Lecture 2, Intro to Anthropology

7/17/2019 Lecture 2, Intro to Anthropology

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2008The McGraw-Hill Companie

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What Is Anthropology?


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Overview

How we originated. How we have changed.

How we are changing still.

Anthropology confronts basic !estions

of h!"an e#istence and s!rvival.


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Anthropology is holistic

%ast& present& and f!t!re 'iology

(ociety

)ang!age *!lt!re

Interested in the whole of the h!"an

condition


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,o!r s!bfields

Cultural anthropology e#a"ines

c!lt!ral diversity of the present and

recent past.

Archaeology reconstr!cts behavior

by st!dying "aterial re"ains


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Biological anthropology st!dy of

h!"an fossils& genetics& and bodily

growth and nonh!"an pri"ates

,o!r s!bfields

Linguistic anthropology considers

how speech varies with social factors

and over ti"e and space


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H!"an Adaptability

Culture traditions& c!sto"s and

innovationsthat govern behavior andbeliefs

/istinctly h!"an

0rans"itted thro!gh learning

Society organied life in gro!ps


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Adaptation& 3ariation& and *hange

Adaptation process by which

organis"s cope with environ"ental

forces and stresses H!"ans adapt !sing biological and

c!lt!ral "eans



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,oraging sole basis of h!"an s!bsistencefor "illions of years

Only too5 few tho!sand years for food

prod!ction c!ltivation of plants anddo"estication 6stoc5breeding7 of ani"als

Adaptation& 3ariation& and *hange

8ate of change accelerated d!ring the

past 19&999 years



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;ore recently& spread of ind!strialprod!ction profo!ndly affected h!"an life

0oday



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0able 1.1 ,or"s of *!lt!ral and 'iological

Adaptation 6to High Altit!de7



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=eneral Anthropology

(ocioc!lt!ral 6c!lt!ral anthropology7Archaeological

'iological

)ing!istic

Acade"ic discipline of anthropology

incl!des>



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,o!rfield Approach

/eveloped in @.(.

arly A"erican anthropologists st!dying

native peoples of Borth A"erica co"binedst!dies of c!sto"s& social life& lang!age&

and physical traits



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=eneral Anthropology

(o!nd concl!sions abo!t Ch!"an

nat!reD cannot be derived fro" st!dying

a single nation& society& or c!lt!ral

tradition



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*!lt!ral ,orces (hapeH!"an 'iology

*!lt!re 5ey environ"ental force indeter"ining how h!"an bodies grow

and develop *!lt!ral standards of attractiveness and

propriety infl!ence participation andachieve"ent in sports

Biocultural incl!sion and co"bination 6to solve a co""on proble"7 of

biological and c!lt!ral perspectives and approaches



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*!lt!ral Anthropology

Ethnography ,ieldwor5 in a partic!lar

c!lt!reE provides acco!nt of that

co""!nity& society& or c!lt!re

Ethnology cross c!lt!ral co"parisonE

the co"parative st!dy of ethnographic

data& of society and of c!lt!re

/escribes& analyes& interprets& and

e#plains social and c!lt!ral si"ilarities

and differences



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0able 1.2 thnography and thnology 0wo/i"ensions of *!lt!ral Anthropology



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Archeological Anthropology

Artifacts 6e.g.& potsherds& Fewelry& and tools7

=arbage

'!rials

8e"ains of str!ct!res

(t!dy of h!"an behavior and c!lt!ral

patterns and process thro!gh "aterial

re"ains



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Archaeological record provides !ni!e

opport!nity to loo5 at changes in social

co"ple#ity over ti"e

Archaeologists !se paleoecological

st!dies to establish ecological and

s!bsistence para"eters within whichgiven gro!ps lived



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Historical archaeology co"binesarchaeological data and te#t!al data to

reconstr!ct historically 5nown gro!ps

8athFe



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'iological Anthropology

(t!dy of h!"an biological variation in

ti"e and space

Incl!des evol!tion& genetics& growth anddevelop"ent& and pri"atology

/raws on biology& oology& geology&

anato"y& physiology& "edicine& p!blichealth& osteology& and archaeology



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'iological Anthropology

(pecial interests>

Paleoanthropology h!"an evol!tion as

revealed by the fossil record H!"an genetics

H!"an growth and develop"ent

Human biologicalplasticity 'ody



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Historical linguists reconstr!ct ancientlang!ages and st!dy ling!istic variation

thro!gh ti"e

Sociolinguistics investigates

relationships between social and ling!isticvariation Ganthropological linguistics>to

discover varied perceptions and patterns of

tho!ght and practicein different c!lt!res

)ing!istic Anthropology

(t!dy of lang!age in its social andc!lt!ral conte#t across space and ti"e



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Anthropology andOther Acade"ic ,ields

(yste"atic field of st!dy or body of

5nowledge that ai"s& thro!gh e#peri"ent&observation& and ded!ction& to prod!ce

reliable e#planations of pheno"ena with

reference to the "aterial and physical

world

Anthropology is a science


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Anthropology and

Other Acade"ic ,ields

nco"passes st!dy of and crossc!lt!ral

co"parison of lang!ages& te#ts&philosophies& arts& "!sic& perfor"ances&

and other for"s of creative e#pression

,or" of 5nowledge is often

inters!bFective

Anthropology is an art


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Anthropology and OtherAcade"ic ,ields

(hare an interest in social relations&

organiation& and behavior

Originally& sociologists foc!sed on

ind!strial West

Anthropology and %sychology

;alinows5i contended that c!lt!ral conte#t

"olds individ!al psychology

*!lt!ral Anthropology and (ociology

2


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(cience& #planation&and Hypothesis 0esting

#plains how and why the thing to be

!nderstood 6the e#plicand!"7 is related to

other things in so"e 5nown way

Associations observed relationships

between two or "ore "eas!red variables

(cientists strive to i"prove !nderstanding

by testing hypotheses that s!ggest

e#planations of things and events

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#planatory fra"ewor5& containing a series

of state"ents& that helps !s !nderstandwhy 6so"ething e#ists or happens in a

partic!lar way7

0heories s!ggest patterns& connections&

and relationships that "ay be confir"ed bynew research

A theoryis "ore general

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0heories cannot be provedE we eval!ate

the" thro!gh the "ethod of falsification

0heories that are not disproved areaccepted beca!se the available evidence

see"s to s!pport the"

Associations !s!ally state probabilistically

with two or "ore variables that tend to be

related in a predictable way& b!t there are

e#ceptions

Lecture 2, Intro to Anthropology

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