Anthropology: Asking Questions about Human Origins, Diversity, and Culture

ISBN-10
019766699X
ISBN-13
9780197666999
Series
Anthropology
Category
Anthropology
Language
English
Published
2025
Authors
Luis Antonio Vivanco, Agustín Fuentes, Robert Louis Welsch

Description

"Humans are fascinating and complex beings. With our large brains, flexible diets, and ability to get around on two feet, evolutionary history has made us different from other primates and facilitated our adaptation to practically any environment on the planet. At the same time, we are more than our biology, and there is nothing we do that does not involve culture, which encompasses our capacities for symbolic communication, intensive social cooperation, intergenerational learning, and metaphysical thinking. These points raise some interesting questions: What is it about our humanity that distinguishes us from other species? What is culture and how does it shape our origins, prehistoric pasts, and present? How do we as humans construct meaningful social worlds? What are the reasons for human biological and cultural diversity? Such questions are at the core of the study of anthropology"--

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