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What Is Anthropology?
ANTH 250: Issues in Anthropology
Kimberly Martin, Ph.D.
What is Anthropology?
KEY COMPONENTS
DEFINITION
Anthropology is the
holistic, synthetic,
multidisciplinary
study of human
beings.
1. Anthropology seeks and uses all
information about both individual
humans and groups of humans
regardless of time, geographic
location, culture or types of evidence.
2. Anthropology studies the biological,
psychological, social and cultural
aspects of being human in the present
and in the past.
3. Anthropology draws knowledge and
methods from any discipline that can
help understand humanness
4. Anthropology attempts to integrate
information from many disciplines
into a single whole picture of what it
means to be humans
What are the Four Sub-disciplines of
Anthropology?
1. Physical Anthropology
2. Archaeology
3. Linguistic Anthropology
4. Cultural Anthropology
What is Physical Anthropology?
DEFINITION
Physical Anthropology,
also called Biological
Anthropology, is the study
of the genetic, anatomical
and physiological aspects
of humanness, including
our relationship to other
kinds of animals in the
past and present.
KEY COMPONENTS
1.
2.
3.
Physical anthro studies human
evolution to understand when
humans first existed and how the
human body has changed through
time
Physical anthro studies how and
why human individuals and groups
differ from one another
biologically in the past and present
Physical anthro studies how
humans are alike and different
from other animals, especially
those most like us, the non-human
primates
Some Key Definitions
• Anatomy is the study of
the structure and
architecture of the
body.
• Physiology is the study
of how the body
operates.
• Adaptation is
adjustment to social,
cultural or physical
environmental
conditions. Adaptation
can be behavioral
(cultural) or genetic
(biological).
What Kinds of Physical Anthropologists
Are There?
Six Kinds of Biological Anthropologists
 Paleoanthropologists
study human fossil remains
 Human Variation
Specialists
study how human anatomy and
physiology are adapted to
particular environments
 Human Geneticists
study patterns of gene distribution
in human populations, as well as
the consequences of particular
genes to individuals
 Forensic Anthropologists
apply anthropological knowledge
about the human body to solve
crimes
 Human Epidemiologists
study how human biology and
cultural practices affect health and
disease patterns
 Primatologists
study similarities and differences
between humans and our closest
relatives, the non-human primates
What is Archaeology?
KEY COMPONENTS
DEFINITION
Archaeology is the
study of the
material remains
of human cultures
from the past and
in the present.
1. Archaeology studies things that
people make (artifacts like pottery
or tools) and leave behind
2. Archaeology studies things that
people alter (features like roads
and buildings) and leave behind
3. Archaeology studies
environmental clues that show the
circumstances in which people live
or lived (ecofacts)
4. Archaeologists are interested in
material culture from the past as
well as from the present
Some Key Definitions
• Artifacts are portable
objects that people
make and leave behind.
• Features are changes
that people make in the
physical and biological
environment .
• Ecofacts are pieces of
evidence about the
environment in which
people lived in the past.
• Survey is the process of
locating archaeological
sites from clues on the
surface.
• Excavation is the
process of digging down
into sites to uncover
artifacts and ecofacts.
What Kinds of
Archaeologists Are There?
Five of Kinds of Archaeologists
 Classical Archaeologists
Contract Archaeologists
 Study the remains from the
foundational societies for Western
Civilization
Identifying, evaluating, and managing sites
threatened by development.
 Ethnoarchaeologists
 Study how living societies make and
use tools and other material objects
to draw analogies with ancient
materials
 Historical Archaeologists
 Study the remains of historically
documented societies to provide
additional data on how people lived.
Experimental
Archaeologists
Attempt to reconstruct how material
culture and cultural features were
constructed and used in the past.
What is Linguistic Anthropology?
DEFINITION
Linguistic Anthropology
is the study of language
and communication.
KEY COMPONENTS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Linguistic anthropologists describe
how languages are produced and
used
Linguistic anthropologists study how
language changes through time
Linguistic anthropologists study how
language usage varies in different
social contexts
Linguistic anthropologists study how
knowing a particular language
influences how people think
Linguistic anthropologists study how
people communicate non-verbally
through gestures, body language
and the use of space.
Language is a central part of culture
Some Key Definitions
• Communication is the
act of transmitting
information from one
entity to another.
• Language is the abstract,
learned, shared rules
and standards for
understanding and
generating speech.
• Speech is the act of
communicating using
language.
• Symbol is something that
arbitrarily represents
something else.
• Icon is something that
represents something
else because of a logical
connection.
What kinds of Linguistic Anthropologists
Are There?
Eight Kinds of Linguistic Anthropologists
 Descriptive Linguists
study how languages are produced and
organized
 Historical Linguists
study how languages change over time
 Ethnolinguists
study how knowing a particular
language affects the way people think
 Sociolinguists
study how language use changes in
differing social situations
 Developmental Linguists
study how children acquire language
 Paralanguage Experts
study pitch, tone and rhythm in
language
 Proxemics Experts
study the use of space to
communicate
 Kinesics Experts
study body language and gestures
What is Cultural Anthropology?
DEFINITION
Cultural Anthropology,
also called Sociocultural Anthropology,
is the study of
contemporary and
historic human
societies through their
cultures.
KEY COMPONENTS
1.
2.
3.
4.
Cultural anthropology studies
living societies and descriptions
of living societies
Cultural anthropology uses
fieldwork and participantobservation to understand
other ways of life
Cultural anthropology
attempts to take a cultural
relativist perspective on other
cultures
Cultural anthropology is
interested in all aspects of life
in a society and how they fit
together
Some Key Definitions
• Culture is the abstract,
learned, shared rules
and standards for
interpreting
experiences and
generating behavior.
• Society is a group of
people living together
according to a shared
culture.
• Ethnocentrism is
judging another culture
using your own
culture’s rules and
standards.
• Cultural relativism is
judging another society
using its own culture’s
rules and standards.
Some Key Definitions
• Fieldwork is the study of
a group/society in its
normal physical and
cultural environment.
• Ethnography is the
process of studying and
describing a culture in
detail.
Kung
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
XU-PceRraU0
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
_nygexkKha0
• An ethnography is a
description of a culture in
detail.
Egypt
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=BfzD4HlziVE
• Ethnology is comparative
study of ethnographies
(cultures).
What Kinds of Cultural Anthropologists
Are There?
Seven Kinds of Cultural Anthropologists
 Cultural Ecologists
study how culture interacts with the
environment
 Social Anthropologists
study the rules for forming kin and nonkin social groups in society
 Political Anthropologists
study how power and authority are
delegated and rules enforced in
society
 Medical Anthropologists
study how culture and human
biology interact to create disease
 Economic Anthropologists
study how people produce and distribute and illness in societies
the things they need to survive
 Psychological Anthropologists
study how individuals grow and function
in different cultural contexts
 Aesthetic Anthropologists
study what is considered beautiful
and how beauty is created in
different societies