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Overview Notes on Anthropology

 

            Anthropology is always an interesting topic of discussion; Anthropology can be defined as the study of humans, focusing on similarities and differences, both biological and cultural, in human population (Ember, Ember, Peregrine 516). In simpler terms, it is the study of humans developed over the years. The field of anthropology is very broad, making it impossible for one person to complete all the goals in this career. To solve this, subfields were created. Each one focuses on a different aspect of anthropology and has different goals to be met. There are many subfields within anthropology, but each one is important. In total, there are three different categories for the field of Anthropology. All jobs fit under biological anthropology, applied anthropology, and cultural anthropology. There are three classifications of job under cultural anthropology: linguists, archaeologists, and ethnologists. .
             An anthropological linguist focuses on the study of language around the world. There are three types of linguists in the field of anthropology. A historical linguist focuses on the system of sounds, grammar, and semantics and how these things have changed over time. A historical linguist also reconstructs earlier languages (Historical Linguists). A descriptive or structural linguist focuses on how languages today differ from the past and how it has changed. The last type of linguist, a sociolinguist, focuses on how languages are spoken. An archaeologist focuses the reconstruction of daily life and customs of people who lived in the past to trace and explain cultural changes (Ember, Ember, Peregrine 516). Most archaeologists use the remains from past peoples because there is no written record. However, there is a branch of archaeologists called historical archaeologists, who study cultures who leave some sort of record behind. .
             The last classification for jobs under the category of cultural anthropology is ethnologists.


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