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Definition
Medical Genetics: It is the standard method for understanding the inheritance patterns of Mendelian disorders such as Huntington’s disease, Sickle-cell anemia, and Thalassemia.
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Example / case study
Information is reconstructed almost entirely through archaeological evidence. Together they explain humans from biological, cultural, linguistic and historical perspectives. Anthropology today extends far beyond the study of tribes.
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Thinkers
E.A. Hoebel: “Anthropology is the study of man and his works.” Franz Boas — historical particularism and the four-field approach (biological, archaeological, linguistic, cultural). Radcliffe-Brown: Used genealogies to reconstruct descent groups and social structure in Africa. Malinowski: Used them to understand kinship and land inheritance among the Trobriand Islanders. Claude Lévi-Strauss: Used genealogical/kinship data to develop Alliance Theory, focusing on marriage and exchange between lineages.
Short notes for this Anthropology syllabus heading.