Anthropology, “the science of humanity,” which studies human beings in

aspects ranging from the biology and evolutionary history of Homo sapiens to

the features of society and culture that decisively distinguish humans from
other animal species. Because of the diverse subject matter it encompasses,
anthropology has become, especially since the middle of the 20th century, a
collection of more specialized fields. Physical anthropology is the branch that
concentrates on the biology and evolution of humanity. It is discussed in
greater detail in the article human evolution. The branches that study the
social and cultural constructions of human groups are variously recognized as
belonging to cultural anthropology (or ethnology), social anthropology,
linguistic anthropology, and psychological anthropology (see below).
Archaeology (see below), as the method of investigation of
prehistoric cultures, has been an integral part of anthropology since it became
a self-conscious discipline in the latter half of the 19th century. (For a longer
treatment of the history of archaeology, see archaeology.)
Culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people,
encompassing language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. "Culture
encompasses religion, food, what we wear, how we wear it, our language, marriage,
music, what we believe is right or wrong, how we sit at the table, how we greet visitors,
how we behave with loved ones, and a million other things," Cristina De Rossi, an
anthropologist at Barnet and Southgate College in London, told Live Science.
The word "culture" derives from a French term, which in turn derives from the Latin
"colere," which means to tend to the earth and grow, or cultivation and nurture. "It
shares its etymology with a number of other words related to actively fostering growth,"
De Rossi said.

Culture is a term that refers to a large and diverse set of mostly intangible aspects
of social life. According to sociologists, culture consists of the values, beliefs,
systems of language, communication, and practices that people share in common
and that can be used to define them as a collective. Culture also includes the
material objects that are common to that group or society. Culture is distinct
from social structure and economic aspects of society, but it is connected to them
— both continuously informing them and being informed by them.

Acculturation, the processes of change in artifacts, customs, and beliefs that

result from the contact of two or more cultures. The term is also used to refer
to the results of such changes. Two major types of acculturation, incorporation
and directed change, may be distinguished on the basis of the conditions
under which cultural contact and change take place.
Incorporation refers to the free borrowing and modification of cultural elements
and occurs when people of different cultures maintain contact as well as
political and social self-determination. It may involve syncretism, a process
through which people create a new synthesis of phenomena that differs from
either original culture; adoption, in which an entirely new phenomenon is
added to a cultural repertoire; and adaptation, in which a new material or
technology is applied to an extant phenomenon. Religious beliefs are often
incorporated in a syncretic manner, as with synthesis of indigenous and
Roman Catholic beliefs in much of Mexico. Technology is often subject to
adoption, as with the rapid diffusion of new metalworking techniques and
weapon types that marked the transition from the Stone Age to the Bronze
Age, and later to the Iron Age in Asia, Africa, and Europe. Ornamentation is
often subject to adaptation, as when Native American groups replaced heavy
stone pendants with metal ornaments in the period between Columbian
contact and military conquest; such ornaments are readily visible in historical
portraits of important indigenous personages. Because incorporation is a
product of free choice, the changes it engenders are often retained over the
long term.

Acculturation is one of several forms of culture contact, and

has a couple of closely related terms,
including assimilation and amalgamation. Although all three
of these words refer to changes due to contact between
different cultures, there are notable differences between
them. Acculturation is often tied to political conquest or
expansion, and is applied to the process of change in beliefs
or traditional practices that occurs when the cultural system
of one group displaces that of another. Assimilation refers
to the process through which individuals and groups of
differing heritages acquire the basic habits, attitudes, and
mode of life of an embracing culture. Amalgamation refers
to a blending of cultures, rather than one group eliminating
another (acculturation) or one group mixing itself into
another (assimilation).
Ethnography, descriptive study of a particular human society or the process
of making such a study. Contemporary ethnography is based almost entirely
on fieldwork and requires the complete immersion of the anthropologist in
the culture and everyday life of the people who are the subject of his study.

"Ethnography is the recording and analysis of a culture or society,

usually based on participant-observation and resulting in a written
account of a people, place or institution".

"Ethnography is the recording and analysis of a culture or society,

usually based on participant-observation and resulting in a written
account of a people, place or institution".

Ethnology is a branch of cultural

anthropology  dealing chiefly with the comparative and
analytical study of cultures. A science that deals with the
division of human beings into races and their origin,
distribution, relations, and characteristics

Ethnology is the comparative study of two or more cultures. Ethnology utilizes the data
taken from ethnographic research and applies it to a single cross cultural topic. The
ethnographic approach can be used to identify and attempt to explain cross cultural
variation in cultural elements such as marriage, religion, subsistence practices, political
organization, and parenting, just to name a few. Ethnology often compares and
contrasts various cultures. Anthropologists who focus on one culture are often called
ethnographers while those who focus on several cultures are often called ethnologists.
The term ethnology is credited to Adam Franz Kollár who used and defined it in his
Historiae ivrisqve pvblici Regni Vngariae amoenitates published in Vienna in 1783.

Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into
three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in
context. The earliest known activities in descriptive linguistics have been attributed to Pāṇini
around 500 BCE, with his analysis of Sanskrit in Ashtadhyayi. One subfield of linguistics is
the study of language structure, or grammar. This focuses on the system of rules followed
by the users of a language. It includes the study of morphology, syntax, and phonology.
Phonetics is a related branch of linguistics concerned with the actual properties of speech
sounds and nonspeech sounds, and how they are produced and perceived. The study of
language meaning is concerned with how languages employ logical structures and real-
world references to convey, process, and assign meaning, as well as to manage and
resolve ambiguity. This category includes the study of semantics and pragmatics.

Archaeology is the scientific study of past cultures through analysis of physical

remains. Essentially, physical remains are bones of early people as well as their
manufactured tools, goods (artifacts), and the foundations of settlements.
Archaeologists search for and analyze these remains in order to understand
something about the culture of the people that left them. Archaeologists often
work closely with historians and anthropologists.

Archaeology is the study of the societies and peoples of the past by examining the

remains of their buildings, tools, and other objects.

Evolution is a process of gradual change that takes place over many

generations, during which species of animals, plants, or insects slowly
change some of their physical characteristics.
...the evolution of plants and animals.  [+ of]
...the theory of evolution by natural selection.
...human evolution.
Synonyms: rise, development, adaptation, natural selection   More
Synonyms of evolution

Evolution is a process of gradual development in a particular situation or

thing over a period of time.
...a crucial period in the evolution of modern physics.  [+ of]
...an accurate account of his country's evolution.
His long life comprised a series of evolutions.

Genetic relating to the biological process by which

the characteristics of living things are passed from parents to children
Genetics is a branch of biology concerned with the study of genes, genetic variation,
and heredity in organisms

Race which refers to a category of people who share certain inherited physical
characteristics, such as skin color, facial features, and stature. A key question about

race is whether it is more of a biological category or a social category. Most people

think of race in biological terms, and for more than three hundred years, or ever since
white Europeans began colonizing nations filled with people of color, people have been

identified as belonging to one race or another based on certain biological features.

race is a grouping of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into categories generally
viewed as distinct by society.[1] The term was first used to refer to speakers of a
common language and then to denote national affiliations. By the 17th century the term began to
refer to physical (phenotypical) traits. Modern scholarship regards race as a social construct,
an identity which is assigned based on rules made by society. While partially based on physical
similarities within groups, race does not have an inherent physical or biological meaning.

change
verb (used with object), changed, chang·ing.
to make the form, nature, content, future course, etc., of (something) different from
what it is or from what it would be if left alone: to change one's name;to change one's
opinion;to change the course of history.

to transform or convert (usually followed by into):The witch changed the prince into a
toad.

SEE MORE

verb (used without object), changed, chang·ing.

to become different:Overnight the nation's mood changed.

to become altered or modified:Colors change if they are exposed to the sun.

SEE MORE

noun
the act or fact of changing; fact of being changed: They are pleased by the change in their
son's behavior.

a transformation or modification; alteration: They noticed the change in his facial

expression.