Chagnon, Napoleon A. 1968. "Yanomamö Social Organization
and Warfare in War: The Anthropology of Armed Conflict and
Aggression by Morton Fried, Marvin Harris, and Robert Murphy
(eds.). NY: Natural History Press.
- Studying the Yanomamö. NY: Hold, Rinehart and
Winston.
- "The Ecology of Swidden Cultivation in the Upper Orinoco Rain
Forest, Venezuela." The Geographical Review 64:4:475-495.
- Kensinger, Kenneth M. 1971. Review. American Anthropologist
73:500-502.
Notes:
- N.B. what geneticist Jameas V. Neel says when they're
loading the boats.
- N.B. importance of kinship, child spacing, fertility
differences, village fission / fusion, "disease pressures" (measles,
maleria, yellow fever), "stress," polygamy. . . .
- Post-Columbian introductions: "The Yanomamó are not
'uncontacted primitive man' [sic.]."
- cooking bananas are not indigenous
- "a battered machete or two" arrived early on through various
trade routes.
- Map
of Venezuela
- Oronoco River
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- "Pre-Darwinian
Theories" and "Darwin
and Natural Selection" from Early
The ories of Evolution -- Dennis O'Neil
Reading Assignment:
- Ch. 2 -- "Evolutionary Mechanisms I. The Riddle of Heredity,"
pp. 42-51
- Read this for basic historical and conceptual ideas.
- Do not try to memorize this chapter.
|
(06) |
Mon.
20
Sept.
1999
|
- . . . "The Search" continues: Early Studies of Prehistoric Peoples:
Darwin
to Mendel . . .
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- "Evidence
of Evolution" from Early
Theories of Evolution -- Dennis O'Neil
(Personal Note: You do not have to believe
in evolution, but you should know evolutionists' basic arguments.
The same is true of the creationists' arguments. If you are interested
in the creationist / evolutionist debate, have a loo k at the Prehistoric
Cultures Evolution and Creationism Page.)
Reading Assignment:
- Review Ch. 2 -- "Evolutionary Mechanisms I. The Riddle of Heredity,"
pp. 35-51
|
|
Mon.
20 Sept.
1999 |
End of second week -- last day to change
grading option or cancel a course and not have it recorded on your transcripts.
No fall registrations accepted after this date. Last day to add classes.
|
|
Mon.
20 Sept.
1999 |
Yom Kippur holiday, classes in session.
|
Week 03
REM: PCForum
|
Week:
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
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09
10
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(07) |
Wed.
22
Sept.
1999
|
- . . . "The Search" continues: Early Studies of Prehistoric Peoples
- Conceptual Changes 19th to 20th centuries (ca.
1850 -- Present)
- Major Characteristics of "Modern Physical Anthropology" (WWII to
present)
PCForum Assignment
- Posting(s) for Week 03
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- Have a look at The
Basic Principles of Genetics: An Introduction to Mendelian Genetics
-- Dennis O'Neil
Reading Assignment:
- Ch., 3 -- "Evolutionary Mechanisms: II. Genes and Populations,"
pp. 52-63
- If you do not have a lot of science background, Ch. 3 may
be difficult.
- For purposes of this course, read Ch. 3 in order to understand
the following concepts.
You should at least know what the following bioscience things
are even if you are not sure exactly how they all work: dominance
/ recessiveness, chromosomes, sex-linked trait, genes, mitochhondria
[you'll need this for "Mitochondrial Eve" on days (40)
and (38), DNA [deoxyribonucleic acid],
mutation, gene pool, population/population genetics, gene
flow, phenotype, genotype, directional natural selection,
sexual selection, fitness, bioaltruism, kin selection, extinction,
genome, and bioethicist.
Pay attention to the "running glossary" in the margins of
the pages -- that should help.
|
(08) |
Fri.
24
Sept.
1999
|
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- "The Nature
of Fossils," "Overview
of Dating," and Relative
Techniques, from The
Record of Time -- Dennis O'Neil
Reading Assignment:
- Ch., 3 -- "Evolutionary Mechanisms: II. Genes and Populations,"
pp. 63-73 (see Ch. 3 note above.)
|
(09) |
Mon.
27
Sept.
1999
|
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- "Chronometric
Techniques: Part I" and "Chronometric
Techniques: Part II" from The
R ecord of Time -- Dennis O'Neil
Reading Assignment:
- Ch., 3 -- "Evolutionary Mechanisms: II. Genes and Populations,"
pp. 73-84 (see Ch. 3 note above.)
Optional:
- Decoding Danebury (50 min., VC 1285)
- Other People's Garbage (60 min., VC 747)
- The Ancient Mariners (60 min., VC 195)
|
Week 04
REM: PCForum
|
Week:
01
02
03
04
05
06
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|
(10) |
Wed.
29
Sept.
1999
|
PCForum Assignment
- Posting(s) for Week 04
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- Due: Case Study #1 (Web
Assignment #1)
- Case Study #2: Analysis of a Site,
Location, or Fossil Find
(This should be a different topic from the one you
did for Case Study #1.)
- site examples: Aramis, Chauvet
Cave, Hadar, Koobi
Fora, Kromdraai, La Chapelle-aux-Saints, La Ferrassie, Laetoli
(Tanzania), Lascaux,
Makapan, Olduvai
Gorge, Omo Valley (South Ethiopia), Spy, Sterkfontein,
Swartkrans,
West Turkana, Zhoukoudian Cave
- location examples: Afar Triangle, Australia, Beijing, Dordogne
Region (France), East African Rift Valley, Gombe
Stream, Israel, Java
- find examples: KNM-ER-1470,
" Lucy,"
"Little
Foot", Madeleine,
"Luiza," "Ötzi,
The Iceman" (Italian), "The Iceman" (Canadian), Qafzeh,
the "Taung
Child"
Reading Assignment:
- Ch. 4 -- "Humans
Among the Primates," pp. 85-101
As you read Chs. 4 - 18 note the following major areas of change:
|
(11) |
Fri.
01
Oct.
1999
|
- Catch up / Review
- Discussion of the First Quiz
- Brief introduction to the primates
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- Review WorldWide Web Assignment / Sites from Days (01) - (09)
Reading Assignment:
- Ch., 4 -- "Humans Among the Primates," pp. 101-122
|
(12) |
Mon.
04 Oct.
1999 |
- First Quiz
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- Pick out a Site, Location, or Fossil Find from Case
Study #2. You may select a Site, Location, or Fossil Find
other than those listed at Day 10. You may also select
two sites, two locations or two fossil finds and write a comparison
/ contrast report.
Reading Assignment:
- For next time read Ch., 5 -- "The Behavior of Living
Primates," pp. 123-145
|
Day
|
Date
|
Class Topics and Assignments
|
Week 05
REM:
PCForum
|
Week:
01
02
03
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(13) |
Wed.
06 Oct.
1999 |
- Return First Quiz
(Note: if you took or will take a makeup quiz / exam, it may take several days for you to get your quiz / exam back.)
- "Living Primates": An Overview
PCForum Assignment
- Posting(s) for Week 05
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- Work on the Site, Location, or Fossil Find that you picked out
for Case
Study #2. If you haven't picked one out yet, select one today.
The list from Day 10
should be helpful. If you want, you may also select two sites, two
locations or two fossil finds and write a comparison / contrast
report.
Reading Assignment:
- Ch., 5 -- "The Behavior of Ch. 5 -- Living
Primates," pp. 145-169
|
(14) |
Fri.
08
Oct.
1999 |
Sites:
Terms / Concepts:
Individuals:
Publications:
Notes:
- chimp hunting and meat eating ("one occasion when dominance fades")
- chimp tool use and tool making (termite sticks. . . .)
- "John Scopes 'Monkey Trial'"
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- Work on the Site, Location, or Fossil Find that you picked out
for Case
Study #2. Start making a rough draft.
Reading Assignment:
- Ch., 6 -- "Apes
and Other
Ancestors: Prehominid Evolution," pp. 170-181
- Have a look at the photographs between pages 174 and 175
Optional:
- Gorilla (60 min., VC 876)
- Have a look at the WebSite "Mountain Gorilla
Protection Project"
- Life on Earth; No. 12 (55 min., VC 228)
|
(15) |
Mon.
11
Oct.
1999
|
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- WWW Assignment TBA
Reading Assignment:
- Ch., 6 -- "Apes
and Other
Ancestors: Prehominid Evolution," pp. 181-195
|
Week 06
REM:
PCForum
|
Week:
01
02
03
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(16) |
Wed.
13
Oct.
1999 |
Cultures:
Sites:
Terms / Concepts:
- chimps
make and use tools (nest
building, termite collecting, wadding and chewing leaves to
use as sponges, "weapons")
- knuckle walking
- dominance hierarchy:
males are ranked and ranked adult males dominate society
- aggression
("warfare," "gang attacks," "killing and cannibalism"; concentrated
feeding in camp --> "violent aggression" and intragroup conflict)
- "rain dance"
Individuals:
Publications:
Notes:
- chimps are animals of great extremens (e.g., noisy - calm. . .
.)
- chimps systematically hunted other chimps, killed
and ate them (3 -6 chimps in "gang attacks," "brutal attacks")
- chimps get human diseases (e.g., polio)
- chimps have largely
a vegetarian diet (eating much fruit), but they also hunt and
eat some meat
- are as distinct from one another as humans -- Jane Goodall gave
them names
- "learned behavior [is] pased on for generations"
- because much of maternal behavior is learned, Flo is a
role model for her daughter Fifi
- females give birth only every 5 - 6 years (and they start having
children about xxx)
- males take no part
in child rearing
- "the only stable social bond is mother - child"
- chimps are stronger than humans and if they lose their fear they
could be dangerous
- life expectancy
of chimps living in the wild is guessed at 40 - 50 years
- baboons outnumber chimps at Gombe Stream 4 : 1
PCForum Assignment
- Posting(s) for Week 06
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- WWW Assignment TBA
Reading Assignment:
- Ch., 7 -- "The Transvaal Hominids,"
pp. 196-209
|
(17) |
Fri.
15
Oct.
1999 |
- Review of rererence materials (handouts)
- "The Transvaal Hominids":
Australopithecus
("Southern Ape")
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- WWW Assignment TBA
Reading Assignment:
- Ch., 7 -- "The Transvaal Hominids,"
pp. 209-219
|
(18) |
Mon.
18
Oct.
1999 |
Cultures: [Note: You can use any of these cultures for your Case Study #3.]
Sites:
Terms / Concepts:
- ice ages
- "killer ape" ("nature" vs. "nurture"; "innate" vs. "learned" behavior; "culture" vs. "instinct")
- "territory"
(Some people think that "man has an 'instinct' to hold and defend territory."
- "aggression"
- "weapons"
- lithics (stone tools)
- osteodontokeratics
Individuals:
Publications:
Notes:
- archaeological methods
- "ape man" is a popular south African term
- big game hunting
- baboon survival on the ground depends on "social cooperation and unity within a group"
- dinosaurs died off ca, 60 mya "before the time of man"
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- WWW Assignment TBA
Reading Assignment:
- Ch., 8 -- "The Great Savanna," pp. 220-230
|
Week 07
REM:
PCForum
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(19) |
Wed.
20
Oct.
1999 |
PCForum Assignment
- Posting(s) for Week 07
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- Due: Case Study #2 (Web
Assignment #2)
- Case Study #3: Analysis of a group
or stage (period) or tradition
Reading Assignment:
- Ch., 8 -- "The Great Savanna," pp. 231-240
|
(20) |
Fri.
22
Oct.
1999 |
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- WWW Assignment TBA
Reading Assignment:
- Ch., 8 -- "The Great Savanna," pp. 240-251
|
(21) |
Mon.
25
Oct.
1999 |
- Videotape: The Making of Mankind: One Small Step (51 min., VC 398)
[Note Owen
Lovejoy's "provisioning hypothesis."]
Cultures / People:
Sites:
- Hadar (Ethiopia) (1972 - )
- Lake Turkana (fka Lake Rudolf)
Homo erectus postmortem: The most complete Homo erectus skeleton ever found, but it was diseased (with vitamin A poisioning, perhaps do to eating to too much raw liver?)
pelvis change -- quadruped to biped.
- Laetoli (Tanzania) (oldest hominid footprings in the world -- see below)
- "The First Family" (close to 100 individuals, at Locality 333)
-- Are these the same or different from Mary Leakey's finds at Laetoli?
Terms / Concepts:
- bipedalism / bipedality
- hominid (human family)
- pongid (ape family)
- "provisioning hypothesis" (Lovejoy)
- tool making
- "weapons"
- meat eating / hunting
- scavaging
- frugiverous / herbiverous / carnivorous / omnivorous
- opposability / prehensility
Individuals:
Publications:
Notes:
- In the 19th century and early 20th centuries] "people expected to find a large brain on a more primitive [sic.] ape-like body," and almost wanted to find this. But the large brain came later.]
- Oldest footprints in the world are those found by Mary Leakey, and date to 3.5 -3 .7 mya
- short 4 - 5 ft. people (2 adults and a child)
- freestriding walk, keeping in step with one another
- no stone tools
- "The change from a quadrupedal animal to a bipedal animal requires major anatomical change."
- One problem in Prehistoric Cultures is to find a behavioral pattern that is powerful enough to make changes useful and necessary.
- "We would expect bipedalism to be a forest adaptation, not an adaptatio to the savanah" -- Owen Lovejoy.
- The earliest fossil that shows any change from the eating habits of the ancestors is Homo erectus. Homo erectus had a radically different diet. About 1.5+ mya, for the first time in human [pre]history there is a major change in diet, f
rom frugiverous / herbiverous to meat eating.
- Teeth provide a clue to the diet of prehistoric animals.
- bigger brains --> better tools --> bigger brains -->, etc.
- Richard Leakey: There are three species of hominids. Each occupied a different niche and were not competing with one another: (1) Robust Australopithecus (ca. 5 ft), (2) Australopithecus africanus (ca. 4 ft.), and Homo
habilis (ca. 5 ft., with a larger brain).
- "very primitive" = "very ape-like" in terms of anatomy
Question(s):
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- WWW Assignment TBA
Reading Assignment:
- Ch., 8 -- "The Great Savanna," pp. 251-263
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(22) |
Wed.
27
Oct.
1999 |
Cultures / People:
Sites:
Terms / Concepts:
- mandible
-- mandibular ramus
- innominate bone (side of the pelvis)
-- animated left hip of Lucy
- saggital crest
- supraorbital tori (brow ridges)
- hominid
- record casts
- fossil reconstruction
- upright posture -- bipedalism (posture and locomotion)
- provisioning hypothesis
- knuckle walking
- geological dating
- potasium-argon (K / Ar) dating
- range of variation
- "primitive" = "ape-like"
Individuals:
Publications:
- Johanson, Donald C.; and Edey, Maitland A. 1981. Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind. NY: Simon and Schuster.
- Leakey, Richard E.; and Lewin, Roger. 1978. People of the Lake: Mankind and Its Beginnings. NY: Avon.
Notes:
- The quality of scientific analysis in the lab can be more important than what happens in the field.
- Archaeology has changed from an individuals doing small projects by themselves to large multidiciplinary teams of international scientists doing coordinate excavations. The 1975 International Afar Research Expedition, for example, took 15 sci
ence specialists to the field.
- A large collection of fossils allows anthropologists to understand "range of variation." With the Hadar "First Family" collection from Locality (Site) 333, "there is a "gradient" from large to small; that is, there are fossils that 'span the
gap' between large and small." The brain, jaws, teeth and dentition are very "primitive" (i.e., ape-like).
- Unexpected sequence: bipedalism (3.7 mya) -->tool manufacture (2.4 mya) --> brain expansion (1.8 mya)
- No other animals bones other than hominid were found at Locality (Site) 333. The paleontologists only fossil hominid bones.
PCForum Assignment
- Posting(s) for Week 08
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- WWW Assignment TBA
Reading Assignment:
- Ch., 9 -- "The Evolution of Hominid Behavior," pp. 264-274
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Fri.
29
Oct.
1999 |
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- Review WorldWide Web Assignment / Sites from Days (10) - (22)
Reading Assignment:
- Ch., 9 -- "The Evolution of Hominid Behavior," pp. 274-287
- Review Chs. 5 - 9 for the Second Quiz . . .
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Mon.
01
Nov.
1999 |
- Second Quiz
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- tba
Reading Assignment:
- For next time read Ch., 10 -- "Discovering Homo erectus,"
pp. 289-301
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Mon. 01 Nov. 1999 |
End of eighth week -- cancellation of courses after this date will not be permitted.
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Day
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Date |
Class Topics and Assignments
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Week 09
REM:
PCForum
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Week:
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
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Wed.
03
Nov.
1999 |
PCForum
Assignment
- Posting(s) for Week 09
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- WWW Assignment TBA
Reading Assignment:
- Ch., 10 -- "Discovering Homo erectus," pp. 301-311
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Fri.
05
Nov.
1999 |
- "Environment and Technology of Homo
erectus
[see also Day (TBA) for Stone
Tool Technology -- lithics]
- Videotape: Blades
and Pressure Flaking (21 min., VC 2841)
Cultures / Peoples:
Sites:
Terms / Concepts:
- lithics
- Paleolithic (Lower, Middle, Upper)
- Mesolithic
- Neolithic
- microliths; micro-burin technique -- one way of making a microlith
- punch technique
- core
- dorsal side
- striking platform
- truncation
- facet (face)
- burin facet
- hammerstone
- anvil technique (anvil stone)
- end scraper
- side scraper
- backed blade (knives)
- scar patterns
- serrating
- notched point
- laural leaf point -- used as spearpoints or dart poiints or as knives
- fluting
- hafting
- collateral flaking, parallel flaking
- retouching (secondary flaking)
- burin = French for "engraving tool"
- boring tool (perforator; piercer; awl)
- pressure flaking
- percussion flaking (direct percussion)
- secondary trimming
Individuals:
- François Bordes
- Don Crabtree
Publications:
- Bordes, François. 1970. The Old Stone Age. NY: McGraw Hill.
- Clark, Grahame. 1970. The Stone Age Hunters. NY: McGraw Hill.
- Wilmensen, Edwin N. 1970. American Anthropologist 72:970.
Notes:
- A blade is a special type of flake usually defined as being twice as long as it is wide.
- Materials used: flint, chert, quartz, obsidian
- Development of tools allowed humans to improve as hunters . . .
- Obsidian = the sharpest cutting edge ever made by humans
Question(s):
- Film: The Early Americans (41 min., M 332)
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Mon.
08
Nov.
1999 |
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- WWW Assignment TBA
Reading Assignment:
- Ch., 11 -- "Environment and Technology of Homo erectus,"
pp. 324-336
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Week 10
REM:
PCForum
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Week:
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
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Wed.
10
Nov.
1999 |
PCForum
Assignment
- Posting(s) for Week 10
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- Finish final draft of Case Study #3:
Analysis of a group or stage (period) or tradition to hand in on
or before Day (29).
- Case Study #4: Ethnographic Analogy -- !Kung San
Start getting sources for your Case Study paper on modern-day
!Kung San by searching
"the web". The keywords listed below will help you get started
with this pro ject. For this paper you should (1) list and (2)
discuss the characteristics of modern-day !Kung San which might
be used to help interpret prehistoric cultures represented in
and by the archeological and ethnohistorical records. In your
discussion be su re to indicate why you think any particular
modern-day trait would be a useful model for understanding the
past. (3) Finally, discuss the reasons you think the !Kung San
peoples might
not be a good group to use in ethnographic analogy.
Reminder: For this Case Study -- and
all of the Case Studies -- you may also use traditional library
materials, and, where appropriate, interviews and videotapes.
- Due on or before Day (38). Unexcused late
Case Study papers will result in a loss of 2% of the final course
grade.
Reading Assignment:
- Ch., 11 -- "Environment and Technology of Homo erectus," pp. 336-346
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(29) |
Fri.
12
Nov.
1999 |
- "Hunting,
Gathering and the Evolution of Society" continued: Introduction to the
films The Desert People and The Hunters . . .
- Videotape: The
Desert People (51 min., VC 1094)
Cultures:
Sites:
- Western Austrailian Desert
Terms / Concepts:
- bitty -- dish
- band societies
- desert ecology
- "ground meats" (collected, not hunted)
- digging stick (dibble, coa)
Individuals:
Publications:
Notes:
- About 1/3 way through the film the coverage switches from a family belonging to the Mandjindara tribe occupying a territory near the Clutterbuck Hills to a northwestern group of the Ngadadjara tribe. The latter's territory lies around Tekatek
a and Jalara, west and southwest of the Rawlinson Ranges, in Western Australia. They represent the last families just coming into touch with the Western world.
-
Watch relationships between pepople. What do the women do? What do the men do? Waht do the children do? What do the teenagers do?
Stones for making tools are obtained from well-known quarries in the Western Desert, but old tools can often be found in the desert and reused. (caldedony; quartsite = hammerstone)
Watch use of fire.
Watch irrelationships with the land. What do they eat (bread, lizard, bandicoute, fruit, "bush tobacco," grub worms, mice)? How do they obtain food? Who gets it?
Note material culture. What would be left if you came back in a 1000 years and you did an archaeological excavation of their camps?
Sometimes a family may have to travel 20 miles or more in moving from well to well.
It can get to below freezing in the night, even though it is very hot during the day.
- "This important series is the product of a 1965 film expedition sponsored by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies into the 'Western Desert,' a cultural-linguistic region embracing half a million square miles and the ancestral home of the nom
adic Aborigines. Purpose of the the expedition was to document on film the disappearing Aboriginal culture and community. The result was some 25,000 feet of black-and-white film which has been edited into ten films totaling some three hours' viewing tim
e. These films record the lives of Djagamara and his family, who were met in the desert; of Djun, one of the film unit guides who exhibits sacred boards and leads a tour of the ancestral site; and of Minma and his famiily, who were returned from civiliza
tion to the desert to make the fillm."
"The Aborigines of Australia's Western Desert have almost all migrated to federal campgrounds, into the cities, or to large cattle ranches. When this film was made, only a handful held to their traditoinal way of life, wandering form water source to wate
r source, gathering food on the way. Soon the traditions of the Aborigines will probably disappear altgether, and this film will remain as one of the rare documents of their past. Two family groups are followed as they go through their normal activities
. Djagamara and his family are camped by an unusually plentiful water supply, whereas Minma and his family must spend their day travelling form one well to another gathering food as they go."
-- Tindale, N. Review, American Anthropologist, Vol. 70, No. 2, April, 437-438.
Question(s):
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- Due: Case Study #3 (Web
Assignment #3)
Reading Assignment:
- Ch., 12 -- "Hunting, Gathering, and the Evolution of Society,"
pp. 346-354
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(30) |
Mon.
15
Nov.
1999 |
- Videotape: The Hunters (#152S99), Part I
(29 min., M 333, VC 2305)
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Week 11
REM:
PCForum
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Week:
01
02
03
04
05
06
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09
10
11
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Wed.
17
Nov.
1999 |
- Videotape: The Hunters, Part II (43 min.)
PCForum
Assignment
- Posting(s) for Week 11
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- WWW Assignment TBA
Reading Assignment:
- Ch., 13 -- "The Evolution of Language and the Brain," pp. 367-381
Optional:
- The Compulsive Communicators (55 min., VC
229)
- Language (58 min., VC 1330)
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(32) |
FRi.
19
Nov.
1999 |
WorldWide Web Assignment:
- WWW Assignment TBA
Reading Assignment:
- Ch., 13 -- "The Evolution of Language and the Brain," pp. 381-394
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