Most Read This Week In Anthropology

Anthropology ( /ænθrɵˈpɒlədʒi/) is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos (ἄνθρωπος), "human being", and -logia (-λογία), "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German philosopher Magnus Hundt.

Anthropology's basic concerns are "What defines Homo sapiens?", "Who are the ancestors of modern Homo sapiens?", "What are humans' physical traits?", "How do humans behave?", "Why are there variations and differences among different groups of humans?", "How has the evolution Anthropology ( /ænθrɵˈpɒlədʒi/) is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos (ἄνθρωπος), "human being", and -logia (-λογία), "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German philosopher Magnus Hundt.

Anthropology's basic concerns are "What defines Homo sapiens?", "Who are the ancestors of modern Homo sapiens?", "What are humans' physical traits?", "How do humans behave?", "Why are there variations and differences among different groups of humans?", "How has the evolutionary past of Homo sapiens influenced its social organization and culture?" and so forth.

In the United States, contemporary anthropology is typically divided into four sub-fields: cultural anthropology also known as social anthropology, archaeology, linguistic anthropology, and physical (or biological) anthropology. The four-field approach to anthropology is reflected in many undergraduate textbooks as well as anthropology programs (e.g. Michigan, Berkeley, Penn). At universities in the United Kingdom, and much of Europe, these "sub-fields" are frequently housed in separate departments and are seen as distinct disciplines.

The social and cultural sub-field has been heavily influenced by structuralist and post-modern theories, as well as a shift toward the analysis of modern societies (an arena more typically in the remit of sociologists). During the 1970s and 1990s there was an epistemological shift away from the positivist traditions that had largely informed the discipline.During this shift, enduring questions about the nature and production of knowledge came to occupy a central place in cultural and social anthropology. In contrast, archaeology, biological anthropology, and linguistic anthropology remained largely positivist. Due to this difference in epistemology, anthropology as a discipline has lacked cohesion over the last several decades. This has even led to departments diverging, for example in the 1998–9 academic year at Stanford University, where the "scientists" and "non-scientists" divided into two departments: anthropological sciences and cultural & social anthropology; these departments later reunified in the 2008–9 academic year. ...more

Most Read This Week Tagged "Anthropology"

Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI

Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans

The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity

Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution

Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global

The Bone Hacker (Temperance Brennan, #22)

An African History of Africa: From the Dawn of Humanity to Independence

The History of Money: A Story of Humanity

Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues

Dinner with King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Re-creating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations

The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us

Estuve aquí y me acordé de nosotros: Una historia sobre turismo, trabajo y clase

Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling

The Arrogant Ape: The Myth of Human Exceptionalism and Why It Matters

Unstoppable Us, Volume 1: How Humans Took Over the World

After 1177 B.C.: The Survival of Civilizations

The Way of the Bear (Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito #26)

Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires

We Carry Their Bones: The Search for Justice at the Dozier School for Boys – The True Story Behind 'The Nickel Boys' and Jim Crow Abuse in Florida

Peak Human: What We Can Learn from the Rise and Fall of Golden Ages

The Patriarchs: The Origins of Inequality

Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia

The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis

Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding

Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents―and What They Mean for America's Future

White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy

A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth: 4.6 Billion Years in 12 Pithy Chapters

A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century: Evolution and the Challenges of Modern Life

The Genetic Book of the Dead: A Darwinian Reverie

The Lost Tomb: And Other Real-Life Stories of Bones, Burials, and Murder

Sapiens: A Graphic History, Volume 2 - The Pillars of Civilization

Crypt: Life, Death and Disease in the Middle Ages and Beyond

Sapiens: A Graphic History, Volume 3 - The Masters of History

Misbelief: What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things

Wild New World: The Epic Story of Animals and People in America

If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal: What Animal Intelligence Reveals About Human Stupidity

Cheap Land Colorado: Off-Gridders at America's Edge

Empires of the Steppes: A History of the Nomadic Tribes Who Shaped Civilization

Assyria: The Rise and Fall of the World’s First Empire

Prehistorias de mujeres. Descubre lo que no te han contado sobre nosotras

You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman World

The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality

Buried: An Alternative History of the First Millennium in Britain

Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes Through Indigenous Science

Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age

Native Nations: A Millennium in North America

Different: Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist

Still Life with Bones: Genocide, Forensics, and What Remains

The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire: Why Our Species Is on the Edge of Extinction

How the World Made the West: A 4,000 Year History

Ways of Being: Animals, Plants, Machines: The Search for a Planetary Intelligence

The Writing of the Gods: The Race to Decode the Rosetta Stone

The Journey of Humanity: The Origins of Wealth and Inequality

Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death

Ezbere Yaşayanlar: Vazgeçemediğimiz Alışkanlıklarımızın Kökenleri

Burn: New Research Blows the Lid Off How We Really Burn Calories, Lose Weight, and Stay Healthy

In the Camps: China's High-Tech Penal Colony

Digital Liturgies: Rediscovering Christian Wisdom in an Online Age

Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East

Embodied: Transgender Identities, the Church, and What the Bible Has to Say

The Life We're Looking For: Reclaiming Relationship in a Technological World

A Natural History of Empty Lots: Field Notes from Urban Edgelands, Back Alleys, and Other Wild Places

The Shortest History of Migration: When, Why, and How Humans Move - From the Prehistoric Peopling of the Planet to Today and Tomorrow's Migrants (The Shortest History Series)

Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World

Humanish: What Talking to Your Cat or Naming Your Car Reveals About the Uniquely Human Need to Humanize

The Origin of Language: How We Learned to Speak and Why

Men and Women in the Church: A Short, Biblical, Practical Introduction

The World According to Color: A Cultural History

Everything Must Go: The Stories We Tell About the End of the World

Running Out: In Search of Water on the High Plains

Ancestors: A History of Britain in Seven Burials

Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues in New York

The Invention of Good and Evil: A World History of Morality

The Rebel's Clinic: The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon

A Most Peculiar Book: The Inherent Strangeness of the Bible

Nobody's Normal: How Culture Created the Stigma of Mental Illness

Iwigara: The Kinship of Plants and People: American Indian Ethnobotanical Traditions and Science

The Naked Neanderthal: A New Understanding of the Human Creature

Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic

Armageddon: What the Bible Really Says about the End

Nomads: The Wanderers Who Shaped Our World

The Secret World of Denisovans: The Epic Story of the Ancient Cousins to Sapiens and Neanderthals

Happy Death Club: Essays on Death, Grief & Bereavement Across Cultures

The Other Ancient Civilisations: Decoding Archaeology’s Less Celebrated Cultures (History Gifts, Ancient World History)

The Language Puzzle: Piecing Together the Six-Million-Year Story of How Words Evolved

The Horse: A Galloping History of Humanity

Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most

The Mesopotamian Riddle: An Archaeologist, a Soldier, a Clergyman, and the Race to Decipher the World's Oldest Writing

How to Inhabit Time: Understanding the Past, Facing the Future, Living Faithfully Now

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Quotes Tagged “Anthropology”

“ All the world is queer save thee and me, and even thou art a little queer. ”
― robert owen

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“ If two people stare at each other for more than a few seconds, it means they are about to either make love or fight. Something similar might be said about human societies. If two nearby societies are in contact for any length of time, they will either trade or fight. The first is non-zero-sum social integration, and the second ultimately brings it. ”
― Robert Wright

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