Course

Introduction to anthropology

Submitted to
Sir Aneel waqas
Submitted by
Umair Jameel
Registration no.
CIIT/FA19-BPsy-001/LHR
Section: A
Semester 2
07-07-2020.
Department Of Humanities
COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus.

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 Introduction and scope of anthropology

Anthropology- the systematic study of man which comes from the Greek words:

 Anthroposmeans “man/humankind”.
 logos/logia means knowledge or study of

 the integrated biological and socio-cultural investigation of humankind, from the time of our
Hominid ancestors to the present, and encompassing small to large societies
 the study of the human condition, in all of its forms and splendours
 aims to, among all others:

1. understand the uniqueness and diversity of human behaviour and human societies around the
world;
2. Discover the fundamental similarities that link human beings the world over, both in the past
and in the present.

Fields of anthropology:

 there are four major fields in anthropology:

1. physical anthropology or biological anthropology

2. cultural anthropology
a. archaeology
b. linguistics anthropology
c. ethnology
1. Physical or biological anthropology

 concerned with the evolution of man and how and why human beings vary biologically through
the studies of “fossils", they are hardened remains of an organism

2. Cultural anthropology

 focuses on variations in cultural patterns of various societies

 Studies human behaviour or the way of life in all societies.
 focuses on living (or recently living) cultures
 identifies rules of social behaviour
 studies the ways people identify themselves in their societies and the world
 culture - the customary ways of thinking and behaving of a particular society of
Population

a. archaeology- the study of the material remains, usually from the past, to describe and explain
human Behaviour.

 studies humanity through the remains left behind by people

 provides a unique view across time of culture, language, and physical forms
 explores the lost civilizations & cultures of the past

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  Archaeologists work with tools such as spade or shovel, tape measure, and possibly other
modern equipment as they attempt to reconstruct the cultural forms of the past and to trace
their growth and development in time.

b. linguistic anthropology- the branch of cultural anthropology that studies human languages;

Deals with the study of the relationship between language and culture

 requires highly specialized techniques for recoding, description, and comparison of

languages
 Linguists are also interested in the origins, development, and structure of language and its
relationship to other aspects of culture, including ways in which language spoken by a group
of people is related to their status or social position.

c. ethnology - the study of how and why recent cultures differ and are similar

 The study of cultures of living human populations, usually through ethnographic research.
 Socio-cultural anthropologists often study contemporary societies by observing human
behaviour while living and working in those communities. This is called "participant-
observation".

 ethnography - the systematic description of a culture based on first-hand observation

The scope of anthropology:

 It seeks to explain humanity.

 It does through its observations of all varieties of people throughout the world, not only that close
at hand or within limited areas.
 It is concerned with people of both past and present.
 Further, the discipline seeks to explain the interplay of biology and culture in the personalities of
the various people it studies. j

The holistic approach:

Anthropology uses what is known as the holistic approach in the study of people and their culture.
 It is multifaceted in its approach to the study of humans.
 It studies not only one but a variety of aspects of a particular culture.
 Anthropology, for example, would not simply be interested in physical or biological
characteristics of a group of people but also in the influence of the environment to such
characteristics.

 Like all the other social sciences, anthropology is interested in man, but it stands apart from the
rest because it combines four sub-disciplines that bridge the natural sciences, the social sciences
and the humanities.
Anthropology is holistic so it is interested in the whole of the human condition:
– past, present, and future, biology, society, language, culture