Who We Are: Origins of Humankind
Term Paper Assignment 1 (Anth. 161) Fall 2023:
1) You first need to delve into your auxiliary text for this semester, which is written by geneticist David Reich. It is a book that is not overly long, but some of the concepts are challenging to comprehend. You should be deep into reading it by now. It will be the basic reference for the two term papers that you will write and turn in over the coming weeks.
2) Please answer the following questions in your paper, and support your answers with appropriate evidence:
-- First, Reich has posed two questions for you to consider. Who are we? How did we get here? In the first section of your paper, I want you to summarize how those two questions are being investigated and answered through the analysis of ancient DNA (aDNA). What have we learned thus far about our distant and more recent ancestry? You should be very efficient in composing this portion of your paper because you only have about a page and a half in which to make your response.
-- Second, Reich was part of a research team that studied the genetics of an indigenous burial assemblage at the important site of Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Their work was published in 2017. What they found out was stunning to the scientific community, but it has led to a major controversy in how archaeogenomics is employed to learn about the human past. I want you to investigate the current debate that has ensued. How has the study of aDNA at Pueblo Bonito created an ethical crisis in archaeogenomics? What legal matters arise in having one’s DNA extracted, analyzed, and recorded for posterity?
-- Third, how does the investigation of aDNA highlight the vastly different world views of myth and science? Can humanity continue to seek the unbiased truth about its past, or will competing cultural interests complicate the process of learning the facts about how ancient DNA has evolved?
3) The paper will be at least six to seven pages long. It will consist of a cover page, four to six pages of text, and one page of cited references. You should consult and list at least five references. One of them should be Reich (you cannot use our main text, an encyclopedia, a dictionary, or Wikipedia as one of the five required sources). I request that you use primary sources, i.e., that you make an honest attempt to get original source materials rather than second-hand treatments. You may access second-hand sources (like the internet or newspapers) to help you better understand the subject matter, but it is preferable to cite scholarly, peer-reviewed sources in the paper. It is acceptable to use online journal references (or any other sources published verbatim online with the original page numbers, for example JSTOR).
Formatting Requirements for the Term Paper (Anth. 161):
1) Margins: 1.5" on left; 1" on top, right, and bottom
2) Main Body of Text: Double-spaced (make sure to first turn off default spacing between paragraphs)
3) Fonts: 10 or 12 size (12 is standard); please use Times font style (use same font style and size throughout)
4) Paper will consist of a Cover Page (1), Text Pages (4 minimum), and References Cited Page
(a minimum of five references—you cannot use your main text as one of those five)
5) Items on Cover Page: -- PAPER TITLE (3 double spaces down from top margin; all capitals; centered)
-- by (6 double spaces down from title; lower-case letters; centered)
-- Your Name (1 double space down from by; centered)
-- four lines of information in lower right-hand corner of cover page:
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
by
Your Name
Anthropology 161
1000-1050 MWF
Instructor:
October 20, 2023
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Introduction
Humans are the most intellectual species on the planet; they have developed in response to countless natural disasters and living situations, leading them to where they are now. Flying was only a fantasy centuries ago, but interacting with peers on the other side of the planet in real-time is now commonplace, and going to the moon is a real possibility. The human race has focused intensely on its future but needs to remember to seek its origin. A scientist named David Reich hopes to discover the origins of humankind by researching human DNA. By collecting a considerable number of data, the molecule that contains genetic information for the growth and functioning of an organism can get a glimpse of what people are like or how they began in the past. The author will explore more into the "who are we" issue regarding David Reich's study and books in this post.
Discussion
Question 1:
In the quest to answer the question "Who are we?" as well as "How did we get here?" David Reich focuses on a feature of the human body that their first ancestor inherits. This is the DNA or Deoxyribonucleic acid. By analysis through a microscope, Reich discusses how quickly improvements in DNA sequencing technology have made it possible for researchers to extract and analyze DNA from prehistoric human remains (Rogers, 2023). Because of this discovery, researchers have been able to track the migrations, interbreeding, and evolution of early human tribes.
The letters in human DNA offer a tool to identify human origin. The nucleotide bases that makeup DNA are coupled in precise sequences to create the building blocks of the molecule: Adenine (A) always couples with Thymine (T), and Cytosine (C) always pairs with Guanine (G). The well-