Branch Of Anthropology Research Articles

Racial Genetics: A New Branch of Anthropology

Previous articleNext article No AccessRacial Genetics: A New Branch of AnthropologyR. Ruggles GatesR. Ruggles Gates Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 4, Number 2Apr., 1963 Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/200362 Views: 8Total views on this site Citations: 2Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1963 The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological ResearchPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Charmaine D M Royal, Georgia M Dunston Changing the paradigm from 'race' to human genome variation, Nature Genetics 36, no.S11S11 (Oct 2004): S5–S7.https://doi.org/10.1038/ng1454John Alexander Fraser Roberts Reginald Ruggles Gates, 1882-1962, Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 10 (Jan 1997): 83–106.https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.1964.0006

Folk-life Research in Our Time

FOLK-LIFE research has often been regarded as a branch of anthropology in Sweden called' folklivsforskning' or 'Nordic' or 'regional European ethnology'. 1 Anthropology is in Great Britain and U.S.A. generally divided into several branches. First we have physical anthropology, which, however, is a subject we cannot discuss in this connection. Of main interest, on the other hand, is social anthropology. An American anthropologist has recently defined this subject as 'the development of scientific generalizations about a culture, or about culture, society and personality in a n10re universal sense '.2 In the United States the word has often been used interchangeably with ethnology, but most American anthropologists now emphasize social anthropology as a generalizing approach to human behaviour characteristic of the social or behavioural sciences, with the focus on particular problems relating to 'culture, society and personality'. Some researchers define cultural anthropology (' man study') as that facet of anthropology' which describes and seeks general understanding about 'human customs' or 'cultural behaviour'. These definitions do not imply any decisive difference between the spheres of the two subjects, although their respective trends are somewhat different.

Some Remarks on the Branches of Anthropology and on Anthropology's Relation to Other Disciplines

Some Remarks on the Branches of Anthropology and on Anthropology's Relation to Other Disciplines

The Organization of Anthropology

During the past year there has been much discussion of the need to bring the different branches of anthropology into closer coordination so that they may work together for their common interest. In recognition of this need, the American Anthropological Association at its annual meeting in December, 1945, created a committee which it instructed to“ascertain the views of the professional membership of the American Anthropological Association, of allied societies, and of local groups concerning proposals for reorganization of the American Anthropological Association, the establishment of a secretariat, and other means of furthering professional interests.”

Boas on the Science of Language

brought out many points of common interest because each of us had done long field work with American Indian Our discussions centered upon the science of language,-what is more recently becoming known as linguistics. To Boas, the science of language was a branch of sociology, or more inclusively of anthropology. And in this linguistic division, Boas was more adept and interested than in any other branch of anthropology, not only according to his own statement, but also according to what Elsie Clews Parsons told me: Boas was primarily a linguist. It is interesting that starting in natural science and embracing the great realm of anthropology as few men ever have, Boas stated openly that his mind focused chiefly on language, and his publications prove this. Boas once told me, Sometimes I don't feel like working. But he added with a roguish look, When I work, it is preferably with languages. To Boas, human language was the most important phenomenon to study in social science because language is the most detailed expression of man's behavior. Language is the very core of custom, religion, and all that distinguishes man. Boas was fond of mentioning language and ethnology in one breath. A language is only part of anthropological phenomena in general, he would reiterate. It would be absurd to think that a man with an unusually keen perception like that of Boas did not realize that each language operates with a certain set of contrastive and distinctive sounds, which can be de-

Relations between Ethnology and Archaeology in the Southwest

In a recent paper in American Antiquity, Steward and Setzler have pointed out that appreciation and use of certain ethnological concepts would serve to direct archaeologists and to enrich archaeology. I would like to shake hands with them on this and as an ethnologist add a word or two about the interdependence of these two branches of anthropology, particularly among Pueblo cultures.It is hardly necessary to make a general brief for the kind of interdependence that prevails in our Southwest, where extant cultures are historically related to cultures under archaeological research. There is no dispute that the living culture has light to throw upon the buried one. Theoretically no dispute; practically we are constantly surprised to find Southwestern archaeologists, even seasoned students, unfamiliar with the ethnological record and having to leave to the ethnologist interpretation of their data: plums for the ethnologist but a loss to the man who has been doing the work.

Jewish Ideals, and other Essays

Between 1870 and 1910, English interest in folk literature and customs expanded dramatically, and became increasingly organized, scholarly, and influenced by emerging anthropological theories. Building on the foundations created by earlier British collectors and enthusiasts, a small group of private scholars founded the Folk-Lore Society in 1878 (the first of its kind anywhere), which attempted to apply more rigorous and scholarly methods to the study of folklore, and to create what one founder, George Laurence Gomme, called a ‘science of folklore’.1 The new science was based on the application of biological and anthropological evolutionary theories to the study of folklore, and in particular, E. B. Tylor’s doctrine of survivals, which claimed it possible to identify, in the cultures of non-primitive societies, customary survivals from earlier stages of cultural development. Members of the Folk-Lore Society debated amongst themselves whether folklore should be considered a branch of anthropology or independent of it, but they all viewed folklore through the lens of evolutionary theories.

Topinard's “General Anthropology”

THE study of anthropology has been pursued, especially of late years, with great zeal by many leading savants, both in the Old and New World, and many valuable contributions to ourknowledge have been made in all departments included under its extensive range. This is more particularly the case with respect to that part of the subject which deals with the anatomical characters of the human body. Until this branch of anthropology was so vigorously and successfully studied by Broca, complete ignorance of many fundamental questions prevailed. The direct result of the work of that great anthropologist was immense, while the indirect result due to the incentive which he gave to the study of anthropology generally cannot be over-estimated, but may be inferred from the numerous societies devoted to its study which have rapidly sprung up in various countries. Broca must he considered the great pioneer of modern anthropology, but his untimely death left his work by no means complete, and many extensive fields remained almost untrodden by the foot of the investigator. By the accumulated observations of his followers these deficiencies have been in great part made good, and the time had arrived when it was possible to form generalisations from sufficient data, and when a comprehensive work embracing the whole subject was urgently needed. For the production of such a work no one more highly fitted could be found than Prof. Paul Topinard, trained at the feet of the great master himself, possessed of an extensive knowledge of his subject, and intimately acquainted, by personal visits to the chief centres of anthropological research, with the methods employed by his contemporaries. Éléements d'Anthropologie générale. Par le Dr. Paul Topinard. (Paris: A. Delahaye et É. Lecrosnier, 1885.)

Researches into the Early History of Mankind and the Development of Civilisation

MR. TYLOR has devoted himself to a branch of Anthropology of which there are very few students in this country, that namely which treats of the mental development of man as elucidated by his arts and customs, and especially by his myths, his superstitions, and his language. More than a third of this volume is devoted to an elaborate account of the gesture-language used by deaf mutes and savages, and to picture-writing, word-writing, and the influence of names and images, as illustrative of various phases in the development of the human mind. After this we have chapters on the growth and decline of culture, as illustrated by the use of stone implements of various degrees of perfection, by weapons, by modes of procuring fire, and by modifications in various domestic utensils. Then follow accounts of remarkable savage customs, such as the curing of disease by the extraction of foreign substances from the body of the patient, the prohibition of marriage with certain relations or namesakes, tabooing the names, and even avoiding the sight, of certain relations, and the extraordinary custom of the couvade. Myths, their origin and geographical distribution, are then discussed; and these varied subjects are all treated from a twofold point of view, either as giving us an insight into the laws of the development of the human mind and the growth of civilisation, or as furnishing, by their similarity over extensive areas and in widely separated countries, an argument for the common origin of the different races of man. Researches into the Early History of Mankind and the Development of Civilisation. By Edward B. Tylor. Second Edition. (London: Murray, 1870.)