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[published in The Blackwell Dictionary of Historians ed. John Cannon et al. (Blackwell, 1988)]
Anthropology and History
Alan Maca!lane
"he !oots o #uch o #ode!n anth!opolo$% and histo!% lie in the w!ite!s o the &cottish
'nli$hten#ent. (a#es, Milla!, &#ith, )obe!tson, *u#e and othe!s speculated in a co#pa!ati+e and
histo!ical #anne! about the de+elop#ent o societies in 'u!ope and elsewhe!e. "h!ou$hout the
nineteenth centu!% the!e was #uch c!oss,sti#ulation between disciplines which we!e seen as ha+in$
the sa#e ai#s and #ethods, as in the wo!k o &i! *en!% Maine. -t was onl% with the !e.ection o
e+olutiona!% and diusionist !a#ewo!ks in anth!opolo$% and a $!owin$ p!e,occupation with
intensi+e ieldwo!k that the discipline o anth!opolo$% withd!ew !o# the association. /Con.ectu!al/
histo!% was !e.ected and the past la!$el% i$no!ed in the unctionalist e!a pionee!ed b% Malinowski
and )adclie,B!own. "his lasted !o# about 1910 to 1910. 2u!in$ the sa#e pe!iod #an% histo!ians
showed a $!owin$ abso!ption in docu#enta!% anal%sis and a concent!ation on the uppe!, lite!ate,
classes and on political and constitutional histo!%. "his u!the! widened the $ap between the
disciplines. -t was belie+ed that anth!opolo$% was a science, seekin$ $ene!al laws, histo!% an a!t
conce!ned with the pa!ticula!. "he accepted o!# o e3planation in anth!opolo$% was in te!#s o
conte3t o! unction, in histo!% it was in te!#s o antecedent e+ents.
4!o# about 1910 onwa!ds, i!st he!alded in i#po!tant a!ticles b% the anth!opolo$ist '.'.
'+ans,5!itcha!d and the histo!ian (eith "ho#as, the unit% and o+e!lappin$ natu!e o the disciplines
has been st!essed. A t!adition which had ne+e! died out in 4!ance, with the wo!k o Bloch, 6eeb+!e
and the /Annales/ school, was !easse!ted. -t beca#e appa!ent that the ai#s o the two disciplines
o+e!lapped, na#el% the unde!standin$ o #an in societ%, and the #ethods we!e co#ple#enta!%
!athe! than opposed. *isto!ians we!e inc!easin$l% !ead% to lea!n !o# the insi$hts p!o+ided b% a
classic pe!iod o anth!opolo$ical stud%.
&ocial anth!opolo$% is based on the intensi+e stud% o s#all co##unities. "his has !e,eno!ced
the pionee!in$ wo!ks o local histo!% and #ade the pe!iod between 1910 and 1980 a $olden a$e o
histo!ical co##unit% studies in 'n$land, 4!ance, A#e!ica and elsewhe!e. Co#bined with the
post,wa! a!chi+al !e+olution which $a+e histo!ians a a! wide! !an$e o sou!ces, it was now possible
to atte#pt /total7 !econst!uctions o past co##unities o+e! lon$ pe!iods. "his i##e!sion in the
#ultiple social !elationships which link indi+iduals d!ew consciousl% on the wo!k o
anth!opolo$ists.
Anth!opolo$% helped to p!o+ide insi$hts into eatu!es o the past which we!e so st!an$e that
#ode!n histo!ians had ound the# diicult to co#p!ehend o! e3a#ine. Co#ple3 !ituals, blood,eud,
t!ance and ecstas%, #illena!ianis#, oath,takin$, the 2i+ine )i$ht o (in$s, and pa!ticula!l% #a$ical
and witchc!at belies beca#e le$iti#ate and !uitul topics o! stud%. -n the last o these, o!
instance, #odels !o# A!ican witchc!at p!o+ided a sti#ulus o! #an% i#po!tant wo!ks on 'n$lish,
4!ench, &panish, 8o!th A#e!ican and 9e!#an witchc!at. A$ain, a newl% sti#ulated inte!est was
co#bined with the openin$ up o the i##ensel% !ich a!chi+es o the .udicial autho!ities, and in
pa!ticula! the !eco!ds o the Catholic -n:uisition.
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Anth!opolo$ical wo!ks also had the eect o distancin$ the a#ilia!, #akin$ histo!ians awa!e that
#uch o what the% had !e$a!ded as no!#al in the past !eall% !e:ui!ed in+esti$ation because it was,
c!oss,co#pa!ati+el%, unusual. A pa!ticula!l% st!ikin$ e3a#ple o this was in the ield o a#il%
!elationships. Much o anth!opolo$% is conce!ned with kinship and #a!!ia$e. "hese wo!ks helped to
sti#ulate #an% o the studies o se3ualit%, #a!!ia$e, childhood, pa!ental ties, do#estic $!oups,
wo#en, lo+e, incest and othe! topics. "he anth!opolo$ical inspi!ation .oined up with inte!ests !o#
histo!ical de#o$!aph% and wo#en/s studies, and the!eb% opened up the whole ield o inte!pe!sonal
!elationships and senti#ent.
*isto!ical !esea!ch into #an% othe! topics was sti#ulated b% anth!opolo$ical en:ui!ies; conlict,
ce!e#on%, wo!k discipline, ti#e, space, #%ths, olklo!e, st%le and ashion, o!al and lite!ate cultu!e,
bi!th, death, d!ea#s, suicide, ani#als, and #an% othe! sub.ects we!e in+esti$ated. "he o!#al
histo!ical docu#ents usuall% conceal such topics, so that it was la!$el% unde! the p!essu!e o
anth!opolo$% that a +i$o!ous de+elop#ent o the stud% o past #entalit% and e#otional st!uctu!es
took place, e3e#pliied in the wo!k o histo!ians such as '. *obsbaw#, '. 6e )o% 6adu!ie, '.5.
"ho#pson and (eith "ho#as.
Anth!opolo$% is an e3plicitl% co#pa!ati+e discipline and this has o!ced histo!ians to look at thei!
pa!ticula! studies in a wide! conte3t, notin$ the die!ences between eatu!es o 'u!opean and
A#e!ican societ% on the one hand and Asia and A!ica on the othe!. -t has helped to p!e+ent the eas%
assu#ption that like causes will lead to like eects. -t has beco#e possible to a+oid so#e o the
dan$e!s o ethno and te#pe!o,cent!ic +iews that #akes an anal%st .ud$e the past b% the p!esent
standa!ds o his o! he! own societ%. &ocial anth!opolo$% has #ade ce!tain eatu!es o the past +isible
o! the i!st ti#e and p!o+ided a lo$ic in what was othe!wise inco#p!ehensible.
As in an% othe! #a!!ia$e, the!e a!e dan$e!s to be a+oided. &o#e o the analo$ies d!awn between
the weste!n past and "hi!d <o!ld societies a!e too $lib, the!e is a dan$e! o o+e!,st!essin$ (e.$.
taboos, case, peasants) which ha+e been ound elsewhe!e and which a!e the!eo!e p!esu#ed to ha+e
e3isted in the past. "he!e is a tendenc% o! all societies to be lu#ped to$ethe!, and hence to assu#e
that, as Maine belie+ed, we can ine! that the cu!!ent state o aai!s in -ndia o! China will tell us
so#ethin$ about ea!l% 'u!opean histo!%. "he!e is also the dan$e! that ha+in$ disco+e!ed so#ethin$
to be c!oss,co#pa!ati+el% +e!% unusual, o! e3a#ple the /!o#antic lo+e co#ple3/ o! /capitalis#/, that
we a!e then led to belie+e that it #ust be a !ecent p!oduct o those !e+olutiona!% e+ents, the
indust!ial and u!ban de+elop#ents o the ei$hteenth and nineteenth centu!ies, which sepa!ate o the
<est.
=et on the whole the !enewed association o the two disciplines has been #utuall% en!ichin$. Both
seek to inte!p!et the basic patte!ns in societies, to cont!ast and co#pa!e in o!de! to sepa!ate the
uni+e!sal !o# the pa!ticula!, to e3plain both the sin$le e+ent and the b!oad institution. Both a!e
inte!ested in continuit% and in chan$e, in how thin$s ca#e to be as the% a!e and wh% the% pe!sist.
Anth!opolo$% st!esses the inte!dependence o sphe!es, the o+e!lap o econo#ics, politics, !eli$ion
and kinship, which ha+e supe!iciall% been sepa!ated in the #ode!n indust!ial wo!ld. -t p!oposes
pa!ado3ical and in$enious causes o! un:uestioned institutions. -t st!esses the i#po!tance o conte3t
and the diicult% o asc!ibin$ #eanin$. -t is pa!ticula!l% conce!ned with the s%#bolic, !itual and
conceptual, while bein$ e:uall% inte!ested in the #ate!ial wo!ld and ecolo$%. -n the hands o a
pa!ticula!l% b!illiant $!oup o indi+iduals, anth!opolo$% has anal%sed the wo!kin$s o th!ee o the
ou! #a.o! o!#s o hu#an ci+ili>ation, na#el% hunte!s and $athe!e!s, t!ibal and peasant societies.
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4o! the unde!standin$ o a past which #a% ha+e eatu!es o these t%pes o social o!$ani>ation,
anth!opolo$% has p!o+ed an i!!eplaceable $uide. As a #i!!o! in which we can now look #o!e
dispassionatel% at the histo!% o ad+anced indust!ial societies it has e:ual p!o#ise. 4inall%, in its
anal%sis o #%th, le$end and histo!%, and thei! o+e!lap, it su$$ests that histo!% and histo!ians need to
be constantl% awa!e o the wa%s in which thei! own insi$hts a!e le$iti#ations which a!e subtl%
aected b% political, econo#ic and social wo!lds which the% inhabit. "he anth!opolo$% o histo!ical
!esea!ch has still to be w!itten, but it would be a !uitul a!ea o stud%. "he!e can be little doubt that
o all the disciplines which lie ad.acent to histo!%, anth!opolo$% has had the #ost #a!ked inluence
in the pe!iod between 1910 and 198?.
)eadin$
9aunt, 2a+id 198@ /Me#oi! on *isto!% and Anth!opolo$%/, Council o! )esea!ch in *u#anities in
&ocial &ciences, &wedish )esea!ch Councils.
6ewis, -.M.A )otbe!$, ). ('ds) 198@ "he 8ew *isto!%, "he 1980/s and Be%ond (5!inceton
Bni+e!sit% 5!ess), 'ssa%s b% Ada#s, Cohn, 2a+is
"ho#as, (eith 191C /*isto!% and Anth!opolo$%/, 5ast and 5!esent @D