Anthropology Terms (Ch1)

Anthropology: The scientific and humanistic study of human beings encompassing the evolutionary history of humanity, physical variation among humans, the study of past societies, and the comparative study of current-day human societies and cultures.

Applied anthropology: The application of anthropological knowledge to the solution of human problems

Archaeology: The subdiscipline of anthropology that focuses on the study of past cultures based primarily on their material remains.

Biological (or physical) anthropology: The subdiscipline of anthropology that focuses on the study of people from a biological perspective, primarily on aspects of humankind that are genetically inherited.

Cultural anthropology: The study of human thought, behaviour, and lifeways that are learned rather than genetically transmitted and that are typical of groups of people.

Cultural relativism: The idea that cultures should be analysed with reference to their own histories and values rather than according to the values of another culture.

Culture: The learned behaviors and symbols that allow people to live in groups; the primary means by which humans adapt to their environment; the ways of life characteristic of a particular human society.

Emic: Examination of societies using concepts, categories, and distinctions that are meaningful to members of those societies.

Ethnocentrism: Judging other cultures from the perspective on one’s own culture. The notion that one’s own culture is more beautiful, rational, and nearer to perfection than any other.

Ethnography: The major research tool of cultural anthropology, including both fieldwork among people in a society and the written results of such fieldwork.

Ethnology: The attempt to find general principles or laws that govern cultural phenomena through the comparison of cultures.

Etic: Examination of societies using concepts, categories, and rules derived from science; an outsider’s perspective.

Holism: In anthropology, an approach that considers the study of culture, history, language, and biology essential to a complete understanding of human society.

Linguistic anthropology: The study of language and its relation to culture

Society: A group of people who depend on one another for survival or well-being as well as the relationships among such people including their statuses and roles.