Introduction To Anthropology: Study Guide For Module No. - 1

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Study Guide in SSE 104 – Socio-Cultural Anthropology Module No. 1
STUDY GUIDE FOR MODULE NO. _1_
INTRODUCTION TO ANTHROPOLOGY
MODULE OVERVIEW
This module seeks to discuss the meaning of Anthropology and its historical background.
Also, the subfields of anthropology are clearly stated and its relations to other Social Science
disciplines are understandably delineated. A discussion on the uses of anthropology and
anthropological methods are likewise included.
MODULE LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Define and discuss Anthropology and its basic concerns;

2. Identify the subfields of anthropology;
3. Explain the relations of Anthropology, with other Social Science disciplines and its
importance in personal and professional lives; and
4. List methods used in Anthropology.
LEARNING CONTENTS
Anthropology
Anthropology is derived from the Greek words: anthropos, meaning human beings or human
kind and logos, meaning science or study. Putting these words together, anthropology means the
study of human beings or human kind.
As a scientific study of the origins, behavior, physical, social, and cultural development of
human across spaces and over time, anthropology studies humankind, past, and present – in all its
aspects especially human culture or human development.
Anthropology is both broad scope social science and holistic discipline. As a broad scope
social science, anthropologists are concerned in all human beings – dead or alive. As holistic
discipline, anthropologists are interested in many different features of humans.
Subject Matter and Scope of Anthropology

The subject matter of anthropology is very vast. The subject covers all aspects of human
ways of life and culture, as humans live in a social group relationship. Discovering the meaning,
nature, origin, and destiny of humanity is one of the key concerns of anthropology. According to the
present stage of scientific knowledge attained in anthropology, the term humanity or mankind is a
very difficult term to define. Anthropologists seem to be unsure whether humanity is absolutely
dichotomous with other lower forms of animals. Some may even tend to regard humanity and non-
humanity as something that is best understood in the form of continuum. This sense of continuum
may be particularly in terms of time scale. Thus, the farther we go in time backwards, the narrower
becomes the difference between humanity and non- humanity.
It has now become a generally accepted fact in anthropology, although no full evidences are
forthcoming, that humanity is a product of the evolutionary processes, and that humans have
evolved from their closest living primates (Bryan, 1997; Behe, 1996).
Anthropology is interested in some of the following questions and issues about humans:
1. Where did human species come from (i.e. what are the origins of mankind)?
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2. Were human beings created in the image and likeness of God, or were they just the
products of millions of years of the natural, evolutionary process?
3. In what ways does man differ from other animal species?
4. How did mankind arrive at the present stage of biological, intellectual, and cultural
development?
5. Is there a common human nature, and if so, what is it like?
6. In what ways do humans who live in various times and places differ?
7. How can we explain why cultures vary?
Such and many other related questions are the concerns of anthropology.
Brief Historical Overview of Anthropology

The beginnings of anthropology date back to the period of discoveries and explorations from
the 15th century to the 18th century and to the days of the Western explorations, missionaries, and
colonial conquerors. For instance, the discoveries of antique tools and other artifacts in France and
other parts in Europe in the beginning of the 19 th century proved the existence of man a million
years ago. According to Haviland, “these discoveries took place during the time when advances in
chemistry and physics were made.” And these aroused an interest in scientific inquiry.
However, modern anthropology in both physical and cultural aspects started only around the
20th century. Modern anthropology was pioneered by Lewis Morgan, Sir Edward Taylor Herbert
Spencer. Most of the early anthropologists were armchair theorists. They adopted a common-sense
theme of an evolutionary view of humanity and human behaviour. Later, a higher level of research
began using a careful and thorough gathering of the data about individual cultures. This new
approach was adopted by Franz Boas and Alfred Kroeber. They were followed by Bronislaw
Malinowski, Alfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown and other anthropologists.
Sub-fields of Anthropology
Anthropology is usually divided in four main sub-fields. These are: physical anthropology,
sociocultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology and archaeological anthropology. Sometimes,
applied anthropology is added as a fifth sub-field.
1. Physical Anthropology
Physical anthropology is the branch of anthropology most closely related to the natural
sciences, particularly biology; that is why it is often called biological anthropology (Scupin and
DeCorse, 1995; Howard and Dunaif-Hattis, 1992). It studies the biological dimensions of human
beings, including biological evolution, the physical variations between contemporary populations,
and the biology and behavior of non-human primates. Physical anthropology itself is further divided
into three special fields of study: paleoanthropology, primatology and anthropometry.
Paleoanthropology: is a subspecialty in physical anthropology which is interested in the
search for fossil remains from prehistoric times to trace the development of outstanding human
physical, social and cultural characteristics. Paleoanthropology is the study of human evolution
through analysis of fossil remains. Paleoanthropologists use a variety of sophisticated techniques to
date, clarify and compare fossil bones to determine the links between modern humans and their
biological ancestors (ibid. p3)
Despite the highly acclaimed Darwinian theory of human origins, that humans are evolved
from lower life forms, it may be appropriate to state that many writers in the evolutionary circle argue
that there are limits to fossil evidences and paleoanthropology has many problems to tackle (Behe,
1996). As Bryan (1995) suggests, the great theory of Darwinian Evolution rests on so little evidence.
Paleoanthropologists are aware of this limitation but textbook accounts of origins of human beings
tend to neglect them.
Primatology: The study of the biology and behavior of primates, that is, the animals that
most closely resemble human beings in terms of physiological and anatomical structure, is an
important field in physical anthropology. Primatologists observe primates such as gorillas,

chimpanzees, gibbons, and orangutans in their natural habitats to ascertain the similarities and
differences between these other primates and humans (ibid, same page).
Primatological research helps us understand what human beings share with other animals,
what makes them part of the natural world and their unique characteristics (Howard and Dunaif-
Hattis, 1992).
Anthropometry: The study of human variations within and among different populations in
time and space, human ecology, population genetics, etc make up the central concerns of this sub-
branch of physical anthropology. These physical differences may be in terms of blood types, skin
colors, skull shape, facial shape, hair texture, and the like. Anthropometry shades some light on
how differing physical characteristics have helped human groups adapt different geographical
environments. Population genetics, the study of biological inheritance plays an important role in
anthropometry, what is sometimes termed as biological anthropology (Scupin and DeCorse, 1995;
Howard and Dunaif-Hattis, 1992).
The investigation of human variations among living populations has led to the application of
the knowledge in solving practical problems. The development of a specialty known as forensic
anthropology is one of the results of these attempts. Forensic anthropology is the identification of
human skeletal remains for medical and legal purposes. Forensic anthropologists work often with
other forensic specialists in aiding criminal investigations. Forensic anthropologists attempt to
determine the sex, age at death, ancestral background, and stature of the deceased individual.
Using this knowledge, forensic anthropologists identify crash victims, war causalities, homicide
victims, and skeletal remains in unmarked graves (Howard and Dunaif-Hattis, 1992; Scupin and
DeCorse, 1995; Kotttak, 2002).
2. Cultural Anthropology
Cultural anthropology (also called social or sociocultural anthropology) is the study of
patterns of human behavior, thought, and feelings. It focuses on humans as culture-producing and
culture-reproducing creatures. To understand the work of cultural anthropologists, we must clarify
the meaning of culture—a society’s shared and socially transmitted ideas, values, and perceptions,
which are used to make sense of experience and which generate behavior and are reflected in that
behavior. These are the (often unconscious) standards by which societies—structured groups of
people—operate. These standards are socially learned—not acquired through biological
inheritance. Cultures may vary considerably from place to place, but no person is “more cultured” in
the anthropological sense than any other. Integral to all the anthropological fields, the concept of
culture might be considered anthropology’s distinguishing feature. After all, biological
anthropologists are distinct from biologists primarily because they take culture into account. Cultural
anthropologists may study the legal, medical, economic, political, or religious system of a given
society, knowing that all aspects of culture interrelate as part of a unified whole. They may focus on
divisions in a society— such as gender, age, or class. These same categories are also significant to
archaeologists who study a society through its material remains, to linguistic anthropologists who
examine ancient and modern languages, and to biological anthropologists who investigate the
physical human body.
Cultural anthropology has two main components: ethnography and ethnology. An
ethnography—a detailed description of a particular culture—is based on fieldwork, the term all
anthropologists use for on-location research. Ethnographic fieldwork entails a combination of social
participation and personal observation within the community being studied and interviews and
discussions with individual members of a group. This methodology, commonly referred to as
participant observation, provides the information used to make systematic comparisons of cultures
all across the world. Known as ethnology, such cross-cultural research allows anthropologists to
develop theories about differences and similarities among groups.
3. Archaeological Anthropology
Archaeology studies the ways of lives of past peoples by excavating and analyzing the
physical remains they left behind. Artifacts are the material remains of human societies (Scupin and

DeCorse, 1995). Archeologists also study ecofacts, the footprints on the ecology by the past
societies. This helps reveal the way human societies interacted with their local ecosystems. Tools,
ornaments, pottery, animal bones, human skeletal material, and evidence of how people lived in the
distant past are collected, and systematically analyzed.
Archeological anthropology has three major goals: 1) classifying and sequencing material
culture; 2) reconstructing ancient ways of life; and 3) explaining and delineating cultural processes
(Howard and Dunaif- Hattis, 1992).
Some branches of study in archeology include:

Prehistoric archeology: Prehistoric archeology investigates human prehistory; that is the
periods of time in a region before the art of writing developed. Many anthropological archeologists
study societies that did not leave behind any written records. Prehistoric archeology uses material
remains to reconstruct prehistoric life ways; it also studies contemporary peoples whose styles of
life are analogous and or comparable to those of ancient peoples. For example, by studying the
ways of life of present hunter and gatherer societies, prehistoric archeologists can gain insights into
the ways in which the ancient foraging peoples lived (Ibid. P. 11)
Ethnoarchaeology: This may be regarded as an aspect of prehistoric archeology. It is an
approach to ethnographic analogy in which archeologists make their own observation of the
contemporary cultures rather than relying on information provided by cultural anthropologists.
Historical archaeology: uses the evidence provided by excavated remains to enhance our
understanding of historic peoples; that is, peoples who had writing and about whom written records
are available. Historical archeologists study sites dating from historic times. Much of the work of
historical archeologists has been to help preserve historical sites (Ibid. p12).
Classical archeology: Is an aspect of historic archeology; it deals primarily with the ancient
civilizations and empires of Europe and the Middle East, including Egypt, Greece, Roman and
Persia, Axum, etc.
There are several other specialized areas of study and research in archeology such as
industrial archeology, underwater archeology, marine archeology, cognitive archeology,
experimental archeology, biblical archeological, cultural resource management, and so on.
4. Linguistic Anthropology
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. Linguists describe and analyze the sound
patterns, combinations of sounds, meanings and structure of sentence in human languages (Kottak,
1994). They also attempt to determine how two or more languages are related. Historically, modern
linguists are especially interested in whether all human languages share any universal common
feature. Some recent work suggests that human infants are born with knowledge of a set of
generalized rules that allow them to discover the specific rules of language around them and to
formulate new sentences by applying these rules.
The terms linguistic anthropology, anthropological linguistics, and ethnolinguistics are often
used interchangeably in the linguistic anthropology literature. However, the more preferred term is
linguistic anthropology. It is defined as “the study of speech and language within the context of
anthropology…. It is the study of language as a cultural resource and speaking as a cultural
practice.” (Durnati, 1997:1).
Linguistic anthropology usually focuses on unwritten languages (i.e., those languages which
have no form of writing, languages used by indigenous peoples of the non-western societies). It is
especially concerned with relations between language and other aspects of human behavior and
thought. Linguistic anthropologists might describe and analyze a language so far unknown to
linguistic science. The branch of linguistic anthropology, called sociolinguistics is interested in how
the language is used in various social contexts. For example, what speech style must one use with
people of higher social standing? How does a local political leader use language to earn people's
allegiance? What can the naming of various parts of the natural and social environment tell as about
people's perception of their environments?

A second important branch called historical linguistics focuses on the comparison and
classifications of different languages to discern the historical links between them. This historical
linguistic research is particularly useful in tracing the migration routes of various societies through
time (Scupin and De Corse, 1995).
Another branch, called structural linguistics, studies the structure of linguistic patterns.
Structural linguists compare grammatical patterns and other linguistic elements to find out how
contemporary languages are similar to and different from one another.
5. Applied Anthropology
Applied anthropology, the application of anthropological knowledge, methods and
approaches to the solving of human problems, is often now seen as a fifth major branch of
anthropology, although it is not well-established as the traditionally known four fields. Applied
anthropology involves the use of data gathered in other subfields of anthropology in an endeavor to
tackle contemporary societal problems. Anthropologists have increasingly become concerned with
practically dealing with human problems (Bodley, 1996; Podolefsky and Brown, 1993). The
problems may include: environmental, technological, economic, social, political or cultural. Applied
anthropologist now work in quite many areas of relevance such as education, mass medical,
medicine, development, business, agriculture, crime and urban poverty, etc (Scupin and DeCorse,
1995; Kottak, 2002).
Contributions of Anthropology
The contributions of anthropology may be categorized in to the following (World Book
Encyclopedia 1994, Vol. 1, Howard and Dunaif-Hattis 1992; Aoyagi, 1999):
1. Anthropology gives us an insight into different ways and modes of life of a given society, to
understand the logic behind and justification for human activities and behavior.
2. Anthropology also helps us understand our own ways of lives. Many aspects of our lives
seem to us normal, so we don't know the logic behind. Eating injera, for example, is
assumed to be normal to those whose staple (main) food item is injera. By studying
anthropology, we look into ourselves through the others' ways of lives. As we study
anthropology, we encounter a different way of lives from ourselves, and hence we get
opportunity to appreciate and understand ourselves.
3. Anthropology helps us fight against prejudices and discriminations. It helps us fight against
ethnocentrism; the attitude that one's own culture and one's own way of life is the center of
the world and the best of all. This arises from ignorance about other ethnic groups and their
ways of lives.
4. Anthropology is also used as a tool for development. Applied anthropology, here, is the
application of anthropological knowledge and research results in the solution of some social
problems or in the implementation of project plans.
In addition to the aforementioned points, we may substantiate the contributions of anthropology as

follows:
1. Because of its broad scope, anthropology allows us to understand the biological,

technological and cultural development of humanity over long period of time in human
evolution.
2. Because of its comparative approach to humanity, anthropology allows us to separate what
is unique to our way of life from what is general to all people.
3. Because of its relativistic approach, anthropology helps us to be more sensitive and
appreciative of cultural diversity and variability. It helps us to avoid some of the
misunderstanding that commonly arises when individuals of different cultural traditions come
into contact. Anthropology reduces ethnocentrism by instilling an appreciation of cultural
diversity. Anthropology can help us be aware that when we interact with people from other
cultural traditions, their actions are not always intended to mean what we take them to

mean, and therefore much miscommunication can be avoided. Health workers involved in
health care provision in various cultural settings will find it very helpful if they develop this
mentality.
4. Anthropologists bring a holistic approach to national and international development
agencies.
5. Anthropologists use their expertise in particular subjects to formulate practical ways of
coping with immediate social problems. Medical anthropologists, for example, investigate the
interrelationship between human health, nutrition, and cultural beliefs and practices.
In general, anthropology more than any other sciences, can reveal the alternative ways of
living developed by diverse segments of humanity.
Unique Approaches of Anthropology

1. Anthropology is Holistic: Studying one aspect of the ways of life of a group of people by
relating it to other complex related aspects of life.
2. Anthropology is Relativistic: Anthropology tries to study and explain a certain belief, practice
or institution of a group of people in its own context. It does not make value judgment, i.e.,
declaring that ‘this belief or practice is good’ or ‘that is bad.’
3. Anthropology is Comparative: Anthropology studies certain aspects of the culture of a group
of people by comparing it across societies and different times; i.e., the present with the past,
the modern with the traditional, etc.
Research Methods
Anthropologists use both objective (scientific) and subjective (interpretive) methods in their
research. As scientists, anthropologists systematically collect information to answer specific
research questions. They also document their work so that other researchers can duplicate it. But
many anthropologists also conduct informal kinds of research, including impromptu discussions with
and observations of the peoples they study. Some of the more common types of anthropological
research methods include (1) immersion in a culture, (2) analysis of how people interact with their
environment, (3) linguistic analysis, (4) archaeological analysis, and (5) analysis of human biology.
A. Cultural Immersion
Researchers trained in cultural anthropology employ a variety of methods when they study
other cultures. Traditionally, however, much anthropological research involves long-term, direct
observation of and participation in the life of another culture. This practice, known as participant
observation, gives anthropologists a chance to get an insider’s view of how and why other people
do what they do.
Polish-born British anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski was the first anthropologist to

document a detailed method of participant observation. Malinowski spent two years living with the
people of the Trobriand Islands, part of Papua New Guinea, between 1915 and 1918. He learned
the Trobriand language and explored the people’s religion, magic, gardening, trade, and social
organization. He later published a series of books describing all aspects of Trobriand life.
Malinowski's work became a model of research methods for generations of anthropologists.
Just as Malinowski did, most anthropologists today learn local languages to help them gain
an insider’s view of a culture. Anthropologists commonly collect information by informally asking
questions of the people with whom they live.
Often anthropologists will find individuals within the society being studied who are especially
knowledgeable and who are willing to become so-called informants. Informants typically enjoy
talking with a sympathetic outsider who wishes to interpret and record their culture. Informants and
anthropologists may also form teams in which the informants work as anthropologists. While

informants often provide much useful information, anthropologists also have to take into account the
biases that people typically have in explaining their own cultures.
In some cases, anthropologists may use interviews to record extensive life histories of
individuals with whom they have good relationships. Older people usually volunteer to tell their life
stories, often because they have seen many changes since their youth and enjoy telling of past
experiences and lessons learned. Such stories can provide valuable insights on how cultures
change.
Anthropologists also commonly construct genealogies (diagrams of kinship relations) and

maps to show how the people in communities are related to one another, how people organize
themselves in groups, and how people and groups interact with each other. These research tools
can provide a way for anthropologists to see cultural patterns and complexities of daily life that
would otherwise be difficult to discern or comprehend.
B. Human Ecology
Many anthropologists combine cultural research with studies of the environments in which
people live. Human ecology examines how people interact with their natural environments, such as
to make a living. Anthropologists may collect large amounts of data about features of a culture’s
environment, such as types of plants and animals, the chemical and nutritional properties of
medicines and foods, and climate patterns. This information can provide explanations for some
characteristics of a people’s culture.
For instance, in the 1960s American anthropologist Roy Rappaport analyzed the ecological
significance of a ritual cycle of peace and warfare among the Tsembaga people of Papua New
Guinea. Rappaport found that the Tsembaga and neighboring groups would maintain peace for
periods of between 12 and 20 years. During these periods, the people would grow sweet potato
gardens and raise pigs. The people would also guard areas of land they had previously gardened
but which were now unused and believed to be occupied by ancestor spirits. When the presence of
too many pigs rooting up gardens and eating sweet potato crops became a nuisance, the
Tsembaga would feast on the pigs, perform a ritual to remove spirit ancestors from old gardens, and
then lift the ban on warfare. The lifting of the ban allowed the Tsembaga to capture abandoned
lands from other groups. This regulation of warfare coincided with the amount of time it took for
abandoned gardens to regain their fertility, and so made good ecological sense.
C. Linguistic Analysis
Linguistic anthropologists, as well as many cultural anthropologists, use a variety of methods

to analyze the details of a people’s language. The practice of phonology, for example, involves
precisely documenting the sound properties of spoken words. Many linguistic anthropologists also
practice orthography, the technique of creating written versions of spoken languages. In addition,
most study the properties of grammar in languages, looking for the rules that guide how people
communicate their thoughts through strings of words.
Language reveals much about a people’s culture. Anthropologists have studied such topics
as how different languages assign gender to words, shape the ways in which people perceive the
natural and supernatural worlds, and create or reinforce divisions of rank and status within societies.
For instance, many of the peoples native to North America conceive of time as a continual
cycle of renewal, a concept quite different from the European belief that time only moves forward in
a progression from the past to the future. Linguists have found that many Native American
languages, such as that of the Hopi of the North American Southwest, include grammatical
constructions for saying that something exists in a state of “becoming,” even though it does not yet

actually exist. English and other European languages cannot as easily express such an idea, nor
can most Europeans or Americans of European descent truly understand it.
D. Archaeological Analysis
Archaeologists use specialized research methods and tools for the careful excavation and
recording of the buried remains of past cultures. Remote sensing involves the use of airplane
photography and radar systems to find buried sites of past human cultures. Rigorous methods of
excavation allow archaeologists to map the precise locations of remains for later analysis. Seriation,
the practice of determining relative age relationships among different types of artifacts based on
their shapes and styles, helps archaeologists learn how past cultures changed and evolved.
Archaeologists also use a variety of dating methods involving chemical and other types of scientific
analysis to reveal the age of buried objects up to millions of years old.
In addition, some archaeologists have training in cultural anthropology, and they may use
cultural research to help them interpret what they find buried in the ground. For example, people in
many small-scale societies continued to make tools of stone into the 20th century, and some still
know how. By watching these people make their tools, archaeologists have learned how to interpret
patterns of chipped pieces of stone buried in the ground.
E. Physical Anthropological Research
Physical anthropologists often rely on rigorous medical scientific methods for at least part of
their research, in addition to more general observational methods. All physical anthropologists have
detailed knowledge of human skeletal anatomy. Paleoanthropologists and forensic anthropologists
can construct extremely detailed descriptions of people’s lives from only measurements of bones
and teeth. These researchers typically analyze the chemical or cellular composition of bones and
teeth, patterns of wear or injury, and placement in or on the ground. Such analyses can reveal
information about the sex, age, work habits, and diet of a person who died long ago.
Some physical anthropologists specialize in epidemiology, the study of disease and health
among large groups of people. In addition to studying diseases themselves, physical
anthropologists focus on cultural causes and preventions of disease. They may study such specific
medical topics as nutrition and gastrointestinal function, human reproduction, or the effects of drugs
on brain and body function. For instance, physical anthropologists working in San Francisco,
California, studied how the beliefs and practices of homosexual and bisexual men factored into the
spread of the AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) virus in the 1980s. This information
helped in the design of effective health education programs to reduce the spread of the disease.
Physical anthropologists studying human genetics use sophisticated laboratory techniques to

analyze human chromosomes and DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), the structures through which
people inherit traits from their parents. With these techniques, researchers have identified human
populations that have genetic predispositions to specific diseases, such as types of cancer. This
knowledge has promoted increased focus on the use of preventive measures among people with
higher risk for disease.
Anthropology and Other Social Sciences

Anthropology shares certain interests and subjects of study with other fields of social
science, especially sociology, psychology, and history, but also economics and political science.
Anthropology also differs from these fields in many ways.
Like sociology, anthropology involves the study of human society and culture. But
anthropology began as the study of small-scale tribal societies, large-scale chiefdoms, and ancient
civilizations, and later moved to include global-scale societies. Sociology, on the other hand, has
always emphasized the study of modern and urbanized societies. Anthropology involves the

comparison of different societies in order to understand the scope of human cultural diversity.
Sociology, on the other hand, frequently examines universal patterns of human behavior.
Anthropology also examines certain aspects of human psychology. Anthropology studies
how people become enculturated—shaped by their culture as they grow up in a particular society.
Through enculturation, people develop culturally accepted ideas of what behavior is normal or
abnormal and of how the world works. Anthropology examines how people’s patterns of thought and
behavior are shaped by culture and how those patterns vary from society to society. By contrast,
psychology generally focuses on the universal characteristics of human thought and behavior, and
studies these characteristics in individual people.
The study of history is also a part of anthropology. In its formal sense, the term history refers
only to periods of time after the invention of writing. Anthropologists often study historical
documents to learn more about the past of living peoples. Historical archaeologists, who specialize
in the study of historical cultures, also study written documents. But all anthropologists primarily
study people, their societies, and their cultures. Historians, on the other hand, primarily study written
records of the past—from which they cannot learn about human societies that had or have no
writing.
In addition, anthropology examines some topics also studied in economics and political
science. But anthropologists focus on how aspects of economics and politics relate to other aspects
of culture, such as important rituals. Anthropologists who specialize in the study of systems of
exchange in small-scale societies may refer to themselves as economic anthropologists.
LEARNING ACTIVITY 1
Review Questions
Answer the following questions briefly.
1. What is anthropology?
2. Discuss the historical backgrounds of sociocultural anthropology.
3. What is the difference between ethnography and ethnology?
4. Why do anthropologists study primate behaviour?
5. What common characteristics does anthropology share with the other sciences?
6. What distinguishes anthropology from other human sciences?
7. What are the personal and professional uses of anthropology to you?
ASSESSMENT
Timeline
Create a timeline of history of anthropology.

History of Anthropology

SUMMARY
Anthropology is broad scientific discipline, which was born lately in the 19th century, with the
major aim of scientific study and documentation of the physical, socio-cultural and other diversities
among people, past and present. It specially studies simple, small-scale societies in the non-
western world. Its holistic, comparative and relativistic approaches, its unit of analysis and method
of study along with its broad scope make it unique. However, it shares many things with the other
sciences. The science of anthropology has many theoretical and practical importance and
contributions. The four main branches of anthropology are physical anthropology, sociocultural
anthropology, linguistic anthropology and archaeological anthropology. Applied anthropology is
sometimes regarded as a fifth sub-filed. Each of the major branches of anthropology has several
specialized areas of study within it. Anthropology as a science has as its major goal the making,
accumulation and dissemination of scientific knowledge on society and culture.
REFERENCES
Alimbuyugen, M., et al. (2012). Sociology and Anthropology. IBM Publishing
Haviland, W., et al., (2017). Cultural Anthropology. CENGAGE Learning
Kottak, C. (2017). Cultural Anthropology: Appreciating Cultural Diversity, Seventeenth Edition.

McGraw-Hill Education
http://individual.utoronto.ca/bopyd/anthro7.htm#:~:text=Anthropology%20traces%20its%20roots
%20to,the%20organization%20of%20human%20society.&text=They%20treated%20these
%20questions%20as,were%20the%20creations%20of%20God

STUDY GUIDE FOR MODULE NO. ___ 2
NATURE OF CULTURE
MODULE OVERVIEW
The concept of culture is central to anthropology. The capacity for making culture differentiates
mankind from nonhumans. The term culture is not used with consistent meanings. It is used with
various meanings in commonsense. In this module, a vivid discussion about culture and its
characteristics, components, and patterns are presented. Also, the roles of enculturation and
relativism in understanding culture are included.
1. Define the meaning of culture;

2. Understand the significance of enculturation, cultural relativism and diffusion;
3. Identify the emic and etic aspects of culture; and
4. Understand the universal characteristics of culture.
LEARNING CONTENTS
The Concept and Characteristics of Culture

Anthropologists conceived the modern concept of culture toward the end of the 19th century.
Reaching deeper than observable behavior, culture is a society’s shared and socially transmitted
ideas, values, and perceptions, which are used to make sense of experience and generate behavior
and are reflected in that behavior. Through the comparative study of many human cultures, past
and present, anthropologists have gained an understanding of the basic characteristics evident in all
of them: Every culture is socially learned, shared, based on symbols, integrated, and dynamic. A
careful study of these characteristics helps us to see the importance and the function of culture
itself.
Culture Is Learned
All culture is socially learned rather than biologically inherited. One learns one’s own culture by
growing up with it, and the process whereby culture is passed on from one generation to the next is
called enculturation. Enculturation is the process by which a child learns his or her culture.
Most animals eat and drink whenever the urge arises. Humans, however, are enculturated to
do most of their eating and drinking at certain culturally prescribed times and feel hungry as those
times approach. Eating times vary from culture to culture, as does what is eaten and how and where
it is acquired, prepared, and consumed. Also, humans rely on food for more than nutrition. When
used to celebrate rituals and religious activities, food “establishes relationships of give and take, of
cooperation, of sharing, of an emotional bond that is universal” (Caroulis, 1996, p. 16).

Through enculturation every person learns socially appropriate ways of satisfying the basic
biologically determined needs of all humans: food, sleep, shelter, companionship, self-defense, and
sexual gratification. It is important to distinguish between the needs themselves, which are not
learned, and the learned ways in which they are satisfied—for each culture determines in its own
way how these needs will be met. For instance, Sinhalese children growing up in fishing families on
the tropical island country of Sri Lanka surely have different ideas about what constitutes a great
meal and a comfortable way to sleep than do the offspring of semi-nomadic Kazakh herders living in
the high steppe grasslands of Central Asia.
All mammals exhibit learned behavior to some degree. Several species may even be said to
have elementary culture, in that local populations share patterns of behavior that, as among
humans, each generation learns from the one before and that differ from one population to another.
It is important to note that not all learned behavior is cultural. For instance, a pigeon may learn
tricks, but this behavior is the result of conditioning by repeated training, not the product of
enculturation.
Beyond our species, examples of socially learned behavior are particularly evident among
other primates. Chimpanzees, for example, will take a twig, strip it of all leaves, and smooth it down
to fashion a “fishing” tool, which they use to extract termites from the insects’ dirt mounds. Such
toolmaking, which juveniles learn from their elders, is unquestionably a rudimentary form of cultural
behavior once thought to be exclusively human. Research shows that in both nature and in
captivity, primates in general and apes in particular “possess a near-human intelligence, generally
including the use of sounds in representational ways, a rich awareness of the aims and objectives of
others, the ability to engage in tactical deception, and the faculty to use symbols in communication
with humans and each other” (Reynolds, 1994, p. 4).
Our increasing awareness of such traits in our primate relatives has spawned movements to
extend human rights to apes—rights such as freedom from living in fear, respect for dignity, and not
being subjected to incarceration (caging), exploitation (medical experimentation), or other
mistreatment (Hays, 2015; O’Carroll, 2008).
Culture Is Shared
Culture is an attribute not of individuals per se but of individuals as members of groups.
Culture is transmitted in society. A society is an organized group or groups of interdependent people
who generally share a common territory, language, and culture and who act together for collective
survival and well-being. The ways in which these people depend upon one another can be seen in
features such as their economic, communication, and defense systems. They are also bound
together by a general sense of common identity.
Because culture and society are such closely related concepts, anthropologists’ study both.
Obviously, there can be no culture without a society. Conversely, there are no known human
societies that do not exhibit culture. Without culture, human society quickly falls apart. This cannot
be said for all animal species. Ants and bees, for example, instinctively cooperate in a manner that
clearly indicates a remarkable degree of social organization, yet this instinctual behavior is not a
culture.
Although members of a society share a culture, it is important to realize that no two people
share the exact same version of their culture. At the very least, there is some distinction between
the roles of children and elders, men and women. This stems from the fact that there are obvious
differences between human infants, adults, and highly aged individuals, as well as between female
and male reproductive anatomy and physiology. Every society gives cultural meaning to biological
sex differences by explaining them in a particular way and specifying what their significance is in
terms of social roles and expected patterns of behavior.
Because each culture does this in its own way, there can be tremendous variation from one
society to another. Anthropologists use the term gender to refer to the cultural elaborations and
meanings assigned to the biological differentiation between the sexes. So, although one’s sex is
biologically determined, one’s gender is culturally constructed within the context of one’s particular
society.

Apart from sexual differences directly related to reproduction, biologically based reasons for
contrasting gender roles have largely disappeared in modern industrialized and postindustrial
societies. A major factor in this change is technology, which evens up the capabilities of men and
women in many tasks requiring muscular strength—such as moving heavy automobile engines in
assembly lines equipped with hydraulic lifts. Nevertheless, all cultures exhibit at least some role
differentiation related to biology— some far more so than others.
In addition to cultural variation associated with gender, there is also variation related to age. In
any society, children are not expected to behave as adults, and the reverse is equally true. But then,
who is a child and who is an adult? Again, although age differences are natural, cultures give their
own meaning and timetable to the human life cycle. In North America, for example, individuals are
generally not regarded as adults until the age of 18. In many other cultures, adulthood begins earlier
— often around age 12, an age closer to the biological changes of adolescence.
Subcultures: Groups Within a Larger Society

Besides age and gender differentiation, there may be cultural variation between subgroups in
complex societies that share an overarching culture. These may be occupational groups in societies
with an extensive division of labor, or social classes in a stratified society, or ethnic groups in
pluralistic societies. When such a group exists within a society—functioning by its own distinctive
set of ideas, values, and behavior patterns while still sharing some common standards—we call it a
subculture.
Amish communities are one example of a subculture in North America. Specifically, they are an
ethnic group— people who collectively and publicly identify themselves as a distinct group based on
various cultural features such as shared ancestry and common origin, language, customs, and
traditional beliefs. The Amish originated in western Europe during the Protestant revolutions about
500 years ago. Today, members of this group number more than 200,000 and live mainly in the
United States—in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin—as well as in Ontario,
Canada.
These rural pacifists base their lives on their traditional Anabaptist beliefs, which hold that only
adult baptism is valid and that “true Christians” (as they define them) should not hold government
office, bear arms, or use force. They prohibit marriage outside their faith, which calls for obedience
to radical Christian teachings, including rejection of material wealth and social separation from the
“evils” of the “outside” world.
Resisting government attempts to force their children to attend regular public schools, Amish
communities insist that education take place near home and that teachers be committed to Amish
ideals. Among themselves, they usually speak a German dialect known as Pennsylvania Dutch
(from Deutsch, meaning “German”). They use formal German for religious purposes, although
children learn English in school. Valuing simplicity, hard work, and a high degree of neighborly
cooperation, they dress in distinctive plain garb and even today rely on the horse for transportation
as well as agricultural work. In sum, the Amish share the same ethnicity. This term, rooted in the
Greek word ethnikos (“nation”) and related to ethnos (“custom”), refers to the set of cultural ideas
held by an ethnic group.
Because economic challenges make it impossible for most to subsist solely on farming, some
Amish work outside their communities. Many more market homemade goods to tourists and other
outsiders. Their economic separation from mainstream society has declined somewhat, but their
cultural separation has not (Kraybill, 2001). They remain a reclusive community, more distrustful
than ever of the dominant North American culture surrounding them and mingling as little as
possible with non-Amish people.
The Amish are but one example of the way a subculture may develop and be dealt with by the
larger culture within which it functions. Different as they are, the Amish actually put into practice
many values that other North Americans often respect in the abstract: thrift, hard work,
independence, a close family life. The degree of tolerance accorded to them, in contrast to some
other ethnic groups, is also due in part to their European origin; they are defined as being of the
same “white race” as those who historically comprise dominant mainstream society.

Amish subculture in North America developed gradually in response to how members of this strict
Protestant sect have adapted to survive within the wider North American society while holding
tightly to the conservative rural lifeways of their European ancestors. In contrast, North American
Indian subcultures are distinctive ways of life rooted in traditions of formerly independent societies.
Native Americans endured invasion of their own territories and colonization by European settlers
and were brought under the control of federal governments in the United States, Canada, and
Mexico.
Although all American Indian groups have experienced enormous changes due to colonization,
many have retained traditions significantly different from those of the dominant Euromerican culture
surrounding them. This makes it difficult to determine whether they persevere as distinct cultures as
opposed to subcultures. In this sense, culture and subculture represent opposite ends of a
continuum, with no clear dividing line between them. The Anthropology Applied feature on the next
page examines the intersection of culture and subculture with an example concerning Apache
Indian housing.
Pluralism
Our discussion raises the issue of a multi-ethnic or pluralistic society in which two or more ethnic
groups or nationalities are politically organized into one territorial state but maintain their cultural
differences. Pluralistic societies emerged after the first politically centralized states arose 5,000
years ago. With the rise of the state, it became possible to bring about the political unification of two
or more formerly independent societies, each with its own culture, thereby creating a more complex
order that transcends the theoretical one culture–one society linkage. Anthropology makes an
important distinction between state and nation. States are politically organized territories that are
internationally recognized, whereas nations are socially organized bodies of people who share
ethnicity—a common origin, language, and cultural heritage. For example, the Kurds constitute a
nation, but their homeland is divided among several states: Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria. The
international boundaries among these states were drawn up after World War I (1914–1918) with
little regard for the region’s indigenous ethnic groups or nations. Similar state-formation processes
have taken place throughout the world, especially in Asia and Africa, often destabilizing inherently
fragile political conditions in these countries.
Pluralistic societies, which are common in the world today, all face the same challenge: They are
composed of groups that, by virtue of their high degree of cultural variation, are all essentially
operating by different sets of rules. Because social living requires predictable behavior, it may be
difficult for the members of any one subgroup to accurately interpret and follow the different
standards by which the others operate. Ethnocentrism—defined in Chapter 1 as the belief that the
cultural ways of one’s own culture are superior—is prevalent around the world and contributes to
cross-cultural misunderstanding and distrust among different subgroups within a pluralistic society.
There are many current examples of troubled pluralistic societies, including Afghanistan and
Nigeria, where central governments face major challenges in maintaining peace and lawful order. In
countries where one ethnic group is substantially larger than others, such as the Han in China,
greater numbers may be used to political and economic advantage at the expense of minority
groups.
Culture Is Based on Symbols

Nearly all human behavior involves symbols. A symbol is a sound, gesture, mark, or other sign
that is linked to something else and represents it in a meaningful way. Because often there is no
inherent or necessary relationship between a thing and its representation, symbols are arbitrary,
acquiring specific meanings when people agree on usage in their communications. Symbols—
ranging from national flags to wedding rings, money, and words—enter into every aspect of culture,
from social life and religion to politics and economics. We are all familiar with the fervor and
devotion that a religious symbol can elicit from a believer. An Islamic crescent moon, Christian
cross, or a Jewish Star of David—as well as the sun among Inca, a mountain among Kikuyus, or
any other object of worship—may bring to mind years of struggle and persecution or may stand for
a whole philosophy or religion.

The most important symbolic aspect of culture is language—using words to represent objects
and ideas. Through language humans are able to transmit culture from one generation to the next.
In particular, language makes it possible to learn from cumulative, shared experience. Without it,
one could not inform others about events, emotions, and other experiences. Language is so
important that one of the four main subfields of anthropology is dedicated to its study.
Culture Is Integrated
The breadth and depth of every culture is remarkable. It includes what people do for a living,
the tools they use, the ways they work together, how they transform their environments and
construct their dwellings, what they eat and drink, how they worship, what they believe is right or
wrong, what they celebrate, what gifts they exchange, who they marry, how they raise their children,
and how they deal with misfortune, sickness, death, and so on. Because these and all other aspects
of a culture must be reasonably well integrated in order to function properly, anthropologists seldom
focus on one cultural feature in isolation. Instead, they view each in terms of its larger context and
carefully examine its connections to related features.
For purposes of comparison and analysis, anthropologists conceptualize a culture as a
structured system made up of distinctive parts that function together as an organized whole.
Although they may sharply identify each part as a clearly defined unit with its own characteristics
and distinctive place within the larger system, anthropologists recognize that social reality is
complex and subject to change, and that divisions among cultural units are seldom clear-cut.
Broadly speaking, a society’s cultural features fall within three categories: social structure,
infrastructure, and superstructure, as depicted in our “barrel model”.
The Barrel Model of Culture

Every culture is an integrated and dynamic system of adaptation that responds to a combination of internal
factors (economic, social, ideological) and external factors (environmental, climatic). Within a cultural system,
there are functional relationships among the economic base (infrastructure), the social organization (social
structure), and the ideology (superstructure). A change in one lead to a change in the others.
The Barrel Model of Culture

To ensure a community’s biological continuity, a culture must provide a social structure for
reproduction and mutual support. Social structure concerns rule-governed relationships—with all
their rights and obligations—that hold members of a society together. Households, families,
associations, and power relations, including politics, are all part of social structure. It establishes
group cohesion and enables people to consistently satisfy their basic needs, including food and
shelter for themselves and their dependents, by means of work.

There is a direct relationship between a group’s social structure and its economic foundation,
which includes subsistence practices and the tools and other material equipment used to make a
living. Because subsistence practices involve tapping into available resources to satisfy a society’s
basic needs, this aspect of culture is known as infrastructure. It comprises strategies for the
production and distribution of goods and services considered necessary for life.
Supported by this economic foundation, a society is held together by a shared sense of
identity and worldview. This superstructure is composed of a collection of ideas, beliefs, and values,
including religion, by which members of a society make sense of reality. Worldview, also known as
ideology, comprises a people’s overarching ideas about themselves and the world around them,
and it gives meaning and direction to their lives.
Influencing and reinforcing one another—continually adapting to changing demographic,
technological, political, economic, and ideological factors—the interconnected features in these
three interdependent structures together form part of a cultural system.
Culture Is Dynamic
Cultures are dynamic systems that respond to motions and actions within and around them.
When one element within the system shifts or changes, the entire system strives to adjust, just as it
does when an outside force applies pressure. To function adequately, a culture must be flexible
enough to allow such adjustments in the face of unstable or changing circumstances.
All cultures are, of necessity, dynamic, but some are far less so than others. When a culture is
too rigid or static and fails to provide its members with the means required for long term survival
under changing conditions, it is not likely to endure. On the other hand, some cultures are so fluid
and open to change that they may lose their distinctive character. The Amish mentioned earlier in
this chapter typically resist change as much as possible but are constantly making balanced
decisions to adjust when absolutely necessary. North Americans in general, however, have created
a culture in which change has become a positive ideal, reflecting rapid and ongoing transformations
in their society’s demography, technology, economy, and so on.
Every culture is dynamically constructed and, not unlike a thermostat regulating room
temperature, able to cope with recurrent strains and tensions, even dangerous disruptions and
deadly conflicts. Sharing a culture, members of a society are capable of dealing with crises, solving
their conflicts, and restoring order. Sometimes, however, the pressures are so great that the cultural
features in the system are no longer adequate or acceptable, and the established order is changed
Main Features of Culture

Cultural anthropologists characterize culture as follows (Kottak, 2002; Howard and Dunaif-
Hattis, op cit; Clifton, 1968; Scupin and DeCorse, 1995):
1. Culture is all- encompassing:

Culture encompasses all aspects, which affect people in their everyday of their lives. Culture
comprises countless material and non-material aspects of human lives. Thus, when we talk about a
particular people’s culture, we are referring to all of its man- made objects, ideas, activities whether
those of traditional, old time things of the past or those created lately. Culture is the sum total of
human creation: intellectual, technical, artistic, physical, and moral; it is the complex pattern of living
that directs human social life, the things each new generation must learn and to which they
eventually add.
2. Culture is general and specific

Generally, all human societies of the world have a culture. It distinguishes them from other
nonhuman beings. Specifically, there are as specific cultures as there are diverse peoples in the
world. Humanity shares a capacity for culture (general), but people live in particular cultures where
they are encultured.
3. Culture is socially learned

Culture is a natural outgrowth of the social interactions that constitute human groups whether in
societies or organizations. Whenever and wherever people come to gather over time, culture
develops. The essence of culture is that it is learned, shared, interrelated, and adaptive Culture is
learned through social interaction. And the learned behavior is communicated in the group through
forms of socialization such as observation, instruction, reward, punishment and experience.
Three different ways of learning should be noted here:

 Individual situation learning: this means an individual animal or person learns something
by himself as specific situations lead him.
 Social situational learning: this involves learning from other members of a group,
through imitation. Even animals can learn this way.
 Cultural learning: this is uniquely human. It is possible only through the utilization of
intelligence and the ability to communicate through attaching meanings to words,
objects or things. This is called symbolic communication. People learn culture directly
and through observation and social interaction.
4. Culture is symbolic
Symbolic thought is unique and crucial to humans and to culture. Symbolic thought is the
human ability to give a thing or event an arbitrary meaning and grasp and appreciate that meaning
Symbols are the central components of culture. Symbols refer to anything to which people attach
meaning and which they use to communicate with others. More specifically, symbols are words,
objects, gestures, sounds or images that represent something else rather than themselves.
Symbolic thought is unique and crucial to humans and to culture. It is the human ability to give a
thing or event an arbitrary meaning and grasp and appreciate that meaning. There is no obvious
natural or necessary connection between a symbol and what it symbolizes.
Culture thus works in the symbolic domain emphasizing meaning, rather than the
technical/practical rational side of human behavior. All actions have symbolic content as well as
being action in and of themselves. Things, actions, behaviors, etc, always stand for something else
than merely, the thing itself.
5. Culture seizes nature

Culture imposes itself on nature. It suppresses the natural, biological instincts in us and
expresses it in particular ways. For example, we as biological beings feel the desire for food; but
what type of food to eat, how many times per day to eat, with whom to eat, how much to eat, how
fast or slow to eat, etc, are all determined by the cultural values and norms of a particular group of
people. Or, we feel the desire to urinate, but one cannot do that any time and anywhere, unless one
is an animal, an immature child or a mentally sick person.
The nature- nurture debate is, however, a very heated one in the social sciences, and we
need to underscore the fact of the dialectical relationship between the two. Nature in terms of the
natural environment, the evolutionary growth and development in biological dimensions, genetic
make-up of people, etc, is said to have its own important effect in determining the creation,
expression and continuity of human culture.
6. Culture is shared
It is a possession of individuals as members of a social group; observing, listening, talking and
interacting with other people learn it. Culturally distinct ways of thinking, behaving, feeling, and
responding become habitual very early in life through sharing. Behavior and ways of thinking or
interacting must be shared within a group of people in order to be considered part of culture. Some
cultural patterns are shared by nearly all people in some culture; and shared culture gives people
common experiences. However, we should note that not all things shared among a group of people
are cultural. There are many biological and psychological characteristics are shared among a group
of people.

7. Culture is patterned
Cultures are not haphazard collection of customs and beliefs, but are integrated, patterned
systems. The parts are interrelated. Culture is an integrated whole, that is the parts of culture are
interrelated to one another. No one single cultural trait has its meaning outside of its integrated
context.
8. People use culture creatively

There is difference between ideal culture and real culture. What culture-rules say and what
people do may be different; cultural rules tell us what to do and how to do it, but we don't always do
what the rules dictate. We use culture creatively.
9. Culture is adaptive and maladaptive

People adapt themselves to the environment using culture. The ability to adapt themselves to
practically any ecological condition, unlike other animals, makes humans unique. This ability is
attributed to human’s capacity for creating and using culture. Culture has also maladaptive
dimensions. That is, the very cultural creations and achievements of peoples may turn out to
threaten their survival. When we see the contemporary problems of the environments, the side
effects of rapid growth and in science and technology, etc, we see that culture is also maladaptive.
10. Culture is stable and yet it changes

Culture is stable and yet changing: Culture is stable when we consider what people hold
valuable and are handing over to the next generation in order to maintain their norms and values.
However, when culture comes into contact with other cultures, it can change. That is, cultural
diffusion, the spread of cultural traits from one are to the other, may cause cultural change
However, culture changes not only because of direct or indirect contact between cultures, but also
through innovation and adaptation to new circumstances. That is, the forces of culture change are
not only external, but they are also internal.
Components of Culture
For the sake of anthropological analysis, culture may be broken down into three main
component parts. These components are: culture trait, culture complex and culture pattern. A
culture is more than the sum of its parts. A mere listing of customs and norms and the material
objects associated with them would by no means give a true picture of the culture.
 Culture Traits (elements): are the smallest (simplest) units of a certain culture. They
are the building blocks of culture. It can be material or non- material culture. For
example, pen, car, computer, plow, pot etc. (material); greeting, the custom of eating
injera, respect for the elderly, treating patients, the practice of smoking using fork, knife,
playing football, etc. (non-material)
 Culture Complex: when a number of culture traits or elements are fitted or combined
together, they give a meaningful whole called culture complex. Culture complex is any
integrated and patterned system of culture traits that function as a unit in a society. It is
sometimes referred to as culture trait complex.
 Culture pattern is the organization of culture complexes constituting the entire cultural
configuration of a society. E.g., the culture of sport in Ethiopia, the culture of medicine,
the traditional medical beliefs, practices and institutions of Ethiopia.
Pattern of Culture
At a fairly high level of abstraction, there are substantial similarities in the patterns of culture
found among different groups of men. That is, “there are traits common to all cultures.
This universal culture-pattern may be expressed in terms of the following:

(i) All peoples have a family system,

(ii) All have a language,
(iii) All have developed some sort of a system relating to food, clothing, shelter, etc.
(iv) Every social group has some kind of government and patterns of social control,
(v) Property systems and inheritance rules are found in all lands,
(vi) People in all groups worship a Higher Power.
Role of Enculturation and Relativism in Understanding Cultures
Enculturation
Growing up in any culture, all humans go through the process of enculturation. This process
is the way in which we obtain and transmit culture. It describes how each individual comes to terms
with the already set ideals that their culture has established, and how each person adapts to
prohibited behaviors and beliefs, which are ‘proscribed’, versus encouraged behaviors and beliefs,
which are ‘prescribed’.
Parents and other authority figures in young children’s lives are usually the initiators of this
process, steering the children toward activities and beliefs that will be socially accepted in their
culture. Through this process these authority figures definitely shape the child’s view on life.
Enculturation results in the interpretation of these ideals established by our culture and the
establishment of our own individual behaviors and beliefs.
For example, the Kung Bushman who live in the Kalahari were raised quite differently than
someone who grew up in Washington State, or the States in general. In the United States, we tend
to tolerate arrogance more so than the Kung people. For example, when we give people gifts and
they thank us graciously for it, we acknowledge their acceptance by saying “It was no big deal”,
which by accepting their gratitude makes us in a way arrogant because we accept the fact the
receiver appreciates the gift. Growing up in another culture, there are different guidelines that
people have to follow in order to be socially accepted. In the Kung Bushman tribe, they look down
upon people who think highly of themselves and who are arrogant. To avoid these characteristics,
each child was raised to put down and mock others when they do things such as hunting and other
activities. Their view is that by telling someone who had just hunted a huge ox, that the ox is a “bag
of bones” or “thin, sick, and dead,” then they are preventing this person from being arrogant and full
of them self.
In contrast, enculturation in the United States teaches people to see this behavior as mean
and wrong. Often in the United States culture arrogance is also viewed as a negative quality, but it
is not discouraged in the same way. A common way member of the United States culture
discourage displays of arrogance is simply by telling the younger generation that it is a bad quality.
The Kung people use enculturation strongly to impress their cultural value of humility; in United
States culture, it is emphasized less and it shows in the much wider acceptance of arrogance. In the
US, a hunter might have been praised for doing good things such as hunting large game and
providing food for everyone else. All of the members of these two cultures went through the process
of enculturation but just into different cultures with different established ideals.
Cultural Relativism
The Cross-Cultural Relationship is the idea that people from different cultures can have
relationships that acknowledge, respect and begin to understand each other’s diverse lives. People
with different backgrounds can help each other see possibilities that they never thought were there
because of limitations, or cultural proscriptions, posed by their own traditions. Traditional practices
in certain cultures can restrict opportunity because they are “wrong” according to one specific
culture. Becoming aware of these new possibilities will ultimately change the people that are
exposed to the new ideas. This cross-cultural relationship provides hope that new opportunities will
be discovered but at the same time it is threatening. The threat is that once the relationship occurs,
one can no longer claim that any single culture is the absolute truth.

Cultural relativism is the ability to understand a culture on its own terms and not to make
judgments using the standards of one’s own culture. The goal of this is promote understanding of
cultural practices that are not typically part of one’s own culture. Using the perspective of cultural
relativism leads to the view that no one culture is superior than another culture when compared to
systems of morality, law, politics, etc. [11] It is a concept that cultural norms and values derive their
meaning within a specific social context. This is also based on the idea that there is no absolute
standard of good or evil, therefore every decision and judgment of what is right and wrong is
individually decided in each society. The concept of cultural relativism also means that any opinion
on ethics is subject to the perspective of each person within their particular culture. Overall, there is
no right or wrong ethical system. In a holistic understanding of the term cultural relativism, it tries to
promote the understanding of cultural practices that are unfamiliar to other cultures such as eating
insects, genocides or genital cutting.
There are two different categories of cultural relativism: Absolute: Everything that happens
within a culture must and should not be questioned by outsiders. The extreme example of absolute
cultural relativism would be the Nazi party’s point of view justifying the Holocaust. Critical: Creates
questions about cultural practices in terms of who is accepting them and why. Critical cultural
relativism also recognizes power relationships.
Absolute cultural relativism is displayed in many cultures, especially Africa, that practice
female genital cutting. This procedure refers to the partial or total removal of the external female
genitalia or any other trauma to the female reproductive/genital organs. By allowing this procedure
to happen, females are considered women and then are able to be married. FGC is practiced
mainly because of culture, religion and tradition. Outside cultures such as the United States look
down upon FGC, but are unable to stop this practice from happening because it is protected by its
culture.
Cultural relativism can be seen with the Chinese culture and their process of feet binding. Foot
binding was to stop the growth of the foot and make them smaller. The process often began
between four and seven years old. A ten-foot bandage would be wrapped around the foot forcing
the toes to go under the foot. It caused the big toe to be closer to the heel causing the foot to bow.
In China, small feet were seen as beautiful and a symbol of status. The women wanted their feet to
be “three-inch golden lotuses” It was also the only way to marry into money. Because men only
wanted women with small feet, even after this practice was banned in 1912, women still continued
to do it. To Western cultures the idea of feet binding might seems torturous, but for the Chinese
culture it was a symbol of beauty that has been ingrained the culture for hundreds of years. The
idea of beauty differs from culture to culture.
Diffusion
Diffusion may be simply defined as the spread of a cultural item from its place of origin to
other places. A more expanded definition depicts diffusion as the process by which discrete
culture traits are transferred from one society to another, through migration, trade, war, or
other contact.
Acculturation
Acculturation is a process through which a person or group from one culture comes to adopt
the practices and values of another culture, while still retaining their own distinct culture.
Assimilation
Assimilation, or cultural assimilation, is the process by which different cultural groups
become more and more alike. When full assimilation is complete, there is no distinguishable
difference between the formerly different groups. Assimilation is most often discussed in terms
of minority immigrant groups coming to adopt the culture of the majority and thus becoming
like them in terms of values, ideology, behavior, and practices. This process can be forced or
spontaneous and can be rapid or gradual.

Two Views of Culture: Etic & Emic
An etic view of a culture is the perspective of an outsider looking in. For example, if an
American anthropologist went to Africa to study a nomadic tribe, his/her resulting case study would
be from an etic standpoint if he/she did not integrate themselves into the culture they were
observing. Some anthropologists may take this approach to avoid altering the culture that they are
studying by direct interaction. The etic perspective is data gathering by outsiders that yield
questions posed by outsiders. One problem that anthropologists may run in to is that people tend to
act differently when they are being observed. It is especially hard for an outsider to gain access to
certain private rituals, which may be important for understanding a culture.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is an example of an “etic” view. The WHO created a
group that specializes in Health and Human Rights. Although the idea that all cultures should have
their rights protected in terms of health seems logical, it can also be dangerous as it is an “etic” view
on culture. The WHO posits that “violations or lack of attention to human rights (e.g., harmful
traditional practices, slavery, torture and inhuman and degrading treatment, violence against
women) can have serious health consequences.” Although some cultures may see this as a big
step in health care, others could see it as an attack on their way of life. This problem of right and
wrong in terms of crossing cultural lines is a big one. It can be hard for some cultures to watch other
cultures do things that are seen as damaging when to the culture itself it has a purpose and a
meaning.
An emic view of culture is ultimately a perspective focus on the intrinsic cultural distinctions
that are meaningful to the members of a given society, often considered to be an ‘insider’s’
perspective. While this perspective stems from the concept of immersion in a specific culture, the
emic participant isn’t always a member of that culture or society. Studies done from an emic
perspective often include more detailed and culturally rich information than studies done from an
etic point of view. Because the observer places themselves within the culture of intended study,
they are able to go further in-depth on the details of practices and beliefs of a society that may
otherwise have been ignored. However, the emic perspective has its downfalls. Studies done from
an emic perspective can create bias on the part of the participant, especially if said individual is a
member of the culture they are studying, thereby failing to keep in mind how their practices are
perceived by others and possibly causing valuable information to be left out. The emic perspective
serves the purpose of providing descriptive in-depth reports about how insiders of a culture
understand their rituals.
LEARNING ACTIVITY 1
Sharing of Thoughts
In your own way, illustrate how the following work in you.
1. Culture is learned.
2. Culture gratifies human needs.
3. Culture is a product of social interaction.
4. Culture is integrated.
5. Culture is ideational.
ASSESSMENT
Reflective Essay
Questions for reflection

1. Many modern societies are complex and pluralistic. Are you familiar with any subcultures or
different ethnic groups in your own society? Could you make friends with or even marry someone
from another subculture or ethnicity? What kind of cultural differences or problems would you be
likely to encounter, and how would you deal with ethnocentrism?
2. An often overlooked first step for developing an understanding of another culture is having
knowledge and respect for one’s own cultural traditions. Do you know the origins of the worldview
commonly held by most people in your community? How do you think that developed over time, and
what makes it so accepted or popular in your group today?
SUMMARY
The commonsense meaning of culture, as we use it in our ordinary conversations, is often too
much limited in scope; it does not capture the complex aspects of culture. However, culture is
defined as being equivalent to the entire learned and shared behaviors, beliefs, practices,
institutions, of a society or a group of people; all the material and non-material objects created and
used by the group is culture. Anything apart from the naturally or biologically occurring thing is
cultural. However, this all-encompassing view culture should be viewed cautiously, because it may
mislead beginners to assume that society itself is cultural.
The concept of culture has been defined in quite several ways; there are as many definitions
as there are writers in the fields of anthropology or sociology. One of the most often cited definitions
of culture was the one formulated by the British anthropologist by the name of Tylor. His definition
basically equates culture with all the habits and capabilities that a person acquires as a member of
a group.
The important features of culture are that culture is all- encompassing; it is socially learned;
it seizes nature; it is adaptive and maladaptive; is stable yet changes; is shared; is symbolic; is
specific and general; is shared; patterned and people use it creatively.
All human beings are cultured; there is no cultural superiority or inferiority among societies.
However, all people to some extent tend to regard their own cultural values and norms as better and
somewhat normal or natural; this tendency is called ethnocentrism; on the other hand we need to
realize that every cultural trait need to be understood in its own context; this necessitate cultural
relativism. Cultural relativism taken to its extreme however, pauses danger and controversies.
Some cultural beliefs and practices are universal, meaning they are found among all human
groups; others are generalized, meaning they are practiced by most peoples in the world; while
others are particular, meaning they are limited to few human groups. Culture has components within
it; culture traits represent the simple strands or elements in people’s culture, like the use of knife or
fork when eating food; culture traits combined together are culture complexes, and culture
complexes combined together give us the culture pattern of people.
Culture and the behaviors of individual persons in group or society are intimately tied
together. Individuals usually behave, act, think, and view things according to the general cultural
values, norms, beliefs of the group to which they belong. Peoples’ character and personality types
are mainly the reflections of their culture.
REFERENCES


https://courses.lumenlearning.com
https://www.sociologydiscussion.com/
https://anthropology.ua.edu/theory/diffusionism-and-acculturation/

Study Guide in SSE 104 – Socio-Cultural Anthropology Module No.4_
STUDY GUIDE FOR MODULE NO. ___ 4
DEVELOPMENT OF PRODUCTION
MODULE OVERVIEW
This module discusses the development of production beginning with the food foraging down
to industrial production. Also, the characteristics of each adaptive strategy and the types of
agriculture are incorporated in this module.
1. Understand how energy production have developed through time;

2. Identify some of the food hunting and gathering techniques of early people; and
3. Enumerate the different types of agriculture.
LEARNING CONTENTS
FOOD PRODUCTION
Theories about why food production originated are still quite controversial, but most
archeologists think that certain conditions must have pushed people to switch from collecting to
producing food. Some possible causal factors include (1) population growth in regions of bountiful
wild resources (which may have pushed people to move to marginal areas where they tried to
reproduce their former abundance); (2) global population growth (which filled most of the world’s
habitable regions and may have forced people to utilize a broader spectrum of wild resources and to
domesticate plants and animals); and (3) the emergence of greater seasonal variation in rainfall
(which may have forced people to plant crops and raise animals to get themselves through the dry
seasons).
In today’s globalizing world, communities and societies are being incorporated, at an
accelerating rate, into larger systems. The first major acceleration in the growth of human social
systems can be traced back to around 12,000–10,000 years ago, when humans started intervening
in the reproductive cycles of plants and animals.
Food production refers to human control over the reproduction of plants and animals, and it
contrasts with the foraging economies that preceded it and that still persist in some parts of the
world today. To make their living, foragers hunt, gather, and collect what nature has to offer.
Foragers may harvest, but they don’t plant. They may hunt animals, but (except for the dog) they
don’t domesticate them. Only food producers systematically select and breed for desirable traits in
plants and animals.
With the advent of food production, which includes plant cultivation and animal domestication,
people, rather than nature, become selective agents. Human selection replaced natural selection as
food collectors became food producers.
The origin and spread of food production (plant cultivation and animal domestication)
accelerated human population growth and led to the formation of larger and more powerful social
and political systems. The pace of cultural transformation increased enormously.
Anthropologists generally distinguish three major types of food-production systems –
horticulture, intensive agriculture, and pastoralism.
Adaptive Strategies

The anthropologist Yehudi Cohen (1974) used the term adaptive strategy to describe a
group’s main system of economic production—its way of making a living. Cohen argued that the
most important reason for similarities between two (or more) unrelated societies is their possession
of a similar adaptive strategy. For example, there are clear similarities among societies that have a
foraging (hunting-and-gathering) strategy. Cohen developed a typology of societies based on
correlations between their economies and their social features. His typology includes these five
adaptive strategies: foraging, horticulture, agriculture, pastoralism, and industrialism.
Foraging
Foraging—an economy and way of life based on hunting and gathering—was humans’ only
way of making a living until about 12,000 years ago, when people began experimenting with food
production. To be sure, environmental differences did create substantial contrasts among foragers
living in different parts of the world. Some, like the people who lived in Europe during the Ice Ages,
were big-game hunters. Today, hunters in the Arctic still focus on large animals. Those far northern
foragers have much less vegetation and variety in their diets than do tropical foragers. Moving from
colder to hotter areas, the number of species increases. The tropics contain tremendous
biodiversity, and tropical foragers typically hunt and gather a wide range of plant and animal
species. Some temperate areas also offer abundant and varied species. For example, on the North
Pacific Coast of North America, foragers could draw on varied sea, river, and land species, such as
salmon and other fish, sea mammals, berries, and mountain goats. Despite differences caused by
such environmental variation, all foraging economies have shared one essential feature: People rely
on nature to make their living. They don’t grow crops or breed and or tend animals.
Animal domestication (initially of sheep and goats) and plant cultivation (of wheat and barley)
began 12,000 to 10,000 years ago in the Middle East. Cultivation based on different crops, such as
corn (maize), manioc (cassava), and potatoes, arose independently in the Americas. In both
hemispheres, most societies eventually turned from foraging to food production. Today most
foragers have at least some dependence on food production or on food producers (Kent 1992,
2002).
Foraging economies survived into modern times in certain forests, deserts, islands, and very
cold areas—places where cultivation was not practicable with simple technology (see Lee and Daly
1999).
We should not assume that foragers will inevitably turn to food production once they learn of
its existence. In fact, foragers in many areas have been—and still are—in contact with farmers or
herders, but they have chosen to maintain their foraging lifestyle. Their traditional economy
supported them well enough, lacked the labor requirements associated with farming and herding,
and provided an adequate and nutritious diet. In some places, people tried food production, only to
abandon it eventually and return to foraging. All contemporary foragers live in nation-states.
Typically, they are in contact with food-producing neighbors as well as with missionaries and other
outsiders. We should not view contemporary foragers as isolated or pristine survivors of the Stone
Age. Modern foragers are influenced by national and international policies and political and
economic events in the world system.
Adaptive Strategies Based on Food Production

In Cohen’s typology, the three adaptive strategies based on food production in nonindustrial
societies are horticulture, agriculture, and pastoralism. With horticulture and agriculture, plant
cultivation is the mainstay of the economy, while with pastoralism, herding is key. All three
strategies originated in nonindustrial societies, although they may persist as ways of making a living
even after some degree of industrialization reaches the nation-states that include them. In fully
industrial societies, such as the United States and Canada, most cultivation has become large-
scale, commercial, mechanized, agrochemical-dependent farming. Rather than simple pastoralism,
industrial societies use technologically sophisticated systems of ranch and livestock management.
Food producers typically carry out a variety of economic activities. In Cohen’s typology, each
adaptive strategy refers to the main economic activity. Pastoralists (herders), for example, consume

milk, blood, and meat from their animals as mainstays of their diet. However, they also add grain to
their diet by doing some cultivating or by trading with neighbors.
Horticulture
The two types of plant cultivation found in nonindustrial societies are horticulture
(nonintensive, shifting cultivation) and agriculture (intensive, continuous cultivation). Both differ from
the commercially oriented farming systems of industrial nations, which use large land areas and rely
on machinery and petrochemicals.
When food production arose, both in the Middle East and in Mexico, the earliest cultivators
were rainfall-dependent horticulturalists. More recently, horticulture has been—and in many cases
still is—the primary form of cultivation in parts of Africa, Southeast Asia, the Pacific islands, Mexico,
Central America, and the South American tropical forest.
Horticulturalists use simple tools such as hoes and digging sticks to grow their crops.
Horticulturalists preserve their ecosystems by allowing their fields to lie fallow for varying lengths of
time. Horticulturalists typically rely on slash-and-burn techniques. Farmers clear land by cutting
down (slashing) trees, saplings, and brush. Then they burn that vegetation. They also may set fire
directly to grasses and weeds on their farm plots before planting. Slashing and burning not only gets
rid of unwanted vegetation, but it also kills pests and provides ashes that help fertilize the soil. The
farmers then sow, tend, and harvest their crops on the cleared plot. They do not use that plot
continuously; often they farm it for only a year or two. Horticulture also is known as shifting
cultivation, because farmers shift back and forth between plots, rather than using any one of those
plots continuously. With shifting cultivation, horticulturalists farm a plot for a year or two, then
abandon it, clear another plot, cultivate it for a year or two, then abandon it, and so on. After the
original plot lies fallow for several years (the duration varies in different societies), it can be farmed
again. Shifting cultivation doesn’t mean that whole villages must move when plots are abandoned.
Horticulture can support large, permanent villages. Among the Kuikuru of the South American
tropical forest, for example, one village of 150 people remained in the same place for 90 years
(Carneiro 1956). Kuikuru houses are large and well made. Because the work involved in building
them is great, the Kuikuru preferred to walk farther to their fields, rather than construct a new
village. They chose to shift their plots rather than their villages. By contrast, other horticulturalists in
the montaña (Andean foothills) of Peru maintained small villages of about thirty people (Carneiro
1961/1968). Their houses were small, simple, and easy to rebuild, so that they would stay a few
years in one place, then move on to a different site near their fields where they would build new
homes. They preferred rebuilding to walking even a half mile to their fields.
Agriculture
The greater labor demands associated with agriculture, as compared with horticulture, reflect
its common use of domesticated animals, irrigation, or terracing.
Domesticated Animals
Many agriculturalists use animals as means of production—for transport, as cultivating
machines, and for their manure. Asian farmers typically incorporate cattle and/or water buffalo
into agricultural economies based on rice production. Rice farmers may use cattle to trample
pretilled flooded fields, thus mixing soil and water, prior to transplanting. Many agriculturalists
attach animals to plows and harrows for field preparation before planting or transplanting.
Also, agriculturalists typically collect manure from their animals, using it to fertilize their plots,
thus increasing yields. Animals are attached to carts for transport as well as to implements of
cultivation.
Irrigation
While horticulturalists must await the rainy season, agriculturalists can schedule their
planting in advance, because they control water. Like other irrigation experts in the
Philippines, the Ifugao irrigate their fields with canals from rivers, streams, springs, and ponds.
Irrigation makes it possible to cultivate a plot year after year. Irrigation enriches the soil,

because the irrigated field is a unique ecosystem with several species of plants and animals,
many of them minute organisms, whose wastes fertilize the land. An irrigated field is a capital
investment that usually increases in value. It takes time for a field to start yielding; it reaches
full productivity only after several years of cultivation. The Ifugao, like other irrigators, have
farmed the same fields for generations. In some agricultural areas, including the Middle East,
however, salts carried in the irrigation water can make fields unusable after 50 or 60 years.
Terracing
Terracing is another agricultural technique the Ifugao have mastered. Their homeland
has small valleys separated by steep hillsides. Because the population is dense, people need
to farm the hills. However, if they simply planted on the steep hillsides, fertile soil and crops
would be washed away during the rainy season. To prevent this, the Ifugao cut into the hillside
and build stage after stage of terraced fields rising above the valley floor. Springs located
above the terraces supply their irrigation water. The labor necessary to build and maintain a
system of terraces is great. Terrace walls crumble each year and must be partially rebuilt. The
canals that bring water down through the terraces also demand attention.
Costs and Benefits of Agriculture

Agriculture requires human labor to build and maintain irrigation systems, terraces, and
other works. People must feed, water, and care for their animals. Given sufficient labor input
and management, agricultural land can yield one or two crops annually for years or even
generations. An agricultural field does not necessarily produce a higher single-year yield than
does a horticultural plot. The first crop grown by horticulturalists on long-idle land may be
larger than that from an agricultural plot of the same size. Furthermore, because
agriculturalists have to work more hours than horticulturalists do, agriculture’s yield relative to
the labor time invested also is lower. Agriculture’s main advantage is that the long-term yield
per area is far greater and more dependable. Because a single field sustains its owners year
after year, there is no need to maintain a reserve of uncultivated land as horticulturalists do.
This is why agricultural societies tend to be more densely populated than are horticultural
ones.
Pastoralism
Herders, or pastoralists, are people whose activities focus on such domesticated animals as
cattle, sheep, goats, camels, yak, and reindeer. They live in northern and sub-Saharan Africa, the
Middle East, Europe, and Asia. East African pastoralists, like many others, live in symbiosis with
their herds. (Symbiosis is an obligatory interaction between groups—here, humans and animals—
that is beneficial to each.) Herders attempt to protect their animals and to ensure their reproduction
in return for food (dairy products and meat) and other products, such as leather. People use
livestock in various ways. Natives of North America’s Great Plains, for example, didn’t eat, but only
rode, their horses. (They got those horses after Europeans reintroduced them to the Western
Hemisphere; the native American horse had become extinct thousands of years earlier.) For Plains
Indians, horses served as “tools of the trade,” means of production used to hunt buffalo, the main
target of their economies. So, the Plains Indians were not true pastoralists but hunters who used
horses—as many agriculturalists use animals—as means of production.
Pastoralists, by contrast, typically use their herds for food. They consume their meat, blood,
and milk, from which they make yogurt, butter, and cheese. Although some pastoralists rely on their
herds more completely than others do, it is impossible to base subsistence solely on animals. Most
pastoralists therefore supplement their diet by hunting, gathering, fishing, cultivating, or trading.
The Samis (also known as Lapps or Laplanders) of Norway, Sweden, and Finland
domesticated the reindeer, which their ancestors once hunted, in the 16th century. Like other
herders, they follow their animals as they make an annual trek, in this case from coast to interior.
Today’s Samis use modern technology, such as snowmobiles and four-wheel-drive vehicles, to
accompany their herds on their annual nomadic trek. Some of them probably use reindeer
management software on their laptops, tablets, PDAs, or smartphones. Although their environment

is harsher, the Samis, like other herders, live in nation-states and must deal with outsiders, including
government officials, as they follow their herds and make their living through animal husbandry,
trade, and sales (Paine 2009).
Unlike foraging and cultivation, which existed throughout the world before the Industrial
Revolution, herding was confined almost totally to the Old World. Before European conquest, the
only herders in the Americas lived in the Andean region of South America. They used their llamas
and alpacas for food and wool and in agriculture and transport. Much more recently, the Navajo of
the southwestern United States developed a pastoral economy based on sheep, which were
brought to North America by Europeans. The populous Navajo became the major pastoral
population in the Western Hemisphere.
Two patterns of movement occur with pastoralism: nomadism and transhumance. Both are
based on the fact that herds must move to use pasture available in particular places in different
seasons. In pastoral nomadism, the entire group—women, men, and children—moves with the
animals throughout the year. The Middle East and North Africa provide numerous examples of
pastoral nomads (see Salzman 2008). In Iran, for example, the Basseri and the Qashqai ethnic
groups traditionally followed a nomadic route more than 300 miles (480 kilometers) long (see
Salzman 2004).
With transhumance, part of the group moves with the herds, but most people stay in the home
village. There are examples from Europe and Africa. In Europe’s Alps, it is just the shepherds and
goatherds—not the whole hamlet, village, or town—who accompany the flocks to highland
meadows in summer. Among the Turkana of Uganda, men and boys take the herds to distant
pastures, while much of the village stays put and does some horticultural farming. During their
annual trek, pastoral nomads trade for crops and other products with more sedentary people.
Transhumants don’t have to trade for crops. Because only part of the population accompanies the
herds, transhumants can maintain year-round villages and grow their own crops.
Industrial Food Production

Until about 200 years ago, human societies worldwide had developed cultural infrastructures
based on foraging, horticulture, agriculture, or pastoralism. This changed with the invention of the
steam engine in England, which brought about an industrial revolution that quickly spread to other
parts of the globe. Replacing animal and human labor, as well as hand tools, new machines (first
powered by steam, then by biofuels—coal, gas, oil) boosted factory production and mass
transportation. Throughout the 1800s and 1900s, this resulted in a large-scale industrial society.
Technological inventions utilizing electricity and (since the 1940s) nuclear energy brought about
more dramatic changes in social and economic organization on a worldwide scale.
Modern industrial technologies have transformed food production. In contrast to traditional
farms and plantations, which historically depended on human labor (often forced) and on animal
power in many places, modern agriculture depends on newly invented laborsaving devices such as
tractors, combines, milking machines, and so on. With large machines plowing, seeding, weeding,
mowing, and harvesting crops, the need for farmhands and other rural workers is sharply
diminished. This has also happened with livestock—in particular, hogs, cattle, and poultry.
We can define industrial food production as large-scale businesses involved in mass food
production, processing, and marketing that primarily rely on laborsaving machines. It has had far-
reaching economic, social, and political consequences, not all of which are readily recognized as
related and intertwined. Today, large food-producing corporations own enormous tracts of land on
which they mass produce tons of mechanically harvested crops or raise huge numbers of meat
animals. Crops and animals alike are harvested, processed, packed, and shipped with ever-greater
efficiency to supermarkets to feed largely urban masses. Profits are considerable, especially for
corporate owners and shareholders.
Although meat, poultry, and other agricultural products are relatively cheap and thus
affordable, industrial food production by agribusiness has often been a disaster for millions of
peasants and small farmers. Even medium-sized farms growing corn, wheat, or potatoes or raising
cows, hogs, and chickens can rarely compete without government subsidies. For that reason, the
number of family-owned farms in western Europe and North America has dramatically declined in

the past few decades. This process has led to huge drops in many rural populations, decimating
many farming communities.
For the family farms that have managed to survive, there is seldom enough income to cover
the costs of a large household, including education, healthcare, farm and household insurance, and
taxes. This situation forces individuals to seek money-earning opportunities elsewhere, often far
away. Ironically, some hire on as cheap wage laborers in poultry- or meat-packing plants where
working conditions are distasteful and often dangerous.
Maximizing profits, agribusinesses are constantly streamlining food production and seeking
ways to reduce labor costs by trimming the number of workers, minimizing employee benefits, and
driving down wages. The largest of these have gone global in a push for market expansion beyond
regional or even national boundaries.
Today, the United States is the world’s largest producer of chicken meat—some 36 billion
pounds annually. On average, each American consumes 85 pounds of chicken a year, but much of
the country’s production is exported. The $55 billion U.S. poultry business exports billions of tons of
chicken annually to dozens of countries around the world. Over 900,000 tons go to Russia (mostly
legs—more than a billion of them). Another 400,000 tons go to China, comprised primarily of some
1.2 billion chicken feet. Large-scale chicken farms, with enclosed “chicken houses” big enough to
hold about 23,000 birds, are located primarily in the southern United States where there is ready
access to corn and soy feed. The country’s biggest processing plant, located in Mississippi,
slaughters about 2.5 million chickens per week.
The industrial food production and global marketing complex, involving a network of interlinked
distribution centers, is made possible by an electronic-digital revolution that began in the late 20th
century. Increasingly, the economies of countries all around the world are based on the research
and development of knowledge and technologies, as well as on providing information, services, and
finance capital on a global scale.
TYPES OF AGRICULTURE
Imagine a family farm on a small plot of land and a huge commercial farm that spans acres
and acres of land. What do you think makes these two types of farms different? Although both of
these farms are designed to produce food, they vary in the methods of production, the amount of
food they produce and who consumes the food produced.
Although for most of human history our species has survived by hunting and gathering food,
around 10,000 years ago, our ancestors started producing their own food. Agriculture is the term
used to describe the act of growing crops and raising livestock for human consumption and use.
Since the development of agriculture, many different types of production have been
implemented. Currently, agriculture is divided into two different types, including industrialized
agriculture and subsistence agriculture. Let's explore and learn more about these two types of
agriculture.
Industrialized Agriculture
It is the type of agriculture where large quantities of crops and livestock are produced through
industrialized techniques for the purpose of sale. The goal of industrialized agriculture is to
increase crop yield, which is the amount of food that is produced for each unit of land. Crops and
livestock made through this type of agriculture are produced to feed the masses and the products
are sold worldwide.
Industrialized agriculture is able to produce large quantities of food due to the farming
methods used. Instead of using animal and manpower to work the fields, industrialized agriculture
utilizes large machines, which are more powerful and can work faster and harder. The shift towards
machines has increased the use of fossil fuels on industrial farms, and, therefore, the price of food
can fluctuate as the price of oil changes. Industrialized agriculture also increases crop yield by
investing in large irrigation systems and by using chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
The chemical fertilizers that are used in industrialized agriculture often add inorganic
nutrients to the soil to increase yield and plant size. The use of pesticides is also common in
industrialized agriculture, and most pesticides help increase yield by killing pests that are harming or

consuming the crops. Another farming technique that is used in industrialized agriculture is the
method of growing monocultures, which is when a single crop is planted on a large scale. Although
planting monocultures can increase overall yield, this method of farming is also more susceptible to
disease and causes a reduction in the dietary variation of consumers.
Subsistence Agriculture
Although industrialized agriculture is necessary to feed the growing human population, there is
another type of agriculture that is regularly practiced today. Subsistence agriculture is when a
farmer lives on a small amount of land and produces enough food to feed his or her household and
have a small cash crop. The goal of subsistence agriculture is to produce enough food to ensure the
survival of the individual family. If there is excess food produced, it is sold locally to other families or
individuals.
Subsistence agriculture varies a great deal from industrialized agriculture in terms of the
farming methods used. This type of agriculture is very labor-intensive because all of the work is
done by humans and animals and only hand tools and simple machines are used to work the land.
Subsistence agriculture does not rely on chemical fertilizers or pesticides and instead utilizes
more natural techniques. Most farmers have animals, including chickens, goats and cows, and the
manure from these animals is used to fertilize the plants. The crops produced are then consumed or
sold, and the inedible parts of the plants are used to feed the livestock. This creates a closed circuit
within the farm where nothing goes to waste.
Instead of using chemical pesticides, subsistence farmers rely on natural predators of pests to
control the pest population. Another major difference between industrialized and subsistence
agriculture is what is being planted. Unlike industrialized agriculture that utilizes monocultures,
subsistence agriculture relies on polycultures, which is when different types of crops are planted in
one area. Planting polycultures is a method used to get the most crop yield out of a small area of
land.
LEARNING ACTIVITY 1
Video Viewing
Watch the video about food hunting and gathering stage, and Agriculture thru this link.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?vp=MsdxAKuClssc).
Reaction Paper
Make a rection paper about the video that you have viewed. Follow the IBC format.
ASSESSMENT
Paper-and-Pencil Test
A. Read and understand the following statements and identify what is being asked. (5 pts.)
1. These are people whose activities focus on domesticating animals.

2. An agriculture that utilizes large machines, which are more powerful and can work faster and
harder.
3. A pattern of movement in which the entire group—women, men, and children—moves with
the animals throughout the year.
4. He argued that the most important reason for similarities between two (or more) unrelated
societies is their possession of a similar adaptive strategy.

5. It also is known as shifting cultivation, because farmers shift back and forth between plots.
B. Write FACT, if the statement is true and BLUFF, if it is not.
1. Subsistence agriculture relies on polycultures.

2. Horticulturalists typically rely on slash-and-burn techniques.
3. With transhumance, all of the group members move with the herds.
4. The goal of subsistence agriculture is to produce enough food to ensure the survival of the
individual family.
5. Animal domestication (initially of sheep and goats) and plant cultivation (of wheat and
barley) began 12,000 to 10,000 years ago in the Middle East.
SUMMARY
Food production refers to human control over the reproduction of plants and animals, and it
contrasts with the foraging economies that preceded it and that still persist in some parts of the
world today. With the advent of food production, which includes plant cultivation and animal
domestication, people, rather than nature, become selective agents.
Cohen developed a typology of societies based on correlations between their economies and
their social features. His typology includes these five adaptive strategies: foraging, horticulture,
agriculture, pastoralism, and industrialism.
REFERENCES
Ember, C., Ember, M. (1988). Anthropology, Fifth Edition. Prentice Hall


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Study Guide in SSE 104 – Socio-Cultural Anthropology Module No. 1

STUDY GUIDE FOR MODULE NO. _1_

MODULE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Define and discuss Anthropology and its basic concerns;

Subject Matter and Scope of Anthropology

PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY 1

Study Guide in SSE 104 – Socio-Cultural Anthropology Module No. 1

Brief Historical Overview of Anthropology

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Study Guide in SSE 104 – Socio-Cultural Anthropology Module No. 1

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Study Guide in SSE 104 – Socio-Cultural Anthropology Module No. 1

Some branches of study in archeology include:

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Study Guide in SSE 104 – Socio-Cultural Anthropology Module No. 1

In addition to the aforementioned points, we may substantiate the contributions of anthropology as

1. Because of its broad scope, anthropology allows us to understand the biological,

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Study Guide in SSE 104 – Socio-Cultural Anthropology Module No. 1

Unique Approaches of Anthropology

Polish-born British anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski was the first anthropologist to

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Study Guide in SSE 104 – Socio-Cultural Anthropology Module No. 1

Anthropologists also commonly construct genealogies (diagrams of kinship relations) and

Linguistic anthropologists, as well as many cultural anthropologists, use a variety of methods

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Study Guide in SSE 104 – Socio-Cultural Anthropology Module No. 1

E. Physical Anthropological Research

Physical anthropologists studying human genetics use sophisticated laboratory techniques to

Anthropology and Other Social Sciences

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Study Guide in SSE 104 – Socio-Cultural Anthropology Module No. 1

Answer the following questions briefly.

2. Discuss the historical backgrounds of sociocultural anthropology.

3. What is the difference between ethnography and ethnology?

4. Why do anthropologists study primate behaviour?

6. What distinguishes anthropology from other human sciences?

7. What are the personal and professional uses of anthropology to you?

Create a timeline of history of anthropology.

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Study Guide in SSE 104 – Socio-Cultural Anthropology Module No. 1

Alimbuyugen, M., et al. (2012). Sociology and Anthropology. IBM Publishing

Haviland, W., et al., (2017). Cultural Anthropology. CENGAGE Learning

Kottak, C. (2017). Cultural Anthropology: Appreciating Cultural Diversity, Seventeenth Edition.

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Study Guide in SSE 104 – Socio-Cultural Anthropology Module No. 1

STUDY GUIDE FOR MODULE NO. ___ 2

MODULE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Define the meaning of culture;

The Concept and Characteristics of Culture

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Study Guide in SSE 104 – Socio-Cultural Anthropology Module No. 1

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Study Guide in SSE 104 – Socio-Cultural Anthropology Module No. 1

Subcultures: Groups Within a Larger Society

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Study Guide in SSE 104 – Socio-Cultural Anthropology Module No. 1

Culture Is Based on Symbols

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Study Guide in SSE 104 – Socio-Cultural Anthropology Module No. 1

The Barrel Model of Culture

The Barrel Model of Culture