Physical/Biological Anthropology
Figuring Out Where The Hell We Came From And Why We Do How and What We Do
<Imagine>
A World Before:
Electricity.
Organized Religion (As. We. Know. It. Today.)
Writing. (As. We. Know. It. Today.)
The. Internet.
Science (As. We. Know. It. Today)
<Imagine>
You’re with a group of other humans.
You have left your larger tribe to seek out new lands for more resources such as food, water, and shelter.
You arrive on a distant, unfamiliar land. You’ve been told, or at least are led to believe, that this is the land of your ancestors, who are now a distant memory, and are kept only alive through oral stories.
<Imagine>
You are in a group of about 5 members. You are all frightened. You are all hungry. You all don’t necessarily like each other. But you each have your role for this moment. Not everyone will make it. In fact, three of you will die-and of the three that die, one will be used for food. But none of you know this yet.
<Imagine>
Right now, though, you’re feeling confident in your abilities to get along and survive in this land that your ancestors came from, and you still have some food left.
<Imagine>
“The emerging discipline of anthropology combined three long-existing streams of thought. The first was the study of what we have come to call cultural differences among societies. The second dealt with the struggle to explain the antiquity of humans and the artifacts left from these ancient lives. The final line of thought, closely related to the second, was the investigation of the biological origins of humans and other species. All of these areas have been the subject of investigation and speculation for much of the past millennium.”-Anthropological Theory, Seventh Edition
<Present Day>
Bones.
DNA.
Water.
These make up the physical bodily foundation for most of this planet’s non-plant species.
Migration.
This is how all of the species on this planet originally got around. Actually, some still do!
DNA, bones, water, and migration. What the fuck does this have to do with physical/biological anthropology?
What does the introduction, which is from a movie that came out in England in 20221, and that I saw with my boyfriend in February of 2024 (this year) have to do with physical/biological anthropology? (and also archaeology, but we’ll get to that in that upcoming post)
E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.A.N.G!
*Cough* I mean…Everything!
Ever wonder where we came from? How we got here? Why there’s so many of us and we don’t all look the same, speak the same, act the same (except on certain occasions), etc?
I’m not talking in a religious or spiritual context. No, not even sexual, although obviously sex does play a role. Nope, I’m talking more in a physically biological context.
<~>~<~>~<~>~<~>~<~>~<~>~<~>~<~>~<~>
Hello, hello, Fellow Musers! Or rather, says I, Fellow Homo sapians!2
I’m pleased to FINALLY be able to post the long awaited physical/biological anthropology post! Huzzah!
Now you’re probably wondering, “Why is the name of the field written how it is?” Honestly, I’m not too sure, but before we get into the explanation of what this field is about, we can attempt to answer this question by first hypothesizing and theorizing what the answer is to be, following the idea of the scientific method.
First, let’s hypothesize that it may have something to do with the science aspect of the field. So, this field focuses on both the physical aspect of humanity (bones, behavior, and migration) as well as the biological aspect of humanity (DNA, sex/gender, reproduction, genetic migration, etc). Like all science-based fields of study, this is a very intense field with a lot of variation. Like, seriously, A Lot! This field also focus’ mainly on humans (while also looking at non-human species and patterns to determine why the modern human species and our past variations may or may not behave such as we do).
Makes sense, right? We can see the evidence, so we can now theorize, and also say for certain, that this is the reason for why the name of the field of physical/biological anthropology is written/titled as it is. Huzzah!
Background
Physical/Biological Anthropology was included in the four-field study that is anthropology by Franz Boas (Enter sarcastic, “This guy again? Wow! Really?”). Boas came from a sciency background so when he started the AnthroPhd program at Columbia University, he naturally included this field. We've figured out the name…but what is it about?
Welp, it ain’t about the symbiotic relationship that all humans (aight, some humans) have with plants that don’t try to kill us when we consume their nutritional yumminess, as my mama liked to say when she was trying to get little me to eat that nasty supposedly nutritious asparagus that I clearly did not-and still don’t-like! Okay, the first part of that sentence isn’t true, but the second part is!
Back to the real topic-It’s more about human ancestry and studying the physical evolution of humanity from a biological perspective. The foundation of Physical/Biological Anthropology is based somewhat on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, along with some other now debunked theories (thank you Universe!). However, instead of the subject matter being birds of the same species with variations of beak sizes from the Galapagos Islands, the subject matter be us-a la hominids hominids hominids aka us humans. This field also tackles evolutionary theory and evolutionary medicine, which I will touch on later.
As you no doubt remember from learning about-and steadfastly not ignoring-history, Fellow Musers, humans have a great do not have a great track record of humanely studying each other via scientific means. We. Use. To. Suck. At. That. Oh wait, we actually-probably…yeah-still suck at it. But that we-clearly-suck-at-this-attitude has propelled us forward to find ways of not sucking at studying ourselves in as humanely a way as possible, including trying to avoid experimenting on those innocent animals who definetly deserve to kill us for experimenting on them.
Sorry, I should have put a Trigger Warning about Dark Humor. That was something I was going to save for my archaeology post, but it seems to have slipped out here onto this post. My most sincerest apologies!
We definitely know more about the current form of our species thanks to advances in science-both ugly and shining, good and bad advances. We don’t have to like the bad parts, but I feel that it’s important to acknowledge and admit that those dark moments helped propel us forward just as much as the light(er) moments have. We also know so much more about our past forms also thanks to science…and you know, history books that are definitely not written in a somewhat 100% biased way, and have totally not gone through some form of correction changes updating by a small minority of people who want to control history! Huzzah!
Subfieldception
As with any major field and its subfields, there are subfields within the subfield. I guess the official term would be “specializations”, although I think it’s more fun to say “subfieldception”. Say that 5 times real fast, you crazy motherfuckers-I dare you! For Physical/Biological Anthropology, there are currently 9 subfieldceptions specializations:
~Osteology (Bones)
~Paleopathology
~Bioarchaeology
~Forensic Anthropology
~Paleo-anthropology
~Molecular Anthropology
~Nutritional Anthropology
~Human Biology
~Primatology
This article on Medium.com3 gives a pretty good, brief description of these subfields/specializations. I will focus mainly on the two that I am somewhat more familiar with, which is Molecular Anthropology and Paleo-anthropology.
I have a confession, Fellow Musers. Tis this: I took biology twice…and dropped it both times. I enjoyed the class and listening to the professor’s lectures, and even enjoyed the lab portion, but something wasn’t clicking. Not sure what it was, but it wasn’t until I took my first Physical/Biological Anthropology course that I began to take more of an interest in biology. Mayhaps, I needed more of the humanity aspect of it and less planty aspect? If I don’t find the answer in this life, perhaps the after-this-life will have an answer…and so on and such forth.
One class that I took twice was based on molecular anthropology, even though that wasn’t what the class was called. In this class, students learn about population patterns and variation to study how human populations change over time. The beginning of the class focused on the scientific background of the 17/1800’s (re: both Darwins, early science, that good for something John Snow-who did, it turned out, know something about diseases4, etc.), there were a few lectures about the impact of the Spanish Flu (a misnomer, mind you) and Covid-19 as both are considered modern global phenomenons and also gave us a glimpse into medical anthropology. I enjoyed this class very much, but alas, the first time I took it I had to drop it because I was unable to complete a major assignment5. The second time I took it (fall of 2023) was during my worst emotional year I’ve currently experienced and not wanting to drop the class again (because I was not going to wait another two years to take it again) I willingly took an F. Another aspect of the class was learning about the differences of how diseases are viewed within both culture and science. Our final project was to write a poster summary that compared how a disease was viewed/handled by at least two different cultures/ethnic groups. It would’ve been a fun assignment to complete if I had just been able to complete the damn thing! /cry!
*Sniffles* I had previously taken another class, taught by the same professor, that focused on how humans evolved and adapted to their environments. It was in that class that we talked a little bit about mental health and the field of anthropology’s take on it. It was during that lecture that I learned about how anthropologist believe that anxiety and depression (two things that I and alot of other H. sapiens struggle with today) are actually traits that came about while we were in hunter-gatherer mode to help keep our ancestors (and thus us as well) surviving. I’m probably not saying that correctly, but the gist is that the anxiety alerted our ancestors to danger and the depression actually alerted us that there was shit that we needed to take care of. Again, I’m probably not explaining it correctly, but I am planning on doing an article about evolutionary medicine and will talk more in-depth about it then. I will also include an excerpt of a class paper that I wrote on this very subject (anxiety-depression-evolution) as my final paper for the class.
The class that I was taking this past spring, that I’m going to have repeat in the fall (cue *frustrated sigh*) is mainly based in paleo-anthropology with the focus being on the evolution of humans, from the first earliest identifiable ancient humanoid ancestor species to us-the modern human species. In this class, students learn about how closely related humans are to apes, bonobos, and chimpanzees, and we talked about the humanoid species variety, one branch which eventually evolved into modern humans. I admit, I’m personally more interested in human variation from a DNA/genetics viewpoint, but I found this class much more interesting than I thought I would find it.
If one takes, or has taken, an Intro to Physical Anthropology class, the course covers both areas, as well as looks at a cultural aspect of the field, at least the intro class I took did. There was also a lab part, where we looked at (and were tested over) replicas of human bones along with various types and sizes of skulls-from the earliest human-like hominid to present-day human. Due to being online, for my current class (at the time that I was trying to write this article-essay), which is called Human Evolution, we didn’t have a lab-however, when I retake the class in the upcoming fall semester, there will be a lab to accompany the class because it will be in-person (or face-to-face as the academics like to say). Meh, semantics-except when it comes to saying pecan and my name. Don’t you start that pecan shit with me and no, I don’t have a -ly/lee/li anywhere in my name! Fucking semantics!
I will also admit that, probably like most people, I have been skeptical in the past about humans having a common ancestor with apes and chimpanzees. But I have since become more open-minded. I also don’t believe that humans (no matter the form) are superior to our primate cousins, or any life form on this planet. I do believe that modern humans have been around long enough to have developed a sense of superiority, and in some aspects of cultures it is taught that we can do what we do to animals because we are superior. I’m sure many who read this know what I’m talking about, and I’m not going to elaborate because this is not that kind of post. I’m honestly surprised four-legged critters have not done away with us…yet…
Nalia: We need you to build us tall things that we can safely jump on!
Salem: And feel sorry for us when we do something stupid and we complain about it, and say that it’s not our fault-even though it’s totally our fault!
Ah, okay, makes total sense now!
Uh oh, we got a serious case of the dreaded…Howevers!
However, I wanted to point out that aspect of human culture because-until recently-that has been the mindset. We could say that it’s a survival tactic for our species to survive, but what about the other human and humanoid species? Are we truly more superior to them as well? Just because we have bigger brains, does that make us smarter than our ancestors? If you had asked me these questions when I was, say, a teenager, or while I was in my early 20’s, I would have answered both questions with a confident answer of, “Yes.” because, ya know, youth superiority-I knew everything about all the things! (Pfft, yeah riiiiight)
However, I do wonder: is that youthful superiority a trait of evolution since it’s only been in recent times that humans have lived longer than, say, past the age of 50? Now that modern humans are noticeably living longer, should we (as a society) allow ourselves to admit that we don’t truly know shit until say we reach the ripe young age of 30? 40? 50? Gimme something here hominids!
However, Idk about y’all, but around the age of 24 (about 12 years ago for those who don’t want to, ugh, math) I started having a change of heart, possibly mellowing out, and I started questioning the ideas that may not have been directly taught to me through my parents or the religion I was brought up in, but was definitely suggested by the society and culture that I grew up in. Of course, that was also around the time that I had ended my first intimate relationship. However, questioning my religious beliefs started before that, around the age of 19/20, even though I didn’t officially stop actively attending any kind of church until around the age of 26/27.
What the Homo? Say YES to Homo!
Nope, we’re not talking about your sexual/gender identity-we’re talking about the species Homo sapiens (us modern humans) and our ancestors! Although, just as a side note, the field of anthropology also covers gender from a multi-field perspective6.
It Started with Bipedalism-Learning How to Walk Upright on Two Limbs
Y’all remember that variation I mentioned earlier? Yeah, that doesn’t just apply to the subsections of this subsection of physical/biological anthropology or the wider, general field of anthropology-it also applies to the various species of homidids/humans throughout the millennias.
According to multiple sources, the search for the earliest human ancestor began when fossils were found of bones that suggested both an early version of hominids and evidence of bipedalism-when species started walking on two limbs instead of four. I’m not just talking about being able to stay upright for 15 seconds to a minute (as multiple cat videos show cats, other mammals, and more cats doing)-nope, I’m talking about searching for evidence walking upright as an evolutionary tactic to be able to go farther for food and survival. The earliest evidence of hominids that we know of can be traced starting back during the geological time period of the late Miocene epoch-the earliest evidence of hominids splitting from the Great Apes is a species called Oreopithicus, starting around 8.5 billion years ago. The earliest evidence of bipedalism since the split from the Great Apes started 7 million years ago with the species Sahelanthropus, a species that came shortly after Oeropithicus. A few millennia later, around the beginning of the geological Pliocene epoch (approx. 5 million years ago), we have the Ardipicithus ramidus, and then we get into the Australopithicines, whom physical anthropologists call homonids.
Isn’t that fun to say? Hominid, hominid, hominid!
In science, that hominid hominid hominid includes us and our early humanoid ancestors, the early Homo-species plus their variations.7
The various branches of these two mentioned species.
These are the ancestors whom we, as a species, have evolved from.
Now, you may be thinking, why are you talking about early monkeys (You probably mean the Great Apes like chimps, gorillas, bonobos)? Early apes? Because, Fellow Musers, somewhere in the timeline of modern humanity, there was a time where we-as a species-branched off from a different species and evolved into the modern Homo sapiens, or H. sapiens as it is also written out as. It it not a conspiracy theory-science has proven that we share a common ancestor with chimps, apes, and bonobos.
<$5 bucks to my Ko-Fi page says that ya’ll smiled and maybe laughed at some or all of the caption. $6 bucks to a monthly subscription says that you’ll really laugh when I eventually do the recording and say that caption! And nope, I don’t pay you back! *Wink*>
Science and anthropologists haven’t figured out exactly when the split took place. To be completely honest: We may not get to know in our lifetime, but some future generation may figure it out (Future Generation XXX perhaps? Because, ya know, we currently only have sooooo many letters in any alphabet). It’s also believed that hunter-gatherer societies were much more egalitarian rather than hierarchical like we have in today’s society. I’m not going to touch on that magna-topic in this article, but I do plan on writing about social structures in the future (possibly near future, but with me, who the fuck hell knows?). Also, monogamy has really only been a thing for an even shorter time period. There will be a post about eventually but until then, feel free to ask the Almighty <Preferred Search Engine> about that! You’ll also run into the evolution of female ovulation. Fun stuff, lemme tell ya!
Now, I know that it's still probably controversial to some people to read/hear humans be called primates, or cousins to primates. I actually had a long-ass, sassy paragraph for people opposed to the idea..but I'm holding back. I thought about it to the point of delaying the release of this article-essay-post, and I knew deep down that it wasn't worth putting out, even though I found it quite entertaining to write. So it may be found as part of a few Behind-the-Scenes paywall posts that I will explain more about in the upcoming anniversary post (Doncha just love a sneaky post-promotion? *Wink*).
The gist of what I was going to say is that if you're opposed to the idea of being related to primates due to religious/ideological reasons, I want to assure you that science does not necessarily try to erase religion and ideologies-it simply helps humans understand being human better. I consider science as the checks and balances to any kind of ideology, with the exception being what happens in the afterlife since we don’t actually know, you know? From what I’ve observed, true science does not mess with that pseudoscience sh, and also doesn’t intentionally try to fuck with the imagination.
There are scientists who become scientists because of their religious beliefs. So, for those who forget that and don’t believe them to be compatible, I assure you that there is hope yet. Even Charles Darwin (both him and his grandfather whom he was name after) still believed in a Creator while they were also figuring out the science of it all.
Of course, there's always going to be Homo sapiens who are opposed to the idea. But we still gotta live and exist with them. It's part of life, being diverse, and being different. There's nothing wrong with having diverse opinions-except when we go to war over them, or tell people to go back to where they came from due to some illusion that they don't "belong".
Let us keep in mind that at our very core, we are mostly made up of water. And apparently we come from an organism that came out of water. Our watery ancestor left the water for a reason-I feel that we are doing said ancestor a huge disservice by telling each other to "go back to where you came from" because I don't think we're going to re-evolve to go back into the ocean, or watery soup, anytime soon. Although if it was ramen noodled chicken-flavor watery soup you might just be able to convince to take a dip in and not come back.
On a less witty note-I'd like to put a post about said topic of being told to go back to where you come from. It was written earlier this week by
and I feel that it really drives the point home:
Thank you, Noha, for writing that article!
Conclusion
To conclude this article-essay-post, humans have been around for a hell of long time in different variations. Somewhere in our lineage, there is a common ancestor between us and the Great Apes. Sometime in our past, human culture and structure was more egalitarian (which meant it didn’t matter which gender/sex did the hunting and/or stayed home and cooked), sometime within that same past we became more hierarchical, sometime in our past we did alot of shit that has led us to our modern moments of where some Homo sapiens seem to want to go back to that survival mode (but keep us in a hierarchy that isn’t exactly working too well anymore), while other Homo sapiens have this distinct urge to get along, accept our differences, and move forward to a better future where gender/sex/identity/what have you will still matter, but perhaps in a more egalitarian way (as defined in the third sentence of this conclusion).
Carpe Diem and Huzzah!
~Kimber, Nalia, and Salem
Read this article from Sapiens.org about the film, called Out of Darkness—>https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/out-of-darkness-film-accurate-review/
Sometimes referred to as Homo sapien sapiens, but for the purposes of this article-essay we will stick to Homo sapiens, or H. sapiens, italics included!
Medium.com—>Physical Anthropology Subfields—>https://anthropology4u.medium.com/what-is-physical-anthropology-94e9eb0e4224
Wikipedia—>John Snow, physician—>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Snow
Dropped once, only to take it again and fail it because I couldn’t think of how to present a topic via a digital poster-I understand the concept better now, though, I promise!
For those of you who are curious, here is a link to an Oxford Bibliography page that gives a brief but detailed description of how anthropology views gender—>https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199766567/obo-9780199766567-0009.xml
Forensic anthropology is not reeeeeaaalllllyyyyyyyy anthropology. Right? I get it, and I think it's super cool! But it's like saying that Marx and Freud are philosophers. They are not. Just like these guys work with bones but have nothing to do with the whole rest of human history. I didn't know about those classifications so it was pretty interesting to discover more and make my own hectic opinion about them XD
A very interesting and informative piece, Kimber. I really enjoyed the way you started it — it was very engaging :)