Paleoanthropology is a branch of anthropology that focuses on the study of human evolution from the pre-human primates to modern humans that incorporates paleontology and various other forms of the anthropological sciences. Paleoanthropology unites diverse disciplines of paleontology and physical anthropology, with the primary focus being on the study of ancient fossil hominins. These fossils include human skeletal remains, preserved animal bones and plant matter, and tools. The goal of paleoanthropologists is to determine how prehistoric primates lived and evolved into modern humans. The purpose of this paper is to examine scholarly articles with the intention of unequivocally determining paleoanthropology as a science in its own right, wherein …show more content…
Science, as defined by the Webster Dictionary, is “… systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation.” (CITATION). I found that Tattersall and Schwartz exemplify the best description of what science is to me within their article Is Paleoanthropology Science? Naming New Fossils and Control of Access to Them, “The practice of science is a dynamic, self- correcting process, constantly testing (and discarding) ideas, rather than seeking to engrave them in stone” (Citation). In other words science is an expression of new ideas that coincide with new data as it is identified, establishes hypotheses to answer questions, uses repeatable experimentation, and allows for a eloquent result to either prove said hypotheses correct or …show more content…
Such methodologies include though not limited to mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome examination or comparison, genetic dissimilarity between species, chemical dating, biochronology, osteological and ontological comparison or examination, and molecular clock dating. The examination and comparison of mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosomes between species further exemplifies science by expressing genetic similarity as a measure of evolutionary kinship between species ( Relethford book, 30 ,31-32). Genetic dissimilarity can explain the genetic divergence within species and attribute to isolating the most recent common ancestor between differing species (relethford). Chemical dating types include potassium-argon, carbon-14, and uranium dating. These methods are chemical analyses that are used by paleoanthropologists to measure the amount of radioactive decay, which occurs in a consistent manner over a given time period (Smithsonian citation). Biochronology is the correlation between times during biological events that occur to identify an otherwise unidentifiable period using fauna fossils. These fossils can be used to date a site by comparing the fauna to previously dated sites. Biochronoolgy is usually used when no chemical dating is available nor is there any
There are many ways to determine the authenticity of findings. Scientists need to use methods of dating organic material to determine when it lived and if it is authentic. It is important for anthropologists to study when an organism lived to see how they lived at that time. Sometimes people produce objects claimed to be real artifacts from a certain point in time for fame and for money. These fake artifacts produce false information and fool the public to believing these false claims. By using dating techniques, such as carbon dating, x-ray analysis, infrared analysis, and neutron activation, scientists can determine the authenticity of discovered artifacts.
Storr (1989, 108) argues that today there is no evidence from anthropology or from studies of subhuman primates that ...
Paleoanthropology: Pliocene and Pleistocene Human Evolution. Paleobiology, 7:3:298-305. Frayer, David W. and Milford Walpoff 1985 Sexual Dimorphism. Annual Review of Anthropology, 14:429-473 Key, Catherine A. 2000 The Evolution of Human Life History.
Oxnard, C.E.(1979).Human Fossils: New Views of Old Bones. The American Biology Teacher, 41, 5, 273.
Science is a word that carries with it many meanings - knowledge, truth, a process of examination. But when it comes to setting a clear definition of the term, difficulties arise. Certainly physics is science, and theology isn't. But many disciplines are less intuitively dichotomized, such as the fields of psychology, history, ethics, and many others. Are these sciences?
Why is 14C dating a good method to use for dating a human leg bone but not so good a method for dating a dinosaur bone? You may have to check the dates of the existence of humans and dinosaurs on earth on a chart showing the geological eras.
Biological Anthropology, or Physical anthropology is one of the major fields in the discipline of anthropology, along side linguistic anthropology, sociocultural anthropology, and the archaeological sciences. As the name suggests, BioAnthropology is focused on the biological aspect of the human experience. By examining the differences in morphology, and biochemical, genetic, and/or ecological conditions amongst groups or populations of peoples, Physical anthropologists seek to uncover information regarding how the biological aspects correlate to the development of the human animal, and how these features fit into the greater picture of general anthropology.
1. Stanford, Craig. Allen, John S. Anton, Susan C. Exploring Biological Anthropology second edition. Pearson Education, Inc. 2008. Pages 238-420.
Science is the body of organized knowledge. Science is the collection of ideas and theories and the methodology used by people to prove them. It is the set of methods that people follow in order to explain the things that they see, the things that they perceive and the things that they believe in.
Anything that can be studied is absolutely considered a science. When people think of science and the scientific method they most often think of chemicals. Human experiment’s can also be conducted and considered scientific. The scientific method can be used to study people. Simply start by asking a question, doing background research, and then constructing a hypothesis. When studying people or their culture you can absolutely start with these simple steps, therefore using science to study these people. After determining your hypothesis, you can test it with an experiment, record your results and form a conclusion. “Science is the best system yet devised for reducing subjective bias, error, untruths, lies, and frauds.” (Harris, 1994, Pg. 6) Harris states that using science is they best way to prevent errors or miscalculations. We use science everyday; to assess every situation, and every problem that we have, even when we don’t think we a...
The increase in brain size may be related to changes in hominine behavior (See figure 3). The third major trend in hominine development is the gradual decrease in the size of the face and teeth. According to the Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia ’98, the fossil evidence for direct ancestors of modern humans is divided into the category Australopithecus and Homo, and begins about 5 million years ago (See figure 1). Between 7 and 20 million years ago, primitive apelike animals were widely distributed on the African and, later, on the Eurasian continents (See figure 2). Although many fossil bones and teeth have been found, the way of life of these creatures, and their evolutionary relationships to the living apes and humans, remain matters of active discussion among scientists.
Science is the observation of natural events and conditions in order to discover facts about them and to formulate laws and principles based on these facts. Academic Press Dictionary of Science & Technology --------------------------------------------------------------------- Science is an intellectual activity carried on by humans that is designed to discover information about the natural world in which humans live and to discover the ways in which this information can be organized into meaningful patterns. A primary aim of science is to collect facts (data).
Radiocarbon dating is used to tell how old something is. When some normal carbon gets hit by the rays of the sun, it turns into carbon 14. Plants absorb this radioactive carbon in the form of carbon dioxide. Animals receive this carbon from eating the plants. When the organism is dead it loses the carbon 14.
Science is about understanding and building knowledge about how the natural world works. It explains the inter-relationship with one's life and nature and promotes environmental education and more so environmental habits. Science teaches us as learners’ important skills such as reasoning, problem solving, analyzing, predicting, etc. It builds a foundation by providing a base in case a child does not go to higher level of education. Since science is all around us it is important to teach it so that the children could learn about themselves and their environment. Science also provides the knowledge needed to create new pieces of technology, which scientists used to develop civilization. For example, rather than writing
The first question that arises while talking about Science is what exactly is Science? Science can be defined as an effort to understand the nature and how natural world works. It is the systematic observation of natural phenomena. It is about gaining deeper and deeper understanding of the physical world.