PHYSICAL

ANTHROPOLOGY

GEETA MOHAN
• The word anthropology itself tells the
basic story.
• From the Greek word
anthropos (“human”) and logia (“study”), it
is the study of human kind, from its
beginnings, millions of years ago to the
present day.
• Anthropology seeks to uncover principles
of behavior that apply to all human
communities. To an anthropologist,
diversity itself—seen in body shapes and
sizes, customs, clothing, speech, religion,
and world view—provides a frame of
reference for understanding any single
aspect of life in any given community.
• Anthropology is the study of humans,
including humans of the past, present,
and future. The biology and culture of
humans have changed to varying degrees
since the appearance of the first human
ancestors.
• Anthropologists seek to examine the
evolution of biology and culture through a
variety of methods and through the
analysis of various types of materials.
Anthropology

• Anthropologists examine contemporary

and past societies through observing
living human groups as well as the
physical remains left behind by past
groups. They investigate the origins of
humans through analysis of fossilized
hominid remains, and they observe and
study our closest living relatives, non-
human primates. Anthropologists are also
interested in and study the uniquely
human trait of spoken language
• Together, anthropology is a field focused
on all aspects of what it means to be
human, where humans originated, and
how we got to be, where we are today.
 Major trends in human evolution
• Humans are unique, because we are bipedal,
meaning we walk upright on two legs rather than
on four. Bipedalism was one of the earliest
adaptations of our hominid ancestors, occurring
approximately 6 million years ago.
• Another early adaptation was the loss of the
extremely large honing canine, which happened
approximately 5.5 million years ago. Today, we
have a much smaller, non honing canine.
• One development of our hominid ancestors that
greatly impacts our daily life today is the
adoption and continued development of material
culture. Initially represented by the production of
stone tools around 2.5 million years ago, our
material culture today includes everything from
cell phones to sports cars to musical
instruments.
Skull of pre historic man & modern man
Anthropology
Anthropology
Stages in Evolution of man
Bipedalism
Anthropology
Evolution of Man
• . Humans are also unique because of our spoken
language. We are the only animal that can
verbally transmit thoughts, feelings, ideas, and
concepts.
• More recently, our ancestors began to hunt large
and small game with the tools they had created.
This hunting tradition continues with modern
humans, although it is now typically viewed as a
leisure activity rather than the primary source of
protein in our diet.
• Finally, approximately 11,000 years ago,
humans began producing their own food through
domestication of animals and cultivation of
plants. Agriculture provided the opportunity for
human population sizes to increase, as more
food was available
Relationship between anthropology and sociology

• The relationship between anthropology and sociology is

dependent upon the human cultures that are studied in both
disciplines.
• Sociology looks at human beings during a specific time
period, while anthropology looks at the overall growth and
change of humans from ancestral times to present-day times.
Anthropology

Branches of anthropology
• The field of anthropology is usually broken down
into four main branches:
Cultural anthropology
Biological anthropology
Linguistic anthropology
Archaeology.
Each separate branch of this discipline seeks to
study some aspect of humanity - whether it's
culture, language, or human biology and
evolution.
Anthropology

• Cultural anthropology studies human

cultures in the present and recent
past and is generally seen as the
widest and most practiced branch in
the field and is focused on studying
human culture and its effect on both
the individual and the society as a
whole.
• Most cultural anthropologists focus
on one specific aspect of culture,
such as religion or politics.
 Anthropology

• Biological anthropology differs from cultural

anthropology in that it looks at the role that
genetics, history and evolution have played in
making humans and societies into what they
are today. Studies how humans vary and
evolve biologically.
• It includes the study of both living and past
humans as well as human ancestors and their
relatives.
Anthropology

• Linguistic anthropology studies languages, including

the origins of different languages and the relationships
between them. They also examine how languages vary and
change over time. thus examines how
communication vary and change over time.
Anthropology

• Archaeology examines cultures of past

societies through examination of the
material remains and artifacts left behind.
Based on this material, archaeologists can
determine population size, diet, technology,
status differences and a variety of other
aspects of daily life.
 Cultural and biological anthropology are
concerned with modern man, archaeology is
only concerned with history and seeks to
understand and reconstruct what life was like
in past cultures and societies.
Archaeologists can be focused on any area of
human history, from the pre-human, stone age
to more recent times
• Physical / biological anthropology is the study of
the past and present evolution of the human
species and is especially concerned with
understanding the causes of present human
diversity.
• Within this broad definition it encompasses
fields as diverse as human palaeontology,
evolutionary biology, human genetics,
comparative anatomy and physiology, primate
behaviour, human behavioural ecology, and
human biology.
Anthropology

• Human biology broadly covers the areas of

modern human biological variation, human
ecology, nutrition and demography.
• What makes physical/ biological
anthropology unique is that it brings all of
these areas to bear on our understanding of
the human condition.
• Biological anthropology is associated with the theory
of evolution , but there are many other ways by which
biological anthropologists are studying humans and
answering age-old questions.
• Technically speaking, biological anthropology, also
known as physical anthropology, is a broad subject
that is invested in the understanding of the biology of
the human species, both past and present.
• The main purpose of this branch of science is to
answer questions dealing with past and present;
explain where our species came from – and possibly
where it is headed.
 Biological / Physical Anthropology includes :-
• Human Biology : Past, Present, and Future
• Homo Sapiens : Characteristics
• Understanding Primates
• DNA : Understanding variations between people
 Anthropology

• Human and nonhuman primate evolution _human

variation and its significance and the biological bases
of human behaviour . The course that human
evolution has taken and the processes that have
brought it about are of equal concern. In order to
explain the diversity within and between human
populations, physical anthropologists must study past
populations of fossil hominids as well as the
nonhuman primates .
• Much light has been thrown upon the relation to other
primates and upon the nature of the transformation in
human anatomy and behavior in the course of evolution
from early hominids to modern people—a span of at
least four million years.
• The processes responsible for the
differentiation of people into geographic
populations and for the overall unity
of Homo sapiens include natural
selection, mutation , genetic drift,
migration and genetic recombination.
• Objective methods of isolating various
kinds of traits and dealing
mathematically with their frequencies, as
well as their functional or phylogenetic
significance, make it possible to
understand the composition of human
populations and to formulate hypotheses
concerning their future.
 Power Relations
Five bases of power
• Legitimate power
Also called "positional power," it is the power of an individual
because of the relative position and duties of the holder of the
position within an organization.
• Referent power
Referent power is the power or ability of individuals to attract others
and build loyalty. It is based on the charisma and interpersonal
skills of the power holder
• Expert power
Expert power is an individual's power deriving from the skills or
expertise of the person and the organization's needs for those skills
and expertise
• Reward power
Reward power depends on the ability of the power wielder to
confer valued material rewards, it refers to the degree to
which the individual can give others a reward of some kind
such as benefits, time off, desired gifts, promotions or
increases in pay or responsibility.
• Coercive power
Coercive power is the application of negative influences. It
includes the ability to demote or to withhold other rewards.
The desire for valued rewards or the fear of having them
withheld that ensures the obedience of those under power.
Types of power

• "Condign" (based on force)

• "Compensatory" (through the use of various resources)
• "Conditioned" (the result of persuasion)
Their sources are :-
• "Personality" (individuals), "Property" (their material
resources) and "Organizational" (whoever sits at the top of an
organizational power structure)
Evolution of Man …………………..
Anthropology

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