I am so glad you decided to join me on this adventure! Thanks for taking an interest in this topic that I love.

 Anthropology has been defined and described as the study of human beings with no restrictions on space or time. There are four major sub-disciplines of Anthropology and they are….  Social and Cultural Anthropology  Archaeology  Physical Anthropology  Linguistic Anthropology

 Ethnographic studies of living cultures  Participant observation is the preferred method of studying cultures. This is where an anthropologist will go and live within a culture and study their ways of existence. They observe their traditions, religions, customs, rituals, kinship, government structure, economics and language among many other things.  I went to Ethnographic Field School in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico in I conducted research on religion and contemporary culture.

 Many ethnographic anthropologists will use and make video tapes of the cultures that they are participating in.  Many of these videos are professionally edited into professional documentary films.  These films are studied by other anthropologists in universities all over the world.  These films are also made available to the public through television, cable and satellite networks as well as public libraries for the public to view and study to gain a better understanding of the diversity of cultures that exist in the world.

 Archaeology is the scientific study of cultural remains from the prehistoric and historic past.  Archaeologists study land that is going to be developed, prior to the development.  The first step is background checks of previous land studies, by other archaeologists, if they exist.  The next step is cultural resource pedestrian survey. This is where a team of field archaeologist systematically walk over the project area and look for any prehistoric or historic archaeological sites, artifacts or features that are manifested on the surface. If they find any, they record, describe and map these items using GPS programs and paper forms.

 After the survey is completed, a report is written that describes any prehistoric or historic sites, features and artifacts. The report also makes a recommendation as to whether a full scale archaeological excavation and data recovery project is needed prior to development. The report is also archived at the Arizona State Museum at the University of Arizona and the State Historic Preservation Office in downtown Phoenix.

 If the report from the survey indicates a recommendation for archaeological data recovery, then the team of archaeologists will excavate below the surface to look for more artifacts within the boundaries of the sites found.  All archaeological artifacts and information taken from the excavation site are reported to the State Museum and the Historic Preservation Offices. If the site is significant, it is preserved on site and is sometimes even converted into an archaeological park managed by the government and archaeological preservation specialists.  The information and cultural resources from these sites are interpreted and studied to give everyone a better understanding of the way of life that existed in prehitoric times.  Archaeological sites and cultural resources are all of ours to learn from and enjoy.

 It is important to state that anytime you encounter anything that you think might be a prehistoric or historic artifact, do not pick it up or move it. Leave it there and report it to the local city archaeologist or the land owner if you are on private property.  You do not want to destroy a potentially important prehistoric site.  So please observe, take pictures and report anything you find that looks suspect of being a potential artifact.

 Physical Anthropology is the study of human remains left behind from the ancient past.  Physical Anthropologist study a variety of remains including mummies, skeletal remains and ash remains from cremations.  Some Physical Anthropologists specialize in specific areas such as dentition (teeth), skulls and other various bone specializations.  Physical Anthropologists help us to understand what prehistoric humans looked like and what may have caused their deaths.  Some Physical Anthropologists also analyze ancient bones to study ware patterns of bones to study the types of work ancient people may have done. Some of them also study patterns of bone disease to understand illnesses that were present in ancient times.

 Some Physical Anthropologists are consulted by local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to help identify human remains left at crime scenes as well as to help identify who the victims of these crimes might be.  Finally, Physical Anthropologists study and compare the variation of the human species and how they are related to each other.

 Linguistic Anthropologists study the languages of the world and the origins and evolution of languages.  Linguistic Anthropologists also help identify and interpret languages and their symbolic representations.  Some Linguistic Anthropologists study hieroglyphics and petroglyphs to offer potential linguistic interpretations of the meaning of these symbols into another more understandable language or interpretation.

 We study Anthropology to gain a deeper understanding of our human origins as well as our cultural diversity that exists today and has existed since the dawn of man.  Anthropology can help us gain an understanding of the many ways that exist to experience the human condition and how it is experiences throughout the world and throughout time.  Studying Anthropology can not only help us all understand the diversity that exists among humans, but it can also open up new relationships between cultural differences through a deeper respect and understanding of these differences as well as their similarities.

 Archaeologists do not dig up dinosaurs or dinosaur bones. Paleontologists do this quite well. Archaeologists work with human and cultural remains.  Anthropologists and Archaeologists are like Indiana Jones. No, Indiana Jones was a thief and stole archaeological artifacts for his own personal gain. Anthropologists and archaeologists work very hard to preserve these artifacts and cultural treasures for everyone to learn from and enjoy.  Archaeologists study rocks. No, geologists study rocks and soil and earth processes. It is true though that many archaeologists must learn a great deal about geology and how these processes effect archaeological sites as well as how to better equip themselves to excavate through various rock and soil types.  Archaeologists are experts at interpreting any given artifact or site. No, most archaeologists specialize in one particular cultural region or cultural type, although the scientific methods that are used to do this are pretty much universal, or at least strive to be.

 Social and Cultural Anthropology Day: I would like us to learn about a living culture that is foreign to you. Maybe watch a video about a native culture and discuss what we leaned about that culture versus ours.  Archaeology: I would like to show you a photo presentation of the last archaeological survey that I was on in Holbrook this last summer and show you pictures of some of the artifacts and sites that we found. I would also like to bring in some artifacts for you to see and touch.  Physical Anthropology: I would like to take a day to learn about all of the bones in the human body and then be able to identify all of our bones on a skeleton diagram.  Linguistic Anthropology: I would like to focus on my own ethnographic and linguistic studies of the Spanish language. I would like to teach you some basics in Spanish and for us to try to communicate using some basic Spanish. I was also thinking about having a Nacho Fiesta while learning our Spanish.