Anthropology

Fields of Anthropology

June 4, 2012

1) Biological (concerned most with human populations and how they vary biologically) a. Human paleontology/paleoanthropology Emergence of humans and their later evolution Studies fossils, bones, geological information on succession of climates, environments and plant and animal populations Paleontologists interested in behaviour and evolution of our closest relatives among mammals Primates b. Human variation How and why contemporary human populations differ in biological or physical characteristics Why do Eskimos and Africans have different body built? 2) Cultural a. Archaeology Study of past cultures Study artifacts (remains or past civilizations) ;; requires field work Most archaeologists deal with prehistory, time before written records. Historical archaeology studies the remains of recent people who left written records b. Archaeological/ anthropological linguistics i. Historical study of how languages changes over time and how they may be related (development) ii. Descriptive/ Structural How contemporary languages differ, especially in their construction (Discovering and recording the principles that determine how sounds and words are put in a speech) iii. Sociolinguistic study of how language is used in social context (what people speak about, how they interact conversationally, their attitudes towards speakers of other dialects/languages, and how people speak differently in different social contexts.) c. Ethnology (Cultural Anthropology) concerned with patterns of thought and behaviour(such as marriage customs, kinship organization, political and economic systems, religion, folk art and music, and with the many ways in which these patterns differ in contemporary societies) dynamics of culture (how cultures develop and change) relationship between beliefs and practices within a culture ***Ethnologists generally use data collected through observation and interviewing of living people, archaeologists must work with fragmentary remains of past cultures, then draw inferences from there. Type of Ethnologists i. Ethnographer o Usually spends a year or so living with, talking to, and observing the people whose customs he or she is studying provides customary behaviour and thought o Focus on how people live, know peoples culture o Various cultural studies to find out various sets of differences and similarities of people s culture

ii. Ethnohistorian o Prepared to study how the ways of life of a particular group of people have changed over time o Rely more on others documents (whereas ethnographers rely on their observations) o More concerned on history of people who did not leave written records o Tries to explain why certain changes in their life took place

Relevance of Anthropology Understanding of human beings everywhere Helps us avoid misunderstandings with people Alleviate some of the misunderstandings that arise between people of diff cultural groups from causes operating below level of consciousness As a world becoming interconnected, important to be able to respect cultural and physical differences, because it might lead to war if theres no respect