Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Intro
to
Anthropology
1.
Anthropology
is
literally
the
study
of
human
beings.
Differs
from
other
disciplines
concerned
with
people
in
that
it
is
broader
in
scope
Concerned
with
humans
in
all
places
of
the
world
Traces
human
evolution
and
cultural
development
from
millions
of
years
ago
to
the
present
day.
2.
Another
distinguishing
feature
of
anthropology
is
its
holistic
approach
to
the
study
of
human
beings.
Studies
all
varieties
of
people
Includes
all
aspects
of
those
peoples
experiences.
3.
Anthropologists
are
concerned
with
identifying
and
explaining
typical
characteristics
(traits,
customs)
of
particular
human
populations.
4.
Biological
or
physical
Anthropology
is
one
of
the
major
fields
of
Anthropology.
Studies
the
emergence
of
humans
and
their
later
physical
evolution
(this
focus
is
called
human
paleontology).
Studies
how
and
why
contemporary
human
populations
vary
biologically
(this
focus
is
called
human
variation).
5.
Cultural
Anthropology
is
another
broad
area
of
concern
to
Anthropology
it
has
3
sub-fields:
Archaeology
Anthropological
Linguistics
Ethnology
(also
referred
to
as
cultural
anthropology)
-all
deal
with
aspects
of
human
culture,
that
is,
with
the
customary
ways
of
thinking
and
behaving
of
particular
societies.
6.
Archaeologists
Reconstruct
the
daily
life
and
customs
of
pre-historic
peoples
Trace
cultural
changes
and
offer
possible
explanations
for
those
changes
Try
to
reconstruct
history
from
the
remains
of
human
cultures.
7.
Anthropological
Linguists
Are
concerned
with
the
emergence
of
language
and
with
the
divergence
of
languages
over
time
(also
known
as
historical
linguistics).
Also
study
how
contemporary
language
differ
both
in
construction
(descriptive
or
structural
linguistics)
and
in
actual
speech
(sociolinguistics).
8.
The
ethnologist
(now
often
called
simply
a
cultural
anthropologist)
Seeks
to
understand
how
and
why
peoples
of
today
and
the
recent
past
differ
in
their
customary
ways
of
thinking
and
acting.