the social behavioral sciences grew out of inquiries about the nature of humanity which date back to Greek and Roman times.
the idea that human society was an appropriate scientific area of study began to develop in the seventeenth century in Europe
the Age of Enlightenment meant that intellectuals were free, within limits, to talk and think about what was good and evil in their societies and others.
one of the most influential ideas of the era was the concept of the “noble savage.”
anthropology began to develop a distinct character as a discipline in its own right in the early nineteenth century.
because colonialists often kept detailed diaries and wrote long letters, they became the earliest ethnographers