Anthropology 455
Human Biology of the Pacific
Study Guide for Mid-Term Exam
Organization of exam: A closed book exam. The exam covers everything covered in this course.
Format: short definitions (a choice) and essays.
Review: Lecture notes, Power Point presentations, handouts, and assigned readings.
Topics to be covered on the exam:
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Geography of the Pacific: islands, island types, Sunda/Sahul, continental and oceanic islands,
Remote Oceania, and Near Oceania...
Prehistory of the Pacific: earlier and later peopling events, dates, Lapita culture, Polynesian
homeland.
Postcontact period: European explorers, missionaries...
Linguistics: migrations, Austronesian and non-Austronesian languages, methods of historical
linguistics, languages of the Pacific
Migrations and theories of origin, the concept of race, typological racial classifications, early
paradigms.
Microevolution; processes of evolution (selection, drift, gene flow, mutation, etc.), the
Pacific as a lab for studying processes of microevolution
Polynesian phenotype, anthropometry, (Howells' anthropometric grouping analysis),
Houghton's cold adaptation hypothesis and the counter arguments by Van Dijk
Archaeological and linguistic models for peopling of the Pacific.
Dental studies: tooth size, and dental non-metric variation (Sundadonty, Sinodonty).
Cranial variation, univariate and multivariate statistics.
Classical genetic marker and molecular genetic data: blood groups, serum proteins, HLA,
DNA (nuclear and mt-DNA), Y-chromosome, globin genes.
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Definitions/Short Responses: In a paragraph, define, describe, illustrate with an example (where
appropriate), and generally relate these terms within the context of the course.
Polynesia
Melanesia
Micronesia
Andesite line
Sahul/Sunda
Sahulland/Sundaland
Island Southeast Asia
Atoll
Makatea
High island
Basaltic lavas
Wallacea
Wallace’s Line
Balboa
Abel Tasman
Captain James Cook
Magellan
Samuel Marsden
William Ellis
Johann Georg Forster
Austronesian
Proto-Austronesian
Trans-New Guinea Phlyum
Papuan
Central Malayo-Polynesian
historical linguistics
Near Oceania
Remote Oceania
Lapita Cultural Complex
Pleistocene
Holocene
Joseph Birdsell
Dobzansky
Bayard Dominick Expedition
typology
Austroloid/ Mongoloid
cephalic index
continuous/metric
discontinuous/ non-metric
anthropometry
anthroposcopy
rocker jaw
biological race
gene flow
mutation
natural selection
genetic drift
hypothermia/hyperthermia
Bergmann’s rule
Allen’s rule
acclimatization
Houghton’s cold adaptation
hypothesis
voyaging corridor
sexual selection
marasmus
kwashiorkor
Express Train to Polynesia
Indigenous Melanesian Inhabitants
model
Voyaging Corridor/Entangled
Bank model
Slow Boat to the Bismarcks
Kon Tiki
Sundadont/ Sinodont
shovel-shaped incisors
Mahalanobis’ distance
dendrogram
Multivariate statistics
discriminant function analysis
human red cell antigens
ABO
Rh
G6PD
HLA
linkage disequilibrium
thalassemia
α3.7III
globin genes
mt-DNA
DNA
Y-Chromosome haplotypes
9 base pair (9-bp) deletion
“Polynesian motif”
Examples of Essays:
1. Earlier interpretations of biological variation and population history were often mired in a now
outdated concept called racial typology. Describe this earlier paradigm and the one that would
eventually replace it. How do these approached differ from one another? Provide examples from
work in Pacific physical anthropology that illustrate the earlier and later approaches.
2. Provide an overview of the languages spoken by the native peoples of the Pacific region. How are
they classified? How do reconstructions based on historical linguistics compare to the evidence from
archaeology for the peopling of Remote Oceania?
3 Describe the current archaeological-linguistic models that attempt to explain the immediate and
ultimate origins of the inhabitants of Remote Oceania. Which of these, if any, does the evidence
from biological anthropology support? Discuss.
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4. Define Near/Remote Oceania. What are the implications of this ‘archaeological’ designation for
the prehistory of the region? Discuss the major peopling episodes that are believed to account for the
settlement of both regions. Provide details (approximate dates, the people, cultures, and languages
involved. What is the role of the Lapita Cultural Complex in this interpretation of Pacific prehistory?
5. Teeth have provided biological anthropologists with an important source of information for
determining biological relationships and interpreting past population histories. Describe work in this
field among Pacific people (living or otherwise). What have dental anthropologists been able to
determine regarding the peopling of this region. Where do the terms, Sundadonty and Sinodonty,
enter into this discussion?
6. Define multivariate statistical procedures and provide at least two examples of this category of
statistical procedures for the analysis of metric or continuous variation. Provide an example that uses
craniometric variation in Pacific groups.
7. Philip Houghton has interpreted the ‘classic’ Polynesian phenotype as an adaptation to the Oceanic
environment. After defining what is meant by a Polynesian phenotype, discuss this hypothesis and
any counter proposals/objections that have been raised in the literature. Be sure to include in your
answer the environmental, physiological, and biological data used in addressing this theory.
8. The Pacific has been described as a laboratory for studying micro-evolutionary processes.
What are the processes (causes) of evolution? Choosing one of these named processes, describe
how it has shaped/affected the biological variability seen in Pacific peoples. Use an example (one
or more) from the literature to illustrate your answer.
9. What role has genetic drift, including the special forms of this evolutionary process: founder
principle and bottleneck effect, had on the biological variability seen in the Pacific Islanders? Begin
with a definition of genetic drift. Provide an example of this process that has used to account for
human biological variation in the Pacific.
10. What is HLA? Why is it useful in tracing migrations and origins of peoples? What does the HLA
evidence tell us about biological variation among Pacific peoples and what does it specifically tell us
about the origins/migrations of these people. Contrast these findings with those based on
archaeology.
11. What are the advantages and disadvantages of mtDNA and Y chromosome (as opposed to
classical marker genetic) data for tracing human ancestry? What have recent studies of mtDNA and
Y chromosome concluded regarding the origin of the Polynesians?
October 2006
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