Kottak Anthropology Appreciating Human Diversity

Anthropology is ‘the science of humanity,’ which studies human beings in aspects ranging from the biology and evolutionary history of Homo sapiens to the features of society and culture that decisively distinguish humans from other animal species. Learn more about the history and branches of anthropology in this article.

Kottak Anthropology Appreciating Human Diversity 1

Physical anthropology is the branch that concentrates on the biology and evolution of humanity. The branches that study the social and cultural constructions of human groups are variously recognized as belonging to cultural anthropology (or ethnology), social anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and psychological anthropology.

Kottak Anthropology Appreciating Human Diversity 2

Anthropology - Culture, Society, Human Behavior: A distinctive “social” or “cultural” anthropology emerged in the 1920s. It was associated with the social sciences and linguistics, rather than with human biology and archaeology. In Britain in particular social anthropologists came to regard themselves as comparative sociologists, but the assumption persisted that anthropologists were ...

Anthropology is the study of humanity, from our biology and evolutionary history as Homo sapiens, to the features of society and culture that distinguish humans from other animal species. In North America anthropology comprises four main subdisciplines: cultural anthropology, physical anthropology, archaeology, and linguistics. A number of even more specialized fields have developed since the ...

Kottak Anthropology Appreciating Human Diversity 4

From the Greek anthropos (human) and logia (study), the word anthropology itself tells us it is the field that seeks to understand humankind, from the beginnings millions of years ago up to the ...

Kottak Anthropology Appreciating Human Diversity 5

Anthropology - Cultural, Biological, Archaeology: Cultural anthropology is that major division of anthropology that explains culture in its many aspects. It is anchored in the collection, analysis, and explanation (or interpretation) of the primary data of extended ethnographic field research. This discipline, both in America and in Europe, has long cast a wide net and includes various ...