Unit-Three
Human Diversity, Culture Areas and Contact
in Ethiopia
Human Beings & Being Human: What it is to
be human?
• Humanity is the most common term we to use refer
to human beings. Humanity stands for the human
species, a group of life forms with the following
characteristics:
Bipedalism (walking on two legs);
Relatively small teeth for primates of our size;
Relatively large brains for primates of our size;
Using modern language to communicate ideas; and
Using complex sets of ideas called culture to survive.
cont’d
• Humanity is simply means our species- Homo
sapiens sapiens- at large.
• The term humanity can be applied to modern
humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) as well as some
of our most recent ancestors,
• Exactly when Homo sapiens evolved into Homo
sapiens sapiens is a complex question based on
when humans became anatomically modern and
when they became behaviorally modern.
Origin of the Modern Human Species: Homo
sapiens sapien
1. Cosmologies and Human Origins
• The most profound questions are the ones that perplex
us the most. Where did we come from? Why are we
here? What is our place in the universe? These questions
have been shared by many people throughout history .
• Most cultures have developed explanations that provide
answers to these fundamental questions.
cont’d
• Cosmologies are conceptual frameworks that
present the universe (the cosmos) as an
orderly system. They often include answers to
these basic questions about human origins
and the place of human kind in the
universe, usually considered the most sacred
of all cosmological conceptions.
cont’d
• Cosmologies account for the ways in which
supernatural beings or forces formed human
beings and the planet we liv e on. These
beliefs are transmitted f rom generation to
generation through ritual, education, laws,
art, and language.
cont’d
2. Evolutionary and paleo-anthropological
perspectives on human origin
• As opposed to cosmological explanations
anthropologist rely on scientific views of
evolution in order to explain human origins.
Simply put, evolution refers to a process and
gradual change in specie over time
cont’d
• evolution is used to describe the cumulative effects of
three independent
Replication: The fact that life forms have offspring;
Variation: The fact that each offspring is slightly different
from its parents, and its siblings; and
Selection: The fact that not all offspring survive, and
those that do tend to be the ones best suited to their
environment.
Charles Darwin is known for his theory of natural selection in
the evolution of species and the idea of survival of the
fittest.
The Kinds of Humanity: human physical
variation
1. Racial types- anthropological perspectives
• Like all living things with sensory input,
humans have to classify their perceptions into
some kind of order: These things go with these
others but don’t belong in this group. Some
people have darker skin, so they’re in the
“darker skin” category. different colors, body
shapes, and so on into different categories
sometimes called races.
cont’d
• a race is a group of organisms of the same
species that share similar physical (and
genetic) attributes and specific geographic
regions. In short, they’re subdivisions of a
single species- meaning they can mate and
have offspring that are healthy enough to
have their own offspring-exhibiting some
characteristics reflecting their geographical
origins.
cont’d
• Adaptation is can be understood as a process
(behavioural and/or biological) that increases the
likelihood of survival for an organism. An adaptation
can be a mutation that confers an advantage.
• you must consider two very important points.
• First, these genetic differences don’t mean a lot,
biologically. Because all healthy humans can mate
and have healthy offspring, we’re all in Homo
sapiens sapiens, biologically speaking. Don’t let
anyone tell you different.
cont’d
• Second — and most important — is that
cultural behavior isn’t genetically linked to
those geographical differences. This
disconnect is one of anthropology’s most
important discoveries and lessons for
humanity.
cont’d
• The Grand Illusion: Race, turns out, is arbitrary
• One thorough 1972 study by Harvard
anthropologist R.C. Lewontin concluded that
“Human racial classification is of no social value and
is positively destructive of social and human
relations. Since such racial classification is now seen
to be of virtually no genetic or taxonomic
[classifying] significance either, no justification can
be offered for its continuance.” Bottom line: For
most professional anthropologists today,
cont’d
• human “race” is an antiquated concept.
For biomedical reasons (and sometimes
forensic identification of bodies), the reality of
genetic ancestry can be important, but color
coded races, loaded with behavioral traits, are
basically arbitrary.
cont’d
• Why is Everyone Different? Human Cultural
Diversity/Variation
• In short, the answer is culture. Cultures
differ because people live in different
conditions, be they ecological, economic,
social, or what have you. For example, each
culture is ultimately a unique adaptation to
the social and environmental conditions in
which it evolves.
Culture area and cultural contact in Ethiopia
A. Plough culture area
• Plough culture area represents those parts
of the country where agriculture is
predominantly the means by which
subsistence is eked out. Most of highland
and central parts of the country serves as the
backbone of the economy is considered a
plough culture.
cont’d
B. Enset culture area
• Enset cultivating regions of the present day
SNNPRS such as the Guraghe, Sidama and
Gedeo areas constitute enset culture area. In
this region, enset serves as a staple diet to the
people who make use the plant in a wide
variety of forms for a living.
cont’d
C. Pastoral culture area
• Pastoral culture area is found in the low land areas
covering a large section of the Afar in the
northwest, Somali in the southeast and Borena of
southern of Ethiopia .
• As opposed the above the cases, inhabitants of the
pastoral culture area rely significantly on their herds
and cattle for a living. Mobility of people and herds
is a major characteristic feature of the people
occupying the pastoral culture area.
