Introduction to Anthropology

Anth. 2011

Mellese Madda Gatisso(PhD), Associate

Professor

Year 2024/25

Chapter I - Introduction

• Anthropology: Asking Questions About Humanity

• explores the complexities of humanity - examines

cultural, social, biological, and archaeological

dimensions

• Regarding culture - How do cultural beliefs,

practices, and values shape individual and group

identities? In what ways do cultures adapt to

changing environments?

• Regarding human evolution - What can the fossil

record tell us about human evolution? How have

biological factors influenced human behavior and

society?

• Regarding the role of language - How does

language shape thought and social interaction? In

what ways do language and culture influence each

other?

• Regarding society and how it organizes itself - What

are the various forms of social organization, such as

kinship, clans, and tribes? How do power dynamics

and social hierarchies manifest in different cultures?

• Regarding the relationship between humans and

the environment - How do people interact with and

adapt to their natural surroundings? What role does

resource management play in cultural

sustainability?

• Regarding rituals and beliefs - What functions do

religious beliefs and rituals serve in different

cultures? How do these practices influence social

cohesion and identity?

• Regarding the impacts of Globalization on local

culture - How do global processes affect local

traditions and identities? In what ways do cultures

resist or adapt to globalization?

• Ways anthropologists study society - What ethical

considerations are involved in anthropological

research? How do methods like participant

observation and ethnography contribute to

understanding diverse cultures?

How Did Anthropology Begin?/History of Anthropology

• trace back to ancient civilizations, but it began to

take shape as a formal discipline in the 19th century

• Ancient Greek philosophers like Herodotus and

Aristotle made early observations about different

cultures, but these were often speculative and not

systematic

• The age of exploration and colonialism in the 15th

to 19th centuries prompted Europeans to encounter

diverse cultures

• Early travelers and missionaries documented their

observations, often from a Eurocentric perspective

• By the 19th century, a more scientific approach

emerged, influenced by the Enlightenment and

Darwinian evolution. Scholars began to classify and

analyze cultures based on their observations

• Edward Burnett Tylor and Lewis Henry Morgan are

considered pioneers of cultural anthropology. Tylor’s

concept of culture and Morgan’s studies of kinship and

social structure laid foundational theories

• Franz Boas, often referred to as the “father of

American anthropology,” emphasized cultural

relativism and the importance of fieldwork,

challenging racial hierarchies and advocating for a

more holistic understanding of cultures

• By the late 19th and early 20th centuries,

anthropology became an academic discipline, with

dedicated departments in universities and

professional organizations forming

• Anthropology diversified into subfields: cultural

anthropology, physical (or biological) anthropology,

archaeology, and linguistic anthropology, each

focusing on different aspects of human experience

• in the 20th century, anthropology continued to

evolve, incorporating new theories and

methodologies, such as structuralism, poststructuralism, and feminist anthropology, reflecting

changing social and political landscapes.

Cosmologies vs. Scientific Views

• Cosmologies refer to the comprehensive theories or

beliefs about the origins, structure, and nature of

the universe. They often encompass spiritual,

religious, and mythological dimensions

• Cosmologies are deeply embedded in cultural

narratives and practices. They can vary significantly

from one culture to another, reflecting local

histories, values, and environmental contexts

• Mythology- Many cosmologies include creation

myths that explain how the world and humanity

came to be.

• Spiritual Beliefs - Cosmologies often integrate

spiritual elements, such as gods, spirits, or

ancestral forces, that influence the natural world.

• Moral Framework - frequently provide ethical

guidelines, explaining the relationship between

humans, nature, and the divine

• Indigenous cosmologies - include land as a living

entity.

• Hindu cosmology - presents cycles of creation and

destruction influenced by gods

Creation

Scientific Views

Scientific views are based on empirical evidence,

observation, and experimentation.

– describe and explain natural phenomena through a

systematic method of inquiry.

– involves formulating hypotheses, conducting experiments,

collecting data, and drawing conclusions that can be

tested and refined over time.

– Scientific views include theories (e.g., the Big Bang

theory) and laws (e.g., the law of gravity) that describe

natural processes.

– Science relies on measurable, observable phenomena

and requires rigorous peer review and reproducibility.

Human Evolution

• Examples:

– The cosmological model that explains the universe's

expansion based on shifting observations.

– The evolutionary theory that explains the diversity of life

through natural selection.

– Both cosmologies and scientific views offer valuable insights into

human existence and the universe.

– They represent different, yet sometimes overlapping, ways of

understanding our world, reflecting the diversity of human thought

and experience.

Five-fields of Anthropology

• Sketching the Subject Matter, Scope and Concerns

of Anthropology

• Physical/Biological Anthropology

• Mechanisms of biological evolution, genetic

inheritance, human a Mechanisms of biological

evolution, genetic inheritance, human adaptability

and variation, primatology, and the fossil record of

human evolution

• Cultural/Social Anthropology

• Culture, ethnocentrism, cultural aspects of language

and communication, subsistence and other

economic patterns, kinship, sex and marriage,

socialization, social control, political organization,

class, et socialization, social control, political

organization, class, ethnicity, gender, religion, and

culture change

• Archaeology

• Prehistory and early history of cultures around the

world; major trends in cultural evolution; and

techniques for finding, excavating, dating cultural

evolution; and techniques for finding, excavating,

dating, and analyzing material remains of past

societies

• Linguistic Anthropology

• The human communication process - on the

importance of socio cultural influences; nonverbal

communication; and the structure, cultural

influences; nonverbal communication; and the

structure, function, and history of languages,

dialects, pidgins, and creoles

Representation of Anthropology

The Subject Matter

❑ breadth and depth of anth. is very vast & broad:

❖humanity as its object of research –that it tries to

grasp through its most diverse manifestations.

➢It touches every aspect of human condition -if there is

r/n b/n ‘Man & Man’ and ‘Man & Environment’.

➢It concerned with both the biological and the

cultural aspects of humanity.

o It seeks to understand human beings as whole organisms

who adapt to their environments through a complex

interaction of biology and culture.

❖ Anthropology is the broad study of human kind around

the world & throughout time.

❖Anthropology is a philosophy with the people in.

➢It raises d/t philosophical questions, which it try’s to

respond to by exploring human lives under d/t conditions.

❖In this regard, it is interested in d/t questions & issues

about humanity such as;

✓Origin -From where did we (human species) come from?

✓Development -How did humankind arrive at the present stage

of biological, intellectual, and cultural development?

✓Way’s of Life –What are the social and cultural lives of a

given group? Why variation in way’s of life is existed?

❑Anth. studies humanity with its all aspects of existence,

and in its all means of differences (diversities) and

similarities (commonalities).

❑ as an academic discipline, anthropology provides two

kinds of insights;

➢it produce & provide knowledge about actual way’s of

life, culture, society & diversity in the world via

conducting empirical studies.

➢ it offers methods & theoretical perspectives, enabling

practitioners to explore, compare and understand the

varied aspect of the human condition

Difference

❑How do Anthropology differ from other disciplines -?

❖By its broad scope, unique approach,

perspective, unit of analysis and methods used.

❖ By its Broad Scope:- it study humankind in its

entirety.
❖By its Approach:- it study culture & society

holistically, comparatively and in a relativistic

manner.

❖Perspective:- it locates people‘s, individual and

communal lived experiences…in terms of how these

dimensions are interconnected & interrelated to one

another -the perspective is fundamentally empirical,

naturalistic & ideographic than nomothetic(

discovering laws).

❖It’s Method of research –undertake extended fieldwork

…& develop intimate knowledge on the life and social

world of communities. And, it use culture as an

organizing concept

Similarity

❖How do anthropology relate to other disciplines and

how it’s different?

❖Similarity:- due to its holistic interest on humanity,

Anthropology share certain similarity with other social

sciences such as sociology, political sciences,

economics, history… -w/h study d/t aspects human

society and peoples ways of lives.

❖Anthropology greatly overlaps with such disciplines that

study human society –in terms of thematic areas

• Anthropology thus, cuts across many disciplines,

encompassing many of the subjects that other

disciplines consider their special province: social

life, political life, economic life, religion, art, and

so on.

Misconception About Anthropology

❖Anthropology is Limited to the Study of

"Primitive" Societies:

➢Yes & No:- yes, anthropology study so

called “primitive” societies, (especially in

the early 19th c);

➢No, it’s not limited to the study of such

societies; due to its holistic interest on

humanity, it study modern, complex

societies as well

❖Anthropology Study only Rural People and

Rural Areas:

➢Yes & No:- yes, anthropology study rural

people & rural areas, (especially in its

formative years);

➢No, anthropology study not only rural

people/areas; its interest expands to the study

of urban people/areas.

➢As a matter of fact, Urban Anthropology is

emerged, devoted to the study of urban

people/life in complex, heterogeneous cities.

❖ Limited to the Study of Human Evolution via the Analysis of

Fossil Evidences:

➢ interest on the origin of modern human, the discipline study

human biological evolution.

➢But, this doesn’t mean that anthropology is limited to the

study of human evolution.

➢For this particular purpose, Paleoanthropology is emerged

within anthropology to study the biological evolution of

modern human.

➢Anthropology is a uniquely holistic & comparative science,

studies the whole of the human condition: past, present, and

biology, language and culture.

Contributions

• contributes to our understanding of human

societies, cultures, and behaviors

• helps us appreciate cultural diversity and the

complexities of different social practices, beliefs,

and values.

• fosters empathy and reduces ethnocentrism

• provides insights into how humans have adapted to

various environments over time(human evolution and

biological variation)

• can inform policies and practices in various fields,

from public health to education

• helping to preserve endangered languages and

understand communication in multicultural contexts

• to address real-world issues like healthcare access,

economic development, and social justice

• helps us understand contemporary social

transformations - the effects of globalization, migration, and technological

change on cultures