Main Branches of Anthropology, Their Scope & Relevance

Main Branches of Anthropology

Fraz Boas gave four fold division of Anthropology

Physical / Biological
Sociocultural
Archaeological
Linguistic

Sociocultural Anthropology

Introduction : Socio-cultural Anthropology includes the study of ways of life of people in terms of place and time.

Definition : It is defined as the branch of anthropology which studies socio cultural evolution and variation.

Origin : It was started in 19th century in the form of ethnology and later developed into socio-cultural anthropology with the efforts of A.L Kroeber who merged together of social and cultural anthropology.

Goal of Sociocultural Anthropology

to describe entire range of human behaviour & develop explanation of similarities & differences among cultures.
To study primitive culture in present form.
To study cultural contact.
Reconstruct social history.
Search for universally valid social laws.

Development of socio-cultural anthropology

Ethnology & Theory of Evolution
- The branch of socio-cultural anthropology had a systematic beginning in the form of theory of evolution.
- Evolutionists were involved in comparative study of simple societies and cultures with the intention of knowing the origin and evolution of human evolution. This method is known as ethnology which is comparative study of cultures and investigation of theoretical problems using information about different groups.
- Till about 20th century the term socio-cultural anthropology was not popular. Rather it was ethnology.
- The old name ethnology was later replaced by sociocultural anthropology.
Ethnography: Another related concept is ethnography which involves detailed description of one culture and not comparative study.
Social Anthropology –
- was popularised by Radcliffe Brown in Britain which is general theoretical study of social institutions, social relations, laws, religion, political organisation and economic organisations etc.
- Social Anthro is largely synchronic denoting the study of societies & culture at a given point of time.
Cultural Anthropology was popularised by Franz Boasin America. It studies human behaviour that is learnt rather than transmitted. Cultural anthropology encompasses diachronic approach denoting study of societies and culture through time.
Sociocultural Anthropology: In 1953, at an international symposium of anthropology at Geneva, with efforts ofA.L Kroeber ( ~~Krupene~~,) new term Socio-cultural Anthropology was accepted to be more appropriate since it encompasses both society and culture.

Scope of Sociocultural Anthropology

The scope of socio-cultural Ⓐ spread it’s subject matter b/w two main branches, ethnography & ethnology
- Ethnography
  - Describe one culture at a particular time
  - Descriptive, ideographic (highlights unique elements) & synchronic
- Ethnology
  - It compares one culture with others based on ethnographic data.
  - Analytical, comparative, nomothetic & generalising branch (general)
Sociocultural Anthropology includes two broad specialisation.
- Topical Specialisation – cultivates every aspects of culture & society as a specialisation. Thus they are – include Political Anthropology, Ecological Anthropology, Legal Anthropology, Economic Anthropology, Psychological Anthropology, Symbolic Anthropology, Cognitive Anthropology , Ethno-technology & Ethno-botany

- Area specialisation – highlights the sociocultural similarities and regularities in specific area like, North America, Polynesian, Africa, Micronesian etc.

Theories to study Sociocultural Anthropology:

Classical evolutionism,
Historical particularism,
Diffusionism,
Functionalism,
Neo-evolutionism etc.

Relevance of sociocultural anthropology:

helps in generating awareness of similarities and differences in human culture and behaviour
helps in inculcating tolerance and avoiding conflicts among public resulting into world peace and prosperity.
Helps in formulation of policies & implementation of govt schemes e.g Beef eating in Islam & hindu, NMS complex to understand culture
Helps in rehabilitation & resettlement process e.g Tribal resettlement process e.g Tribal resettlement of Chenchus, birhorns etc.

Physical Anthropology

Definition – Physical Anthropology is the oldest discipline of Ⓐ which deals with biological evolution of humans & their variability, adaptations to environmental stress and his relations (i.e. order primates) and applied knowledge of biological science.

Physical anthropology should correctly be termed as biological anthropology, as it using evolutionary perspective, deals not only with physical aspect like bone, muscles & organs & how it functions to allow survival & reproduction but also the genetic

the latter is supplementing and gradually replacing the former.

Origin: The discipline emerged from the discoveries and researches, centered on basic enquiries of human being about himself like who we are? Where are we from? Why are we different from each other? What will happen to us in future?

Scope and Development of Physical Anthropology

The beginning of physical anthropology was very random. In late 18th century, scientists become curious about physical differences among humans that laid the foundations for the study of race.
Human Biological Evolution : Subsequently in 1850s, fossils of some of the ancestors of man (Dryopithecus and Neanderthal man) were discovered that promoted the interest in human biological evolution.
- It tells about man’s place in the animal kingdom by making a comparative study on the different groups of man & his near relations like apes, monkey etc I.e Primate
- It studied evolution of man from simple homogenous single cell organism.
Primatology: In 1871, Charles Darwin in his book ‘Descent of Man‘ opined that man must have evolved from apes and thereafter started the study of monkeys, apes and man i.e. primates. The subject that emerged from these discoveries and researches is known as physical anthropology.
New physical anthropology/Biological anthropology
Human Variation
- Compares different aspects of race with the help of somatology & anthropometry
- Analyse the emergence of difficult physical features of races. For ex Dark colour of Negroids, fair colour
Human genetics – deals with descent, variation & heredity etc
- E.g ABO blood group system & variations
- Mendel’s laws of inheritance
- Studies genetic variation in the population with the knowledge of mutations, isolations, migrations etc
Demography – studies various facts including hereditary & environment that influence fertility & mortality.
paleoanthropology
Comparative osteology
Dermatoglyphics etc.

Tools of Physical Anthropology

Genetic traits
Physiological traits
Anthropometric
Biochemical tests – Blood group ; serology

Relevance of Physical Anthropology

To know about biological past which establishes man’s place in animal kingdom.
Infuses confidence in man about his future course of development.
Proving the myth of racism and thus combating racial arrogance.
Applied physical & biological anthropology
- Health and Nutrition,
- defence designing,
- forensic investigations etc.
Sports anthropology:- Increased efficiency and effectiveness, decreased wastage of time, money and energy.

New Physical Anthropology

Washburn gave this generic name to changing nature of Physical Anthropology in 20th century.

Changing Nature of Physical Anthropology: 20th Century ; beginning of 20th century, changes in subject matter of & scope

Subject matter dominated by genetic studies replacing morphological studies
Interaction between heredity and environment
Study to know interaction between genetics, behavior and culture-social biology
Scope changed from mere speculation to application for mankind.

Changes in 20th Century – Studies

ABO blood group system discovered by Landsteiner in 1900.
Mendel’s laws of inheritance rediscovered in 1901.
First Mathematical explanation in the form of Hardy-Weinberg principle– 1908.
Cytology, cytogenetics, biochemistry,
population genetics,
synthetic theory etc.
UNESCO declaration by Ashley Montague and Tea – Racism is a myth, no pure races. .
- declared that races do not differ significantly with respect to their capacities and abilities. Hence forth the term race is replaced with ethnic groups or Mendelian populations.

Conclusion: Should we continue to call these changes New Physical Anthropology?

What Washburn called first belonged to an integral part of subject matter and there is nothing new in it.
It is no more physical only. Thus realizing the expansion of the discipline, we use a wider term: Biological Anthropology.

Difference B/w Old & New Physical Anthropology

Parameters	Old Physical Anthropology	New Physical Anthropology
Scope	Limited scope only in theory but never achieved in practice.	Vast & Universal
Concept	Included Fields❖ the form of bones & teeth ❖ Determination of age, race, & sex from bones & teeth ❖ Human growth❖ Body composition	It encompasses❖ blood group studies ❖ Biochemical human genetics especially of so c/l polymorphism ❖ Analysis of evolutionary factoids such as mutation, natural selection, genetic drift ❖ Studies of living non – human primates
Research Methodology	❖ simple descriptive & not analytical ❖ No efforts made to develop hypotheses & theology ❖ Emphasis was on classification not interpretation	❖ application of population Genetics to an understanding of this evolution ❖ Hypothesis testing based on concepts of adaptation & evolution

Archaeological Anthropology

Intro: Archaeology is the study of antiquity of past. AA combines Archaeology & Anthropology. It is concerned with systemic retrieval & analysis of the physical remains including the skeleton & cultural remains left behind by ancients humans & attempts to reconstruct env, culture & society of the prehistoric & historic population & its G&D in time from antiquities by highly specialised techs.

Definition: a study of material objects as a means of describing & explaining human behaviour & origin, growth & development of culture.

Done by Archaeologist:

share the objective with historians(from written doc.) , cultural historians;
from antiquities, by tracing clues

Why needed: written history limited to some culture & if present give inadequate picture; so necessary to supplement

Origin; from 1797 whenn a farmer John Frere send Acheulian tools to Society of Antiquities in London. with large scale excavation in 19th C -> popular

Types: old & New

Old; prior to 1960
- study of all extinct culture, but could deal with only a few
- gave only description & chronology of a few; not interpretive
New (contemporary); from the early 1960s onwards
- reconstructs of culture in past by excavating & studying remains;
- descriptions of present-day primitive culture also utilised; to know similarities -> approach c/a Ethno-archeology

Approaches Followed

Evolutionary Perspective Approach – emphasis on role of tech + economy in generation progress & Evolution of culture
- Pottery figures & art works -> appearances, dress & sometimes social life
- brunt grains -> agriculture
- tools : like sickle (crop cultivation)
System Approach – Inter-relation of environment, ecology, local & regional population
- bits of bone & pollen – with assistance of biologist -> natural env. & food consumed
- bones -> no. , age sex & cause of death
- charcoal from fire or other organic matter : time
- remains of housing pattern -> lifestyle
- Burial site observation -> belief patterns (afterlife) & social inequalities
Logico-deductive(Reasoning) – Utilises present primitive culture to understand the extent ancient culture

Branches: 4

Prehistoric (aka Prehistoric cultural history & Synthetic archaeology) ; origin, evolution & diffusion of culture from first appearance of H. to dev. of WR.
- Prehistoric Environment – Paleoecology
- Prehistoric culture – Paleoethnography
Text-Aided (aka Classical ); reconstruction of ancient civi. with dev. art of writing; written account as source material
Text Free (include old & new world archaeology) ; concerned with non-literate; no text or written material to guide
Salvage; info from sites threatened by destruction; natural or human activity

Prerequisites;

collaboration with geologists, geophysicist, biochemist etc.
sound know. of biological a. geography, ethnography, ethnology & cultural a. etc

Scope

It beings at the threshold of humankind & ends with the close of early civilisation.
it can’t observe H. behaviour directly like soci-cultural a. but construct from remains
The cultural construction of man’s past
excavated prehistoric sites & collect artefacts, mainly found in river terraces & moraines
includes tool implements, pottery, utensils & ornaments
chronology by dating methods -> interpretation & analysis to understand socio-culture life ; so took help from other fields
shed light on economic activity of people who used these artifacts

Relevance

socio-culure life of people -> origin & evolution of human culture & behaviour
from last 2 decades also climate & ecological aspects of ancient time
contribute to knowledge & understanding of ways of life of ancient time throughout the world.
Helps in understanding human culture & behaviour with help of pottery, utensils & ornaments
Helps to reconstruct chronology of human evolution with help of dating techniques like carbon dating, stratigraphy etc.
We can understand the economy, inter- connectedness of people with help of artefacts
AA analyse Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, chalcolithic and Bronze Age culture from different parts of world

Limitation;

has never been able to know as to what speech or lang. of prehistoric man was using.

Case study – Butchery practice in Nanmuit Eskimoes to construct history ( Ethno-archeology)

Conclusion; enable to study human past in a holistic manner

Linguistic Anthropology

Introduction – Among man’s many features perhaps the most distinctive one is the ability to speak. Speech and language are important part of human culture. Since anthropology cannot exist without study of culture, it is logical to study linguistic part of anthropology.

Linguistic anthropology, the youngest branch of the discipline, is defined as the systematic study of speech & language as social, cultural phenomena from anthropological perspective. It can also be defined as the systematic study of evolution and variation of language.

It mainly belongs to the branch of sociocultural anthropology and deals with how language is related to various aspects of sociocultural life of human being.

Origin of the linguistic anthropology – can be found in 17th and 18th century metaphysical writings of philosophers.

Development of linguistic anthropology:

E. B. Tylor in his ‘ Researches into early history of mankind‘ was the first anthropologist to evoke some interest in studying the problem of origin of language .
But it was Dell Hymen who made an effort to consolidate all sort of interest of anthropology in study of language in 1960s. He evolved the term linguistic anthropology.

Uniqueness of Linguistic Anthropology

It’s interest in speaker as a social actors
Language as both a resource for and a product of social interaction.
Boundaries of speech communities is constantly been reshaped thr the acts of speaking.

Scope of Linguistic anthropology – Universal

It involves several specialisation such as

Historical or Comparative LA– it studies emergence, divergence & dynamics of language in the context of culture
Theoretical LA – How language works ; & how human learn lang are related & how they are learnt
Structural Linguistic – structural syntax (Phonemic & Morphemic) and grammatical aspects of particular language in different parts of world.
Socio-Lingustics – it studies dialects, dialects boundaries & dialect differences reflecting cultural differences. I.e study of linguistic variation
- role of language in social behaviour.
- how contemporary languages differ from that of simple societies
- how people speak differently in different social contexts.
Ethnosemantics – to understand culture from the point of view of people.
Metalinguistics studies characteristics & functions of language and how it is related with cultural behaviour.
Use of language to understand various aspects of culture by
- symbolists (Geertz & Schnider)
- cognitive anthropologists. (Cognativists) – Tyler & Conklin)
One of the important aims of linguistic anthropology is to understand thought process and organization of human mind as it is expressed in language.
study of languages of simple societies which was emphasized by Malinowski.

Language and physical anthropology

Recently physical anthropologists have traced origin of language through physical development of man.
Presence or absence of Brocca’s and Weirnick’s areas suggests presence or absence of language.

Relevance of Linguistic anthropology

Helps in understanding continuity of culture and insight into the culture of simple societies.
It also helps the sociologists and anthropologists to explain the structure of society.

Case Study – Boas after studying Eskimos & Kwakiutl Indians he argued that one could not really understand another culture without having direct access to its language.

Conclusion – Thus anthropology has become holistic by incorporating linguistic study its discipline.

Applied Anthropology & Action Anthropology.

Parameter	Applied Ⓐ	Action Ⓐ
Introduction	Acc to Beal’s & Hoijer, possibility of practical use of anthropological knowledge to solve human problems in the form of applied Ⓐ has been recognized since emergence of discipline. Society for applied anthropology was established in 1941.	Soltax: an American anthropologist coined the term Action Anthropology in 1951.
Definition	It is defined as the organized interaction b/w professional anthropologists policy making involvement of anthropologists and policy making bodies-public/private	Action Ⓐ involves active involvement of anthropologists in planning and administration of the policy of developmen
	Applied Ⓐ is the anthropological knowledge (collected by anthropologists) used by other like govt, missionaries, voluntary form of active participation of anthropologists in their personal agenda	Action Ⓐ involves Ⓟ’s knowledge to become an agent of change in the form of active participation of Anthropologist in implementation
Both the approaches lead to development of a community
	But the information provided by applied Ⓟs results in development which acts a means to fulfill the ends of its users. For eg. Politician may use it to create or sustain their vote bank or missionaries may use it for Bu m conversions.	For an action anthropologist development of the community is an end in itself.

Main Branches of Anthropology, Their Scope & Relevance