How many branches of anthropology are there

The answer to this question is not as simple as it initially seems. Archaeologists are interested in recovering the prehistory and early history of societies and their cultures. They systematically uncover the evidence by excavating, dating, and analyzing the material remains left by people in the past. Archaeologists are essentially detectives who search through many thousands of pieces of fragmentary pots and other artifacts as well as environmental data in order to reconstruct ancient life ways.

In a sense, this makes archaeology the cultural anthropology of the past. Archaeology is also related to biological anthropology in its use of the same methods in excavating and analyzing human skeletal remains found in archaeological sites.

Archaeologists are in a unique position to understand the development of human societies and cultures from those of our distant hunter gatherer ancestors through the ancient civilizations on up to the present. There have been humans for at least 2.

Only the last 5, of these years have been even partly recorded by scribes and historians. Only archaeology can recover it. No archaeologist is an expert on the antiquity of all regions of the world and all time periods.

Classical archaeologists concentrate on the ancient civilizations of the Middle East and the Mediterranean world Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, and related peoples. Historical archaeologists work on recovering the unrecorded aspects of life in historically more modern societies such as colonial America. Prehistoric archaeologists focus their attention on the more ancient pre-literate societies around the world including those of most early North American Indians.

Underwater archaeologists discover and excavate ancient shipwrecks and submerged cities. Zooarchaeologists analyze and interpret the animal remains found in archaeological sites. The training required for each of these and other archeological specialties varies significantly, but they all share an interest in elucidating the lost past. Archaeologist at work in a radiocarbon dating lab Underwater archaeologist diving on a shipwreck NOTE: In British universities, archaeology is usually considered to be a separate academic discipline, distinct from anthropology.

This is particularly true of classical and historical archaeology. The Application of Anthropological Knowledge and Methods. Most anthropologists carry out research and teach about what they have learned. They are employed by universities, colleges, and museums. However, a third of all anthropologists use this knowledge and methodology of problem solving for practical purposes in corporations, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, medical institutions, and other non-academic settings.

They are applied anthropologists. It is likely that there will be continued growth in the number of these non-academic jobs. Some applied cultural anthropologists work as researchers, administrators, implementers, or mediators in major corporations.

They help the companies understand and deal more efficiently with employees and customers from diverse cultures and subcultures. There have even been anthropologists working in the White House and U. Congress studying the overall operations and personal interactions. In recent years, some cultural anthropologists have worked for the U. A few cultural anthropologists have been hired by Native American tribes and other indigenous groups to help them with community development and to advise them in their interactions with the outside world.

Many archaeologists in the United States and some other countries apply their skills in cultural resource management specialist jobs. It also means looking at what we believe about language and communication, and how we use language in our lives. This includes the ways we use language to build and share meaning, to form or change identities, and to make or change relations of power. For linguistic anthropologists, language and communication are keys to how we make society and culture.

Applied or practicing anthropologists are an important part of anthropology. Each of the four subfields of anthropology can be applied. Applied anthropologists work to solve real world problems by using anthropological methods and ideas. For example, they may work in local communities helping to solve problems related to health, education or the environment. They might also work for museums or national or state parks helping to interpret history. They might work for local, state or federal governments or for non-profit organizations.

Others may work for businesses, like retail stores or software and technology companies, to learn more about how people use products or technology in their daily lives. Some work in the USA while others work internationally. Jobs for applied anthropologists have shown strong growth in the recent past with more and more opportunities becoming available as demand grows for their valuable skill sets. Visit the Careers page to learn more.

While anthropologists devote much of their attention to what human groups share across time and space, they also study how these groups are different. Just as there is diversity in the ways people physically adapt to their environment, build and organize societies, and communicate, there are also many ways to do anthropology.

Unique approaches to anthropology developed in many countries around the world. For example, in some countries the four-field approach is not as strong as it is in others. Anthropologists from across the globe work together through international organizations to try and understand more about our lives as humans. The World Council of Anthropology Associations is a network of international and national anthropology associations that aims to promote worldwide communication and cooperation in anthropology.

Anthropologists are employed in a number of different sectors, from colleges and universities to government agencies, NGOs, businesses, and health and human services. Within the university, they teach undergraduate and graduate anthropology, and many offer anthropology courses in other departments and professional schools such as business, education, design, and public health.

Anthropologists contribute significantly to interdisciplinary fields such as international studies and ethnic and gender studies, and some work in academic research centers. Outside the university, anthropologists work in government agencies, private businesses, community organizations, museums, independent research institutes, service organizations, the media; and others work as independent consultants and research staff for agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control, UNESCO, the World Health Organization, and the World Bank.

It is the study of cross cultural variations in psychological traits. It studies psychological, behavioural and personal approaches of man. It is developed as an interdisciplinary approach between psychology and socio-cultural anthropology. Modern Psychological Anthropologists are very much interested in the process by which culture is transmitted from one generation to the next.

It deals with the relationship between human beings and their environments. It is the use of the concept of environment in the explanation of different cultural elements and also the diversity of cultural groups. Two main views relatd to cultural behavior and environment are determinism and possibilism.

The former, also called environmentalism, states that environment dictates cultural practices whereas the latter denies it and holds that environment has a limiting rather than the determining effect on cultural behaviours. It is the use of the concept of environment in the explanation of both the origin of different cultural elements and also the diversity of cultural groups.

It also attempts to understand of cultural groups. It also attempts to understand the relative influence of environment on human society and how it is used by different societies. The ecological perspective is based on the assumption that constant interplay takes place between man and his environment. They cannot be understood as isolated entities. The term ethnic refers to a group distinguished by common cultural characteristics.

The comparative study of cultures in historical perspective is the subject matter of ethnology whereas the descriptive account of the total way of life of the people at a given time is devoted as ethnography. Archaeology is that branch of anthropology which is concerned with the historical reconstruction of cultures that no longer exist. It helps to reconstruct the human past in its material features including how people lived and worshipped, how they built, their arts, tombs and travels.

Thus, the use of archaeology to study ethnography becomes imperative. There are many theories regarding the origin of religion among people. Some of the major theories are Animism, Animatism, Manaism and Primitive monotheism.

The perceptions of people regarding the differences between man and nature are studied first of all. The operation of religious traditions including the rituals and ceremonies among non-literate and peasant societies are studied in detail.

The practices which fall within the domain of religion such as taboo and totemism are also examined. The differences between magic, religion and science are discussed and debated. Witch craft and Sorcery are examined as important aspects of non-literate magic. Above all, the social and Psychological functions of magic and religion are emphasized.

It is a branch of Anthropology which attempts to explore human mystery related to their origin, differentiation, diversities and distributions. With the advancement of genetical sciences, it becomes more and more biology oriented, and by virtue of it, its area of study got considerable extension.

By considering the whole situations, it can be divided into the following sub-branches. It is the Scientific study of primate group of mammal. Man, the central figure of Anthropological study, belongs to the order primate of animal kingdom. The primates, starting from the smallest rat like micro cebus to the largest huge bodied gorilla, in their various stages of development show different life patterns.

The integrated study of the primates, in the background of physical Anthropology gives an intrinsic value to understand the position of man. It is the study of human diversities. All the living men in the world are categorized into different groups broadly known as races. These are now understood as the Mendelian Populations, an inbreeding group of humanity sharing a common gene pool.

It also attempts to explain the nature, formation and differentiation of the racial groups. It deals with the concrete biological principles and concepts of man. It is differed from the biology of other animals because of the impact of cultural achievement. It is highly influenced by culture as well. Culture, sometime, remodelled biological phenomenon. Physical anthropologist attempts to understand this biological feature of man and their successive development, changes in structure and function through time.

It is the branch of physical anthropology which deals with the documentation of biological history of mankind. They work on fossil evidences collected from the different layers of the earth.

It also attempts to reconstruct the link between the human and non-human traits that had so long been lost. They evaluate the fossil remains found from different sites and establish their status and evolutionary significance.

Genetics deals with the inherited characters.