ABSTRACT
Anthropology, as a discipline, seeks to understand the many intricate aspects of what it means to be human. Derived from the Greek word anthropos meaning “human” and logia referring to the “study of,” anthropology seeks to shed light on human behavior, biology, language, and culture in past and present contexts. Anthropology is split into multiple subdisciplines, and the four most common are archaeology, socio-cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and physical/biological anthropology. ‹ese subdisciplines are not mutually exclusive, and each seeks to de ne and interpret various aspects of the human condition. Archaeology reconstructs the history of past populations through contextual analysis of the artifacts and structures (i.e., material culture) that these populations have le„ behind. Socio-cultural anthropology uses participant observation and interviews to understand cultural groups or subcultures. Linguistic anthropology investigates the origins and use of language, as well as language changes over time. Physical/biological anthropology studies human biological origins, adaptation, and variation in an evolutionary context. Furthermore, each subdiscipline of anthropology is broken down further into smaller, more specialized sub elds or applied areas of study that focus on speci c aspects of what it means to be human. Figure 1.1 illustrates several common sub elds of archaeology, cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and physical/biological anthropology. ‹us, anthropology is a holistic discipline in that it addresses all aspects of what it means to be human.
