Download 01 History of Anthropology

History of Anthropology
Ancient Interest in “Anthropology”
Sphinx first excavated by Thutmose IV c. 1400 BCE,
more than 1000 years after it was first built
Ancient Interest in “Anthropology”
“Everyone without exception believes his own
native customs, and the religion he was brought
up in, to be the best; and that being so, it is
unlikely that anyone but a madman would mock
at such things. There is abundant evidence that
this is the universal feeling about the ancient
customs of one's country.” Histories, 3.38
Herodotus, Greek, 5th Century BCE
Ancient Interest in “Anthropology”
“I wish to show, respecting Asia and Europe,
how, in all respects, they differ from one
another, and concerning the figure of the
inhabitants, for they are different, and do not
at all resemble one another.” Airs, Waters,
Places, 12
Hippocrates, Greek, 4th century BCE
Ancient Interest in “Anthropology”
“For there is no doubt both that the
Ethiopians are blackened by the heat of
the nearby Sun, and are born as if
scorched with curly beards and hair while
the cold at the opposite end of the world
produces people with white, frosty skins
and long blond hair. These are made fierce
by the rigour of their climate, while the
former wise because of the changeability
of theirs” Natural History 2.189-190
Pliny the Elder, Roman, 1st century CE
Ancient Interest in “Anthropology”
“Now indeed they [the Gauls] are all
at peace, for they have been enslaved
by the Romans and live according to
their commands. But I have given this
account of their customs as they were
in former times, and also as they exist
up to the present day among the
Germans” Geography 4.4.2
Strabo, Turkish, 1st century CE
Medieval Arabic Ethnographers
Ahmad ibn Fadlan, Abassid, 10th century CE
Embassy to the Volga Bulgars
Abd-al-Razzaq Samarqandi, Timurid, 15th century CE
Ambassador to India
Medieval Arabic
Ethnographers
1492 and the Age of Exploration
“Armchair Anthropology”
Are these “savages” human?
Do they have souls?
(If so, how do we best translate the Bible for them?)
How did humans spread so far?
Linguistics – How similar or
different are all the
languages? Can they be
formed into groups?
Archaeology – do different
civilizations have similar types
of structures?
What is the “Natural” state of
humanity?
vs.
“[Life is] solitary, poore, nasty, brutish
and short”
- Hobbes
“The Noble Savage”
- Rouseau
Why are humans so different from
each other and what does it mean?
Wait, the earth is HOW old?
What are these non-humans?
Can “primitives” today help us
understand what the past was like?
Let’s collect everything!
18th & 19th Centuries:
Grand Theories
• Identifying “natural laws” for humans and human cultures
• Typically comparative in approach
• Based off of other peoples’ reports
• Incorporate all four subfields of anthropology
Early 20th century:
Refinements in Methods
• Out of the armchair,
into the field!
• Focus on one culture
or site
• Take more time –
greater specialization
Archaeology Field Methods
• Application of military methodology
• Very detailed recording
• Develop clear chronologies
Cultural Anthropology &
Linguistics Field Methods
• Participant observation in
the field
• Speak the language
Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942) in
the Trobriand Islands
• In-depth reports on one
culture (ethnographies)
Margaret Mead (1901-1978) in Samoa
Franz Boas (1858-1942)
• Argued that world cultures
could not be ranked into
more or less civilized
• Proponent of nurture rather
than nature
• Created the four field
approach in American
Anthropology
• Had many generations of
students follow in his
footsteps
Mid 20th Century:
Scientific Dating
• Atomic research during WWII
• Carbon-14, potassium-argon, uranium series, etc.
• Freed archaeology and biological anthropology
from relying on relative chronology
Late
th
20
century and beyond
• Increased specialization within the four fields
• Competing theoretical models
• Broadening links to other disciplines
 Should all four fields still be contained within the
same discipline?