1. Discuss the various fields and sub fields of anthropology, how do these combine to form the anthropological perspective? 2. What are the main developments in the history of anthropology? 3. What are the main aspects of Darwin's theory of Evolution? 4. What are the main characteristics of language and how do linguistic anthropologists study languages? 5. Paleoanthropology is a distinct subfield of physical anthropology, discuss its main characteristics and practices. 6. What are the main facets of cultural anthropology, how does it differ from, and remain related to, other types of anthropology? 7. What is environmental anthropology? Explain the contribution that this field can make to environmental and climate issues of the day. 8. Describe the First Contacts between Indigenous Peoples of the Americas and Europeans. 9. Culture is one of the central components of anthropology. What is culture, in what manner do anthropologists study culture, and what theories have anthropologists constructed to explain cultural phenomena? 10. What are the differences between the processual and post-processual interpretive traditions in archaeology?

Introduction The academic field of anthropology, which examines humankind from a multifaceted cultural and social lens, emerged in the middle of the nineteenth century. Broad, evolutionary viewpoints were the norm at the time, but cultural relativism established by Franz Boas and the fieldwork revolution championed by Bronislaw Malinowski in the early 20th century would eventually overtake them (Barnard, 2021). As the 20th century progressed, anthropology grew from being primarily concerned with functionalist studies of small-scale cultures to also including ambitious models of the human mind, interpretive techniques, and ecological descriptions. In this context, the purpose of the study is to shed light on the early days of modern anthropology, including its roots in the era of imperialism and the widespread exchange of ideas that followed. Origins Ancient Greek historical and philosophical literature on human nature and the organisation of human society are the forebears of modern anthropology. Herodotus, a Greek historian who lived in the 400s bc, is largely credited as the first thinker to write extensively on topics that are now important to the study of anthropology. The Persian Empire was invaded by the Greeks in the first half of the 400s bc, and Herodotus' book History details the varied cultures of the vanquished peoples (Hodgen, 2011). He said that Western culture was dominated by Greek civilization while Eastern civilization was dominated by Persia. White people of European heritage and non-white people became the clear dichotomy from which much future anthropological work would branch. Beginning in the 15th century, Europeans on the prowl for gold in the New World painted vivid pictures of the strange customs they met in Asia, Africa, and the areas that would eventually become the Americas. However, these explorers lacked linguistic fluency, cultural sensitivity, and respect for the native populations they encountered. The scientific method and logical philosophy flourished in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries, a time period known as the Age of Enlightenment. John Locke of England and Jean-Jacques Rousseau of France, both of the Enlightenment, authored humanistic writings on the essence of humanity (Hoffman, 2020: 101504). Instead of deferring to religious authority, they worked from philosophical reason and posed crucial problems in anthropology. Among Rousseau's many topics was the morality of so-called "primitive" societies and the topic of human inequality. However, most Enlightenment authors had no direct exposure to non-Western cultures themselves. According to Palmié and Stewart (2016), we need a reversal of anthropological methods in which the emergence and growth of Western historicism in the nineteenth century is highlighted as a distinct historical and cultural phenomenon that is now practically universal. Stewart believes that we should think of the many approaches to the past as a polythetic set, where there is consensus among experts on some assumptions but not others. Singh & Guyer (2016) disclosed that anthropology actually has a positive history. Even when used in a joyful setting, an anthropological gai sabre is not always a positive way of thinking about the past. The group is interested in learning if it is possible to envisage a labour of the positive, of openness, as a means to meet and live the past of anthropology from fresh perspectives. The journal focuses on the following three themes: Techniques for settling into a body of information; anecdotes from anthropology's past; re-creations of canonical works. Both of them can have their recollections jarred awake by a sudden event, chance meeting, or burst of inspiration. Imperialism and increased contact with other cultures In the 18th and 19th centuries, as imperialism (the political and economic rule of other nations) grew in Europe, more and more Europeans interacted with people from other parts of the world, sparking a renaissance in the field of anthropology (Getz, 2018). Throughout the Pacific, the Americas, Asia, and Africa, Western European imperialist powers like Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, France, and England exerted political and economic dominance. Massive cultural shifts and social upheavals occurred all over the world as a result of Europe's growing commercial and capitalist (profit-driven) economic and industrial domination in the late 18th century. Manufacturing in Europe increasingly relied on labour and materials from exotic overseas locations, as both the industry and its affluent elite owners sought new and better ways to profit. Also, many lower-class Europeans, having lost their farms to industrialisation, sought opportunities elsewhere. Multiple European nations established colonial administrations in various parts of the world. The Beginnings of Modern Anthropology In the 19th century, scientific theories of evolutionary biology and cultural evolution were developed, and with their acceptance, modern anthropology was born. Numerous scientific discoveries made in the early 19th century, particularly of bones and other artefacts like stone tools, suggested that human history spanned a far longer period of time than that suggested by the Bible. Science of Evolution of anthropology On the Origin of Species, written by British naturalist Charles Darwin, was released to the public in 1859 and quickly became a landmark work in the field. In it, he proposed that a mechanism he called natural selection was responsible for the gradual alteration or evolution of various animal and plant species over geologic time. Darwin theorised that natural selection acted on variations within species, with the result that some variations survived and reproduced while others perished. As a result, new species were able to emerge while existing ones persisted (Bradley, 2022: 1). Later research on genetic inheritance by Austrian monk Gregor Mendel in the 1850s and 1860s provided support for Darwin's theory. Religions traditionally taught that the variety of life on Earth was fixed at the time of creation and could not change, hence the idea of evolution ran counter to their teachings. In the middle of the 1800s, English thinker Herbert Spencer applied the principle of gradual change to human societies (Spencers, 2021). Like living beings, he said, society had to change in order to continue existing. Spencer used the term "survival of the fittest" to characterise this process in his later writings. Social evolutionary theories like Spencer's seemed to provide an explanation for the supposedly superior culture of Europe. Many anthropologists in the late 19th century advanced competing theories of how human society and biology had evolved. Written works by these authors promoted an idea that Europeans were inherently better than all other races. American anthropologist Lewis Henry Morgan gave the most prominent presentation of this idea in Ancient Society in 1877. According to Morgan, European culture exemplified the peak of human development because it reflected the best of human biology, ethics, and technology. Morgan posited that savagery and barbarism were intermediate phases that human cultures passed through on their way to civilisation. Morgan thought these phases happened over tens of thousands of years, like the geological epochs. However, Morgan believed that advancements in food production and in brain size were causally linked to changes in human behaviour that led to cultural evolution. Morgan also looked into how culture emerges from its material surroundings. In his view, property was held collectively by groups of people throughout times of savagery and barbarism. He argued that the rise of civilization and statecraft went hand in hand with the rise of private property ownership. The right to private property was therefore safeguarded by the states. The ideas of German political thinkers like Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx mirrored and were influenced by Morgan's. Using Morgan's concept as a basis, Engels and Marx foresaw the decline of state-sponsored capitalism (Wicker, 2020). A new political and economic structure founded on communal principles was seen by these people as the natural progression of civilization. New Directions in Theory and Research Beginning in the 1920s, anthropology was taken seriously as a scientific and professional field. There were significant differences between the American and European approaches to anthropological inquiry, both in terms of research emphasis and methodology. Boas's Impact on Society German-born American anthropologist Franz Boas had a significant impact on the development of anthropology as a four-field academic profession in the United States throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Boas aimed for anthropology to be taken seriously as a scientific discipline. He had done highly respected fieldwork in every discipline of anthropology (save archaeology) and was interested in all of it. Boas emphasised the significance of anthropologists engaging in original fieldwork to have life anecdotes with the cultures they aimed to explain. And he was against racist and ethnocentric interpretations of evolution, too. Boas stated that genetic variations across human groups could not explain cultural variance based on his own research, which included measuring the heads of people from many different civilizations. Instead of trying to establish broad evolutionary stages for all of humanity in the mould of Morgan and Tylor, Boas advocated in-depth study of specific civilizations and their histories. The central anthropological idea of cultural relativism is grounded in Boas's theoretical approach, which came to be known as historical particularism (Marsh, 2021: 361). Functionalism A large number of contemporary anthropologists, particularly in Europe, followed in Boas' footsteps by applying the theories of Émile Durkheim, a French sociologist who worked in the nineteenth century. Durkheim, like Sir Edward Tylor, was curious on how religion manifests itself in different contexts (Owen, 2020). However, the development of religion was not something that piqued his curiosity. Durkheim, on the other hand, argued that religious practises and beliefs served to help people feel more at home in their communities and to keep society running smoothly. The functionalists' method of conducting fieldwork was theoretically informed. They immersed themselves in the culture they were studying for extended periods of time, making extensive notes about even the most minute aspects of daily life. In the end, the ethnographies painted a picture of culture and society in which all pieces were interconnected and vital to one another. As the 20th century progressed, many anthropological studies followed the model established by functionalist research. Aesthetics of Symbolic Anthropology Many anthropologists, such as American ethnologist Clifford Geertz and British ethnologist Victor Turner, shifted their focus away from ecological and economic explanations of human culture in the 1970s (Vivanco, 2018). Rather, these researchers used a method known as symbolic anthropology, which sought to understand cultural practises by deciphering the hidden meanings of rituals and symbols from within the societies themselves. Symbolic anthropologists tend to zero in on a single ritual or symbol that holds a disproportionate amount of weight in a certain culture. By taking this tack, anthropologists try to show how a single ritual or symbol may be seen as emblematic of a civilization as a whole. As an example, Geertz looked at the practise of staging and betting on cockfights as a way to better understand the culture of the inhabitants of Bali, Indonesia. Forensic anthropology The field of study known as forensic anthropology in the United States has made substantial use of the inspection and analysis of human remains in recent years (Ubelaker, 2018). The field of forensic anthropology has experienced enormous growth and development ever since its early pioneers first applied the science and methodology of anatomy and physical anthropology to the issues presented by the medical law system. In recent years, it has become common practise to employ intricate methods when searching for objects that have been misplaced. The investigation and analysis of skeletal remains is the primary focus of forensic anthropology, which is a subfield of anthropology. Conclusion The study discussed the history of anthropology in terms of origin, imperialism and increased contact with others and beginnings of modern anthropology. Thus, it can be inferred from the study that the importance of anthropology as an area of study is widely and consistently recognised and accepted by specialists in the relevant field. We are naturally inquisitive and curious beings, given that we are human. We are curious about our origins and the factors that have contributed to us and what we are today. We look to the various explanations that are provided by a variety of fields of study, such as economics, biology, and history. And Anthropology is the only field that can provide answers that are comprehensive and that tie together the various schools of thinking that come from all of these other fields. As a result, the discipline of Anthropology and the study of it are extremely significant from the point of view of acquiring more information about people. Hence, in this context, knowing the history of anthropology is crucial. References Barnard, A. (2021). History and theory in anthropology. Cambridge University Press. Bradley, B. (2022). Natural selection according to Darwin: cause or effect? History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences, 44(2), 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40656-022-00485-z Getz, T. R. (2018). The Long Nineteenth Century, 1750-1914: Crucible of Modernity. Bloomsbury Publishing. Hodgen, M. T. (2011). Early anthropology in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. University of Pennsylvania Press. Hoffman, A. J. (2020). The evolution of conflict, compassion and the social contract: A philosophical approach to human engagement. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 55, 101504. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2020.101504. Marsh, D. E. (2021). Franz Boas: The Emergence of the Anthropologist. 361-363 Owen, J. (2020). Handbook of Anthropology. Palmié, S., & Stewart, C. (2016). For an anthropology of history. In HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory (Vol. 6, Issue 1). https://doi.org/10.14318/hau6.1.014 Singh, B., & Guyer, J. I. (2016). A joyful history of anthropology. In HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory (Vol. 6, Issue 2). https://doi.org/10.14318/hau6.2.014 Spencer, H. (2021). Herbert Spencer: Collected Writings. Routledge. Ubelaker, D. H. (2018). A history of forensic anthropology. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 165(4). https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23306 Vivanco, L. (2018). A dictionary of cultural anthropology. Oxford University Press. Wicker, H. R. (2020). Introduction: Theorizing ethnicity and nationalism. In Rethinking Nationalism and Ethnicity (pp. 1-42). Routledge.

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1. Discuss the various fields and sub fields of anthropology, how do these combine to form the anthropological perspective? 2. What are the main developments in the history of anthropology? 3. What are the main aspects of Darwin's theory of Evolution? 4. What are the main characteristics of language and how do linguist