Understanding Anthropology

Anthropology Definition

• Anthropology originates from the Greek words anthropos (human) and logia (study).
• Anthropology studies all facets of humankind, similar to observing people's interactions and environments.
• Focus includes aspects like dress, diet, worship, emotions, origins, and future plans.
• Fascination with Homo sapiens, the scientific term for the human species, is key to anthropology.

Comparative Method

• Anthropology uses comparison of human behaviors for observation and explanation.
• Boston University states that understanding human behavior requires seeing it against all human behavior.
• This method explains similarities and differences among people in a holistic context.
• The method is demonstrated with an example of a Middle Eastern girl receiving a gift and comparing her reaction to that of an American girl.
• It seeks to comprehend the expression of universal human emotions like joy across various cultures.
• In essence, the comparative method allows anthropologists to grasp the influence of environment on behavior.

Charles Darwin and Franz Boas

• The birth of anthropology dates back to the early 19th century with scientists, like Charles Darwin, forming theories on human evolution.
• Early anthropology viewed cultures on an evolutionary scale from savagery to civilized states.
• This view unfortunately justified the exploitation of cultures deemed 'primitive'.
• Franz Boas shifted focus away from physical evolution towards culture.
• Boas asserted culture, not race, determines a person's behavior, earning him the title 'Father of American Anthropology'.

Anthropology Disciplines

• Today, anthropologists in the U.S. receive training in both physical and cultural aspects.
• Disciplines include sociocultural anthropology, biological/physical anthropology, archaeology, and linguistics. -Sociocultural anthropologists study social patterns and practices across cultures. -Biological anthropologists focus on human adaptation, biological origins, evolution, and variation. -Archaeologists explore cultures and people of the past. -Linguistic anthropologists study language's influence on social culture.

Lesson Summary

• Anthropology is the study of humankind and Homo sapiens, using the comparative method to understand cultural similarities and differences among groups
• In the 19th century, Darwin and others viewed cultures on an evolutionary ladder, which rationalized exploitation of less evolved cultures.
• Franz Boas refuted the idea that race determines behavior, asserting rather that culture determines behavior.

Definition of Terms

• Anthropology is the study of humankind, encompassing a broad range of human interests.
• Subfields of anthropology, metaphorically 'tent poles,' include physical anthropology and cultural anthropology.
• Cultural anthropology explores commonalities and differences in past and present cultures, focusing on social aspects.
• Cultural anthropology focuses on social elements, including class, language, law, politics, religion, magic, art, and technology.
• Cultural anthropology examines universals and variations in cultures throughout history.

Culture Defined

• Culture is the set of learned behaviors and ideas unique to a society, according to Carol and Melvin Ember.
• Culture encompasses behaviors, beliefs, values, language, religion, music, diet, work habits, family structures, and technology.

Branches of Cultural Anthropology

• Cultural anthropologists narrow their interests into three main branches: archaeology, anthropological linguistics, and ethnology.

Archaeology

• Archaeology is the study of past cultures through physical remains.
• Unlike historians who use written records, archaeologists study prehistory before written records.
• Archaeologists reconstruct a culture's history using physical remnants such as pottery or tools.
• Studying the culture of ancient Babylon might involve analysis of unearthed tools and artifacts.

Anthropological Linguistics

• Anthropological linguistics is the study of human language.
• It explores language beyond written forms, delving into prehistoric times before writing invention.
• It involves working backward to find relationships between modern and ancient languages.
• The key questions it poses are, "Do all languages share a common origin?" and "When did they begin to diverge?".

Ethnology

• Ethnology studies recent cultures and their differences, contrasting prehistorical focus of archaeology and linguistics.
• Ethnologists can directly observe cultures of interest, unlike archaeologists who study remains.
• Ethnologists study aspects like family customs, religion, and economics through interviews and observations.
• Cultural anthropologists who live, interview, and observe a people group are known as ethnographers.

Lesson Summary

• Anthropology studies humankind and is divided into subfields, including cultural anthropology.
• Cultural anthropology examines commonalities and differences between past and present cultures.
• Cultural anthropology's name implies that it is interested in culture: the learned behaviors and societal ideas.
• Cultural anthropology is divided into archaeology (physical past remains), anthropological linguistics (human language study), and ethnology (recent cultures study).

Physical Anthropology Projects in Saudi Arabia

• Fossilized human bones and footprints discovered at AlWusta site in Nefud Desert date back 85,000 years.
• The finds offer key evidence of modern human migration out of Africa.
• Excavations at Jubbah in the Nefud Desert (a Paleolithic site) revealed stone tools and artifacts.
• The Jubbah site offers insights into the lifestyles and technology of early humans; tracing the cultural evolution of early people.
• The study of ancient Saudi Arabian burial sites analyzes human skeletal remains.
• The analysis help understand the health, diet, and social structure and how ancient communities lived and interacted.
• A 7,000-year-old cult site in AlUla contained human remains and animal bones.
• The extensive rock art collection in Ha'il, a UNESCO site, show the symbolic practices of ancient people.
• The depiction provides social and cultural clues to life aspects during prehistoric times.

Cultural Anthropology in Saudi Arabia

• Bedouin culture
• Islamic practices and rituals
• Cultural festivals and traditions
• Tribal and family structures
• Gender roles

Archaeological Anthropology

• Archaeological anthropology studies past cultures through their remaining artifacts, advancing cultural understanding.
• Archaeological anthropologists are detectives, reconstructing culture's daily lives and seeking explanations of culture's functions and evolution.
• Their work reaches back to prehistory, the time before written records existed.
• They examine artifacts to answer questions about cultures and their practices.
• The discoveries include sculptures and frescoes depicting bull-leaping in ancient Crete

Historical Archaeology

• Historical archaeology studies the remains of more recent cultures, including written records.
• This combines studying artifacts along with written records to understand past peoples.
• Finding an ancient Roman farming journal along with farming tools helps understand the culture's agriculture development.

Reliance on Other Disciplines

• Archaeological anthropology relies on other sciences like geology for excavation and chemistry for dating artifacts.
• It helps to inform the world about prehistoric, distant, and recent past events.

Lesson Summary

• Archaeological anthropology is a subfield that studies past cultures through material remains.
• Carefully excavated materials reveal answers to questions about cultures from prehistory.
• Historical archaeology combines artifacts with written records and other scientific data to understand cultures.

Linguistic Anthropology Defined

• Linguistic anthropology studies language within social and cultural contexts.
• It seeks to understand how language affects the way we live and comprehend cultural diversity through language study.
• Historical linguistics, descriptive linguistics, and sociolinguistics are specialty areas.
• Linguistic anthropologists adhere to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which asserts that language shapes behavior and thinking.

Historical Linguistics

• Historical linguistics studies how languages evolve and change over time.
• An example of this is how, in the past, people said “thee” and “thy,” while present day people simply say “you” and “me”.
• It seeks to understand language origins before written records.
• It begins with modern languages, working backward by comparing them to older languages.

Descriptive Linguistics

• Descriptive linguistics, known as structural linguistics, is the study of language construction.
• It focuses on how languages are constructed, how sounds and words are put together.
• An example lies in the difference between how Americans say the 'J' like in “Jell-o, ” and how Dutch speakers pronounce it as 'Y', as in "yellow".

Sociolinguistics

• Sociolinguistics studies cultural patterns of speaking in different social contexts.
• This seeks to understand why people speak differently depending on the culture or situations.
• An example of it can be seen in why someone may call their parent's friends 'Mr. and Mrs. So-and-So' rather than by their first name.

Linguistic Anthropology Summary

• As a subset of anthropology, linguistic anthropology studies language in the context of social and cultural diversity.
• It includes historical linguistics, descriptive linguistics (structural linguistics), and sociolinguistics as specialties
• Historical linguistics studies language change, answering when language began or diverged.
• Descriptive linguistics examines how language is constructed.
• Sociolinguistics looks at cultural speaking patterns in social contexts.

Linguistic Anthropology in Saudi Arabia

• Arabic in Saudi Arabia features dialectical diversity, influencing linguistic anthropologists to study the effects on social hierarchies and religious practices.
• The similar linguistic diversity also seen in India has linguists exploring how language signifies regional identity and influences social interaction in both nations.

Sociolinguistics in Saudi Arabia

• Use of formal Arabic in religious settings versus dialects in Saudi Arabia's everyday use demonstrates sociolinguistic variation.
• The greetings and polite forms differ based on age and status and reflect norms, also seen in Japan.

Historical Linguistic in Saudi Arabia

• Development of Saudi dialects from classical Arabic stems from the impacts of the Persian and Turkish languages.
• Historical linguists track the influence of Norse on English after invasions in English-speaking countries.

Descriptive Linguistics in Saudi Arabia

• Descriptive linguists document phonetic and grammatical structures, exemplified by differing pronunciations of "ج" (jeem) across regions
• Linguistic studies focusing on the grammatical and pronunciation differences are also seen between Castilian and Andalusian Spanish.

Cultural Anthropology in Saudi Arabia

• Traditional "Majlis," or a gathering place, highlight Saudi culture's communal/family-oriented aspect.
• The "Council Circle" that exists in Native American cultures serve a communal role.

Ethnology

• Ethnologists study modern family structures, which prioritize roles within tribal systems.
• Family structures are often nuclear in Western cultures, and ethnologists study societal impacts of nuclearity.

Archaeology

• Saudi Arabian archaeological sites, like Mada'in Saleh, provide insight to ancient Arabian cultures.
• Cultural sophistication shared between ancient civilizations can be seen in archaeological studies of the pyramids within Egypt.