UNIT 1 INTRODUCING

ANTHROPOLOGY*
Contents
1.0 Meaning of Anthropology
1.1 Anthropology: A Holistic/Integrated Discipline
1.2 Scope of Anthropology
1.3 Branches of Anthropology
1.3.1 Physical/Biological Anthropology
1.3.2 Socio-Cultural Anthropology
1.3.3 Archaeological Anthropology
1.3.4 Linguistic Anthropology

1.4 Biological Anthropology: An Introduction

1.4.1 Physical versus Biological Anthropology: An Overview
1.4.2 History and Development
1.4.3 Aim
1.4.4 Scope

1.5 Summary

1.6 References
1.7 Answers/Hints to Check Your Progress

Learning Objectives
After reading this unit you will:
 understand the subject matter of Anthropology;

 know about different branches of Anthropology;

 know the history and development of Physical/Biological Anthropology;
and

 comprehend the aim and scope of Physical/Biological Anthropology.

1.0 MEANING OF ANTHROPOLOGY

Most generally Anthropology is defined literally by expanding the word itself
into anthropos and logos. Anthropos means human and logos mean science,
thus defining anthropology as science of human. The American Anthropological
Association defines Anthropology as “the study of humans, past and present.
To understand the full sweep and complexity of cultures across all of human
history, anthropology draws and builds upon knowledge from the social and
biological sciences as well as the humanities and physical sciences. A central
* Dr Prashant Khattri, Department of Anthropology, University of Allahabad, Allahabad; Dr Rameeza Hasan,
Department of Anthropology, Madhab Choudhury College, Barpeta; Professsor Rashmi Sinha, Faculty of
Anthropology, School of Social Sciences, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi. 9
Understanding Biological concern of anthropologists is the application of knowledge to the solution
Anthropology
of human problems” (The American Anthropological Association Website).

Anthropology is the comparative study of mankind. The

etymological meaning of anthropology which comes from the
Greek word Anthropos for “man” and logos for “study” is not
complete to give clarity about the subject. Anthropologists impose
no restriction in terms of time, space or the aspect of mankind
that is analyzed. It concern with the study of Homo from its
beginnings right up to the present in all its manifestations and
variations. Since the subject matter is large and complex, different
branches of Anthropology focus in different aspects of the human
experiences. The broad range of anthropological interest and focus
of study has led to the creation of sub-branches and specialization
which indicates difference in specific subject matter and methods
of study, the inevitable consequence of necessary specialization
(Dash, 2004).

The basic idea in this definition is that anthropology is an integrative science

that tries to understand human in its totality. It studies cultural and biological
diversities for a better understanding of human existence. Giving a single
comprehensive definition of Anthropology is rather difficult as the subject
is vast and diversified hence divided into four sub-branches: Physical/
Biological Anthropology, Social-Cultural Anthropology, Archaeological
Anthropology and Linguistic Anthropology.

1.1 ANTHROPOLOGY: A HOLISTIC/

INTEGRATED DISCIPLINE
Anthropology takes a holistic view of human existence. It tries to integrate
all that is known about human beings and their activities. The holistic
approach of anthropology can be understood in terms of its four-field
approach that encompasses physical, social, archaeological and linguistic
anthropology. Each of these four sub-disciplines contributes to the understanding
of different aspects of humans in past and present. Rather than focusing
on a single aspect of human, such as history or biology, anthropology is
distinct in its holism. From a holistic perspective, Anthropology attempts to
study all aspects of human culture and society in an integrated and
comprehensive manner. It starts from placing the Homo sapiens in the
evolutionary scheme to analyzing the variations within the human species.
It then tries to understand the emergence and diversification of culture and
emergence of civilization (McIntosh, 2008).
Being a holistic discipline, Anthropology tries to understand human existence
from different angles of culture, biology, history and environment.
Anthropologists are interested in understanding the origin and development
of human species. They are also interested in knowing how environment
affects culture and how culture has an impact over the growth and
development of human. Anthropologists enquire about the existence of human
variation and try to find reasons behind such variations. They are equally
interested in the reconstruction of human past and its culture.
10
An example can illustrate this point more clearly. We all have studied about IntroducingAnthropology
the Indus Valley Civilization in our school days and know something about
the fascinating culture and society of that period. Past had been reconstructed
on the basis of archaeological findings in the form of artifacts- seals, statues,
objects of daily use, objects of luxury etc. People of Indus Valley Civilization
knew how to write but the script has till date not been deciphered. In the
absence of such evidence, reconstruction of the past is totally based upon
contextual findings and scientific analysis. Some skeletal remains have been
found from Harappa. They belong to both male and female. On genetic
analysis of these remains, it has been established that most of the male
skeletal remains were genetically not related; on the other hand most of
the females are genetically related to each other. Very important insights have
been gained from such findings. It can be said that since most of the females
were related genetically, therefore the residence pattern after marriage could
be ‘matrilocal’ in nature. This is to suggest that after marriage males might
have come to their wives place to reside which is opposite to what we
observe generally in most societies in India that after marriage women go
with their husbands. This may also have important bearing in the context
of position of women in the society as it has been observed that in matrilocal
societies, position of women is better than their patrilocal counterparts.
Anthropological approach to the study of Indus civilization integrates almost
all aspects of Harappan life that reflects anthropology takes a holistic view
of human existence (McIntosh, 2008).
Check Your Progress 1
1) Anthropology is the scientific study of:
a) Amphibians
b) Humans
c) Reptiles
d) Birds
2) The subject matter of Anthropology is divided into:
a) 03 branches
b) 05 branches
c) 04 branches
d) 06 branches
3) The discipline of Anthropology is described as holistic because:
a) It consists of many sub-disciplines
b) It supports complete development of marginalized societies
c) It is an integrated and comprehensive approach to study human
diversities
d) It focuses on interdisciplinary approach

11
Understanding Biological
Anthropology 1.2 SCOPE OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Anthropology as a holistic or multifaceted discipline deals with the study
of man in totality. It studies man not only as a part of nature but also as
a dynamic creature in terms of biological and social features. Anthropology
is also referred to as a comparative study of man since it takes into
consideration the similarities and differences in human body, behavior and
values of all human groups. The wide scope and vastness of the anthropology
necessitates its division into four branches as mentioned earlier. It must be
kept in mind that anthropology retains its holistic orientation by ensuring the
interconnectedness and interrelationship among its branches as well as with
humanities, social sciences, biological sciences and physical sciences. The
scope of anthropology and its four major branches are presented in the
following section.

1.3 BRANCHES OF ANTHROPOLOGY

1.3.1 Physical/Biological Anthropology
Physical anthropology also known as biological anthropology takes into
account human body, genetics and the status of man among living beings.
This branch of anthropology is mainly focused on human evolution, variation
and adaptations. As the name indicates, it studies the physical characteristics
of man, using the general principles of biology and utilizes the findings of
anatomy, physiology, embryology, zoology, paleontology and so on.
The scope of physical anthropology is embedded in its various branches
i.e. primatology, palentology, human genetics, growth and development and
forensic anthropology. In recent years many academic research areas of
physical anthropology have evolved as specialized fields. Mention may be
made of human population genetics, physiological and nutritional anthropology,
and molecular anthropology. Further elaboration on the scope of physical
anthropology is presented in section 1.4.4.

1.3.2 Socio-cultural Anthropology

Socio-cultural anthropology is the second major branch of anthropology,
focusing on the comparative study of human culture and society. The intensive
study of customary patterns in human behavior, thought and feelings and
organization of social groups are all included in the purview of socio-cultural
anthropology. Socio-cultural anthropology is referred by the term ‘social
anthropology’ in Great Britain while similar studies are referred by the term
‘cultural anthropology’ in America. However, it is pertinent to note here that
in the nineteenth century the term ‘ethnology’ was in use for similar studies.
Social Anthropology tries to find out the structure of human society that
consists of customs, beliefs whole pattern of working, living, marrying,
worshipping and political organization. It tries to find out the differences in
the human societies and also tries to establish the similarities among these
societies. The life of man has several dimensions and the attempts to study
each one in detail has resulted in the origin and growth of several sub-
branches from the elementary branch of social anthropology such as
economic anthropology, political anthropology, psychological anthropology,
12
Anthropology of Religion and so on. Many new sub-branches are also IntroducingAnthropology
coming up like – Communication and Visual anthropology, with the new
demands of society (Patnaik, 2011).

1.3.3 Archaeological Anthropology

Archaeological anthropology is the science which concerns itself with the
recovering and studying the relics of Man’s past (Roe, 1970). It studies
human cultures through the recovery and analysis of material remains and
environmental data. The major time periods that are covered under
archaeology include prehistoric, proto-historic and civilization. Material
products scrutinized by archaeologists include tools, pottery, hearths and
enclosures that remain as traces of cultural practices in the past, as well
as human, plant and animal remains, some of which date back 2.5 million
years (Haviland et al., 2008).
Studying societies and cultures of the remote past also falls into the scope
of archaeological anthropology. Anthropologists try to reconstruct the life
style of the people who either left no written records or those who left
certain written material but which could not be deciphered as yet.
Archaeological anthropology also helps to study the contemporary societies
from the light of their socio-cultural practices set in prehistoric period times
(Ember, Ember & Peregrine, 2002).

1.3.4 Linguistic Anthropology

Linguistic anthropology, another branch of anthropology deals with the study
of human languages. Anthropologists who specialize in this area are
particularly concerned with the relationship between language and culture
behaviour. Linguistic anthropology encompasses the study of the emergence
and divergence of languages over time. Initially this branch was concerned
with the study of origin, evolution and development and salvaging of
languages which were on the verge of disappearing. With time the various
facets of language and its effect on social life were also taken into
consideration. Today linguistic anthropology as an interdisciplinary science
works in collaboration with anthropological linguistics, ethno-linguistics and
socio-linguistics.

Language is an important aspect of human behaviour and the transmission

of culture has been possible through languages. Therefore, the sub-field of
linguistic anthropology also helps to understand cultural variations and human
behaviour. The scope of linguistic anthropology mainly lies in the study of
past and present languages. Linguistic anthropologists not only study the
written languages but they also try to decipher cultures through unwritten
languages.

Check Your Progress 2

4) Which field of Anthropology concentrates on human evolution adaptation

and variation?

a) Physical Anthropology

b) Socio-Cultural Anthropology
13
Understanding Biological c) Linguistic Anthropology
Anthropology

d) Archaeological Anthropology

5) Archaeological Anthropology is mainly concerned with:

a) Emergence and divergence of languages

b) Reconstruction of past through recovery and analysis of material

remains

c) Comparative study of culture and societies

d) Study of human growth and development

6) The term ‘Social Anthropology’ is popular in:

a) Great Britain

b) America

c) Australia

d) Asia

1.4 BIOLOGICAL/PHYSICAL
ANTHROPOLOGY: AN INTRODUCTION
Biological anthropology, also known as physical anthropology, is a scientific
discipline concerned with the biological and behavioral aspects of human
beings, evolution of their related non-human primates’, study of their extinct
hominid ancestor, their biological variability and its significance. This sub
discipline of anthropology provides a biological perspective to the systematic
study of human beings. Biological Anthropology echoes the shift in stressing
more biologically oriented topics such as genetics, evolutionary biology,
nutrition, physiological adaptation, growth and development. This shift
occurred in quest of understanding origins of structure, exploring human
genetics, growth and development and evolutionary history that led to
advances in the field of genetics and molecular biology (Sinha, 2016).

1.4.1 Physical Versus Biological Anthropology: An

Overview
During the initial stage of the inception of physical anthropology the interest
was to understand the evolution and physical variations in human beings.
Physical variation among human beings basically tries to answer the question
of differences in colour of the skin, hair, eyes, height, weight etc. among
people living in different geographical conditions. Primarily, the features that
are visible to the naked eyes were studied, therefore the emphasis was on
the anthropometric and somatoscopic measurements. This interest carried on
till the early twentieth century and is still a major area of research. However,
since the late 1950’s with the breakthrough in the fields of genetics and
molecular biology, the interest of the physical anthropologists have shifted
to understanding biological aspects in terms of human genetics, nutrition,
physiological adaptation, growth and development etc. Thus, based on the
14
rapidly growing interest and shift in emphasis of biologically oriented topics, IntroducingAnthropology
many prefer to call it as biological anthropology. The usage of the term
physical anthropology is however, still being retained by the American
Association of Physical Anthropologists in their journals and many college
courses, while some anthropologists prefer to name the subject as physical/
biological anthropology wherein both the aspects of human beings are the
focus area. Thus, it can be concluded that physical anthropology was the
original term, but today based on the shift in emphasis to more biologically
oriented concerns the term biological anthropology is gaining popularity.
Nonetheless, the subject matter tries to concentrate equally on physical and
biological aspects of human beings.

1.4.2 History and Development

Physical/biological anthropology in present form is the result of successive
stages of development and changes in the framework of its study. “The history
of physical anthropology dates back to the time physical anthropologists
deliberated on the nature and genesis of human races. 17th century witnessed
the western scholars presuming that all humans were descendants of Noah
and his family, consequently belonging to a single species, which meant that
all contemporary human races was monogenic. German Physician Johann
Friedrich Blumenbach (1752-1840) of Gottingen founder of physical
anthropology, regarded as the inventor of craniology and an empirical power
on the questions of human diversity divided the mankind into five races:
American, Caucasian, Ethiopian, Malayan, and Mongolian.
James Cowles Prichard (1786-1848), proposed a controversial idea that
as the descendants of Adam became lighter-skinned they attained higher
intellects and civilization. This curiosity led him to understand that all races
would become similar to western Europeans, the race that in his view had
progressed farther or more rapidly. However, encountering huge number of
different looking human beings, the diversity among mankind struck to them.
In fact, scientific physical anthropology began in the 18th century with the
study of racial classification (Marks, 1995); this scientific study of race was
an answer to the presence of so many human types. Man’s origin was from
more than one gene picked up momentum in the scientific circles of Europe
especially France and America in late eighteenth and early nineteenth
centuries; stressing races were polygenic. The advocates of polygenism
submitted that there was a wide variation among human population and this
variation could not be attributed to the environmental difference and too
great for humanity to be credited to single species. Hence, God must have
created several human species right from the beginning. Philadelphia physician
and advocate of polygenism, Samuel George Morton (1799-1844), in later
nineteenth century reflected upon concept of human variation using
anthropometric measurements.
Anthropological Society of Paris, first in the field of Anthropology, was
established in 1859 by a French surgeon, Paul Broca (1824-1880) who
pursued the tradition of Samuel Morton. The anthropological laboratory set
up became the Centre for training program for anthropologists where
activities of these early physical anthropologists were devoted to racial
craniology. Anthropology became the focus and extended from Broca’s
laboratory to other institution and facilitated in understanding why polygenism
15
Understanding Biological was favored over monogenism. The polygenists were now categorically in
Anthropology
a position to make their point more acceptable. Broca was of the view
that it was incorrect to attribute the huge diversity in races due to
degeneration and also argued that it would be demeaning to consider the
diversity of racial variation as degeneration from a single superior species.
Edward Tyson (1650-1708), a London based physician and member of the
Royal Society, started the European primate studies and distinguished
between the humans and monkeys by dissecting a chimpanzee. He concluded
that the chimpanzee has more in common with man than monkeys,
particularly brain. Even though the early scientific investigations were basically
anatomical, lot of curiosity was generated among people in primate behavior.
Thomas Henry Huxley’s in Man’s Place in Nature (1863) applied Darwinism
to stress the origins of human. Primatology was basically concerned with
the anatomy and considered evolution from paleontological record. Ernst
Haeckel (1834-1919) published an encyclopedia of primate anatomy and
came up with first scientific phylogenetic trees. These studies formed basis
of understanding evolution of man through paleontological records. Their
attempt facilitated in understanding us in present day context, though anatomy
remained the focal point until after 1900.
The German tradition, led by Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902) stressed that
the variation observed in the human form was a consequence of environment
and disease on the human body and the lack of fit among race, nation and
culture. The American tradition gave attention to the “pacified” aboriginal
(Indian) inhabitants of the North American continent, finding and gathering
skeletons as scientific objects, along with artifacts, languages and culture.
Subsequently, with the start of nineteenth century, anthropometry came into
limelight, becoming more sophisticated under the patronage of Karl Pearson
(1857-1936), co-founder and editor of the journal, Biometrika. Karl Pearson
treated the measurements of bones and bodies to statistical tests that made
the exercise more scientific, including computations for variation and
correlation, and tests of significance for comparing samples. Physical
anthropology was committed to the study of racial determinism- a philosophy
that assumed the superiority of Caucasoids in the last half of the nineteenth
century.
Physical anthropology was considered a mystique medical specialty in the
United State after the Civil War (1861-65). Franz Boas (1858-1942) an
architect of today’s face of physical anthropology in 1897, led physical
anthropology from just taxonomic “race” classification to practical research
in human biology and unearthed and erased the doubts in the area of race
and culture studies propagating the changeability of the human form. Hrdlicka
(1869-1943), was a prominent physical anthropologist hired by United States
National Museum in 1903 who worked hard to counter Nazi wartime belief
about race and rejected the idea of racial superiority. The establishment of
American Journal of Physical Anthropology in 1930 goes to him. Hooton,
a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, entered anthropology as an Oxford
Rhodes Scholar, under R.R. Marett, and the anatomist Arthur Keith. In the
following decades, Hooton trained most American physical anthropologists
like Harry L. Shapiro and Carleton S. Coon whose input to the discipline
is unmatched. As Harvard began to train physical anthropologists, the
16 discipline began to diversify.
Though the emphasis continued in anatomy and medicine, human biology IntroducingAnthropology
catered to several questions about man than just anthropometry and racial
origin, Unaware of the conflict of scientific interpretation, the priceless input
towards the field of anthropology continued between Germans and Amercians,
by Eugen Fisher, Fritz Lenz, and Erwin Baur.
In the middle of twentieth century in 1951, a Hooton alumnus, Sherwood
Washburn rediscovered the fieldwork with newer vistas in physical anthropology
highlighting evolutionary process and history. Washburn’s anthropology
ventured to paleoanthropology and primatology. He was one of the many
anthropologists who followed modern trends in biology and science and
paved way for the present bio-social scenario of physical anthropology.
Scientists whose prolific work and unparallel contribution laid foundation of
current physical anthropology includes W K Gregory, William Krogman,
Dudley Morton, Adolph Shiltz, Harry Shapiro, William Straus, T Dale
Stewart and many more. Consequently, current anthropology claims diverse
methodology to get a more vivid picture of animal behavior, human genetics,
and medical anatomy. It has taken several roads of development in
recognizing physical anthropology and giving it a very vital position in
scientific fraternity’’ (Sinha, 2016).
The development of physical/biological anthropological research has amazingly
altered during the last three decades. The subject has made a rapid progress
exploring more diversified fields covered under it. The emphasis has shifted
from measurements, osteology, blood groups to nutrition, physiology and
eugenics.
Check Your Progress 3
7) Which branch of Anthropology provides biological perspective to the
systematic study of human beings?
a) Biographical Anthropology
b) Biological Anthropology
c) Bio-cultural Anthropology
d) Bioscience Anthropology
8) Who is considered as father of Physical Anthropology?
a) M. D. Leakey
b) J. F. Blumenbach
c) K. Pearson
d) R. Dart
9) Who is the author of Systema Naturae:
a) Carl Linnaeus
b) J. F. Blumenbach
c) Comte de Buffon
d) Charles Darwin

1.4.3 Aim
The old physical anthropology symbolizes the descriptive stage of the subject,
distinguished by anthropometric measurements and classification of indices 17
Understanding Biological and computation of statistics. This approach with stress on taxonomy
Anthropology
remained static till genetics and its applications in the explanation of
evolutionary theory surfaced; hence the objective of old physical anthropology
was principally classification by which it was assumed that description of
the differences would suffice for solving the problem. The new physical
anthropology on the other hand concerns in understanding the processes and
mechanisms involved in the problem, where classification plays a trivial role.
Thus, the new physical anthropology embarks on where the old conclude,
with aims and interests of both the traditions remaining same, although the
accent of new physical anthropology is reorientation in methodology and
comprehension and interpretation.
Physical anthropology answers the question on who were the ancestors of
human species and how they evolved to the present form. They ascertain
the different stages and mechanism during the evolutionary history. Human
paleontologists reconstruct the skeletons of extinct that may have been our
forerunners to understand the present day man. Using the fossil record and
from what can be determined through comparative anatomy, the
paleoanthropologists study the evolution of primates and hominids.
Physical anthropologists apply human demographic and ecological data (of
birth rates, death rates, marriage practices, nutritional intake, health condition,
and so on) to the study of human population genetics. Demography directly
related to fertility and morality is another subject which attracts attention
of physical anthropologists. The factors responsible for variation in different
populations of these phenomena are answered by the physical anthropologists.
The molecular differences between species and the relative frequencies of
different molecules in the same species necessitate explanation on acceptance
of how these species live, or have lived in the womb, or how their ancestors
lived in the distant past, is the domain of molecular anthropologist. The
growth in man is reliant on two broad categories - heredity and environment.
The study of growth and its related fields are important aspects of physical/
biological anthropology (Sinha, 2016).
1.4.4 Scope
Physical/biological anthropology no more remains only an academic discipline,
the recent past reflect an ever increasing recognition of what anthropology
has discovered and can discover about humans. The latest developments
in the field have opened new avenues in physical anthropology. Globally the
scope of physical anthropology is best identified within the framework of
the tradition followed in the different stages of its development. These
traditions may be called “old or classical” physical anthropology and “New
or Analytical” physical anthropology. Ever since the coining of the term “New
physical Anthropology’ by Washburn in 1951, the study of man has come
long way.
Physical anthropology is generally accepted as the comparative science of
man as a physical organism in context to his total surroundings, both social
or cultural and physical; because development of his physical and cultural
factors is reliant on the environment prevailing at that time, form an important
18 anthropological perspective.
The extent of human variability and their factors responsible for the current IntroducingAnthropology
distribution have been of vital concern. Genetics and anthropometry are used
to determine the cause of diversification and human variations-a specialized
branch of physical/biological anthropology.
Human diversity, a component of physical anthropology takes into account
human taxonomy, which in anthropological perspective refers to study of
races. The genetic diversities observed in different racial groups can be
explored through factors of mutation, gene recombination, chromosomal
alterations, isolation, genetic drift, social selection and so on. The difference
in frequencies of phenotypic and genotypic characters, classification of human
population form basis of race, ethnic groups, isolates or mendelian population
or endogamous groups.
The stage of evolution particularly the ‘prehuman’ history of man to his
present form is the foundation of primatology apart from anatomy, physiology
and ethology. Unquestionable is the contribution of primate paleontology on
extinct primates, tracing the origin of man and his evolution under
palaeoanthropology.
The major concern of human evolution is to trace the ancestral form and
to understand the course of evolutionary processes and mechanism involved
in the making of the erect walking, bipedal brainy creature who is a tool
maker. This is accomplished by the assessment of biological distinctiveness
of the living as well as extinct non-human primates and by the comparison
of the same with those of the living and extinct people. All living populations
of the world had common ancestor irrespective of their morphometric
variation. This necessitates contribution from primatology, primate paleontology,
palaeoanthropology and comparative anatomy.
Human genetics a significant part of physical/biological anthropology has
witnessed incredible growth. Inheritance patterns of trait in humans have
generated lot of curiosity. The assessment of the gene frequency and
distribution of the traits form a significant basis for evaluating the incessant
process of human differentiation. The study of human genetics has facilitated
for treatment and genetic counseling to prevent inherited disorders. Human
population genetics use mating pattern as a method that assist in the estimate
of inflow and outflow of genes that are accountable for evolution. Eugenics
forms a fundamental part of physical anthropology responsible towards the
progress of populations.
Growth and development in physical/biological anthropology has its own
significance, be it studying secular trends (e.g., increase or decrease of weight
in the next generation), stage of growth, growth pattern of a population,
factors affecting nutritional status, reproductive biology, population variation
all come under this branch of physical/biological anthropology.
Recent years have witnessed physical anthropology playing irrefutable service
in the field of dentistry, medicine and industrial research. The scope of
physical anthropology in the field of forensic science is tremendous. The
various branches of physical anthropology which assists a forensic scientist
in arriving at conclusion are dermatoglyphics, osteology, osteometry and
serology; somatic and genetic characteristics contributing towards the
determination of age and sex. Kinanthropometry uses somatological knowledge
in interpreting the body types for different sports or even in relation to specific
disease. 19
Understanding Biological The varied dimensions of academic/research and applied significance of
Anthropology
physical/biological anthropology have developed into a number of evidently
discernable subfields of the subject as a result of advanced researches
elevating physical anthropology to the level of independent discipline. The
numerous specialized field of physical/biological anthropology are human
population genetics, primatology, palaeoanthropology, human genetics, medical
anthropology, physiological anthropology, forensic anthropology, nutritional
anthropology, dental anthropology, anthropometry, ergonomics, demography,
ethology, etc. (Sinha, 2016 ).
Check Your Progress 4
10) Who coined the term ‘New Physical Anthropology’?
a) G. Mendel
b) P. Broca
c) E. Lartet
d) S. L. Washburn
11) Kinanthropometry refers to:
a) Study of measurement of human skull
b) Understanding of inheritance and hereditary traits
c) Study of human shape and size to understand growth, nutrition
and performance
d) Identification of dead bodies through body measurements
12) Personal identification and reconstruction of evidences comes under the
subject matter of:
(a) Human Genetics
(b) Forensic Anthropology
(c) Palaeoanthropology
(d) Anthropometry

1.5 SUMMARY
Anthropology is a subject that studies human beings in time and space. This
is a holistic discipline which attempts to study all the aspects of human beings.
The subject matter of the study of the four branches of anthropology reveals
the multidimensional aspects of the study of man in totality. All the four
branches of anthropology namely physical or biological anthropology, socio-
cultural anthropology, archaeological anthropology and linguistic anthropology
deals with the diverse aspects related to human biology, culture and language
from the origin. The interrelationship and interconnectedness between these
branches ensures the holistic orientation of the discipline of anthropology.
On one hand physical/biological anthropology studies human body, genetics
and the status of man among living beings whereas socio-cultural anthropology
incorporates the intensive study of social behavior, customary patterns in
human behaviour, thought and feelings and organisation of social groups.
Archaeological anthropology deals with the reconstruction of history with
the help of material remains along with skeletal remains, pollen, etc. Linguistic
anthropology, another branch of anthropology deals with the study of human
languages.
20
This unit also reflected on the history and development of the subject matter IntroducingAnthropology
of physical/biological anthropology. It also traced the scope of physical
anthropology through the lens of its various sub-fields like human evolution
and variation, human genetics primatology and forensic anthropology. The
varied dimensions of academic and applied significance of physical/biological
anthropology have also been discussed in the unit.

1.6 REFERENCES
Dash, K. N. (2004). Invitation to Social and Cultural Anthropology.
Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, New Delhi.
Ember, C. R., Ember, M., &, Peregrine, P. N. (2002). Anthropology.
Pearson Education. Delhi.
Haviland, W. A., Prins, H. E., Walrath, D., & McBride, B. (2008). Cultural
Anthropology: The Human Challenge. Cengage Learning. (Wadsworth).
Marks, J. (1995). Human Biodiversity: Genes, Race, and History. Aldine
de Gruyter, New York.
McIntosh, J. (2008). The Ancient Indus Valley: New Perspectives. ABC-
CLIO. California.
Patnaik, S. M. (2011). Social Anthropology. eGyanKosh. Accessed on:
May 22, 2018. Retrieved from:
[Link]
Roe, D. A. (1970). Prehistory: An Introduction. Springer.
Sinha, R. (2016). Applied Physical Anthropology: Definition and Scope.
e PG Pathshala Website: A Gateway to All Post Graduate Courses. Accessed
on: May 17, 2018. Retrieved From:
[Link]
01._physical___biological_anthropology_/29._applied_physical_anthropology/
et/7223_et_et_29.pdf
The American Anthropological Association Website. Retrieved From:
[Link]

1.7 ANSWERS/HINTS TO CHECK YOUR

PROGRESS
1. (b)
2. (c)
3. (c)
4. (a)
5. (b)
6. (a)
7. (b)
8. (b)
9. (a)
10. (d)
11. (c)
12. (b)
21