The Social Sciences: Anthropology

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The Social Sciences Anthropology
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The Social Sciences

• Anthropology
• Study human life throughout history
• Examines biological and cultural diversity
• Comparative and holistic
• Sociology
• Study of the groups and societies humans build
  and the way social relationships affect behavior
• Focuses on groups and social institutions
• Psychology
• Study of behavior and mental processes in
  contexts
• Focuses on individuals

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General Anthropology

• Study of the whole of human existence
• Past, present, future
• Biology, society, language, culture

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General Anthropology

• Study of the whole of human existence
• Past, present, future
• Biology, society, language, culture

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General Anthropology

• Study of the whole of human existence
• Past, present, future
• Biology, society, language, culture

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General Anthropology

• Study of the whole of human existence
• Past, present, future
• Biology, society, language, culture
• Grew during the late 19th century
• Influenced by
• Evolutionary theory
• Reports from travelers to non-Western societies
• Discoveries in biology and geology

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General Anthropology

• Subdisciplines
• Cultural (sociocultural)
• Archeological
• Biological
• Linguistic
• Common theme Humans are biological and cultural
  beings evolving through time

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Cultural Anthropology

• Study society and culture
• Explain cultural similarities and differences
• What aspects of culture are universal?
  Generalized? Particular?
• Culture is
• Learned (often unconsciously)
• Based on symbols
• Shared and integrated
• Both stable and changing
• Forms subcultures
• Is exceedingly complex

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Cultural Anthropology

• Ethnography
• Based largely on fieldwork
• Ethnopicture an in-depth examination of a
  particular culture or society

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Cultural Anthropology

• Ethnocentrism
• Judging other cultures by the standards of ones
  own culture
• Cultural Relativism
• Each culture must be understood in terms of its
  own values and beliefs
• No one culture is better than any other

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Cultural Anthropology

• Ethnology
• Based on cross-cultural comparison
• Uses data gathered by ethnographers and
  archaeologists to identify and explain cultural
  differences and similarities

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Archaeological Anthropology

• Reconstructs behavior and cultural patterns by
  examining material remains
• Traditional archaeology focused on discovering
  grand sites
• Some archaeologistsgoing local tolook at
  daily life

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Archaeological Anthropology

• Not always glamorous!

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Archaeological Anthropology

• Not always glamorous!

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Archaeological Anthropology

• Must infer cultural patterns from artifacts and
  ruins
• Non-native materials indicate trade
• Buildings give clues about the living conditions

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Mt. Vernon Distillery Dig
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Mt. Vernon Distillery Dig
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Mt. Vernon Distillery Dig
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Biological Anthropology

• Seek to understand human adaptation, variation,
  and change
• Primatology

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Biological Anthropology

• Seek to understand human adaptation, variation,
  and change
• Primatology
• Forensics

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Biological Anthropology

• Seek to understand human adaptation, variation,
  and change
• Primatology
• Forensics
• Genetics

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Biological Anthropology

• Seek to understand human adaptation, variation,
  and change
• Primatology
• Forensics
• Genetics
• Sociobiology

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Linguistic Anthropology

• Initially documented unwritten, disappearing
  languages
• Now those languages have been recorded or
  lostvery few left

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Linguistic Anthropology

• Language is constantly changing
• Now broadens view to many types of communication

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Applied Anthropology

• Using anthropological knowledge to solve
  practical problems
• Forensic anthropology
• Linguists
• Globalization
• Garbology