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What Is Anthropology
What Is Anthropology
color orange, can its speakers distinguish orange from red and yellow?
The answer to this question is not as simple as it initially seems.
4. Archaeologists are interested in recovering the prehistory and
early history of societies and their cultures. They systematically
uncover the evidence by excavating, dating, and analyzing the
material remains left by people in the past. Archaeologists are
essentially detectives who search through many thousands of pieces of
fragmentary pots and other artifacts as well as environmental data in
order to reconstruct ancient life ways. In a sense, this makes
archaeology the cultural anthropology of the past. Archaeology is also
related to biological anthropology in its use of the same methods in
excavating and analyzing human skeletal remains found in
archaeological sites.
No archaeologist is an expert on the antiquity of all regions of the world
and all time periods. Classical archaeologists concentrate on the
ancient civilizations of the Middle East and the Mediterranean world
(Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, and related peoples). Historical
archaeologists work on recovering the unrecorded aspects of life in
historically more modern societies such as colonial
America. Prehistoric archaeologists focus their attention on the
more ancient pre-literate societies around the world including those of
most early North American Indians. Underwater
archaeologists discover and excavate ancient shipwrecks and
submerged cities. Zooarchaeologists analyze and interpret the
animal remains found in archaeological sites. The training required for
each of these and other archeological specialties varies significantly,
but they all share an interest in elucidating the lost past.
Economics
In the U.S., most Economics departments mainly study economic
patterns in developed market economies. By contrast, economic
anthropologists, although interested in such conventional topics as
production, consumption, and exchange, also examine economic
thought in non-market societies, ancient civilizations, and societies in
transition from one type of economy to another.
Political Science
Political science studies how public and private power is obtained,
used, and contested. Cultural anthropologists study power too, such as
leadership styles in societies of all types, from non-hierarchical ones
(e.g., the !Kung and other hunter-gatherers) to highly stratified states,
and from the contemporary world to ancient Mesoamerica and Greece.
Political anthropologists are studying important contemporary issues
such as ethnic violence and state disintegration in Ireland and the
former Soviet Union, and the way that global phenomena such as
Christianity, nationalism, and democracy vary in meaning and function
across cultures and historical periods.
Sociology
Sociologists study the organization of people into groups, from smaller
ones like the family to larger ones like the corporation. Cultural
anthropologists also study social organization, but place greater
emphasis on extensive fieldwork and the method of participantobservation. Anthropologists almost always work directly with the
people they study, speaking their native language, and often living in
their homes. Fieldwork is frequently, but not always, done in a culture
different from that of the anthropologist. By promoting multi- and
cross-cultural awareness, sociological generalizations based on
mainstream American culture can be evaluated and sometimes
challenged.
Linguistics
Linguists study the structure of language. By cracking the code through
which linguistic information is transmitted, they hope to learn more
about the structure of the human mind. Linguistic anthropologists
study the ways in which people use language in different cultures to
communicate. By investigating verbal behavior close-up and first-hand
through ethnographic fieldwork, they are often able to demonstrate not
only the variety of speech patterns, but the systematic ways in which
such activities as greetings, oratory, jokes, stories, advertisements,
baby-talk, and "women's language" vary with context and over time.
These skills have practical applications in the fields of educational
consulting, business communication, document design, and political
communication.
Religion
Students interested in religion will find anthropology especially
rewarding. Although anthropologists do study the major world religions,
they also tend to study the whole range of human beliefs and rituals,
including shamanism and witchcraft. In recent years, anthropologists
have been at the forefront of scholarship examining the efflorescence
of religious movements in our contemporary world. These include
Hindutva in India, Pentecostal and Islamic reform movements, and
different forms of secularism and processes of secularization, for
example debates about headscarves and lacit in France and
creationism in the U.S.
Sciences and Medical Fields
Anatomy, Physiology, Developmental Biology, Neuroscience
Biological anthropologists use their training in anatomy, physiology,
developmental biology, and neuroscience to investigate how human
biology is distinct from other primates and to understand the basis of
modern human diversity. The discipline of biological anthropology
employs an evolutionary framework as the foundation to analyze the
human body and behavior. Students with this training gain useful
preparation for future careers in natural history museums, biological
laboratories, and biological education, as well as for medical school.
Biomedicine, Psychology, Psychiatry
Through the study of reproductive health, child survival, adolescent
psychology, schizophrenia, eating disorders, and drug abuse,
anthropology connects closely to the health sciences. Many
anthropologists are researching the cross-cultural impact of the AIDS
epidemic. Others are documenting the medical knowledge of
traditional healers, some of which may be of considerable value.
Genetics
Anthropological geneticists study how and why genetic traits vary with
populations. Their studies reconstruct the movements, separations,
and interminglings of peoples, as well as the selective forces (such as
disease) that have operated on populations in the past.
Public Health and Epidemiology
Public health programs designed by outside experts often fail to meet
their goals because of misunderstanding and resistance in the community. It may be vital to know how a particular group (e.g., say, Latino
adolescents) understand a particular issue (e.g., violence) before that
issue can be effectively addressed. Anthropological work on the
ground can provide this knowledge.
Geology
Archaeologists and paleoanthropologists work hand in hand with
geologists to identify the environments in which people lived and to
determine the times of occupation. The subfield of geoarchaeology
uses techniques from the earth sciences to shed light on the
archaeological record. For those studying the fossil record of human
evolution, it is critically important to understand the geological context
of the fossils, since the rocks contain information about dating the
fossils
(geochronology),
about
their
environmental
context
(paleoenvironments), and about the ecological conditions in which the
animals lived (paleoecology). Anthropologists specializing in
archaeology or paleoanthropology often teach in geology departments
and almost always collaborate with specialists from the geological
sciences.
Zoology
The comparative study of our closest relatives, the primates, is an
important part of anthropology. Anthropological field studies of these
animals have advanced both the science of ethology and the
understanding of human evolution. The acquisition and transmission of
learned behavior, the nature of intelligence, and the origins of primate
social systems are among the topics anthropologists address.
c. While a few anthropology postgraduates go on to work as lecturers or
researchers within academia, a significant number are increasingly finding
employment in a variety of sectors, ranging from education, charity and
international development, to medicine and health-related professions, film
and business. Often anthropologists do not follow linear career trajectories,
but become involved in various projects in frequently overlapping career
sectors. Take a look at ourcareer paths section for case studies, websites and
information on careers in anthropology.
It is easy in hindsight, to demonstrate the inherit flaws in some of the early theoretical orientations.
However, we should keep in mind, however, that contempary anthropological theories that may appear
plausible today were built on what we learnt from those older theories.
Cultural Evolutionism
According to this theory, all cultures undergo the same development stages in the same order. To develop a
better understanding of these various development stages it is important to briefly review these various
stages and their sub stages. Savagery, barbarism and civilization were three classifications that classical
anthropologists used to divide culture.
However in 1877 Lewis Henry Morgan wrote a book titled Ancient Society, in it the three stages of cultural
anthropology were further classified into 7 stages, which are as follows:
Lower Savagery:
Middle Savagery: Began with the discovery of fishing technology and the use of fire.
Middle Barbarism: Began with the domestication of plants and animals in the old world and
irrigation/ cultivation in the new world.
Upper Barbarism: Began with the smelting of iron and the use of iron tools.
Civilization: Began with the invention of the phonetic alphabet and writing (1877:12)
Evolution is unidirectional and leads to higher levels of culture. A deductive approach used to apply a
general theory to specific cases. Evolutionists were often ethnocentric as they put their own societies on top
of the evolutionary ladder. Yet, it did explain human behavior by rational instead of supernatural causes.
Diffusionism
Like evolutionism, diffusionism was deductive and rather theoretical, lacking evidence from the field. It
maintained that all societies change as a result of cultural borrowing from one another.
The theory highlighted the need to consider interaction between cultures but overemphasized the essentially
valid idea of diffusion.
Historicism
Any culture is partially composed of traits diffused from other cultures but this does not explain the existing
complexity of different cultures. Collection of ethnographic facts must precede development of cultural
theories (inductive approach).
Direct fieldwork is considered essential, which has provided the approach a solid methodological base
emphasizing the need for empirical evidence. Each culture is, to some degree, unique. So ethnographers
should try to get the view of those being studies, not only rely on their own views.
Historicists emphasized the need for training female anthropologists to gain access to information about
female behavior in traditional societies. Their anti-theoretical stance is criticized for retarding growth of the
anthropological discipline.
Psychological Anthropology
Anthropologists need to explore the relationships between psychological and cultural variables according to
this theory. Personality is largely seen to be the result of learning culture.
Universal temperaments associated
with males and females do not exist in practice, based on research conducted by psychological
anthropologists (for example, it was noticed that there are no universally consistent personality traits like
being hard working on the basis of being a male or a female).
Functionalism
Like historicism, functionalism focused on understanding culture from the viewpoint of the native. It stated
that empirical fieldwork is absolutely essential. Functionalists stressed that anthropologists should seek to
understand how different parts of contemporary cultures work for the well being of the individual and the
society, instead of focusing on how these parts evolved.
Society was thought to be like a biological organism with all of the parts interconnected. The theory argued
that change in one part of the system brings a change in another part of the system as well. Existing
institutional structures of any society are thought to perform indispensable functions, without which the
society could not continue.
Neo-Evolutionism
Neo-Evolution states that culture evolves in direct proportion to their capacity to harness energy. The
theory states that culture evolves as the amount of energy harnessed per capita per year increases or as the
efficiency of the means of putting energy to work increases" (Leslie White,1900-1975).
Culture = Energy x Technology
Culture is said to be shaped by environmental and technological conditions. Therefore, people facing similar
environmental challenges, are thought to develop similar technological solutions and parallel social and
political institutions.
Cultures evolve when people are able to increase the amount of energy under their control according to this
theory. Given this emphasis on energy, the role of values, ideas and beliefs is de-emphasized.
Useful Terms
Theory: a general statement about how two or more facts are related to one another.
Hypotheses: an educated hunch as to the relationship among certain variables that guides a research
project.
Evolutionism: the 19th century school of cultural anthropology, represented by Morgan and Tyler that
attempted to explain variations in cultures by the single deductive theory that they all pass through a series
of evolutionary stages
Savagery: the first amongst the three basic stages (savagery, barbarism and civilization) of cultural
evolution.
Barbarism: the middle of the three basic stages of the 19th century theory developed by Lewis Morgan that
all cultures evolve from simple to complex systems.
Civilization: a term used by anthropologists to describe any society with cities.