Anthropology — Unit 3 Study Guide
Human Diversity, Race, and Culture Areas in Ethiopia
3.1 Human Beings & Being Human
• Humans evolve biologically AND culturally at once — this is called biocultural evolution.
• Example: bigger brains (biology) → language & tools (culture); stone tools → dietary/anatomical change;
clothing lets humans survive Arctic cold despite equatorial-adapted bodies.
• Humanity = defined by 5 traits: bipedalism, small teeth, large brain, complex language, use of culture.
3.2 Origin of the Modern Human Species
Cosmologies (non-scientific)
• Belief-based origin stories: Navajo (Holy People/corn), Taoism (Yin & Yang), Greek myth (Prometheus),
Genesis (Adam & Eve; Ussher's 4004 BC estimate).
• Led to the idea that species are fixed and unchanging.
Evolutionary explanation
• Evolution = replication + variation + selection ("survival of the fittest").
• Darwin showed humans are part of the natural biological world — supported today by DNA evidence.
3.3 Kinds of Humanity: Human Physical Variation
• Adaptation = genetic change passed to offspring that improves survival (e.g., dark skin in the tropics protects
against skin cancer; light skin in northern Europe allows enough vitamin D).
• Bergmann's rule: cold climates → short/stocky bodies (heat retention); hot climates → tall/slender bodies (heat
loss).
• Habituation/acclimatization = short-term, reversible, NOT genetic (e.g., altitude adjustment).
• All humans = one species (Homo sapiens sapiens); "race" is biologically near-meaningless —
anthropologists prefer "ancestry."
• Key lesson: culture is NOT linked to geography/genetics — behavior is learned, not inherited.
3.4 Human Races: History of Racial Typing
• Ancient Egypt (~1350 BC): earliest skin-color classification.
• Age of Discovery (16th c.): Europeans labeled non-Christian peoples "savages"; ranked by how European they
looked.
• Cephalic index (mid-1800s): head-shape measurement (dolichocephalic vs. brachycephalic) used to claim
superiority.
• Biological determinism → Social Darwinism → Eugenics → Nazi genocide (WWII).
• Why "master race" fails biologically: genetic diversity protects populations from disease; uniformity =
vulnerability.
3.5 The Grand Illusion: Race Is Arbitrary
• Racial traits (skin color, etc.) are continuous spectrums, not clean-cut categories.
• No clear boundary exists between "races" — mixed-ancestry people don't fit any box.
• R.C. Lewontin (1972): racial classification has no genetic/scientific value and is socially destructive.
• Bottom line: "race" is an outdated concept; "ancestry" is used for medical/forensic purposes only.
3.6 Human Cultural Diversity
• Since race doesn't control behavior, CULTURE explains behavioral differences.
• Each culture = a unique adaptation to its own ecological/economic/social conditions (e.g., Amazonian foragers
vs. Highland Scots).
• Modern mass communication & migration are speeding up cultural change.
3.7 Culture Areas and Cultural Contact in Ethiopia
• Culture area = a cluster of related cultures sharing a geographic region (concept introduced by Alfred Kroeber,
1920s).
Culture Area Location Subsistence Basis Example Groups / Scholars
Plough culture Highland & central Agriculture (plough farming) Levine, Hoben, Gamst, Bauer
Ethiopia (studied since 1950s)
Enset culture Southern Ethiopia Enset ("false banana") as Guraghe, Sidama, Gedeo
(SNNPR) staple
Pastoral culture Lowlands: Afar (NE), Herding cattle/livestock; Afar, Somali, Borena peoples
Somali (SE), Borena (S) mobility
Quick Recap
• 3.1 – Biocultural evolution; definition of "humanity"
• 3.2 – Cosmology (myth) vs. evolution (science)
• 3.3 – Physical variation = adaptation, not race
• 3.4 – History: racial typing → determinism → social Darwinism → eugenics
• 3.5 – Race is arbitrary (Lewontin)
• 3.6 – Culture explains behavioral diversity
• 3.7 – Ethiopia's 3 culture areas: plough, enset, pastoral
Practice Quiz — Test Yourself
(Answers are on the last page — try to answer first without looking!)
• 1. What is "biocultural evolution"? Give one example.
• 2. List the 5 traits that define "humanity."
• 3. Name the three components of evolution (per Darwin's model).
• 4. What is the difference between adaptation and habituation/acclimatization? Give an example of each.
• 5. Why do anthropologists today prefer the term "ancestry" over "race"?
• 6. Explain the sequence: biological determinism → social Darwinism → eugenics. What historical event is the
extreme endpoint of this chain?
• 7. According to R.C. Lewontin's 1972 study, what is the scientific/social value of racial classification?
• 8. If race doesn't determine behavior, what does — according to 3.6?
• 9. Name Ethiopia's three culture areas and match each to its main subsistence strategy.
• 10. Who introduced the concept of "culture area" in anthropology, and in what decade?
Quiz Answer Key
• 1. Humans evolve through both biology and culture simultaneously, each shaping the other — e.g., clothing
(cultural) lets humans survive Arctic cold despite bodies adapted for warmer climates.
• 2. Bipedalism, small teeth, large brain, complex language, use of culture.
• 3. Replication, variation, selection.
• 4. Adaptation = genetic, passed to offspring, permanent (e.g., skin color by region). Habituation = short-term,
non-genetic, reversible (e.g., altitude acclimatization).
• 5. Because "race" implies rigid, meaningful biological categories that don't really exist; "ancestry"
acknowledges minor geographic genetic variation without the loaded baggage.
• 6. Belief traits are tied to biology (determinism) → belief societies compete and "fitter" ones should win (social
Darwinism) → state control of reproduction to enforce this (eugenics) → the Nazi genocide during WWII.
• 7. Virtually no genetic or scientific value, and it is socially destructive.
• 8. Culture — each group's unique adaptation to its own ecological, economic, and social environment.
• 9. Plough culture (agriculture, highlands/central), Enset culture (enset staple, southern SNNPR), Pastoral culture
(herding, lowlands: Afar/Somali/Borena).
• 10. Alfred Kroeber, in the 1920s.