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Definition
Anthropology is the holistic, comparative study of humans — biological evolution, culture, language, institutions and behaviour — across time and space (anthropos = human; logos = study).
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Example / case study
Harappan urban planning is reconstructed from material remains, showing how archaeology recovers past social organisation. Tribal welfare uses anthropological field methods such as PRA/RRA so schemes fit local culture rather than a one-size plan.
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Thinkers
E.A. Hoebel — Anthropology is the study of man and his works. L.P. Vidyarthi — three phases of Indian anthropology: Formative (1774–1919, colonial surveys), Constructive (1920–1949, institutional fieldwork), Analytical (from 1950).
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Definition
Scope spans four branches (CLAP) — Cultural, Linguistic, Archaeological and Physical anthropology — plus applied work in health, development, forensics and policy.
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Example / case study
Medical anthropology explains why vaccination or healing behaviour differs by culture, not only by biology. Forensic anthropology identifies human remains after disasters or crime, linking osteology to identity.
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Thinkers
Franz Boas — four-field approach: biological, archaeological, linguistic and cultural study of humans together. Ralph Piddington — mapped economic anthropology around production, distribution and consumption in social context.
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Definition
The subject moved from armchair unilinear evolution and colonial administration, through field ethnography and structural-functional analysis, to applied and reflexive anthropology.
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Example / case study
Formative phase (1774–1919): Risley’s People of India and Thurston’s Castes and Tribes of Southern India — survey anthropology for colonial rule. Constructive phase (1920–1949): Calcutta University department (1920); Majumdar on the Ho, Elwin in Bastar, Karve on caste and kinship.
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Thinkers
L.P. Vidyarthi — Formative, Constructive and Analytical phases of anthropology in India. E.B. Tylor — unilinear evolution (savagery–barbarism–civilisation) and the doctrine of survivals. Franz Boas — rejected universal stages; each culture has its own history (historical particularism).
Short notes for this Anthropology syllabus heading.