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anthropology
The academic discipline that studies all of humanity from a broad perspective
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archaeology
The investigation of past cultures through excavation of material remains
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anthropological linguistics
Subfield that focuses on the interrelationships between language and other aspects of a people's culture.
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applied anthropology
Subfield whose practitioners use anthropological methods, theories, and concepts to solve practical, real-world problems; practitioners are often employed by a governmental agency or private organization.
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biological (physical) anthropology
Major subfield of anthropology that studies the biological dimensions of humans and other primates.
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cultural anthropology (social anthropology, sociocultural anthropology, ethnology)
The subfield that studies the way of life of contemporary and historically recent human populations.
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comparitive perspective
The insistence by anthropologists that valid hypotheses and theories about humanity be tested with information from a wide range of cultures.
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cultural relativism
The notion that one should not judge the behaviour of other peoples using the standards of one's own culture.
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ethnography
A written description of the way of life of some human population.
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ethnocentrism
The attitude or opinion that the morals, values, and customs of one's own culture are superior to those of other peoples.
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forensic anthropology
A specialization of physical anthropology that identifies and analyzes human skeletal remains; forensic anthropologists usually work for or consult with law enforcement agencies.
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fieldwork
Ethnographic research that involves observing and interviewing the members of a culture to describe their current way of life.
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globalization
The process of integrating the world's peoples economically, socially, politically, and culturally into a single world system or community.
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historic archaeology
Field that investigates the past of literate peoples through excavation of sites and analysis of artifacts and other material remains.
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human variation
Physical differences among human populations; an interest of physical anthropologists.
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holistic perspective
The assumption that any aspect of a culture is integrated with other aspects, so that no dimension of culture can be understood in isolation.
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medical anthropology
The subfield that researches the connections between cultural beliefs and habits and the spread and treatment of diseases and illnesses.
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prehistoric archaeology
Field that uses excavation of sites and analysis of material remains to investigate cultures that existed before the development of writing.
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primatology
The study of primates, including monkeys and apes; subfield of biological anthropology.
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paleoanthropology
The specialization of physical anthropology that investigates the biological evolution of the human species.
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practicing anthropology
The subfield that usually includes anthropologists whose primary employment is in nonacademic organizations, such as corporations, schools, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and the like.
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