intro to anthropology

Question 1

what is anthropology

Answer 1

Study of people

Question 2

2 main ways we study people

Answer 2

Cross-cultural
Holistic

Question 3

4 types of British (+ colonial descendants) anthropology

Answer 3

Socio-cultural anthropology (mostly British)
Archaeology
Linguistics
Biological / physical anthropology

Question 4

what did anthropology begin to engage with and the 2 types

Answer 4

evolutionary thinking (Darwin 1859)
- progressivist
- teleological

Question 5

what’s the progressivist version of evolutionary thinking (Darwin 1859) and who is involved with it

Answer 5

think things are getting better over time - moving closer to perfection
- Herbert spencer (1820-1903)
- “Survival of the fittest”
- Social Darwinism – theory about how societal change happens

Question 6

what’s the teleological version of evolutionary thinking (Darwin 1859) and an example

Answer 6

• explains things in terms of their outcomes and a goal
  e.g. why did humans invent ceramics – clay is not useful – found you can make and shape things from it e.g. pots to carry water

Question 7

what is the British context for the cross-cultural approach in anthropology

Answer 7

Edward B Tylor (1832-1917)
- Primitive culture (1878)
- Culture “.. that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, arts, morals, laws, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by a man** as a member of society”
- Aka your lack of knowledge for something is based on how you were raised and what you were taught, not because you’re not incapable

Question 8

what is the American context for the holistic approach in anthropology

Answer 8

Franz Boas (1858-1942)
- Trains many anthropologists
- 2 impt studies

Question 9

2 impt studies by Boas for the holistic approach in the American context

Answer 9

1. Eastern European immigrants to NYC – found eastern European kids that moved to NYC were taller than parents – more access to food therefore developed more – environment matters!
2. Native Americans - thought they were going to go extinct – collected all the aspects of them by interviewing native Americans’ grandparents to get an idea of Americans before Europeans collonized:
   - Ethnography (ethnology)
   - Archaeology
   - Linguistic anthropology
   - Physical anthropology (NB: antiquated term)
   - Thought that NA pop doesn’t change rapidly + they haven’t been around very long (both wrong)

Question 10

what is Cultural relativism

Answer 10

concept popularized by Boas
- understanding and explaining people in their local context is important – local perspective rather than outsider

Question 11

who is Ales Hrdlicka

Answer 11

• First curator of biological / physical anthro at the US national museum (now the Smithsonian)
• founded AJPA - 1918
• one of the key figures behind AAPA – 1930

Question 12

who is Earnest Hootan

Answer 12

• Classicist
• physical anthropologist interested in racial classification
• study of human skeletal remains to classify different human populations into racial groups

Question 13

who is Sherwood Washburn

Answer 13

• physical anthropologist
• Primatologist to understand human evolution
• Rejected race categories - emphasized the study of human evolution, behavior instead

Question 14

3 physical anthropologist

Answer 14

• Ales Hrdlicka
• Earnest Hootan
• Sherwood Washburn