Free Essays on Anthropology

Anthropology proves to be satisfying and intellectually fulfilling to many in the field. However, there are also many challenges and bumps in the road along the way. Napolean A. Chagnon and Claire Sterk faced many of these challenges themselves. During his fieldwork with the Yanomamo, Chagnon faced many challenges interacting with the natives. Chagnon could not practically communicate with the people until about six months after he arrived. He notes ? the hardest thing to live with was the incessant, passioned, and often aggressive demands they would make.? An example of this is the natives threatening with a shout such as; ?If you don?t take me with you on your next boat trip to Widokalyateri, I?ll chop a hole in your canoe!? While trying to collect genealogies, Chagnon found it very frustrating and commented ? I could not have deliberately picked a more difficult people to work with in this regard.? This was because he first tried to use the names they called each other, not knowing that the names they called each other were completely ambiguous and didn?t mean anything. He then later found out , after collecting all the genealogical information, that only the living members were accurate and the deceased listed were mostly fake. He had to start all over. ( Chagnon 5) Sterk did a different type of study on prostitution and how it went on during a time when AIDS was a major problem. This type of fieldwork is ethnographic fieldwork. Sterk had to get established in rough neighborhoods, crack houses, and sidewalks of busy streets. She first and foremost had to locate her samples by asking local taxi-drivers, bartenders , and AIDS clinics. Developing a relationship and trust with women who had never had any trustworthy people in their lives was quite challenging as well. Sterk was once followed home by one of the woman?s pimps and his friends, and was jumped. The woman admitted to Sterk ... Free Essays on Anthropology Free Essays on Anthropology Anthropology proves to be satisfying and intellectually fulfilling to many in the field. However, there are also many challenges and bumps in the road along the way. Napolean A. Chagnon and Claire Sterk faced many of these challenges themselves. During his fieldwork with the Yanomamo, Chagnon faced many challenges interacting with the natives. Chagnon could not practically communicate with the people until about six months after he arrived. He notes ? the hardest thing to live with was the incessant, passioned, and often aggressive demands they would make.? An example of this is the natives threatening with a shout such as; ?If you don?t take me with you on your next boat trip to Widokalyateri, I?ll chop a hole in your canoe!? While trying to collect genealogies, Chagnon found it very frustrating and commented ? I could not have deliberately picked a more difficult people to work with in this regard.? This was because he first tried to use the names they called each other, not knowing that the names they called each other were completely ambiguous and didn?t mean anything. He then later found out , after collecting all the genealogical information, that only the living members were accurate and the deceased listed were mostly fake. He had to start all over. ( Chagnon 5) Sterk did a different type of study on prostitution and how it went on during a time when AIDS was a major problem. This type of fieldwork is ethnographic fieldwork. Sterk had to get established in rough neighborhoods, crack houses, and sidewalks of busy streets. She first and foremost had to locate her samples by asking local taxi-drivers, bartenders , and AIDS clinics. Developing a relationship and trust with women who had never had any trustworthy people in their lives was quite challenging as well. Sterk was once followed home by one of the woman?s pimps and his friends, and was jumped. The woman admitted to Sterk ... Free Essays on Anthropology Anthropology concerns itself with humans as complex social beings with a capacity for language, thought and culture. The study of anthropology is about understanding biological and cultural aspects of life among peoples throughout the world. All humans are born with the same basic physical characteristics but, depending on where they grow up, each individual is exposed to different climates, food, languages, religious beliefs, and so on. However human beings are not simply shaped by their environment, they also actively shape the world in which they love. A key aim of anthology is to understand the common constraints within which human beings operate as well as the differences which are evident between particular societies and cultures. Given such concerns, the potential subject matter of anthropology is truly vast. Researchers nowadays tend to specialise on in or another branch of the discipline. Some, called physical or biological anthropologists, investigate such topics as how humans or human-like creatures evolved over thousands or millions or years, as well as our genetic and behavioural relationships with non-human primates. Others, called social or cultural anthropologists, study such things as the very varied ways in which different peoples organise themselves to ensure stable agricultural production or community life. They might study different assumptions people hold about how the world works as revealed in their religious beliefs and practices. They might study the many material forms that people produce such as their houses, dress, crafts and art. In this Guide we discuss both of these kinds of anthology, although we say more about the social and cultural side of the discipline. Where can I study anthropology? Social anthropology is currently taught to degree level in about 27 UK universities or their constituent colleges. It may be studies as part of a wider degree in so other universities; it may also be studied part-t... Free Essays on Anthropology Hunting and Gathering VS Agriculture From the early prehistoric society until now, we often heard the word â€Å"adaptation†, which means the process of changing something or changing our behavior to deal with new situations. The ways people adjust their natural environment varies according to time, place, and tribe. Foraging is common way of adaptation that people uses for most of human history; however because of the population pressure, some people adopt agriculture to fulfill their need. This essay, will discuss the positive and negative aspects of life in hunting and gathering societies compared to the agricultural societies based on Martin Harris’ article â€Å"Murders in Eden† and Jared Diamond’s article â€Å"The Worst Mistake in the History of Human Race.† Hunting and gathering is the longest-lasting lifestyle for most of human history. In addition to their way of life, hunter-gatherers are often regarded as â€Å"nasty, brutish, and short † (Diamond 114). Progressivists also suggested our hunter-gatherer ancestors adopt agriculture because of â€Å"its efficient way to get more food for less work†(Diamond 114). However, as archaeologists observe in some aspects of their lives, hunter-gatherers societies are not necessarily â€Å"nasty, brutish, and short.† Some issues that we need to compare between hunting and gathering and agricultural societies include workloads, nutrition, production, starvation, infanticide, health and disease, and differences in wealth. From the work loads, it shows that in the barren environment of the Kalahari dessert, the present day Bushmen need only 12 to 19 hours per week to obtaining a diet rich in protein and a high nutritional standard, while their farmer neighbors, the Hadza nomads of Tanzania, need 14 hours per week and get less protein. It also takes more additional hours of food preparation to make it is suitable for consumption. It appears that hunter-gatherers have more leisure time than farm...