Cultural Anthropology An Applied Perspective, 5e

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Cultural AnthropologyAn Applied Perspective, 5e

• Gary Ferraro

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Chapter OneWhat Is Anthropology?
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Chapter Outline

• Physical Anthropology
• Archaeology
• Anthropological Linguistics
• Cultural Anthropology
• Emic Versus Etic Approaches
• Contributions of Anthropology

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Branches of Anthropology Physical Anthropology

• Paleontology
• Primatology
• Human variation
• Forensic Anthropology
• Applied Physical Anthropology

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Branches of Anthropology Archaeology

• Historical archaeology
• Prehistoric archaeology
• Contract archaeology
• Applied archaeology

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Branches of Anthropology Anthropological
Linguistics

• Historical linguistics
• Descriptive linguistics
• Ethnolinguistics
• Sociolinguistics
• Applied linguistics

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Branches of Anthropology Cultural Anthropology

• Economic anthropology
• Psychological anthropology
• Educational anthropology
• Medical anthropology
• Urban anthropology
• Political anthropology
• Applied cultural anthropology

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Physical Anthropology

• Study of humans from a biological perspective.
• Areas of investigation
• Paleoanthropology - emergence of humans and how
  humans have evolved.
• Human variation - how and why the physical traits
  of human populations vary.

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Primatology

• Study of anatomy and social behavior of nonhuman
  primate species gorillas, baboons, and
  chimpanzees.
• Effort to learn about human evolution by studying
  contemporary nonhuman primates in similar
  environments.
• Tool-making skills found among chimpanzees in
  Tanzania help explain human strategies for
  adapting to the environment.

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Archaeology

• Study the people from the past by excavating and
  analyzing the material culture they leave behind
• Artifacts can be removed from the site and taken
  to the laboratory for further analysis. Examples
  tools, arrowheads.
• Features cannot be readily carried away from the
  site. Examples house foundations and fireplaces.
• Ecofacts are found in the natural environment and
  were used by humans.Examples bones, seeds, and
  wood.

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Archaeologists

• Historic archaeologists
• Reconstruct the cultures of people who used
  writing and about whom historical documents have
  been written.
• Prehistoric archaeologists
• Study the human record of cultures that existed
  before the development of writing.

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Anthropological Linguistics

• Historical linguistics
• Study of emergence of language and how specific
  languages have diverged over time.
• Descriptive linguistics
• Study of sound systems, grammatical systems, and
  the meanings attached to words in specific
  languages.

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Anthropological Linguistics

• Ethnolinguistics
• Study the relationship between language and
  culture.
• Sociolinguistics
• Study the relationship between language and
  social relations.

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Responding to Unfamiliar Cultures

• Ethnocentrically
• Responding from the context of ones own
  cultural perspective.
• Cultural relativist
• Responding within the context of the other
  culture.

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Limits of Cultural Relativism

1. If every society is unique and can only be
   evaluated in terms of its own standards,
   cross-cultural comparison is virtually
   impossible.
2. There is no behavior found in the world that
   could be considered immoral if the people who
   practice it consider it acceptable or if it
   functions for the well-being of the society.

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Value of Anthropology

• Individual
• The study of different cultures provides a better
  understanding of ones own culture and develops
  valuable leadership skills.
• Societal
• Understanding different cultures can contribute
  to the solution of pressing societal problems.