Anthropology and Archeology

Early investigations suffered from the problems that were common to all scientific fields in 19th century.

Their measurements were crude at best, and their knowledge of human anatomy and physiology was limited. But with each new discovery, another piece was added to the puzzle.

Anthropologist became more aware of the relationships between human beings and other animals.

They began to understand some of the obvious differences among human populations: they learn how physical features like skin color or how hair type or even height and general body structure were tied in with the environments in which people had lived for very long period.

Without evidence of past, there could be no anthropology. The evidence was provided by archeology.

Although in the nineteenth century archeology was not considered a branch of anthropology, its subject matter was of crucial important to physical anthropologists. Archaeologists are concerned primarily with prehistory – the period of human existence prior to the keeping of written records or historical accounts.

Their aim is to reconstruct the origins and spread of culture by examining any remains of past societies that we are fortunate enough to find.

Although archeology is best known for its dramatic discoveries of ancient cities, and the “great” civilizations of the past, it also provides us with vast amount of information about ancient people and their customs.
Anthropology and Archeology