Chapter 1: Thinking and Doing Anthropology
Foundations of Anthropology
Anthropology: Defined as the study of humankind in all times and places. The term is derived from the Greek words "Anthropos," meaning man, and "logy," meaning study.
Holistic Perspective: A comprehensive view in which various parts of human culture and biology must be viewed in the broadest possible context. This approach is essential for understanding the interconnections and interdependence of these different parts.
Ethnocentrism: The belief that the practices and ways of one’s own culture are the only proper or correct ones.
Culture Bound: Refers to theories about the world and reality that are based on the specific assumptions and values inherent to one’s own culture.
Physical and Biological Anthropology
Physical Anthropology: Also referred to as biological anthropology, this is the systematic study of humans as biological organisms. It primarily focuses on evolution, primatology, adaptation, and forensics.
Molecular Anthropology: A specialized field dedicated to the study of genes and genetic relationships.
Paleoanthropology: The study of the origins and predecessors of the present human species. This field frequently utilizes a biocultural approach.
Biocultural Approach: An approach that focuses specifically on the interaction between biology and culture.
Developmental Adaptations: Long-term biological body adaptations to the environment. An example includes the enlarged right ventricle of the heart found among the Quechua Indians of highland Peru.
Physical Adaptations: Short-term biological changes that occur in response to particular stimuli.
Forensic Anthropology: The identification of human skeletal remains for legal purposes. This subfield involves determining the age, sex, stature, and race of the remains.
Primatology: The study of living and fossil primates, including the study of ape behavior and skeletal comparisons between humans and other primates.
Cultural Anthropology and Archaeology
Cultural Anthropology: The study of customary patterns in human behavior, thought, and feelings.
Culture: A society’s shared and socially transmitted ideas, values, and perceptions. It is used by members to make sense of their experience and to generate behavior.
Ethnography: A detailed description of a particular culture, which is primarily based on fieldwork.
Participant Observation: A primary research technique for learning a people’s culture through social participation and personal observation within a community over an extended period.
Ethnology: The study and analysis of different cultures from a comparative or historical viewpoint to explain cultural similarities and differences.
Archaeology: The study of human cultures through the recovery and analysis of material remains and environmental data.
Material Culture: The physical remains of culture, which include items such as tools, pottery, shelters, grave goods, and food waste products.
Bio-archaeology: The study of human remains to preserve and understand the cultural and social processes of the skeleton.
Ethnobotany: The study of indigenous plant use among different cultures.
Zooarchaeology: The study of animal remains found at an archaeological site.
The Garbage Project: A study initiated by the Univ. of AZ in that employed archaeological methods to analyze modern waste. The project famously revealed that people consistently underreport their alcohol consumption.
Cultural Resource Management (CRM): A branch of archaeology associated with government agencies. It focuses on the protection of cultural resources that are threatened by construction or development.
Linguistic Anthropology
Linguistic Anthropology: The study of human languages, covering their structure, history, and their relationship to social and cultural contexts.
Discourse: Extended communication regarding a particular subject.
Research Methodologies and Ethics
Applied Anthropology: The practice of utilizing anthropological knowledge and methods to solve practical, real-world problems.
Medical Anthropology: A field that combines aspects of culture and biology with the study of human health and disease. It highlights the connections between health and broader political or economic forces.
Hypothesis: An explanation or educated guess used to guide specific research.
Theory: An explanation of natural phenomena that is supported by a reliable and extensive body of data.
Doctrine: Also known as dogma, this is an assertion of opinion or belief that is formally handed down by an authority as true and indisputable.
Informed Consent: The voluntary permission granted by people within a culture to be interviewed or filmed for research purposes.
Reflexivity: The practice in which anthropologists check their own biases and present self-reflections alongside their objective observations.
Globalization
Globalization: The state of worldwide interconnectedness evidenced by global movements of resources, trade, labor, capital, information, and diseases.