Anthropology | Definition, Meaning, Branches, History, & Facts

Anthropology, “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. Because of the diverse subject matter it encompasses, anthropology has become, especially since the middle of the 20th century, a collection of more specialized fields. Physical anthropology is the branch that concentrates on the biology and evolution of humanity. It is discussed in greater detail in the article human evolution. 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 (see below). Archaeology (see below), as the method of investigation of prehistoric cultures, has been an integral part of anthropology since it became a self-conscious discipline in the latter half of the 19th century. (For a longer treatment of the history of archaeology,

Throughout its existence as an academic discipline, anthropology has been located at the intersection of natural science and humanities. The biological evolution of Homo sapiens and the evolution of the capacity for culture that distinguishes humans from all other species are indistinguishable from one another. While the evolution of the human species is a biological development like the processes that gave rise to the other species, the historical appearance of the capacity for culture initiates a qualitative departure from other forms of adaptation, based on an extraordinarily variable creativity not directly linked to survival and ecological adaptation. The historical patterns and processes associated with culture as a medium for growth and change, and the diversification and convergence of cultures through history, are thus major foci of anthropological research.

In the middle of the 20th century, the distinct fields of research that separated anthropologists into specialties were (1) physical anthropology, emphasizing the biological process and endowment that distinguishes Homo sapiens from other species, (2) archaeology, based on the physical remnants of past cultures and former conditions of contemporary cultures, usually found buried in the earth, (3) linguistic anthropology, emphasizing the unique human capacity to communicate through articulate speech and the diverse languages of humankind, and (4) social and/or cultural anthropology, emphasizing the cultural systems that distinguish human societies from one another and the patterns of social organization associated with these systems. By the middle of the 20th century, many American universities also included (5) psychological anthropology, emphasizing the relationships among culture, social structure, and the human being as a person.

Anthropology | Definition, Meaning, Branches, History, & Facts
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