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behaviour is rooted in biology rather than culture. In the general area of human
ecology recent concerns emphasise the implications for vulnerable human groups
Shrichakradhar.com
of changes in climate, land tenure and economy. This area also impinges on
questions of environmental conservation in the modern world. These more recent
interests in human ecology occur alongside the more traditional concerns which
focus on human biological variation and the correlates of this variation.
6. Archaeological Anthropology: Archaeology is the study of human cultures
through the study of material and environmental remains. The word, derived
from ancient Greek, means “the study of antiquity.” Archaeology is one of the
four subfields of anthropology, together with biological anthropology, linguistic
anthropology, and social/cultural anthropology. Archaeological remains can take
many forms, two of the basic ones being artifacts (any object altered by human
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hands) and faunal remains, or midden (food remnants such as bone and shell).
Artifacts can be anything from simple flaked stone tools and pottery sherds to the
most elaborate and priceless objects found in such treasure troves as the tomb of
Tutankhamun. These finds constitute the archaeological record, which
archaeologists then piece together to interpret as much as they can about the
cultures they are studying.
Significance ofanthropology: Anthropology may be described as the science of man
in totality, which includes the study of various fields of science. During the first quarter
of the 20th century when anthropology started blossoming into a full-fledged academic
discipline, scholars from the natural sciences background were attracted into its fold.
Haddon was a marine zoologist, Rivers was a physiologist, and Seligman a pathologist,
Elliot Smith an anatomist, Malinowski a physicist and back home in India N. K. Bose
was physicist and geographer.
These men had been taught that in science one tests hypothesis by one’s own
observations. One does not rely on layman to do it for one. They brought with them the
scientific temper and objectivity that, during later stages, helped anthropology to
become a mature discipline.
The subject matter of anthropology is vast. It includes everything that has to do with
human beings, past and present, far and near. Many other sciences and disciplines study
one or the other aspect of the most wonderful creature that man is.
While anatomists and physiologists study humans as biological organism and social
sciences like economics, sociology, history and other various aspects of human society
and culture, anthropologists are interested in all of these things. Thus, anthropology
may be described as the science of man in totality.
Obviously, it is not possible for a single anthropologist to study and investigate
personally everything that has to do with man. That is why anthropology has been
divided into various branches and sub fields and individual anthropologists specialize in
one or more of these.

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