Physical Anthropology

Fall 2002

John Staeck

IC 2071B,      630-942-2022       staeck@cdnet.cod.edu

Office Hours: Please see Staeck's personal web page web page:

www.cod.edu/people/faculty/staeck/

see also:

Anthropology Program Web Page: http://www.cod.edu/dept/anthro

Required Texts:

Angeloni, E., 01/02, Annual Editions - Physical Anthropology. Guilford, Ct.: Dushkin.

Bass, W., 1998, Human Osteology: A Laboratory and Field Manual, 4th ed, Columbia: Missori Historical Society.

Gould, S.J., 1996, The Mismeasure of Man, Revised & Expanded edition. New York: W.W. Norton.

Park, M., 2002, Biological Anthropology, 3rd ed., San Francisco: Mayfield/McGraw Hill.

Optional Texts:

Zihlman, A.. 2000, Human Evolution Coloring Book.2nd ed., New York: Harper-Collins.

***This text will be required if you elect to pursue the extra-credit option outlined below.  You will need to order it on your own, however.

 

Overview: This semester we will examine the fundamentals of physical anthropology. We will concentrate our efforts in 4 areas: (a) the social history and application of physical anthropology, (b) race and human variation, (c) primatology, and (d) hominid evolution. Unlike past semesters we will not be spending any significant amount of time on genetics. Finally, we will be using a biosocial approach to studying physical anthropology. This means that we will be examining the interconnectedness between physical form and structure and its social interpretations. The biosocial approach requires that you master the fundamentals of physical anthropology and understand how these fundamentals are interpreted and applied in the world. As a consequence, this course adopts an explicitly evolutionary position that you are required to master, regardless of personal religious beliefs.


Requirements: You are responsible for all material covered in this course, including readings, films, lectures, and discussions. Attendance at all class meetings is expected although I will not typically take roll. You are an adult and I see no reason why I should monitor your presence in the classroom; just recall that you are responsible for all material and for participating in class discussion. You are expected to have completed all readings by the date listed on the schedule below.

There will be 3 examinations that will, when combined, account for your final grade.

There is one standardized chance for extra credit. You will need to complete substantial portions of the optional text by Zihlman. While I realize that many of you may be surprised to see that this is a coloring book, I wish to point out to you that psychologists have documented that most people learn more effectively when they are exposed to color stimuli. Further, Zihlman's text is hardly juvenile and contains useful information that will help you in other aspects of this course. Before you dismiss the idea of coloring for extra credit, I strongly recommend that you look at the Zihlman book and evaluate it for yourself. Please note, though, that there is a great deal of coloring to be done and you should not put it off to the last minute. Instead, use the Zihlman book as a study guide to help through each chapter in the text. The base total for extra credit is approximately 30 points. This is enough to improve each of your hourly grades by approximately 10%.

Schedule of Readings and Topics

Schedule subject to change at the discretion of the professor.

All readings and work should be completed by the date on which they are listed.

 

Dates

Topics

Biological Anthropology

Mismeasure of Man

Annual Editions

Human Osteology

23-Sep

Introduction to Course

Physical Anthropology at Work

 

 

 

 

25-Sep

Roots in the Woodwork

C. 1

Preface

 

 

27- Sep

Laboratory Orientation and the Skull

 

 

 

C. 1, appendix 2, C. 2 (begin)

30-Sep

Roots and Nuts in Anthropology

C. 2

 C. 1, 2 (start)

# 1

 

02-Oct

Introductory Genetics

Video: Building Blocks of Life or TBA

C. 3

C. 2 (finish)

# 41

 

4-Oct

Laboratory – Skull

 

 

 

C. 2 cont’d

07-Oct

Evolutionary Processes

C. 4

 

# 2

 

09-Oct

On the Origin of Species

Possible Video: TBA

C. 5

 

 

 

11-Oct

Skull Cont’d

 

 

 

C. 2 Finish

14-Oct

A Geological Timetable of Earth

C. 6

 

 

 

16-Oct

Examination 1

 

 

 

 

18-Oct

Laboratory Examination

 

 

 

 

21-Oct

Hairy Lips and Wet Noses: An Introduction to Primatology

C. 7 (at least start)

 

# 9

 

23-Oct

Computerized Slides Show (if feasible)

C. 7 (finish)

 

# 7, 10

 

25-Oct

No Class BUT READ

 

 

 

C. 3 (axial)

28-Oct

Primate Behavior and Behavioral Ecology

Video: Survey of Living Primates or TBA

C. 8

 

# 8, 11, 12

 

30-Oct

Monkeying Around (Pacing Date: Topics TBA)

 

 

# 14

 

01-Nov

Axial cont’d

 

 

 

C. 3 (axial)

04-Nov

Fossils, Fakes, and Frauds: Piltdown Man Down  or Lab make-up time

C. 9

 

# 21

 

06-Nov

Hominids Rising

C. 10 start

 

# 22

 

08-Nov

Axial Cont’d

 

 

 

C. 3 (axial)

13-Nov

Examination 2

 

 

 

 

15-Nov

Laboratory Examination

 

 

 

 

18-Nov

Lucy and the Australopithecines: Live and in Concert?

C. 10 cnt'd

 

# 24

 

20-Nov

Early Homo

C. 11 start

 

# 23, 25

 

22-Nov

Appendicular Skeleton

 

 

 

C. 3 (appendicular)

25-Nov

Archaic Forms - including Neanderthals

Video: TBA

C. 11 cnt'd

 

# 26, 29, 30

 

27-Nov

The Rise of Modern Humans

Video: Lascaux

C. 12

 

# 28

 

29-Nov

No Class BUT READ

 

 

 

C. 3 (appendicular)

02-Dec

Living Folks and Populations

C. 13

C. 3

 

 

04-Dec

Race and Human Variation: part 1

C. 14

C. 4

# 6, 36

 

06-Dec

Appendicular Cont’d

 

 

 

C. 3 (appendicular)

09-Dec

Inheritance, Intelligence, and Idiots - the case of I.Q.

Video: The I.Q. Myth

 

C. 5

# 34, 35

 

11-Dec

Biological Anthropology Today

Video: Wanted: Butch and Sundance or TBA

C. 15

C. 7, pp. 391-424

 

 

13-Dec

Examination 3, including Laboratory component