LECTURE NOTES IN SSCI 4

(Socio-Anthropology)
Summer 2016
Lesson 1
INTRODUCTION Mexica sun stone or Stone of
the Sun (Spanish: Piedradel
Topics: Sol), is a large monolithic
sculpture that was excavated in
 Definition of Anthropology the Zócalo, Mexico City's is
 Scope and Disciplines of Anthropology part of the archaeological and
anthropological artifacts from
 Methods Used in the Study of Anthropology the pre-Columbian heritage of
 Values of Anthropological Research Mexico.

At the end of the lesson, the students must be able to:

 define Anthropology in their own words;
 enumerate and differentiate among the various branches of
Anthropology;
 differentiate the various methods used in the study of Anthropology;
and
 discuss, verify and integrate the value of studying Anthropology

I. Introduction:

Anthropology- the systematic study of man which comes from the Greek words:
 anthroposmeans “man/humankind”.
 logos/logiameans 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 splendors
 aims to, among all others:
1. understand the uniqueness and diversity of human behavior 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.
 primarily interested in answering the following questions:
 when, where, and why humans appeared here on earth;
 how and why they have changed since then;
 how and why modern populations vary in certain physical features; and
 how and why societies in the past and present have varied in their customary ideas and
practices.

The Scope of Anthropology

 It seeks to explains humanity.
 It does through its observations of all varieties of people throughout the world, not only those
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 of what is known as the HOLISTIC APPROACH in the study of people and their
culture.
1
  It is multifaceted in its approach to 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 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

Fields of Anthropology
 There are four (4) 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 organism
 Sub-fields:
a. Biological Anthropologye. Human Taxonomy i. Population Genetics
b. Forensic Anthropology f. Paleopathology j. Human Ecology
c. Paleoanthropology g. Primatology
d. Human Anatomy h. Ethology
2. Cultural Anthropology
 focuses on variations in cultural patterns of various
societies
 studieshuman behavior or the way of life in all societies.
 focuses on living (or recently living) cultures
 identifies rules of social behavior
 studies the ways people identify themselves in their societies and the world
 Subfields:
a. Ecological Anthropology e. Legal Anthropology i. Applied
Anthropology
b. Demography Anthropology f. Anthropology of Religion j. Ethnomusicology
c. Economic Anthropology g. Medical Anthropology k. Anthropology of Art
d. Political Anthropology h. Urban Anthropology l. Ethnopoetics

 Culture - the customary ways of thinking and behaving of a particular society of

population

a. Archaeology- the study of material remains, usually from the past, to describe and explain
human
behavior.
 studies humanity through the remains left behind
by people
2
  provides a unique view across time of culture, language, and physical forms
 explores the lost civilizations & cultures of the past
 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.
 As such, they share the same objectives as historians, the difference lies in the fact that
history depends so much on written documents which cover on the last 5000 years of
human existence, and only those cultures that possessed writing. Hence, archaeology
would be more helpful in obtaining data regarding periods that existed even before writing
was invented.

 Archaeology is not merely about digging artifacts (material remains of past civilizations). A
piece of charcoal may yield a date by tree ring or by carbon 14 analysis; but the date is
meaningless unless it can be shown that charcoal is a product of human activity and is
related to other evidence of human presence.
 Arrangements of stones may tell something about the construction of the house ; burial
sites and the manner by which bones were found in these sites may indicate status of the
dead in society during their lifetime; locations of settlement may yield information
regarding neighbors and other human relations.
 Subfields:
a. Prehistoric Archaeology f. Maritime Archaeology k. Cognitive Archaeology
b. Historical Archaeology g. Underwater Archaeology l. Cultural Resource
c. Classical Archaeology h. Urban Archaeology Management
d. Demographic Archaeology i. Ethnoarchaeology
e. Biblical Archaeology j. Industrial Archaeology

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.
 This sub-discipline is further divided to:
a. Structural Linguistics f. Ethnosemantics
b. Historical Linguistics g. Cognitive Linguistics
c. Phonology h. Pragmatics
d. Morphology i. Sociolinguistics
e. Comparative Syntax

c. Ethnology ( Socio-cultural Anthropology) - the study of how and why recent cultures differ and
are
similar
 the study of cultures of living human populations, usually throughethnographic research.
 Socio-cultural anthropologists often study contemporary societiesby observing human
behaviour while living and working in those communities. This is called "participant-
observation".
3
  Ethnography - the systematic description of a culture based on first-hand observation

Cultural Anthropology
 Describes, analyzes, interprets, and explains social and cultural similarities and differences
1. Ethnography– fieldwork in a particular culture; provides account of that community, society,
or
Culture; often descriptive
2. Ethnology– cross cultural comparison; the comparative study of ethnographic data, of society
and of culture

CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Ethnography Ethnology
Requires fieldwork to collect data Uses data collected by a series of
researchers
Often descriptive Usually synthetic
Group/community specific Comparative/cross-cultural

Methods used in the Study of Anthropology

There are two ways by which anthropologists study cultures:
1. Ethnographic Method -involves direct or indirect observation of a people’s behavior which will
serve
as raw data in relation to the topic being considered.

Methods used in the Study of Anthropology

1. Ethnographic Method (cont’d)

 Requires that the anthropologists live among the people whose he wishes to investigate
 Basic equipment: pen, notebook, a camcorder and/or a tape recorder
 Requires careful planning and preparation on the part of those who will conduct the study,
and not to mention an adequate knowledge in the field anthropology

 Ethnography - the study of cultures of living peoples

2. Archaeological Method
 Major goal of Archaeology – to reconstruct lifeways or cultures of the past as fully possible
 Although archaeologists cannot deal directly with human behavior, it is assumed that all
evidences of former human presence are the product of human behavior and that the actual
behavior can be inferred from a general knowledge of the nature of humanity.
 Makes use of collecting materials from sites of human occupation to try to understand how
and why ways of life have changed through time in different parts of the world.

Values of Anthropological Research (Why Study Anthropology)

The study of Anthropology, especially to students like, is significant for various reasons:

1. Anthropology contributes to a general liberal arts education which helps students develop
intellectually, personally, and professionally.
2. Exposure to cultures and lifestyles of unfamiliar societies would enable the students to adapt to a
more critical and analytical stance towards conditions in their own society. Critical skills enhance
the reasoning abilities of the students wherever life takes them.

4
 3. Anthropology creates an expanding global awareness and an appreciation for cultures other than
our own. Further, it promotes a cross-cultural perspective that allows us to see ourselves as part
of one human family in the midst of tremendous diversity.
4. Viewing life from the anthropological perspective, students will also gain a greater understanding
of their personal lives in the context of a long period of human evolution and development.

References:

Ember, Melvin & Ember, Carol.(2004). Anthropology 11th edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Kottak, Conrad Philip. (2000). Anthropology 8th edition. Boston: McGraw Hill.
Zulueta, Francisco M. (2011). Anthropological and sociological: Concepts and Perspectives. Mandaluyong
City, Philippines: National Book Store.
http://www.canstockphoto.com/mexico-national-museum-of-anthropology-8221255.html
http://www.kwsnet.com/science-anthropology.html
http://sumananthromaterials.blogspot.com/2010/06/social-and-cultural-anthropology.html
http://www.oceanmedia.in/ebooks/for-universities/social-science-arts-humanities-and-law/linguistic-
anthropology-sociolinguistics-historical-linguistics/