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C H A P T E R
WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY?
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3. WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY? Human Diversity General Anthropology
The Subdisciplines of Anthropology
Anthropology and Other Academic Fields
Applied Anthropology

4. WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY?
What distinguishes anthropology from other fields that study human beings?
How do anthropologists study human diversity in time and space?
Why is anthropology both scientific and humanistic?

5. What is Anthropology?

6. What is Anthropology?

7. HUMAN DIVERSITY
Anthropology: explores human diversity across time and space; study of human species and its immediate ancestors; of particular interest is the diversity that comes through human adaptability
Humans – most adaptable animals; use biological means for adaptation
Unique in using cultural adaptations to environments

8. Human Diversity
Anthropology is the study of humans and their immediate ancestors
Uniquely comparative and holistic: study of the whole of the human condition—past, present, and future; biology, society, language, and culture
Society – organized life in groups
Cultures: traditions and customs, transmitted through learning, that form and guide the beliefs and behavior of the people exposed to them (traditions include customs and opinions, developed over generations, about proper and improper behavior.

9. Human Diversity

10. Human Diversity

11. ADAPTATION, VARIATION, AND CHANGE
Adaptation: process by which organisms cope with environmental forces and stresses
Humans adapt using biological and cultural means
Altitude – technological, genetic, long term physiological, and short term or immediate physiological adaptations.
Social and cultural means of adaptation have become increasingly more important for human groups

12. ADAPTATION, VARIATION, AND CHANGE
Rate of change accelerated during past 10,000 years
Foraging was sole basis of human subsistence for millions of years
It took only a few thousand years to develop food production: economy based on plant cultivation and/or animal domestication
Spread of industrial production profoundly affected human life
Each economic revolution has had social and cultural repercussions.

13. RECAP 1.1: Forms of Cultural and Biological Adaptation (to High Altitude)

14. GENERAL ANTHROPOLOGY
General anthropology: academic discipline of anthropology, also known as “four-field” anthropology, includes:
Sociocultural (cultural anthropology)
Archaeological
Biological/Physical
Linguistic

15. GENERAL ANTHROPOLOGY Developed as scientific field in U.S.
Early American anthropologists studying native peoples of North America combined studies of customs, social life, language, and physical traits in the 19th century
Where did the Natives come from?
How many waves of migration to the New World were there?
What are the linguistic, cultural, and biological links among Native Americans and between them and Asia?
Four field anthropology also helps to explore the relationship between biology and culture. Answers to key questions often require an understanding of both human biology and culture and of both the past and present.

16. Where did we come from?

17. GENERAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Subdisciplines explore variations in time and space to improve our understanding of human biology, society, culture, and their interrelations.
Biology and culture
influence each other
Sound conclusions about “human nature” cannot be derived from studying a single nation, society, or cultural tradition
Human nature must be pursued
with a comparative, cross-cultural approach.

18. CULTURAL FORCES SHAPE HUMAN BIOLOGY
Biocultural: combining biological and cultural approaches to a given problem
Culture is key environmental force determining how human bodies grow and develop
Cultural traditions promote certain activities and abilities, discourage others, and set standards of physical well-being and attractiveness
Cultural standards of attractiveness and propriety influence participation and achievement in sports and other activities

19. THE SUBDISCIPLINES OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Cultural anthropology
Archaeological anthropology
Biological, or physical anthropology
Linguistic anthropology

20. CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Describes, analyzes, interprets, and explains social and cultural similarities and differences
Ethnography: fieldwork in a particular culture; provides an account of that community, society, or culture
Traditionally tended to emphasize local behavior, beliefs, customs, social life, economic activities, politics, and religion
Often focuses on local people (often the poor and powerless)
Looks at links between local, regional, national, and global systems of politics, economics, and information that affects people’s lives
Ethnology: comparative, cross-cultural study of ethnographic data, society, and culture
Uses data to identify and explain cultural differences and similarities, test hypotheses, and form theories about social and cultural systems

21. Cultural Anthropology
Anth. differs from other social sciences (like economics or political science) in its focus on local people (often poor and powerless) rather than the policy and decision makers of elites.
Cultures are not isolated - ethnographers must investigate the linkages of local, regional, national, and global systems of politics, economics, and information that affect people’s lives across the world.
ETHNOLOGY examines, interprets, analyzes, and compares the results of ethnography; compares and contrasts the data gathered in different societies to make generalizations about society and culture and to identify and explain cultural differences and similarities, to test hypotheses, and to form theories that enhance our understanding of social and cultural systems.

22. Ethnographic Fieldwork

23. RECAP 1.2: Ethnography and Ethnology— Two Dimensions of Cultural Anthropology

24. ARCHAEOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Study of human behavior and cultural patterns and processes through culture’s material remains; reconstructs patterns of production, trade, and consumption.
Artifacts – material items that humans have made, used, or modified (potsherds, jewelry, tools)
Garbage
Burials
Remains of structures
Answers questions like “Did they get their meat from hunting or from domestication and breeding?” “Did plant food come from wild plants or from sowing, tending, and harvesting crops?” “What raw materials were available to them?”

25. Archaeology

26. ARCHAEOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Many archaeologists examine ecology: study of interrelations among living things in an environment
Paleoecology looks at ecosystems of the past
Use paleoecology to examine intersections of nature and human
culture and how they influence each other
Possible to infer cultural transformations
Reconstruct behavior patterns and lifestyles of the past

27. Ecosystems

28. ARCHAEOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Archaeologists also study the cultures of historical and living people
Historical archaeology combines archaeological data with textual data to reconstruct historically known groups
Sunken ships off the Florida coast
Rathje’s “garbology” shows that what people report may contrast with their real behavior

29. BIOLOGICAL, OR PHYSICAL, ANTHROPOLOGY
The study of human biological variation in time and space

30. BIOLOGICAL, OR PHYSICAL, ANTHROPOLOGY
Biological anthropology unites five special interests:
Paleoanthropology (study of human evolution through fossil record)
Human genetics
Human growth and development
Human biological plasticity (body’s ability to change as it copes with stresses)
Primatology - Biology, evolution, behavior, and social life of monkeys, apes, and other nonhuman primates
Physical anthropology is multidisciplinary
Investigates the influence of environment on the body as it grows (environmental factors include nutrition, altitude, temperature, and disease)

31. LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY
Study of language in its social and cultural context across space and time
Historical linguists reconstruct ancient languages and study linguistic variation through time
Sociolinguistics: investigates relationships between social and linguistic variation
Linguistic anthropologists have studied linguistic differences to examine the relationship of language structure and thought patterns in different cultures

32. ANTHROPOLOGY AND OTHER ACADEMIC FIELDS
Anthropology is a science: study that seeks reliable explanations with reference to the material and physical world
Systematic field of study that uses experiments, observations, and deduction to produce explanations of cultural and biological phenomena
the science of similarities and differences (devoted to discovering, describing, understanding, appreciating, and explaining similarities and differences in time and space among humans and out ancestors
Holistic - unique blend of biological, social, cultural, linguistic, historical, and contemporary perspectives
Also linked to humanities (compares languages, texts, philosophies, arts, music performances…)
Can be argued that it is the most humanistic of all academic fields because of its fundamental respect for human diversity.

33. CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY
Cultural anthropology and sociology share an interest in social relations, organization, and behavior
Initially, sociologists focused on industrial West, anthropologists on nonindustrial societies
Different methods of data collection and analysis emerged
Cultural anthropologists use in-depth and qualitative methods such as participant observation
Sociologists tend to use surveys and other quantitative measures (sampling and statistical techniques)
In many areas and on many topics, anthropology and sociology are converging

34. ANTHROPOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY
Psychological anthropology studies cross-cultural variations in psychological traits
Certain traits are universal, others are found in some but not all societies, while some are only found in one or very few cultures
Culturally Specific Syndrome – abnormal behavior confined to one or a few related groups (i.e. susto in Latin America) (anorexia was once confined to Western industrialized societies but has spread internationally)
American Journal of Psychiatry

35. APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY
Application of anthropological data, perspectives, theory, and methods to identify, assess, and solve contemporary social problems
Applied medical anthropologists
Applied Archaeologists
Applied anthropologists

36. APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY Applied Medical Anthropology
Looks at sociocultural and biological contexts and implications of disease and illness
Various groups recognize different illnesses, symptoms, and causes and have developed different health care systems and treatments.
Applied Archaeology
Includes cultural resource management, contract archaeology, public educational programs, and historic preservation
Cultural resource management (CRM): decide what needs saving, and preserve significant information about the past when sites cannot be saved
Applied Anthropology
Works in public health, family planning, business, market research, economic development, and activism)

37. Fieldwork

38. Fieldwork