What is Anthropology?
•Anthropology is the broad study of humankind
around the world and throughout time.
•It is concerned with both the biological and the
cultural aspects of humans.
There are four main subdivisions
(areas) in the study of
Anthropology:
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Physical Anthropology
Archeology
Cultural Anthropology
Linguistic Anthropology
Physical Anthropology:
• Theory of Evolution
• Origin of Humans
• Primatology
• Evolutionary Timeline
• Genetic Inheritance
• Physical Adaptations
• Anthropologists:
– Darwin
– Leakey's
Cultural Anthropology:
• Definition and Aspects of
Culture
• Race as a Social
Construct
• Race and Adaptation
• Participation/Observation
• Anthropologists:
– Jane Goodall
– Franz Boas
– Margaret Mead
Physical Anthropology:
• How the human species has changed physically over time
(hundreds of millions of years) – called Biological
evolution
• Study of Primatology – primates (apes, chimps as
ancestors of humans)
• Why we have certain physical characteristics from our
ancestors (i.e. skin colour…) - called Genetic
inheritance
• Evolution refers to change or transformation over time how have humans changed and adapted over time –
called Adaptation
• Fossil record of human evolution
Archaeology:
• Prehistory and early
history of cultures around
the world
• Major trends in cultural
evolution
• Techniques for finding, excavating, dating,
and analyzing material remains of past
societies – used to help prove theories, i.e.
evolution, artifacts…
– Archaeological Field Methods:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m9wq_mtY4
Q
Cultural Anthropology:
• Culture and traditions of a
group of people
• Ethnocentrism –
– comparing other cultures to your own,
believing that one’s own culture is superior to
others
– based on lack of knowledge and
understanding
– leads to stereotypes, prejudice and
discrimination
Linguistic Anthropology:
• The human communication process
• Verbal and nonverbal communication
• The structure, function, and history of
languages
Linguistic Anthropology
Linguistics studies:
• The human communication process
• Verbal and nonverbal communication
• The structure, function, and history of
languages
Linguistic Anthropology:
Communication
• Communication allows us to express
feelings, describe tasks, argue or discuss a
position or ideas
• Communication was an essential skill for
our ancestors
–Co-operation during the hunt
–Warning of potential danger
Skills and Methods used by
Anthropologists
• Participation-observation
• Collection of statistics
• Field interviews
• Rigorous compilation of detailed notes
• Fieldwork on anthropologists is know as
“ethnography”: the scientific study of
human races and cultures
Examples of Famous
Anthropologists
Louis, Mary Leaky
Jane Goodall
Franz Boaz
Margaret Mead
Louis and Mary Leakey
• Credited with discovering
physical evidence to
support the evolutionary
timeline
• Much of their discoveries
were throughout Africa
• Short Biography:
http://www.leakey.com/origins
Jane Goodall
Born: 3 April 1934, Birthplace: London, England, Died: n/a
• Worked directly with the Leaky
family
• Her specialty was living with and
understanding the language and
behaviour of chimps
• Her famous work is an example of
the participation/observation
method
• View the short interview with Jane
Goodall:
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k
5Q6-hh49mU
– Documentary: Wild Chimpanzees
Franz Boas
Born: 9-Jul-1858, Birthplace: Minden, Germany, Died: 22-Dec-1942
• Studied and widely collected
information on race, linguistics,
art, dance, and archaeology.
• From these studies he developed
his theory of relativism,
debunking the prevailing beliefs
that Western Civilization is
superior to less complex
societies.
• Short Biography:
– http://www.biography.com/people
/franz-boas-9216786
Cultural Relativism
• Cultural relativism is the view that all beliefs, customs, and
ethics are relative to the individual within his own social
context.
– In other words, “right” and “wrong” are culture-specific; what is
considered moral in one society may be considered immoral in
another, and, since no universal standard of morality exists, no one
has the right to judge another society’s customs.
• Cultural relativism is widely accepted in modern anthropology.
• Cultural relativists believe that all cultures are worthy in their
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own right and are of equal value.
Diversity of cultures, even those with conflicting moral beliefs,
is not to be considered in terms of right and wrong or good
and bad.
Today’s anthropologist considers all cultures to be equally
legitimate expressions of human existence, to be studied from
a purely neutral perspective.
Margaret Mead
Born: December 16, 1901 , Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Died:
November 15, 1978
• Proposed that culture and gender roles
play just as strong a role as biology in
influencing adolescent behavior—
• Short Biography:
– http://www.biography.com/people/margar
et-mead-9404056
• Much of her research was completed via
participation/observation in Samoa and
New Guinea
– published Coming of Age in Samoa
• presented the idea that the individual experience
of developmental stages could be shaped by
cultural demands and expectations
– published Growing Up in New Guinea
• she demonstrated that gender roles differed from
one society to another, depending at least as
much on culture as on biology