Tertiary Catalogue

About 1.8 million years ago, a new species of Homo appears in East Africa, a species that will exist longer than any other hominin. This lesson focuses on that new species: Homo erectus, the first hominin to leave Africa. In this lesson, you will follow the migrations of this species. You will explore the history of what paleoanthropologists have discovered concerning this widespread hominin in Java and in China and learn how the recent discoveries in the Republic of Georgia have turned much of what we knew about Homo erectus on its head. Finally, you will learn about a new type of tool industry that lasts for more than a million years. Show Less

The video begins with the anthropological definition of applied anthropology; that this field of study refers to the application of method and theory to the analysis and solution of practical problems and that it can be used, or 'applied,' within the four subdisciplines of anthropology-physical (or biological), cultural, linguistic and archaeological. The video shows how a cultural anthropologist, Professor Mikel Hogan, practices applied anthropology within a hospital setting to help resolve some of the on-the-job problems that nurses face at this time of crises within the health-care system in the United States. As the video progresses, viewers also see how linguistic anthropologist Breesha Maddrell works on the Isle of Man to help the culture there preserve and maintain the Celtic language of Manx Gaelic. Finally, the third segment of the video shows how physical anthropologists Amy Mundorff and Diane Cockle work in the area of forensics. Mundorff explains the educational qualifications required for a career in forensics, explaining that a strong background in biology or chemistry, plus a strong background in anthropology, particularly archaeology, is ideal. In general, this video gives very clear and varied examples of where applied anthropology is used in the workforce, how flexible the field is, and how it fits within the subfields of anthropology. Show Less

Humans are biological organisms that have a place in the natural world. To understand what it means to be human we need to understand how we became human. The video introduces the topic of biology by looking at an important evolutionary force, natural selection, and how it has affected a species of fox living on islands off of the California coast. Next, the ultimate source of variation is examined as the hereditary material, DNA, is examined. Genes, alleles, and proteins are discussed as part of normal human physiology and with their involvement with inherited genetic diseases. How the hereditary material is distributed to offspring is the focus of meiosis by which sex cells are formed. Crucial here is that there are different combinations that lead to variation between each sex cell. Mutations give rise to new variations on which natural selection can act upon. In the final segment of the video, population genetics is showcased. A human case of natural selection, sickle-cell trait, is highlighted. Non-Darwinian forces of evolution, gene flow and genetic drift, are explored and the video ends with a discussion of how the evolutionary forces can change a population. Show Less

The state of Oaxaca, Mexico, is the backdrop of this film, which explores the nature of culture and how cultures are studied. The Oaxacan society is used to illustrate the basic characteristics of culture: an integrated, dynamic system of beliefs, values, and behaviours that are shared by the members of a society; wholly learned and based on symbolic systems; and constituting humankind's most important method of adaptation. Jayne Howell's work in Oaxaca aims to determine how this society in transition is adapting to the pressures imposed by outside forces, and illustrates some of the methods of research that ethnographers employ in a biocultural approach to discovering how the world's diverse cultures function. Show Less

This program focuses on the efforts of the Serrano tribe of Native American to revitalise their dying cultural traditions and language. The features and structures of human language in general are discussed, showing some examples from the Serrano language, and the role played by descriptive linguist assisting them is examined. A discussion of deaf sign languages reveals that they are in every way like all other human languages except that they are based on gestures instead of sounds. Nonverbal human communication systems are explored, as are various aspects of the fields of ethnolinguistics and sociolinguistics. African-American Vernacular English is discussed as an example of a social dialect that marks membership in a group. The film closes with a focus on the Serrano children, who it is hoped will carry on the tribal language and traditions. Show Less

Economic systems are the means by which a society produces, distributes and consumes resources, and are intimately integrated with the other elements of the culture. In this lesson the economic systems of several societies are examined as examples of how reciprocity, redistribution, and market exchange play a central role in the distribution of goods. The Ju'hoansi of southern Africa exemplify foraging cultures in which food is not produced but rather collected as it is needed and distributed immediately according to the process known as generalised reciprocity. The Yolmo of Nepal traditionally practiced pastoralism and subsistence farming, using an exchange system of balanced reciprocity combined with redistribution. A Ghanaian market run by women illustrates a traditional form of market exchange, and a Japanese fish market exemplifies the wholesale commercial market with international participants but face-to-face transactions according to Japanese cultural practices. Show Less

Anthropology is the study of human beings, but to phrase the definition in these simple terms is to diminish the grand scope of this discipline overall. Anthropology delves deeply into every aspect of humankind from its beginnings millions of years ago to the present day, and its subject matter ranges from the exotic to the ordinary, from faraway tribes to the structure of the human foot. The video for this lesson explains the four-fields of anthropology, defines the concept of holism, and describes how anthropologists approach their subject matter from a holistic and comparative cross-cultural perspective in order to reach the broadest and most inclusive conclusions possible on their subject of interest. Each field, cultural, physical (biological), linguistic anthropology, and archaeology, are described and situational material is included to illustrate how each field functions and interconnects with the others. Subfields to the four major fields, such as forensics and paleoanthropology, are introduced and discussed, and the concept that humans are biocultural beings because of the simultaneous adaptations of our biology with culture, is illustrated. The video also introduces the student to the way anthropologists carry out their analyses through rigorous fieldwork and participant observation in order to create the ethnographies that describe humans cross-culturally. Applied anthropology, sometimes referred to as the fifth subfield of anthropology, is introduced. Show Less

This lesson explores how the accelerated rate of cultural change continued to drive human innovation in ways that transformed daily life for everyone. It illustrates the most radical cultural shift in the history of humankind that occurred in the Neolithic period (or New Stone Age), detailing the domestication of plants and animals and the shift to setting up permanent residences. The video concentrates on the Mayan civilisation to explain the cultural changes that mark the differences between village life and urban settlements. Show Less

This programme explores the phenomenon of globalisation, its complex forms, and its impact on the cultures of the world, as well as the contributions that anthropology can make toward a better understanding of it. Wal-Mart's operations in China are shown as an example of how giant global corporations use structural power to expand business and profit in developing countries. The collaboration of the Bolivian government with another U.S.-based global corporation, Bechtel, and the World Bank illustrates how such partnerships can act against the best interests of the people. Finally, a Bangladeshi immigrant to the United States is interviewed, giving a personal perspective on the record high levels of external and internal migration occurring worldwide. Show Less

This programme explores concepts related to non-kin based social groupings by focusing on the culture of the Black Indians of New Orleans. They are a common interest group that celebrates their own art and culture, culminating in their annual celebration of Mardi Gras separately from the better known White Carnival. Divisions within the group based on age and gender are discussed, as is its origins and history as an oppressed minority social class excluded from the white Mardi Gras. Finally the show examines the effects of hurricane Katrina on the culture of the Mardi Gras Black Indians and on the recovery of the city in general. Show Less

This lesson details the technological, artistic, and geographic expansion of the Cro-Magnons, the anatomically modern humans of Europe during the Upper Paleolithic era. The video details some of the major innovations, such as blade technique in which long, parallel-sided flakes are struck off the edges of a specially prepared core. It also details artistic endeavors of the Upper Paleolithic, beyond cave paintings, such as Venus figures. The geographic expansion during this time is also presented, highlighting the need for and development of a new technology used for their migration over open water. The video also illustrates the cognitive capacity of the Homo sapiens of the Upper Paleolithic, and how it allowed them to create technology that eased their daily survival. Show Less

The video opens with pictures of Chinese immigrants of the 1850s to the 1900s and explains that the immigrants of that time faced enormous challenges when they moved from their country to the United States. They faced discrimination and a sense of isolation because they lacked assistance that had been provided through strong kinship ties in China. The video explains that kinships, or the strong familial networks within which individuals function on a daily basis, are made up of groups of family members and that they provide the essentials for survival. The video explains descent groups and lineages and points out that not all lineages trace descent the same way. Several different kinds of descent groups are illustrated and Chinese patrilineal descent is featured. Particular attention is given to explaining this complex system; that a lineage in this system goes back only four to six generations because households become very large over time and conflicts arise, that brothers splinter off and begin lineages oftheir own. The concept of clan (tsu) is defined and discussed at length. Different systems of kinship are illustrated, and that each group establishes varying methods of defining relatives. The video explains the Eskimo system, the Iroquois System, and the Hawaiian system. Show Less

Who is related to whom? How do species evolve? What has happened in geological time? This video focuses on macroevolution and the processes that explain it. It begins on location at a paleontological site in the Big Horn Basin, Wyoming, where scientists are recording mammalian evolution in the first ten million years after the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary extinction. A key question of macroevolution is what distinguishes a species? This leads to taxonomy and discussion of the two main approaches to classification: evolutionary systematics and cladistics. Examples are given of homologies and analogies, and ancestral and derived traits, keys to classifying by these different approaches. Cladistics focuses only on derived traits. In the second segment, two different species concepts are mentioned, the biological species concept, which is the most commonly used definition, and the ecological species concept, which places emphasis on niche occupation and natural selection. The difficulty of recognising a fossil species is explained by anthropologists Alfred Rosenberg and Jonathan Bloch. In the third segment, the immense time span involved with macroevolution is examined, continental drift and its effects are explained, and the characteristics of mammals are illustrated. The video returns to the paleontological site in the Big Horn Basin, where Bloch is seen excavating. Show Less

The video begins with Helen Mendoza and Pam Privett explaining that families can take many forms today. They are partners in a same-sex marriage, raising children of their own. The episode "Sex and Marriage" explained why some cultures find polygamy a preferred marriage arrangement, and the episode "Pre-Modern Humans" highlights the familial and household benefits of the polygymous system. However, the video points out that not all such marriages are cooperative. Under some circumstances, competition among wives can cause serious tensions. The terms consanguinal family, conjugal family, and fictive kin are defined and varying family forms such as nuclear family, extended family, and blended family are illustrated. The Yolmo, pastoralists of east-central Nepal, are featured to illustrate how monogamy within a nuclear family organisation functions within this group. Residence patterns and marriage customs, such as bride-price and bride service, are discussed and the reasons for their practice are illustrated. The final segment of the video comments on newer adaptations of the family made possible because of advances in reproductive technology and changes in adoption laws within the United States. Show Less

Experts at the cutting edge of paleoanthropological research show how it's done. In this video, students are introduced to the ways researchers gather data in order to answer the basic human question: Who are we and where do we come from? The multidisciplinary approach to this research is shown through interviews with established paleoanthropologists and with researchers in related areas such as archaeology, geology, the reconstruction of paleoenvironments, geomorphology, paleontology, and paleobotany. There is a strong focus on Koobi Fora, one of the most important field sites in paleoanthropology. In the last segment, relative and chronometric dating methods are explained in ways that will demonstrate state-of-the-art methods for discerning how old a specimen is. Show Less

How do humans adapt to environmental challenges? In this video, experts explore this question from many angles. The difference between acclimatisation and adaptation is explained. Nina Jablonski explains skin colour function and adaptations related to UV radiation levels, the vitamin D hypothesis, and preventing the loss of folate in the body. High-altitude adaptations are also discussed, along with responses to heat and cold stressors. In the last segment, the evolutionary dance between humans and their pathogens is brought to light. The interwoven interactions between human cultural activities, and the evolution of new pathogens, as well as the evolution of drug resistance in existing pathogens are discussed. Show Less

Warning: Contains images of deceased people. The video begins with comments on some instances of ethnic genocide that have occurred in the past in the Sudan, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Nazi Germany during World War II, and relates these occurrences to the concept of 'race,' a concept that is based on physical differences between groups. It defines the everyday usage of the word 'race' and includes its biological definition, which leads to the conclusion that the word and concept of 'race' cannot apply to Homo sapiens because, as is well understood, there are no subspecies of Homo sapiens. The video then briefly explains the historical context of how the concept of race emerged among European explorers during the sixteenth century. It also explains that today anthropologists and scholars look beyond visible physical differences to explain human variation, that they analyse genetics and DNA, the cornerstone of genetic studies, to describe and understand human diversity. The video defines polymorphisms and clearly explains how their presence in human genotypes causes differences in phenotypic variation. Show Less

This video explores the anthropological concepts of political organisation and social control as practised cross-culturally. It opens with anthropologists Victoria Bernal and Laura Nader discussing the concepts of political organisation, in terms of power, authority, functions, and its four main forms: bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and states. Show Less

Around 780,000 years ago a new species of Homo appears, perhaps descended from the hominins that lived in Spain and Italy between 900,000 and 800,000 years ago. This time period, called the Middle Pleistocene, is marked by alternations of glaciations and interglacials. The new species is called Homo heidelbergensis. Around 125,000 Homo heidelbergensis gives rise to the Neanderthals. The Neanderthals are the main focus of this video lesson. You will see that the Neanderthals were a robust people adapted for a cold, harsh environment. Their survival depended on more than just biology, however. A major factor to their survival was their stone tool culture, known as the Mousterian. In addition, the fact that they transported raw materials during their migrations to make future tools demonstrated forward planning. These people also practised burial of the dead in which grave goods were left with the deceased. Finally, the video explores the question of what happened to these ancient humans. Show Less

At the beginning of the episode "Communication and Culture", anthropologist Leo Chavez comments that culture 'is always transforming itself, always changing. It is always in the process of becoming something else.' Throughout history, cultures have changed because of environmental conditions, internal pressures, or external forces. Change comes quickly, or it may occur slowly. In any event, anthropologists chronicle cultural change and offer explanations as to why it happens. Show Less

The programme opens with a general discussion of the anthropological definition of religion contrasted with spirituality. This is followed by a close up view of some of the history, beliefs, and practices of Islam and Tibetan Buddhism, through the eyes of several experts and practitioners. Discussions of anthropological concepts of religion cross-culturally are offered with examples of the basic forms of religion, its specialists, and its rituals, as well as magic and witchcraft. The exploration of some of the social and psychological functions of religious practices and belief systems, especially focusing on Islam, conclude the programme. Show Less

The programme opens with a wedding in Long Bow Village, in China, and effectively shows the diverse nature of weddings from one culture to another emphasising that weddings are rites of passage, full of ritual and symbols that convey and emphasise the values of that society. It defines marriage and suggests that this is one way that societies regulate sexual relations between men and women. It points out that all cultures include rules on who can marry whom because of the general concern regarding marriage between close family members, or incest. The incest taboo is discussed, as well as arranged marriages. Show Less

One of the universal questions that people ask is 'Who am I?' The answer is complex and begins with enculturation. Enculturation influences how you think, feel, and behave and it starts at birth. It begins with being given a name. Naming ceremonies vary from culture to culture, but what you are called is an important device for self definition and it also allows individuals to take their place within their group's culture. As children develop physically, they also develop emotionally and psychologically. As individuals, we not only need to know who we are but also how we fit in and belong to the culture we were born into. Sometimes it gets complicated. Show Less

Regardless of the language, the geographic location or the culture, the question being asked is the same "What are we going to eat today?" The difference comes in the answer and the response depends upon the subsistence system used by those asking the question. This film focuses on three types of subsistence patterns: foraging, horticultural/ agricultural, and pastoralism. The Ju'/hoansi live in the Kalahari Desert in southern Africa. They are a prime example of the hunter/gatherer-foraging subsistence system. In contrast, people in food-producing societies control the production of either plants or animals. Food-producing societies tend to be sedentary; they live in larger groups than foragers and have more complex social and political structures. Another subsistence system is pastoralism, the managing of herds of animals. Show Less

This video lesson focuses on visual, verbal and musical art forms. Since art is created in response to social. religious, political, economic, and aesthetic stimuli, anthropologists use it as a guide to understanding the values and ideals of culture. Being able to put art within a cultural context enables anthropologists to observe cultural dynamics. That is why tattoos, hip hop and hula provide insight into past and present cultures. You will also be reintroduced to the Pacific Northwest Potlatch ceremony. This once again will highlight the integrated nature of all aspects of culture. Show Less