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INTRODUCTION TO
ANTHROPOLOGY
What is Anthropology?
Scientific study of the origin,
behavior, and physical & cultural
variation of human beings, both past
and present
What does it mean to be human?
How did we become who we are today?
What is our place in nature/the world?
Where are we headed?
Holistic Perspective
• Looks for & considers the interrelationships among biology, society,
language, culture & history & how they
influence one another
Goals of Anthropology
• To understand & explain the biological and
cultural variation & development of the
human species
• To understand what makes the human
species unique
• To foster awareness of & sensitivity to the
bio-cultural diversity of humans
The Five Fields
• Biological/Physical Anthropology
– Study of human biological origins, adaptations, and evolution
– Reconstructing the ancestry of the human species
• Cultural Anthropology
– Study of how cultures differ from or resemble one another in
their behavior
• Beliefs, rituals, traditions, values, customs, laws, art
• Archaeology
– Study of past human cultures by investigating material
remains of human activity
• Linguistics
– Studies human communication systems & how languages
develop and change in a cultural context
• Applied Anthropology
– Applying anthropological knowledge to help solve social
problems
Biological Anthropology
• Focus on bio-cultural evolution of humans
– As a biological species, but with the influence
of culture
Genetics/Molecular Biology
Foundation of evolutionary change
– How genetic variation occurs & why it is important in
context of natural selection
– Inheritance of traits from parents to offspring
– Genetic mutations
– Structure & function of genes
– Evolutionary & genetic relationships of all species
Primatology
• Study of the anatomy and behavior of nonhuman primates (Apes, Monkeys, and
Prosimians)
– Use for comparative analysis to shed light on
human biological and social development
Paleoanthropology
• Study of human evolution through human
fossil record
Osteology
• Study of the skeleton
– What anatomical features mean in terms of
behavior and evolution
Forensic Anthropology
• Analysis of human skeletal remains for
legal purposes
– Determination of age, sex, ancestry, stature,
circumstances surrounding death & pathology
Why study humans?
• By knowing where we’ve been and how we
got here, we can shape where we are going
• To better understand what it means to “be
human”