Anthropology

Engeli Haupt

Anthropology is the study of different societies in the present and past. This includes the things people do， how they talk about their feelings， if they believe in God and what they think is important. It is also about how all these things can be seen in the languages they speak.

Did you know？

When the earliest kinds of humans started walking on two legs 6 million years ago， their brains were the same size as a chimpanzees. Now our brains are twice as big.

The highest number of people that we can talk to， remember or do other things with at the same time is 150. When there are more people， we do not think of them as people any more， but more like ‘things without feelings.

Around 660，000 years ago humans started using simple sounds and moving their hands to say things to each other.

For thousands of years， humans lived without jobs， countries， writing or money. That is why it is sometimes difficult for us to understand how these things work in the world today.

Neanderthals， humans that lived until 40，000 years ago， had red hair.

Africa is the area with the most different kinds of humans， and Neanderthals were just one of them. In the rest of the world people have mixed with each other， so they are almost the same.

Humans from different parts of the world have different skin， hair and eye colour， because the weather is different in each area.

Ten per cent of people in the world do not know who their real father is.

While all humans around the world feel happy， sad， angry or afraid， many anthropologists—people who study anthropology—think that these feelings are different in every society.

Humans and monkeys are different by only one per cent， but that one per cent is very important！

Activity 1

1. What do you know about people who lived thousands of years ago？

2. How are people the same or different in different parts of the world？

3. Are people and monkeys very different？

Activity 2

Decide which word （1–5） goes with which each meaning （a–e）.

1. chimpanzee

2. feeling

3. human

4. society

5. study

Activity 3

Write one word from the first activity in each space. Use plurals where you need to.

1. Sometimes it is difficult to talk about our______， but it is important to tell people when you are sad or angry.

2. ______ who grew up with people have learned to understand up to a hundred words.

3. ______ have bigger brains than monkeys and chimpanzees， but elephants brains are bigger than humans.

4. This course includes the ______ of plants and trees.

5. What you should or shouldnt do is different in every ______.

Activity 4

After reading， decide which numbers or words （a–f） complete each sentence （1–6）.

1. Humans brains are ______ as big as monkeys brains.

2. Humans started using simple sounds ______.

3. Humans started walking on two legs ______.

4. Monkeys and humans are different by ______.

5. Neanderthals lived until ______.

6. We can only talk to or remember ______.

a） a large group of people that live in the same area or country

b） a very large， clever kind of ‘monkey， with black hair and big ears

c） person

d） something we feel; being happy， angry or sad

e） when you learn about something， like science

a） 1%

b） twice

c） 150 people

d） 40，000 years ago

e） 660，000 years ago

f） 6 million years ago

Answers

Activity 2

1. b; 2. d; 3. c; 4. a; 5. e

Activity 3

1. feelings; 2. Chimpanzees; 3. Humans; 4. study; 5. society

Activity 4

1. b; 2. e; 3. f; 4. a; 5. d; 6. c