Anthropology is the scientific study of humans, human behavior, and societies in the past and present. The word “anthropology” has been derived from two Greek words, Anthropos (man) and Logus (study or science). Anthropology is, thus, the science of man. Anthropology may be called “the science of man and his works and behavior”. Anthropology means a study of all aspects of humankind at all levels of developments in any and every part of the world, both past and the present”. It aims to understand what is universal, general, and specific to the biological, cultural, and social aspects of humankind.
Anthropology concerns us primarily with our own lives. It is no longer a vague study or a study without a portfolio. It is a well-defined science that tells us about the various aspects of the life of man, which is both physical and cultural, from the time of his origin till the present day. It embraces a vast field of study which views man from different angles. Anthropology is probably the most comprehensive of the sciences dealing with man and his works. Anthropologists are interested in all aspects of the human species and human behavior, in all places and at all times, from the origin and evolution of the species through its prehistoric civilizations down to the present situation.
Anthropology is both a biological and social science. It deals on the one hand with a man as a member of the animal kingdom and on the other with man's behavior as a member of society. Both the structural evolution of mankind and the growth of civilization are studied from the earliest times of which any record survives to the present.
Scope of Anthropology:
Anthropology has two main branches-
> Physical Anthropology
> Cultural Anthropology
Physical Anthropology: Physical Anthropology deals mainly with-
> Human biology
> Human evolution
> Human variation and
> Human genetics.
=> Human Biology: The Physical anthropologist studies human biology as he is interested in Homo sapiens alone. He studies man out of the vast range of creatures that claim the attention of the general biologists. The Physical anthropologist tells about the man's place in the animal kingdom by making a comparative study on the different groups of man and his near relations like apes, monkeys, etc. whom we call primates.
=> Human Evolution: Another object of Physical Anthropology is to deal with human evolution. Like other creatures, man is also a living organism. It is difficult to explain under what conditions life had appeared on earth. But from the geological and palaeontological evidence, it has been known that the first living organism that had appeared on earth consisted of one cell only, which is known as a unicellular organism or amoeba. All living forms of humanity today belong to the single genus and species of Homo sapiens. Man is said to have emerged during the quaternary epoch of the Cenozoic era.
An analysis of human evolution paleontology plays an important role. Anatomy is essential for studying different human forms especially in the study of racial differences, and no one can specialize in Physical Anthropology without prior training in anatomy.
=> Human Variation: The physical anthropologist after having studies the origin, development, and place of the evolution of man focuses his attention on the study of the different varieties of man. Outwardly though they appear different, all men have some common characteristics and belong to the species - Homo-sapiens. In Physical Anthropology the different aspects of race are studied. Somatology - Somato-Scopic observation and anthropometry is useful for this purpose.
=> Human Genetics: The methodology of Physical Anthropology has now been changed. The days of the descriptive stage are gone and the analytical stage has taken its place. In recent times the attention of physical anthropologists has been diverted to Genetics a branch of biology, which deals with descent, variation, and heredity. They now study the blood types, the difference in musculature, etc. The physical anthropologist studies also the influences of the natural environment on man and trees to find out whether the physical traits of man are affected by the environment.
Another aspect of the study of Physical Anthropology is demography which is directly related to fertility and mortality. There are various factors including heredity and environment that influence fertility and mortality. These are studied by physical anthropologists.
Cultural Anthropology:
Cultural Anthropology deals with learned behavioral characteristics of the past, present, and future of human societies. Now, the main fields of studies under Cultural Anthropology are: Prehistoric archaeology, ethnology, and ethnolinguistics.
Under ethnology again economic anthropology, social anthropology, ethnography, religion, art, musicology, recreation, folklore, etc. are studied.
=> Prehistoric Archaeology: It is now a specialized branch of Cultural Anthropology. The prehistorians with their pick and shovel have been contributing much to get the first-hand knowledge about the extinct(विलुप्त) peoples and their cultures and the past phases of living peoples. They enlighten us with how the prehistoric people coped with the natural setting by making tools and implements, weapons, and other necessary equipment in order to serve their biological and psychological needs such as food, clothing, art, etc.
=> Paleontology: There is another scientific discipline called paleontology which is closely associated with prehistory and helpful to make a study on the extinct races from their fossilized forms. It tells us how modern races have evolved from those extinct fossil races.
=> Ethnology: Ethnology is another field of study under Cultural Anthropology. It made its appearance as a recognized branch in about 1840 and it developed very greatly during the next hundred years. It makes a comparative study of the cultures of the world and emphasizes the theory of culture. It is often called Cultural Anthropology and sometimes used as a synonym for Anthropology also.
=> Ethnography: Ethnologic studies are essential for a cultural anthropologist to know the links between the different cultures and the principles guiding the socio-cultural systems. Ethnology includes in its fold Economic Anthropology, Social Anthropology, Religion, Art, Musicology and Recreation, Folklore, etc. As a matter of fact, Ethnology interprets the facts on data collected through ethnographic studies, classifies them, and formulates principles with regard to the nature of human behavior and the evolution and functioning of culture. Ethnography is not the study of races, which is the work of the physical anthropologist. It involves the collection of data only, the raw materials for scientific analysis.
=> Economic Anthropology: The anthropologist studies under Economic Anthropology the different means of subsistence of man. He studies different features of production, distribution, and consumption of material goods and their relationships with other aspects of the socio-cultural complex. It is a field that attempts to explain human economic behavior in its widest historic, geographic, and cultural scope. He also analyses how far the economic factors are responsible for the growth of the socio-cultural system of people.
=> Social Anthropology: Man is a gregarious animal and lives in a society. So he has to adapt to the social environment and learn to live in social cohesion. Man is also involved in social institutions such as marriage, government, law, etc. So in adjusting with the social environment and keeping the society in continuity, one has to abide by the various laws and customs formulated by society. Culture exists to make the society survive but without the existence of society, culture has no entity. So the social anthropologist studies various aspects of society in keeping with cultural development.
=> Religion: It is a product of psychic reaction and adjustment of man to the supernatural world. The man could not explain why there exists the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, fire, water, air, other, etc. He most often questioned why man suffers from diseases. Similarly, he was curious about many other natural phenomena. These made him think and believe that there were some supernatural powers in the background by the action of which these phenomena had come into being. Thus religious ideas and beliefs seemed to have arisen out of these situations. Thus the anthropologists study the varieties of rituals connected with different beliefs and practices found among different groups of people living in different parts of the world and how they are related to their day to day activities which make them survive peacefully.
=> Art, Musicology, Recreation: By adapting to the natural, social and supernatural environments in order to satisfy his biological, social, and spiritual needs man wants to undertake such other activities as would give him some satisfaction and relaxation. That is why the man took to art and recreation such as songs and dances, folk tales, poetry, play, art, and various other intellectual pursuits. So the cultural anthropologist includes these topics to make a comparative study.
=> Folklore: Folklore may be treated as one of the branches of Cultural Anthropology. But it has also been treated as a separate discipline. It is a science "which deals with the survivors of archaic beliefs and customs in civilized peoples. It embraces everything relating to ancient observances and customs, to the notions, beliefs, traditions, superstitions, and prejudice of the common people.
=> Ethnolinguistics: Another branch of Cultural Anthropology is Ethnolinguistics which is highly specialized. Ethnolinguistics is a field of linguistics which studies the relationship between language and culture, and the way different ethnic groups perceive the world. It is a combination of ethnology and linguistics. In American universities there is a growing trend to establish independent departments of ethnolinguistics. As a science, the study of language is somewhat older than Anthropology.
Other Specialties of Cultural Anthropology:
=>Urban Anthropology: Urban Anthropology came to grow as a distinctive area of study in Anthropology in recent times. It is a subset of anthropology concerned with issues of urbanization, poverty, urban space, social relations, and neoliberalism. The field has become consolidated in the 1960s and 1970s. The urban anthropologists are trying to bring the unique attributes of anthropology to the study of urban cultures in contemporary cities. Urban anthropology is heavily influenced by sociology, especially the Chicago School of Urban Sociology. The traditional difference between sociology and anthropology was that the former was traditionally conceived as the study of civilized populations, whilst anthropology was approached as the study of primitive populations.
=> Political Anthropology: Since World War II and the consequent emergence of independent developing countries from the erstwhile empire holdings in Asia and Africa, the economics and political science have become actively interested in studying the indigenous cultures of these parts of the world. While for a whole century (1860 to 1960 roughly) political anthropology developed as a discipline concerned primarily with politics in stateless societies, a new development started from the 1960s and is still unfolding.
Applications of Anthropology
Nowadays, there are various applications of Anthropology
=> Anthropometry: Anthropometry is the science of measuring the different limbs of the body. With this knowledge, the physical anthropologists can give advice in respect of sitting arrangements in airplanes, railways, classrooms, offices, etc. Physical Anthropology is also useful in detecting criminals. With the knowledge of foot and handprints, it becomes easier to detect criminals as the types of foot and handprints are never changed during man's lifetime. The physical anthropologist can also advise with regard to finding out the father of the son born to an unmarried mother.
National disintegration is another erosive problem in India. The services of both physical and cultural anthropologists are essential to help solve the problems of casteism, communalism, regionalism, racialism, etc.
=> Action Anthropology: It has been coined by Sol Tax. According to him, an action anthropologist is to study the processes of change in the society and help the people to overcome the adverse effects of change and guide planning in such a way that the people do better in the process of change. Rather, the action anthropologists involve themselves intimately with anthropological problems and pursue their studies in a context of action. The anthropologist accepts a problem as his own and proceeds through trial and error method.
Conclusion:
Anthropology is thus analytical, synthesizing, and generalizing. It is the only science that provides a holistic view of humankind. Its range of appeal is as infinite and as fascinating as humanity itself. The scope of anthropology is so comprehensive and universal that it spreads its net over past and present, over all parts of the globe, and overall aspects of humans at any level of development. For this reason, it is said that “everything under the sun becomes the grist ( material) to the mill of anthropology”.
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