Anthropology
Study of people, their origins, contemporary variations
4 sub-fields
- Physical/biological: bones/stones
- Archaeology: Dig up dead peoples trash
- Linguistics: Language and culture
- Cultural: Work with live people
Physical/biological
Study of humans from biological perspective
Archaeology
Study of people from past by analyzing what left behind
Linguistics
Study of language and culture
Cultural
Urban settings, medical anthro., poverty, etc.
4 guiding principals of anthropology
1. Holism
2. Cultural Relativism
3. Ethnocentrism
4. Emic/Etic perspective
Holism
- all things in a culture are interrelated
- not only are they related but anthropology seeks HOW related
Cultural Relativism
- anything to be properly studied must be studied in proper context
- Cultural states viewed best in cultural context
- serves as cognitive rule to see how/why people act the way they do
Ethnocentrism
- Belief that your culture is superior to all others
Emic/Etic Perspective
Emic: Insiders persons pov
Etic: Outsiders pov
Physical Anthropology
- Paleoanthropology
- Primatology
- Human variation
- Forensic anthropology
- Applied physical anthropology
Archaeology
- Historical anthropology
- Prehistoric anthropology
- Contract anthropology
- Applied anthropology
- Cultural Resource Management
Anthropological Linguistics
- Historical linguistics
- Descriptive linguistics
- Ethno linguistics
- Sociolinguistics
- Applied linguistics
Cultural anthropology
- Development
- Psychological
- Environmental
- Medical
- Urban
- Political
- Applied
Physical Anthropology
- Study of humans from a biological perspective
- Interested in reconstructing the evolutionary record of the human species - ask ?'s about emergence of humans & how humans have evolved to present time - paleoanthropology
- Why physical traits of contempo
Forensic anthropologists...
- Can determine from skeletal remains the age, sex, and stature of the deceased as well as physical abnormalities, trauma, and nutritional history
Primatology
- The study of our nearest living relatives in their natural habitats
Race
- A subgroup of the human population whose members share a greater number of genes & physical traits w/ one another than they do with members of other sub groups
Genetics
Study of inherited physical traits
Population Biology
Study of interrelationships between population characteristics and environments
Epidemiology
Study of occurrence, distribution and control of disease in populations
Archaeology
Sub-field of anthro. that focuses on the study of prehistoric and historic cultures through the excavation of material remains
- archaeologists work with 3 types of material remains artifacts, features, ecofacts
Artifacts
- Objects that have been made or modified by human and that can be removed from the site and taken to the lab for further analysis
Features
- Made or modified by people but cannot be readily carried away from dig site
ex: fireplaces, postholes
Ecofacts
- Objects found in the natural environment not made or altered by humans but used by them ( bones, seeds, wood)
Cultural Resource Management
- form of applied archaeology that involves identifying, evaluating and sometimes excavating sites before roads, dams, and buildings are constructed
Anthropological Linguistics
- human speech and language
- 4 branches
Historical Linguistics
- Ideas with emergence of language in general and how specific languages have diverged over time
Glottochronology
- historic linguistic technique of determining the approximate date that two languages diverged by analyzing similarities and differences in vocab.
Descriptive Linguistics
- Study of sound systems, grammatical systems and the meanings attached to words in specific languages
Ethnolinguistics (cultural linguistics)
- Examines the relationship between language and culture
Sociolinguistics
- Examines the relationship between language and social relations
- Study the situational use of language - how people use different forms of language depending on social situation they find themselves in at any given time
Cultural Anthropology
- Scientific study of cultural similarities and differences wherever and in whatever form they may be found
Ethnography
- The anthropological description of a particular contemporary culture by means of direct fieldwork
Ethnology
- Comparative study of cultural differences and similarities
Ethnologists seek to ....
understand both why people today and in recent past differ in terms of ideas and behavior patterns and what all cultures in the world have in common with one another
Primary objective of ethnology...
to uncover general cultural principles, the "rules" that govern human behavior
Urban Anthropology
- Focusing on how factors such as size, density, and hetrogeneity affect customary ways of behaving
- Examined descriptive accounts of ethnic neighborhoods, rural - urban linkages, labor migration, urban kinship patterns, social network analysis, emerging
Medical Anthropology
- Studies relationship of biological and sociocultural factors to health, disease and illness
- Includes a variety of perspectives and concerns
- medical anthropologists with more biological focus tend to concentrate on interests such as role of idease in
Development Anthropology
- Interested in economic development - past
- 21st century is more critical & people focused
Environmental Anthropology
- Examines how human populations interact with the environment and develop solutions to current and future environmental problems
Psychological Anthropology
- looks at relationship between culture and psychological make up of individuals and groups
- examine how culture may affect personality, cognition, attitudes and emotions