Anthropologists at Work

Anthropologists at Work — page 3 — Connecting with the Past Scientists have long wondered when human intelligence our unique ability to think and learn first developed Certain scientists tried to answer that question by studying the remains of early human ancestors The scientists were able to compare some skulls of the early ancestors with the skulls of modern humans The scientists discovered that the brains of humans increased in size over time The scientists think the increased brain size led to modern human intelligence What type of scientist would research such a topic An anthropologist would Anthropology is the study of human beings and their cultures from prehistoric times The brains of human ancestors increased in size over time Scientists think this led to modern human intelligence 4

Anthropologists at Work — page 4 — This graph shows that it took millions of years for both modern humans and great apes to develop from an apelike ancestor to today Anthropologists often compare different human communities to find out their similarities and differences By doing this anthropologists hope to increase knowledge about humanity as a whole as well as about certain groups of people THIN K ABO UT IT How does intelligence make humans unique among animals on this planet 5

Anthropologists at Work — page 5 — Branches of Anthropology A nthropology is often divided into two main branches physical anthropology and cultural anthropology Physical anthropologists study the physical features of humans Cultural anthropologists study human cultures Cultures are the shared beliefs and practices of groups of people Both of these kinds of anthropology may include the study of prehistoric ancient and modern humans A physical anthropologist measures a skull of someone who lived in ancient Greece some 2,500 years ago 6

Anthropologists at Work — page 6 — Physically people of different races and ethnicities have more similarities than differences even though cultural differences can be great Anthropologists often focus on certain time periods It is common for physical and cultural anthropologists to work with each other to provide a complete picture of a period in human history For example cultural anthropologists may study artifacts to tell us about the way humans lived while physical anthropologists can examine a skeleton to tell us when and how that person died CO M PAR E AND CO NTRAST What do you think are some challenges of studying the humans of prehistoric ancient and modern times 7

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