The observation, measurement, and explanation of human variability in time and space. Anthropology is a science concerned with the interrelations of the biological, cultural, geographical, and historical aspects of humankind, including modern human beings and their ancestors (Fig. 1). It also includes the study of biological variability and the study of cultural, or learned, behavior among contemporary human societies. In general, anthropological studies are closely allied with the fields of archeology and linguistics. Studies range from rigorously scientific approaches, including investigations into the physiology, demography, and ecology of hunter-gatherers, to more humanistic research on symbolism and ritual behavior. See also: Archeology; Bioarcheology; Dental anthropology; Forensic anthropology; Human biological variation; Human ecology; Molecular anthropology; Origins of symbolic behavior; Physical anthropology; Sociobiology

The systematic quantitative representation of the human body. Anthropometric techniques are used to measure the absolute and relative variability in size and shape of the human body.

The scientific study of past material culture. The initial objective of archeology (often spelled archaeology) is to construct cultural chronologies that order past material culture into meaningful temporal segments. The intermediate objective is to breathe life into these chronologies by reconstructing past ways of life (Fig. 1). The ultimate objective of contemporary archeology is to determine the cultural processes that underlie human behavior, both past and present. Thus, archeology is both scientific and humanistic. Throughout many parts of the world, archeology is considered a subdiscipline of anthropology, focusing on the anthropology of past cultures. In other parts of the world, archeology is regarded as an extension of history, attempting to write a prehistory of people who may lack a written history of their own. See also: Anthropology; Archeological chronology; Bioarcheology; Physical anthropology; Prehistoric technology

Any member of an adaptively diverse group of extinct hominin species that inhabited Africa between approximately 4.2 million years ago (MYA) and 1.2 MYA. The term australopith is used in preference to the term australopithecine, which is sometimes still erroneously employed in the paleoanthropological literature, because australopithecine implies that its members form a meaningful taxonomic group (that is, the Australopithecinae) and it is clear that they do not. Rather, the australopiths are a paraphyletic group of species that are linked by relatively few morphological features, but which are believed to share a general “adaptive grade.” In addition to being bipedal (a characteristic shared by all hominins), they possess an ape-sized brain (approximately 350–550 cm³; 21–34 in.³); small, nonhoning canines, relatively large premolars and molars with thick enamel; and thickly buttressed mandibles. There are nine species considered as australopiths and although some workers regard them all as belonging to a single genus, Australopithecus, it is evident from numerous studies that at least two and possibly three genera are represented. All nine australopith species are known only from Africa; the fossils come from a wide geographical area, encompassing parts of South Africa, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, and Ethiopia. The species are listed in the table, together with their currently known geographical and geochronological distributions. Their geochronological distribution is compared with other hominin species in Fig. 1. See also: Anthropology; Apes; Fossil apes; Fossil humans; Fossil primates; Molecular anthropology; Physical anthropology

The study of skeletal remains from archeological sites by biological (or physical) anthropologists. Bioarcheology differs in several ways from traditional skeletal research (see illustration). Previous work focused on individual case studies (for example, individuals with identifiable diseases) or on typological analyses of cranial form. Bioarcheology looks at populations rather than individuals, often highlighting variation within groups as much as differences between them. In addition, it considers the interaction of biology with human culture and behavior, and the effects of the latter upon skeletal morphology or form. Technological advances in computers and methodology have opened up new fields of study, such as biomechanics and paleonutrition, while revolutionizing older interests, such as biological distance studies (a measure of genetic relatedness). Finally, bioarcheology, in part because of the specialized nature of some subfields and in part because of its biocultural approach, emphasizes collaboration with other anthropologists as well as researchers in other disciplines. See also: Anthropology; Archeology; Physical anthropology

The scientific study of people, with their living and extinct primate relatives, using the evidence of teeth. Dental anthropologists include not only those trained in anthropology but also practicing dentists, anatomists, radiologists, forensic scientists, biochemists, geneticists, archeologists, paleontologists and zoologists.

The adaptation of an animal or plant through breeding in captivity to a life intimately associated with and advantageous to humans. Domesticated plants and animals differ genetically and morphologically from their wild counterparts, often in ways that make them more useful to humans. For example, wild sheep are hairy, but domesticated sheep are woolly. Dogs are the earliest known domestic animals. They were domesticated in the Eastern Hemisphere and may have accompanied early Native Americans into the New World. Some of the other early domesticated animals are sheep, goats, cattle, and pigs, which were domesticated in the Old World, and llamas and alpacas, which were domesticated in the Americas. Important early domesticated plants include cereals (wheat, barley, rice, sorghum, and millet in the Old World and maize in the Americas) and tubers (such as yams and taro in the Old World and potatoes in the Americas). Other important domesticated plants include pulses, olives, cotton, flax, and fruits. Domesticated plants and animals provide humans with a variety of useful products, including food and fibers, and serve important functions, such as animal traction [that is, the use of animals to pull carts and plows (Fig. 1)] and transport. See also: Agricultural science (animal); Agricultural science (plant); Agriculture; Animal breeding; Anthropology; Plant breeding

The earliest representatives of people anatomically similar to living humans that evolved from more archaic humans approximately 150,000–300,000 years ago. The general process by which early modern humans (Homo sapiens) emerged from late archaic humans and eventually replaced them is gradually emerging. They evolved locally from preceding archaic humans in eastern Africa. Over the succeeding 50,000 years, their range expanded and contracted modestly with changing global climatic cycles to include, at times, the Mediterranean, southwest Asia and portions of northeastern Africa. Early modern humans and their biology and way of life, therefore, initially had little advantage over late archaic humans. See also: Anthropology; Fossil humans

The application of physical anthropology theory and techniques to medicolegal questions. Forensic anthropology may also pertain to subdisciplines of anthropology, such as cultural anthropology, biological/physical anthropology, archaeology, and linguistics. Forensic anthropologists use skeletal clues to determine the circumstances surrounding the death (see illustration). They also may use skeletal features in other studies, such as comparing a photograph of an individual to skeletal remains or multiple photographs of living individuals to determine whether they all depict the same individual. Experts in this field may even use skeletal clues to determine the circumstances surrounding the death of nonhuman remains. See also: Anthropology; Physical anthropology

Fossil members of the group of primates constituting the apes. Apes and humans are closely related primates in the superfamily Hominoidea. The living hominoids are subdivided into the families Hylobatidae and Hominidae. The hylobatids, or lesser apes (genus Hylobates), are represented by approximately nine species found throughout Southeast Asia. Humans and the great apes—the orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), the gorilla (Gorilla gorilla), the common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), and the pygmy chimpanzee or bonobo (Pan paniscus)—are grouped in the Hominidae. In the past, the great apes were included in a separate family, the Pongidae, but subsequent anatomical and molecular studies showed that the African apes (Gorilla and Pan) are more closely related to humans than they are to the Asian orangutan. See also: Apes; Fossil humans; Fossil primates; Mammalia; Monkey; Primates