CHAPTER 4

Anthropology

Anthropology is the systematic study of humanity, with the goal of understanding

our evolutionary origins, our distinctiveness as a species, and the great diversity in
our forms of social existence across the world and through time. The focus of
Anthropology is on understanding both our shared humanity and diversity, and
engaging with diverse ways of being in the world.
THE FOUR SUBFIELDS
American anthropology is generally divided into four subfields. Each of the
subfields teaches distinctive skills. However, the subfields also have a number of
similarities. For example, each subfield applies theories, employs systematic
research methodologies, formulates and tests hypotheses, and develops extensive
sets of data.

SOCIOCULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Sociocultural anthropologists interpret the content of particular cultures, explain
variation among cultures, and study processes of cultural change and social
transformation. UC Davis sociocultural anthropologists conduct research on most
areas of the world, focusing on topics that include: human ecology; gender
relations; culture and ideology; demography and family systems; race, class and
gender inequality; resistance movements; colonialism, neocolonialism, and
development; and cultural politics in the West.

BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Biological anthropologists study a variety of aspects of human evolutionary
biology. Some examine fossils and apply their observations to understanding
human evolution; others compare morphological, biochemical genetic, and
physiological adaptations of living humans to their environments; still others
observe behavior of human and nonhuman primates (monkeys and apes) to
understand the roots of human behavior.

Linguistic Anthropology

Linguistic anthropologists study the many ways people communicate across the
globe. They are interested in how language is linked to how we see the world and
how we relate to each other. This can mean looking at how language works in all
its different forms, and how it changes over time. It also means looking at what we
believe about language and communication, and how we use language in our lives.
This includes the ways we use language to build and share meaning, to form or
change identities, and to make or change relations of power. For linguistic
anthropologists, language and communication are keys to how we make society
and culture.

Applied and Practicing Anthropology

Applied or practicing anthropologists are an important part of anthropology. Each

of the four subfields of anthropology can be applied. Applied anthropologists work
to solve real world problems by using anthropological methods and ideas. For
example, they may work in local communities helping to solve problems related to
health, education or the environment. They might also work for museums or
national or state parks helping to interpret history. They might work for local, state
or federal governments or for non-profit organizations. Others may work for
businesses, like retail stores or software and technology companies, to learn more
about how people use products or technology in their daily lives. Some work in the
USA while others work internationally. Jobs for applied anthropologists have
shown strong growth in the recent past with more and more opportunities
becoming available as demand grows for their valuable skill sets.

Anthropology Around the World

While anthropologists devote much of their attention to what human groups share
across time and space, they also study how these groups are different. Just as there
is diversity in the ways people physically adapt to their environment, build and
organize societies, and communicate, there are also many ways to do
anthropology. Unique approaches to anthropology developed in many countries
around the world. For example, in some countries the four-field approach is not as
strong as it is in others. Anthropologists from across the globe work together
through international organizations to try and understand more about our lives as
humans.

ARCHAEOLOGY
Archaeologists study the material remains of present and past cultural systems to
understand the technical, social and political organization of those systems and the
larger culture cultural evolutionary process that stand behind them. The UC Davis
program in archaeology emphasizes research in California and the Great Basin, but
also supports the study of hunter-gatherer systems in general, and is engaged in
such research in Australia Alaska, Peru, Greenland, Western Europe, North and
South Africa, and northern Asia.
Archaeology is the study of the ancient and recent human past through material
remains. Archaeologists might study the million-year-old fossils of our earliest
human ancestors in Africa. Or they might study 20th-century buildings in present-
day New York City. Archaeology analyzes the physical remains of the past in
pursuit of a broad and comprehensive understanding of human culture.

Types of Archaeology

Archaeology is a diverse field of study. Most archaeologists focus on a particular

region of the world or a specific topic of study. Specialization allows an
archaeologist to develop expertise on a particular issue. Some archaeologists study
human remains (bioarchaeology), animals (zooarchaeology), ancient plants
(paleoethnobotany), stone tools (lithics), etc. Some archaeologists specialize in
technologies that find, map, or analyze archaeological sites. Underwater
archaeologists study the remains of human activity that lie beneath the surface of
water or on coasts. Cultural Resource Management, known as "CRM," refers to the
work archaeologists do to follow federal and state laws.

Around the world, archaeological methods are similar. But archaeology in the
Americas is a subfield of anthropology—the study of humans. In other parts of the
world, archaeology is an independent field of study or part of historical research.
Archaeological Sites

An archaeological site is any place where there are physical remains of past human
activities. There are many types of archaeological sites. Prehistoric archaeological
sites are those without a written record. They may include villages or cities, stone
quarries, rock art, ancient cemeteries, campsites, and megalithic stone monuments.
A site can be as small as a pile of chipped stone tools left by a prehistoric hunter.
Or a site can be as large and complex as the prehistoric settlements of Chaco
Canyon in the American southwest. Historical archaeology sites are those where
archaeologists can use writing to aid their research. Those could include densely
populated modern cities, or areas far below the surface of a river, or the sea. The
wide variety of historical archaeological sites include shipwrecks, battlefields,
slave quarters, cemeteries, mills, and factories.

Artifacts, Features, and Ecofacts

Even the smallest archaeological site may contain a wealth of important

information. Artifacts are objects made, modified, or used by humans.
Archaeologists analyze artifacts to learn about the people who made and used
them. Non-portable artifacts called features are also important sources of
information at archaeological sites. Features include things like soil stains that
show where storage pits, structures, or fences once existed. Ecofacts are natural
remains related to human activity. Plant and animal remains can help
archaeologists understand diet and subsistence patterns.

Context

Context in archaeology refers to the relationship that artifacts have to each other
and to their surroundings. Every artifact found on an archaeological site has a
defined location. Archaeologists record the exact spot where they find an artifact
before removing it from that location. In the 1920s, archaeologists found a stone
spear point lodged between the ribs of a species of a North American bison that
went extinct at the end of the last Ice Age. It settled an argument that had gone on
for decades. The spear point established once and for all that people had inhabited
North America since the late Pleistocene. It is the context or association between
the bison skeleton and the artifact that proved this. When people remove an artifact
without recording its precise location, we lose that context forever. At that point,
the artifact has little or no scientific value. Context is what allows archaeologists to
understand the relationships between artifacts and between archaeological sites. It
is how we understand how people in the past lived their daily lives.

Do Archaeologists Study Dinosaurs?

In short, no. Scientists who study dinosaur bones (or fossils) are paleontologists.
Paleontology is the study of the history of life on Earth as based on fossils. That
includes dinosaurs, other ancient animals, plants, and even bacteria.
Paleontologists have a lot in common with archaeologists. Both excavate and study
physical remains. The key difference is that archaeologists study the human past.
Some archaeologists study animals or plants too, looking at the relationships that
people had with them in the past.

The last of the dinosaurs died out about 65 million years ago. Our earliest hominid
(human-like) ancestors didn’t arise until about 5 million years ago. So, people and
dinosaurs never lived on our planet at the same time! This image of a geological
clock helps put the timeline of the Earth into perspective. Dinosaur fossils help
paleontologists study the history of life on earth. But dinosaur bones aren’t helpful
to archaeologists, who want to understand human history.

Paleontologists, archaeologists, and other scientists such as geologists, chemists,

and biologists often work together to better understand ancient environments. For
example, research teams at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania are made up of
archaeologists, paleontologists, and more. Olduvai Gorge is home to some of the
earliest hominid fossils.