Introduction to

Anthropology
Anthropology involves the study of human culture, the socially
shared and learned system of beliefs, values, customs, language,
and material goods necessary for people to function as members
of a particular social group. Twentieth-century American
anthropology is distinguished by the four-field approach. These
four fields are archaeology, the exploration of past human
cultures through their material remains; linguistics, the study of
language; physical anthropology, the study of human biology and
evolution; and, cultural anthropology, the study of the customs
and traditions of human social groups. The descriptive accounts
of cultures written by anthropologists are called ethnography.

Some Founders of American

Anthropology

In the next few slides youll see photos of

some of those who shaped the field

Franz Boas

Franz Boas (1858-1942), the

German-born "father of modern
American anthropology
challenged the prevailing
nineteenth-century race-based,
evolutionary approach to culture,
which considered white Western
industrialized societies the pinnacle
of human progress. Boas separated
race from cultural factors in his
theories and laid the groundwork
for cultural relativism, which
requires that a culture be
understood on its own terms,
without a hierarchy ranking some
cultures as better or more advanced
than others.
Historical Particularism

1925 in Samoa

Margaret Mead specifically went to study

young girls with a general question: was socalled normal behavior in girls normal at
all?

On her return from

Samoa, Mead,
married to her first
husband, Luther
Cressman, met Reo
Fortune, a
psychologist from
New Zealand.
Fortune was just
finishing field work
in New Guinea

Margaret Mead on
a canoe with M
anus children
, 1928.
Reo Fortune,
photographer.

www.loc.gov/exhibits/mead/field-manus.html

Margaret
Mead carrying
a Manus girl,
probably
Piwen, on her
back, 1928.
Reo Fortune,
photographer.

Mead and
Fortune in Manus

Meads research in Manus focused on children. She collected

over 35,000 drawings by children.
She found these drawings realistic,and not tending to the
supernatural. She published her findings and contradicted the
prevalent developmental psychology of the day, of Piaget,
which stated that animism is a universal stage of childhood
thought.

Catching Fish in a Net"

by Kilipak, New Guinea,
male age 13

Gregory Bateson
Margaret Mead
Leo Fortune (1933)
While here, Fortune
and Mead teamed up
with British
Anthropologist Gregory
Bateson.
Bateson would become
Meads third husband.

Mead continued to research and publish in the

areas of gender and childhood and growing up,
and introducing these ideas into popular
culture.

1. Understanding the Field

Anthropology is a Social Science, but it is
Methodologically and Perspectivally
Examples of other Social Science Fields: History,
Geography, Sociology, Economics, etc.
For Anthropology the method of data collection is
DIFFERENT it is obtained by FIELDWORK.
This gives a different perspective, which is up
close and personal

3. Understanding ParticipantObservation

This is the Method of Anthropological Inquiry

It requires
Long time in field
Language competency
Rapport with informants
Living in the culture
THIS IS BY DEFINITION specific, local, intimate,
everyday information for which you get feedback
from informants.

The Anthropological Perspective

works against
GENERALIZATION
Because we get our data from individuals, it is
variable and generalizations are much harder
arrive at. This method thus provides a check
on overgeneralizations.
One of these generalizations is Ethnocentrism.

Ethnocentrism

What is it???
The practice of judging another society
by the values and standards of ones own
society.
What Does This Mean?

Mapping our World (view)

Mercator Projection

Galls-Peters Projection

The Hobo-Dyer Map

World Population Map

A Good Example of Ethnocentrism

Introduction to Anthropology

The Four Subfields

Physical Anthropology
Archaeology
Linguistic Anthropology
Cultural Anthropology (Ethnology)

Physical Anthropology
concerned mostly with humans as biological
organisms
studies evolution of homo sapiens as a mammal
from its origins millions of years ago
studies present-day human variation
also studies near-relatives--esp. monkeys and
apes other than humans

Physical Anthropology

Paleoanthropology

Primatology

Fossil hunters
Bones and teeth
Monkeys
Apes

Human Variation

Physical traits

Hair color, eye color, skin color

Body size
Genetics

Archaeology

the study of material remains, usually from the past, to

describe and explain human behavior

The Study of

Artifacts and material culture from prehistory

and historic times

In historic archaeology artifactual evidence can supplement

the written record
examples:
study of Plimoth Plantation
study of garbage

Linguistic Anthropology
studies human language in order to understand people's behavior and
customs better
studies the description of language OR the history of languages
language:
one of the most distinctive features of being human
allows transmission of culture, knowledge, and it does so
intergenerationally
within language, the scholar can discern the outlines of an entire culture
EXAMPLE: Americans have a bunch of words for money : greenback,
dough, cash, bucks, moolah, etc.
Papuans have only one word for it

Cultural Anthropology

study of culture AND cultures in the

present from a comparative and
historical perspective
Based on FIELD WORK
First-hand observation
Long-term interaction and
discussion with members
(informants) of a culture

FIELD
WORK

Margaret Mead
on a canoe
with Manus
children, 1928.
Reo Fortune,
photographer.

www.loc.gov/exhibits/mead/field-manus.html

Margaret
Mead carrying
a Manus girl,
probably
Piwen, on her
back, 1928.
Reo Fortune,
photographer.

Holistic, Interdisciplinary, and Global

Perspectives
Holism looking at a culture as a system
Disciplinary Cross over between Cultural
Anthropology and Psychology,
Economics, Political Science, Sociology
and History
Comparative Approach looks at a given
culture in a global and historical
framework

Holistic Perspective

holistic perspective: describing and analyzing all

cultural and societal institutions in the broadest
context, to understand their interconnections and
interdependence
this is a major, fundamental principle in all anthro
inquiries
going for the "wider perspective"
obtaining the "thick description"
documenting and accounting for all of the "contexts"

Cross-Cultural Comparison
EX: Household chores
Australian aborigine woman--about 20 hours a
week to fulfill all duties
American woman in the 1920s--about 52 hours
American woman in the 1970s--about 55 hours
presents sufficient evidence to undercut the
hypothesis that modern conveniences in Western
society has made living easier

The Product -- Ethnography

Cultural Anthropologists write up their FIELD NOTES

their observations, interviews, conversations, etc
FROM THE FIELD.
Then, they use many sources, such as other
ethnologies, sociological works, theoretical works,
and also writings by non-anthropological observers
(historians, folklorists, natives, novelists, etc.), oral
histories, accounts left by explorers, missionaries,
and traders, and such records as land titles, birth
and death records, and other archival material.
These all go together into the detailed, systematic
narrative called an ETHNOGRAPHY