WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY?EXPLORING THE FOUR FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY

Introductory LectureAnthropology 100: Survey of Anthropology

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Develop an understanding of anthropology and how the subfields of anthropology interrelate

2. Develop an understanding for the importance of anthropology in today’s world

3. Practice thinking like an anthropologist

ANTHROPOLOGYanthro = humanology = the study of

Study of the past and present biological and cultural variation within the human species

ANTHROPOLOGY

Major question addressed within anthropology:

What Does It Mean To Be Human?

DISTINCTIVE WAY OF STUDYING HUMANSUnique Perspective of What Does It Mean to Be Human: 1. Holistic

Emphasizes the functional relation between parts and the whole

Holism=Integratio

n

Past

PresentLanguage

Culture

GeneticsAnatomy

DISTINCTIVE WAY OF STUDYING HUMANSUnique Perspective of What Does It Mean to Be Human: 2. Comparative

Compare patterns of variationBiologically and Culturally

Consideration of similarities & differences

Coming of Age CeremoniesLeft: Korean; Right: Maasi (Kenya)

Skeletal FeaturesLeft: Chimpanzee; Right: Modern Human

DISTINCTIVE WAY OF STUDYING HUMANS

Unique Perspective of What Does It Mean to Be Human:3. Field-based

Data collection; direct contact

Cultural AnthropologyMursi women in Ethiopia

Linguistic AnthropologyProject on Beaver Language

Primatology: Baboon Dominance Calls

Archaeology in the Middle East

DISTINCTIVE WAY OF STUDYING HUMANS

Unique Perspective of What Does It Mean to Be Human: 4. Evolutionary

Observations placed in

temporal framework

Consider change over time

EvolutionHumans

Primates

CONCEPT OF CULTURE

What is culture? Set of learned behavior and ideas that humans

beings acquire as members of a society

Humans are biocultural organisms Triangle of Adaptation

Biological and cultural factor

influence the world around us

Environment

CultureBiology

ANTHROPOLOGY: CROSS-DISCIPLINARY DISCIPLINE

Spans the social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities

Diversity with the discipline : 4 subfields Biological (Physical) Anthropology Cultural Anthropology Linguistic Anthropology Archaeology

Holistic

AppliedAnthropology

FIGURE 1.1 THE SUBFIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY Copyright © 2008 by Robert H. Lavenda and Emily A. Schultz.

BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY Human beings as biological organisms

Aims to discover what characteristics make humans different from other organisms and what characteristics they share

Attention focused on patterns of variation & adaptation

Paleoanthropology

PrimatologyDental Anthropology &

Bioarchaeology

BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY Research – What Can It Tell Us?• Allocation of energy –

breastfeeding, health & disease, primates

• Skeletal anatomy – disease, stress, activity patterns, trauma, forensic anthropology

• Susceptibility to disease – access to resources, lower immunity, genetics

Lesion on a rib with M tuberculosis DNA

BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Research – What Can It Tell Us?

CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY Variation in beliefs and behaviors of members

of different human groups Shaped by sets of learned behaviors and ideas

that human beings acquire as members of society

Study all human societies Urban & Rural, Developed & Developing, Western

& Non-Western

Conduct fieldwork: Participant observation & Ethnography

CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY

• Cultural conflict – war, ethnicity, politics, aftermath of conflict

• Subsistence patterns – strategies, land ownership, environment

CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY Research – What Can It Tell Us?• Social organization – comparison of different

forms of human social life, kinship patterns, social groupings

CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY

LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY

Study of human language

Language: system of arbitrary vocal symbols used to encode one’s experience of the world and of others

Broader cultural, historical and/or biological contexts

LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY

LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY

Research – What Can It Tell Us?• Multi-lingualism – usage of

language, circumstances, education

• Language socialization – children, new language, cross-cultural studies

• Power and Control – linguistic dimensions

LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY

ARCHAEOLOGY

Study of past societies and their cultures, especially the material remains of the past

Examine evidence of past human cultural activity Artifacts

Garbage heaps

Postholes

Settlement patterns

Plant pollenExcavation

Sigatoka Valley, FijiAmber Beads

from Stonehenge

ARCHAEOLOGY

Research – What Can It Tell Us?• Human-Environmental

Interactions – use of the environment, climate change, paleoclimates

• Garage heaps – past and contemporary; consumption patterns

• Agricultural production – emergence of the first agricultural complexes

ARCHAEOLOGY

Research – What Can It Tell Us?

IN-CLASS ACTIVITY Four-Field Approach Worksheet

In this activity, students will: Describe the distinguishing features of

anthropology Identify the four subfields of anthropology

We will do one example as a class The other two examples will be worked on in small-

groups. Be prepared to share your responses with the class.

Economics

Local and regional spheres of interaction

Labor distributionSubsistence

Language use in trading and businessDifferences in languages

among SES

Health consequences (skeletal & living populations)

Non-human primate societies

Local / regional tradeGlobalization

Development & effects on traditional societies

Subsistence regimeBiological Anthropology

Cultural Anthropology

Linguistic Anthropology

Archaeology

ANTHROPOLOGY - SUMMARY

Anthropology is devoted to the broad,

“holistic” study of humankind, to the

understanding and explanation of

human beings in all of their diverse

aspects at all times and places