1st Lecture: Introduction to Anthropology
Arrange By: Muhammad Salman Rao (Visiting Faculty Member BZU Multan)
Email: salman.rao15@gmail.com
1st Semester: B S. Public Administration (2021-2025)
1st Semester: B S. Political Science (2021-2025)
What is Anthropology?
Anthropology derived from the two Greek words Anthropos for “human” and logos for “study”
is, if we take it literally, the study of humans. In one sense this is an accurate description to the
extent that anthropology raises a wide variety of questions about the human condition.
History of Anthropology:
Anthropology traces its roots to ancient Greek historical and philosophical writings about
human nature and the organization of human society. During the Middle Ages (5th to 15th
century’s ad) biblical scholars dominated European thinking on questions of human origins and
cultural development.
Many scholars argue that modern anthropology developed during the Age of Enlightenment, a
cultural movement of 18th century Europe that focused on the power of reason to advance
society and knowledge. Enlightenment scholars aimed to understand human behavior and society
as phenomena that followed defined principles.
The global scope of anthropological studies has actually increased over the past century. In the
early 1900s, anthropologists concentrated on the non- Western (1), preliterate (2), and
technologically simple societies of the world and were content to leave the study of industrial
societies to other disciplines.
Founder of Anthropology:
Bernardino de Sahagún is considered to be the founder of modern anthropology. Born in 1499
in Sahagún, Kingdom of Spain. He was missionary priest and pioneering ethnographer.
Father of Anthropology:
Franz Boas is regarded as both the “father of modern anthropology” and the “father of
American anthropology.” He was the first to apply the scientific method to anthropology,
emphasizing a research- first method of generating theories.
Mother of Anthropology:
Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural
anthropologist. Mead was a communicator of anthropology in modern American and Western
culture and was often controversial as an academic. She was student of Franz Boas.
1
Why Anthropology is different?
And yet this literal definition is not particularly illuminating because a number of other academic
disciplines including sociology, biology, psychology, political science, economics, and history
also study human beings. What is it that distinguishes anthropology from all of these other
disciplines? Anthropology is the study of people their origins, their development, and
contemporary variations, wherever and whenever they have been found. Of all the
disciplines that study humans, anthropology is by far the broadest in scope. The subject
matter of anthropology includes fossilized skeletal remains of early humans, artifacts and
other material remains from prehistoric and historic archaeological sites, and all of the
contemporary and historical cultures of the world. The task that anthropology has set for itself is
an enormous one. Anthropologists strive for an understanding of the biological and cultural
origins and evolutionary development of the species. They are concerned with all humans,
both past and present, as well as their behavior patterns, thought systems, and material
possessions. In short, anthropology aims to describe, in the broadest sense, what it means to be
human.
How Anthropology is Similar with other subjects?
To illustrate, anthropological investigations of native art, folklore, values, and supernatural
belief systems are primarily humanistic in nature; studies of social stratification, comparative
political systems, and means of distribution are common themes in sociology, political science,
and economics, respectively; and studies of comparative anatomy and radiocarbon dating are
central to the natural sciences of biology and chemistry.
Branches of Anthropology:
Anthropologists do in fact travel to different parts of the world to study little-known cultures
(cultural anthropologists) and languages (anthropological linguists), but they also study
culturally distinct groups within their own cultures. Anthropologists also unearth fossil remains
(physical anthropologists) and various artifacts (archaeologists) of people who lived thousands
and, in some cases, millions of years ago. Even though anthropologists in these subspecialties
engage in substantially different types of activities and generate different types of data, they are
all directed toward a single purpose: the scientific study of humans, both biologically and
culturally, in whatever form, time period, or region of the world they might be found.
1: Physical or Biological Anthropology:
The study of humans from a biological perspective is called physical anthropology. Essentially,
physical anthropologists are concerned with two broad areas of investigation. First, they are
interested in reconstructing the evolutionary record of the human species; that is, they ask
questions about the emergence of humans and how humans have evolved up to the present
time. This area of physical anthropology is known as Paleoanthropology.
2
The second area of concern to physical anthropologists is how and why the physical traits of
contemporary human populations vary throughout the world. This area of investigation is
called human variation (race) (3). Unlike comparative biologists, physical anthropologists
study how culture and environment have influenced these two areas of biological evolution
and contemporary variations.
2: Archaeology/ Archaeological Anthropology:
Experts in the field of archaeology study the lifeways of people from the past by excavating and
analyzing the material culture they have left behind. The purpose of archaeology is not to fill up
museums by collecting exotic relics from prehistoric societies. Rather, it is to understand cultural
adaptations of ancient peoples by at least partially reconstructing their cultures. Because
archaeologists concentrate on societies of the past, they are limited to working with material
culture including, in some cases, written records. From these material remains, however,
archaeologists are able to infer many nonmaterial cultural aspects (ideas and behavior patterns)
held by people thousands, and in some cases millions, of years ago.
Artifact: A type of material remain (found by archaeologists) that has been made or
modified by humans, such as tools, arrowheads, and so on.
Features: Archaeological remains that have been made or modified by people and
cannot easily be carried away, such as house foundations, fireplaces, and postholes.
Eco facts: Physical remains—found by archaeologists— that were used by humans but
not made or reworked by them (for example, seeds and bones).
3: Anthropological Linguistics:
The branch of the discipline that studies human speech and language is called anthropological
linguistics. Although humans are not the only species that has systems of symbolic
communication, ours is by far the most complex form. In fact, some would argue that language is
the most distinctive feature of being human, for without language we could not acquire and
transmit our culture from one generation to the next. Linguistic anthropology, which studies
contemporary human languages as well as those of the past, is divided into four distinct
branches: historical linguistics, descriptive linguistics, ethnolinguistic, and sociolinguistics.
Historical linguistics: the branch of anthropological linguistics that studies how
languages emerge and change over time.
Descriptive linguistics: The branch of anthropological linguistics that studies how
languages are structured.
Ethnolinguistic: The branch of anthropological linguistics that studies the relationship
between language and culture.
Sociolinguistics: The branch of anthropological linguistics that studies how language is
used in different social contexts.
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Glottochronology: the historical linguistic technique of determining the approximate
date that two languages diverged by analyzing similarities and differences in their
vocabularies.
4: Cultural or Social Anthropology:
The branch of anthropology that deals with the study of specific contemporary cultures
(ethnography) and the more general underlying patterns of human culture derived through
cultural comparisons (ethnology) is called cultural anthropology. Before cultural anthropologists
can examine cultural differences and similarities throughout the world, they must first describe
the features of specific cultures in as much detail as possible.
Applied Anthropology:
. In recent years each subfield has developed an applied (or more practical) component, which is
directed more toward the solution of societal problems and less toward collecting knowledge
purely for the sake of developing theory.
1: Relating to the part of the world that does not include the countries of Western Europe and
North America. (Page 4, Last line Last Word)
2: Relating to or denoting a society or culture that has not developed the use of writing.
3: The revised standards contain five minimum categories for race: American Indian or Alaska
Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and
White. There are two categories for ethnicity: "Hispanic or Latino" and "Not Hispanic or Latino.
Reference:
Ferraro, G., & Andreatta, S. (2014). Cultural anthropology: An applied perspective. Cengage Learning.
