It accompanied such developments as the Industrial Revolution, the birth of geology, and Darwin’s theory of evolution. Archaeology also began to develop during the Victorian era, primarily because of the emphasis placed upon exploration. Anthropology developed rather slowly with little real growth until the 1930s, when governments began to stress the use of applied anthropological research.
Prior to the nineteenth century, based on the scientist jobs of the anthropologists, they often relied primarily on facts gathered from travelers’ reports and documents received from nonprofessional observers. In the twentieth century, however, much stress has been placed on actual exploration by trained anthropologists and archaeologists. It can be noted that anthropology is a field of science with involves a comparative study of various people around the world, including their physical traits, custom, language, tradition, possession, belief and different practices. Actually, the anthropologist belongs only among the few sub groups of scientists who engage in social science studies, yet with a greater scope of considerations. The anthropological information can be useful to find the missing link and understanding human relations better, such as in racial and ethnical relations, social adaptations and interactions, political management, educational system, social and health programs, and other cultural-socio activities. Anthropology can be broken down into subsets: cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and physical or biological anthropology. Cultural anthropology, however, is the field where most of the anthropologists have been into its specialization. The study deals with the study of human behavior, its extinct characteristics and socio-cultural traits that form part in his whole being. They are also known as ethnologists or social anthropologists who make comparative studies on various cultures and adoptive customs of a certain community or tribe in correlation with the general principles on historical aspects, cultural views and social perspective. To further enhance their field, they focus on isolated areas, perhaps less diverse societies. For example, a cultural anthropologist might decide to study Gypsies of eastern Europe, interviewing and observing Gypsies in Warsaw, Prague, and Bucharest. Or, a cultural anthropologist could choose to study Appalachian families of Tennessee and, in addition to library research, would talk to people in Appalachia to learn about family structure, traditions, morals, and values.
Archaeologists’ science careers have a particularly important role in the areas of cultural anthropology. They apply painstaking specialized techniques to reconstruct a record of past cultures by studying, classifying, and interpreting artifacts such as pottery, clothing, tools, weapons, and ornaments, to determine cultural identity. They obtain these artifacts through excavation of sites including buildings and cities, and establish the chronological sequence of the development of each culture from a simpler to a more advanced level. Moreover, an artifacts conservator or preservationist restores and preserves artifacts found at archeological sites. Through the study of the history of specific groups of peoples, whose society may be extinct, cultural anthropologists and archeologists are able to reconstruct their cultures including the pattern of daily life and the areas in which the members of that society express the greatest interest.
Anthropologists may also be involved in the application of anthropological concepts to current problems, using their research to find solutions. Anthropological linguists study the ways in which people use language and how this effects and is affected by their behavior. Moreover, physical anthropologists’ science careers are focused mainly on the biological aspects of a human group which involves another comparative study and analysis of certain societies in different times and stages. They also touch on geographical developments and analytical changes on physical characteristics. Hence, they may collect some fossils, skeletal remains from various places in the globe, and conduct in-depth study to gather new discoveries about its origin.
Generally, in their science job, some anthropologists will use archaeological data to study the daily life, routine, and interests of people who lived many years ago. Those studying ethnology are interested in living people, usually simple societies, and their customs and beliefs. Furthermore, archaeologists often must travel extensively to perform field work on the site where a culture once flourished.
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