ANT 135 - Human Evolution: Physical Anthropology & Archaeology

3 Credit Hours

This is an introductory course to familiarize students with the methods and findings of Physical/Biological Anthropology and Archaeology. Interrelated biological and sociocultural factors that have been proposed to explain the evolution of the human species will be examined as well as the wide range of adaptive responses to differing environmental and societal pressures encountered by humans as they left their original homeland.

Prerequisite(s): COM 050 or COM 051 or ESL 050 and COM 061 or ESL 060

Semesters Offered: Spring

RATIONALE OF COURSE

This course provides the student with the latest scientific evidence in the continuing controversies surrounding such topics as the origin and antiquity of the human body and the factors most responsible for the major social and economic changes that have occurred in human history

COURSE COMPETENCIES

Identify the subject phenomena of physical/biological) anthropology and archaeology
Utilize concepts basic to physical/biological anthropology and archaeology
Describe the various methods of collecting anthropological data
Correctly use the logic of cause and effect relationships in attempting to analyze the past history of the human species
Describe how evolutionary change occurs
Compare and contrast neo-Darwinism with classical Darwinism
Discuss the similarities and differences between human anatomy and behavior and that of other animals
Describe the adaptive changes that occurred in the hominid line that led to the rise of the first true humans
Discuss the role that language acquisition played in the adaptive success of modern humans
Identify and describe each of the key pre-human hominids
Describe the cultural and biological adaptations of humans to their physical and social environments
Compare and contrast the various theories that have been proposed to explain the rise of agriculture, animal domestication, and civilization
Identify and explain how inequalities in wealth, status, and power first arose in human societies
Discuss the facts and fallacies associated with the terms “race” and “I.Q.”
Make a prediction about future evolutionary trends in the human species