ANTH 101-03
Summer 2015
Outline E&E Ch.1
E&E Ch. 1
I. What is Anthropology?
A. A discipline of infinite curiosity about human beings
1. Term comes from Greek “anthropos” for “man, human” and “logos” for study
2. Anthropologist: a person with an extensive knowledge of anthropology who uses this knowledge in their work, typically to solve problems specific to humanity.
a) They study when, where, and why humans appeared on earth
b) How and why they changed since then
c) Why modern populations vary in biological and cultural features
B. Scope of Anthropology
1. Not limited to people close at hand or limited area; concerned with all varieties of people throughout the world
2. Skeptical of any generalization that does not apply widely
C. Holistic Approach
1. Multifaceted approach to the study of human beings
2. Understand the connections between different aspects of physical and social life
3. Identify patterns or regularities and explain them
D. Anthropological Curiosity: how and why populations and their characteristics have varied around the globe and throughout the ages is what distinguishes anthropology from other disciplines
II. Fields of Anthropology
A. Biological (Physical) Anthropology
1. Human Paleontology: studies the emergence of humans and their later physical evolution
a) Paleontologist studied fossils to trace our evolution
2. Human Variation: studies how and why contemporary human populations vary biologically
a) Studies homo sapiens as one species and the difference in biological and physical characteristics
B. Cultural Anthropology
1. Deals with aspects of human culture and the customary ways of thinking and behaving of particular societies
a) Archeology: seeks to reconstruct the daily life and customs of people who lived in the past and to trace and explain cultural changes