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Anthropology

<OpenstaxParagraph>
	Modern <OpenstaxTerm><OpenstaxEm>H. sapiens</OpenstaxEm></OpenstaxTerm> first appeared about 200,000 years ago in Africa. Anthropologists generally classify these people as “anatomically modern <OpenstaxEm>H. sapiens</OpenstaxEm>,” which is a way of noting that while their bodies are the same as modern humans, they had not yet developed the cultural traditions, symbolic behaviors, and technologies that are seen among later <OpenstaxEm>H. sapiens,</OpenstaxEm> including people of today. Probably the most defining feature of anatomically modern <OpenstaxEm>H. sapiens</OpenstaxEm> is their chin. Modern <OpenstaxEm>H. sapiens</OpenstaxEm> is the first hominin to exhibit a projecting chin. One of the most common explanations for this anatomical feature is that the chin evolved in response to human speech and protects the jaw against stresses produced by the contraction of certain tongue muscles.
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	Sometime around 40,000 years ago there was an abrupt change in tool technology, subsistence patterns, and symbolic expression among <OpenstaxEm>H. sapiens.</OpenstaxEm> These changes seem to have occurred almost simultaneously in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Australia. While there is evidence of some creative artistic activity in earlier groups like the Neanderthal, they were not on the same scale as that seen during the Upper Paleolithic, which is also referred to as “<OpenstaxTerm>the human revolution</OpenstaxTerm>.” The level of cultural changes associated with this period has been compared to the level of change that occurred during the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century.
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	Among these changes, <OpenstaxEm>H. sapiens</OpenstaxEm> began assembling a much more elaborate tool kit by constructing tools from a wider variety of materials including antler, ivory, and bone. During the Upper Paleolithic, humans shifted from the manufacture of round flakes to the manufacture of <OpenstaxTerm>blade tools</OpenstaxTerm>. This construction method is known as the <OpenstaxTerm>blade tool industry</OpenstaxTerm>. Blades are stone flakes that look like a modern knife blades—they are long, thin, and flat, and they have a sharp edge. They have a much longer cutting edge than flakes do and are thus more efficient than older technologies. The prepared-core technique of the Mousterian that provided pre-shaped flakes was refined and extended to create pre-shaped blades.
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxFigure id="fig-00014" src="https://openstax.org/apps/archive/20240226.174525/resources/23b4b16118428cb622757589c62ebae8b9bfa2bc" alt="Long, shaped stone in the general shape of a narrow leaf. The stone has been shaped by chipping away flakes." mediaType="image/jpeg" width="533" height="800" />
<OpenstaxFigureText width="533">
	Figure 5.25 This Upper Paleolithic burin tool has a much longer cutting edge than anything that came before it and was much more efficient than previous technologies. (credit: “Large Knife Upper Paleolithic or later 35000-3900 BCE Africa” by Mary Harrsch/flickr, CC BY 2.0)
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	Over the 23,000 years of the Upper Paleolithic, there were many distinctive tool industries within the larger category of the blade tool industry, including the Aurignacian, Gravettian, Solutrean, and Magdalenian. The most significant tool during the Upper Paleolithic was the <OpenstaxTerm>burin</OpenstaxTerm>. The burin is a narrow-bladed flint capable of scraping narrow grooves in bone. Scraping two parallel grooves would allow a sliver of bone to be detached as stock for a needle, pin, or awl.
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	The <OpenstaxTerm>Gravettian tool industry</OpenstaxTerm> lasted from approximately 33,000 to 22,000 years ago. During this tool industry, there are many instances of animal remains being used for both decorative and traditional tool purposes. For example, the teeth of arctic foxes were used for decoration, while their arm bones were used as awls and barbs. Some animal bones such as mammoth tusks and bones were used to not only create tools, but also to make art, as seen in the Lion figurine in <a href="#fig-00015">Figure 5.26</a>. This figurine could be the earliest example of a figure having both human and animal characteristics, a form often associated with shamans or priests. Some have proposed that the “lion man” is actually a woman due to the lack of a lion mane.
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<OpenstaxFigure id="fig-00015" src="https://openstax.org/apps/archive/20240226.174525/resources/cbd97c74f69981f4d7e9be14a451faa3992fec16" alt="Figurine with the body of a human and the head of a lion." mediaType="image/jpeg" width="320" height="800" />
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	Figure 5.26 An ancient figurine of a lion sculpted from a mammoth’s tusk. This figure was discovered in a German cave in 1939 and dated to around 40,000 years ago, making it one of the oldest figurative sculptures yet discovered and the earliest example of an animal-shaped figurine. (credit: JDuckeck/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)
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	The <OpenstaxTerm>Solutrean tool industry</OpenstaxTerm> utilized tool-making techniques not seen before. It produced finely worked bifacial points made with lithic reduction percussion rather than flint knapping. <OpenstaxTerm>Lithic reduction</OpenstaxTerm> is the process of fashioning stones or rocks into tools or weapons by removing some parts. The lithic core, such as a partially formed tool or naturally formed rock, is held in one hand and struck with a hammer or percussor with the other hand. As flakes are detached, the original mass of stone or lithic core is reduced.
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	In addition to stone tool innovations, the Solutrean is characterized by the appearance of the <a href="https://openstax.org/r/throwing-arrow"><OpenstaxTerm>atlatl</OpenstaxTerm></a>, or spear thrower. An atlatl is a long stick used to propel a spear or dart. Functioning as an extension of the arm, this stick of wood or antler added kinetic energy, and therefore range, to a short spear tipped with flint or bone. The earliest archeological evidence for this tool innovation comes from France, where a 17,500-year-old atlatl was found constructed out of reindeer antler. It is believed that the atlatl was used by humans to hunt large fauna.
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<OpenstaxFigure id="fig-00016" src="https://openstax.org/apps/archive/20240226.174525/resources/e6d1b85a20c194ff77b64d1f949814ca5d4c0da8" alt="A man holds the atlatl behind his back, with a long spear notched into the edge furthest from his hand. He appears poised to launch the spear." mediaType="image/jpeg" width="800" height="533" />
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	Figure 5.27 Contemporary man using an atlatl, a tool for launching a spear or a dart that is at least 17,500 years old. (credit: “Atlatl throwing demonstration” by Hannah Schwalbe/NPS/flickr, Public Domain)
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	By 17,000 years ago, the Solutrean tool industry was replaced by a new tool industry known as the <OpenstaxTerm>Magdalenian tool industry</OpenstaxTerm>. During this period, bone and ivory continue to be used, as well as stone. Unlike Mousterian tools, Solutrean tools are made not only from nearby rocks, but also from rocks that have been transported over relatively long distances. Keep in mind that this required not only transporting the selected rocks, but also finding and extracting them.
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	The <OpenstaxTerm>Gravettian tool industry</OpenstaxTerm> is best known for carved <OpenstaxTerm>Venus figurines</OpenstaxTerm> portraying a woman, typically made from ivory or limestone. Most figurines have small heads, wide hips, and large breasts. Most researchers believe that they served a ritual or symbolic function. Some have suggested that they represent an expression of health and fertility.
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<OpenstaxFigure id="fig-00017" src="https://openstax.org/apps/archive/20240226.174525/resources/0c29593440ee209a8dda4277b356b4c6739c9d17" alt="Stone crudely shaped into a woman’s body." mediaType="image/jpeg" width="533" height="800" />
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	Figure 5.28 Venus of Hohle Fels figurine. This figurine is considered to be the earliest known depiction of a human being in prehistoric art. (credit: Anagoria/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0)
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	During the Upper Paleolithic, <OpenstaxEm>H. sapiens</OpenstaxEm> created a great deal of cave art. More than 350 cave painting sites have been discovered, the majority located in France and Spain. Cave art seems to have been created continually from 40,000 to 10,000 years ago and then disappeared around 10,000 years ago, likely due to climate change. As temperatures increased, underground shelters were gradually replaced by surface settlements. The most well-known cave sites in France are the <a href="https://openstax.org/r/chauvet-archeologie-culture"><OpenstaxTerm>Chauvet</OpenstaxTerm></a> (32,400 years ago) (<a href="#fig-00018">Figure 5.29</a>) and <OpenstaxTerm>Lascaux Caves</OpenstaxTerm> (17,000 years ago). The art in both caves features common subjects, such as bison, horses, and deer, as well as tracings of human hands. Most of the animals depicted were commonly hunted but were not always found with associated deposits of bones. The cave art produced during the Upper Paleolithic show a level of sophistication and even sacredness not seen previously in human history.
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxFigure id="fig-00018" src="https://openstax.org/apps/archive/20240226.174525/resources/a22ba8bf4c50784935ae1a2a2bde54b37a376b3a" alt="Sketches of the faces of multiple lions on a cave wall. The faces are realistic-looking and expressive." mediaType="image/jpeg" width="800" height="683" />
<OpenstaxFigureText width="800">
	Figure 5.29 These drawings of lions from the Chauvet Cave in France are dated to 32,400 years ago. (credit: HTO/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)
</OpenstaxFigureText>
<OpenstaxFigure id="fig-00019" src="https://openstax.org/apps/archive/20240226.174525/resources/f731f286c222fb780979ceea06b1a4f9c5445397" alt="Cave wall decorated with dozens of overlapping hand prints in various colors and shades." mediaType="image/jpeg" width="800" height="600" />
<OpenstaxFigureText width="800">
	Figure 5.30 Handprints found in the Cuevas de las Manos upon Río Pinturas, near the town of Perito Argentina. Hand stencils on cave walls have been found in many locations around the world. (credit: “SantaCruz-CuevaManos-P2210651b” by Golan Levin/flickr, CC BY 2.0)
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	Cave paintings were made with natural pigments created by mixing ground-up elements, such as dirt, red ochre, hematite, manganese oxide, and animal blood, with animal fat and saliva. Paint was applied using twigs formed into brushes and blow pipes made from bird bones, through which paint was sprayed onto the cave wall. Hand stencils on cave walls can be found in many locations around the world including Africa, Argentina, Europe, and Australia. Anthropologist Dean <OpenstaxTerm>Snow</OpenstaxTerm> (2013) conducted research at eight cave sites in France and Spain to determine who the artists might be. Based on calculated measurements of the handprints, he concluded that 75 percent of the ochre stenciled handprints in the Paleolithic caves were made by women.
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5.3.8 The Emergence of Us: Homo sapiens

1 What Is Anthropology?

1.1 The Study of Humanity, or "Anthropology Is Vast"

1.1.1 The Heart of Anthropology: Central Narrative and Commitments

1.1.2 Central Commitment #1: Exploring Sociocultural Diversity

1.1.3 Central Commitment #2: Understanding How Societies Hold Together

1.1.4 Central Commitment #3: Examining the Interdependence of Humans and Nature

1.2 The Four-Field Approach: Four Approaches within the Guiding Narrative

1.2.1 Biological Anthropology

1.2.2 Archaeology

1.2.3 Cultural Anthropology

1.2.4 Linguistic Anthropology

1.2.5 How the Four Fields Work Together: The Example of Race

1.3 Overcoming Ethnocentrism

1.3.1 Enculturation and Ethnocentrism

1.3.2 Primitivism and Orientalism

1.4 Western Bias in Our Assumptions about Humanity

1.4.1 Primitivism and Orientalism in Popular Culture

1.4.2 The Bias of Backwardness

1.5 Holism, Anthropology’s Distinctive Approach

1.5.1 Society as an Integrated Whole

1.5.2 Sources of Contradiction, Conflict, and Change

1.6 Cross-Cultural Comparison and Cultural Relativism

1.6.1 Relativism Is Not “Anything Goes”

1.6.2 Morality, Activism, and Cultural Relativism

1.7 Reaching for an Insider’s Point of View

1.7.1 The Challenge of Representing Others

1.7.2 Collaborative Methods of Representation

1.7.3 Working across Cultures toward Common Goals

1.7.4 Suggested Readings

2 Methods: Cultural and Archaeological

2.1 Archaeological Research Methods

2.1.1 Archaeological Techniques

2.1.2 Archaeological Dating Methods

2.2 Conservation and Naturalism

2.2.1 Early Efforts

2.2.2 Salvage Anthropology

2.2.3 Museum Collections

2.2.4 Interpretation and Voice

2.3 Ethnography and Ethnology

2.3.1 The Development of Ethnography and Ethnology

2.3.2 Perspective and Interpretation in Ethnography

2.4 Participant Observation and Interviewing

2.4.1 Participant Observation

2.4.2 Interviewing Informants

2.4.3 Ethical Considerations

2.5 Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis

2.5.1 Differences between Quantitative and Qualitative Information

2.5.2 Modeling

2.5.3 The Science of Anthropology

2.6 Collections

2.6.1 Archives

2.6.2 Three-Dimensional Collections

2.6.3 Ownership

2.6.4 Suggested Readings

3 Culture Concept Theory: Theories of Cultural Change

3.1 The Homeyness of Culture

3.2 The Winkiness of Culture

3.3 The Elements of Culture

3.3.1 Culture Is What We Make

3.3.2 Culture Is What We Do

3.3.3 Culture Is What We Think

3.4 The Aggregates of Culture

3.4.1 Symbols

3.4.2 Ritual

3.4.3 Social Structure

3.5 Modes of Cultural Analysis

3.5.1 Evolution, Adaptation, and Historical Particularism

3.5.2 Functionalism

3.5.3 Structuralism

3.5.4 Ontology

3.6 The Paradoxes of Culture

3.6.1 Paradox 1: Culture Is Continuous, but It Changes

3.6.2 Paradox 2: Culture Is Bounded but Mobile

3.6.3 Paradox 3: Culture Is Consensual but Contested

3.6.4 Paradox 4: Culture Is Shared, but It Varies

3.6.5 Suggested Readings

4 Biological Evolution and Early Human Evidence

4.1 What Is Biological Anthropology?

4.1.1 Looking to the Deep Past

4.1.2 Exploring What It Means to Be Human

4.2 What’s in a Name? The Science of Taxonomy

4.2.1 Defining the Science of Taxonomy

4.2.2 Defining a Species

4.3 It’s All in the Genes! The Foundation of Evolution

4.3.1 The Units of Life

4.3.2 Gregor Mendel and the Laws of Heredity

4.3.3 Mendelian Inheritance in Humans

4.4 Evolution in Action: Past and Present

4.4.1 Early Evolutionists and the Fixity of Species

4.4.2 Charles Darwin’s Role in Changing Views of the Natural World

4.4.3 Understanding Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection

4.5 What Is a Primate?

4.5.1 What Is a Primate?

4.5.2 Primate Behavioral Variation

4.5.3 Explaining Primate Success

4.5.4 Primate Classification and Taxonomy

4.6 Origin of and Classification of Primates

4.6.1 Understanding Concepts of Time

4.6.2 Fossils and Dating Methods