ABSTRACT
Auguste Comte, one of the founding figures of the discipline of sociology, suggested that, since sociology touched on so many aspects of life, it could well be considered the queen of the sciences. 1 Few sociologists today would claim that distinction, and there are few in other professions who would wish to arrogate that title for their own discipline. But those involved in anthropology, both its physical and cultural sectors, might be closer to fulfilling that Comtean vision or mission. For anthropology goes beyond sociology (the study of society, an artificial creation) in dealing with humanity as such, its physical aspects, its place in nature, its evolutionary development, and its social and cultural aspect, both historically in ancient societies, and contemporaneously in societies of all types – initially mainly those present-day societies that are still ‘primitive,’ but today comparatively surveying societies of all types and sizes, including urban and modern. 2
