WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY?

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WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY?

• The term originates from two words in Greek
• (1) anthropos meaning man as in human being
• (2) logos meaning study.
• Consequently we can determine that anthropology
  can be defined as the study of human beings.
  

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Yet many other humanities, sciences and social
sciences could also be defined as the study of
human beings since the definition itself is so
broad.WHAT THEN IS UNIQUE OR CHARACTERISTIC OF
ANTHROPOLOGY?
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(a). anthropology is transcultural looks all
human groups, large and small distant and near.
(b). anthropology spans all of human history,
the ancient and the modern. We must know past to
understand present.(c). anthropology is
holistic seeks to demonstrate how aspects of
cultures are linked, how they affect one another
seeks to understand all aspects of human
behavior. It is a multi-faceted approach to the
study of human behavior.
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Anthropology seeks to find the generalities about
human life while also explaining the differences.
To do this the examples must include a
transcultural and historical perspective.Anthrop
ology seeks to understand and explain why people
do the things they do and say the things they
say. A goal is create better understanding among
people.
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In sum, anthropologists often say that
anthropology is the most humane of the sciences
and the most scientific of the humanities. Thus
we draw data from all kinds of sources.
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THE TWO MAIN SUB-FIELD DIVISIONS WITHIN
ANTHROPOLOGY ARE

• (1) biological anthropology
• (2) cultural anthropology.

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Biological anthropology seeks to understand human
behavior from a biological base especially
focusing upon human evolutionary history and
biological variation among human
populations.Some examples of biological
anthropology are paleontology primatology the
study of human variation
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Cultural anthropology seeks to understand
universals and variations in human cultures both
past and present.
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Archaeology seeks to understand human history
through the study (primarily) of materials
remains. Sometimes the work of archaeologists
overlaps with the work of historians in a
specialization, historical archaeology.
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Linguistics seeks to understand human language,
written and non-written, spoken and non-verbal.
The study of how languages change over time is
termed historical linguistics. The study of how
language is used in social contexts is termed
socio-linguistics.
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Ethnology seeks to understand the patterns of
human thought and behavior over time. A
holistic, detailed description of a culture is
termed an ethnography.
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Underscoring all of the sub-fields in both
biological and cultural anthropology is
Practicing or Applied anthropology, which seek to
apply anthropological knowledge to the solution
of human problems. All of the sub-fields in
anthropology have an applied, practicing
component.
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Specializations INCLUDE

• (1) area specializations (SE Asia, Europe, Latin
  American, etc. areas which share some
  cultural-historical characteristics )
• (2) topic specializations (medical, ecological,
  gender, etc. themes upon which to focus within a
  holistic and deeply contextual framework of a
  culture)

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Anthropology

• Cultural Anthropology
• Study of human behaviour based on what is LEARNED
  and that is typical of a group of people
• Archaeology reconstruction of past cultures
  based on material remains (excavations, study of
  human artifacts)
• Linguistic understanding language and its
  relation to culture
• Ethnology (Socio/Cultural Anthropology)
  Ethnographic studies, i.e. living within a
  culture eat what they eat, dress the same way,
  worship their gods

• Physical Anthropology
• Study of human evolution, biology and primate
  research Human skeletal anatomy Interested in
  where humans originated and how population spread
• Biological how disease and illnesses are
  genetically transmitted and how they are caused
  by environmental conditions
• Primatology thinking and communication patterns
  of primates from our distant evolutionary past.
• Forensic application of biological anthropology
  to the identification of skeletalized or badly
  decomposed human remains