U N I T 1 THE SCIENCE OF MAN In this Unit you will learn about the importance of Anthropology, a science which helps to understand what is at the basis of different cultures. You will also learn about its different fields and the methods used by anthropologists in their research. A. WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY? As a distinct academic discipline, Anthropology (from the Greek anthropos, or human being) is comparatively young. Its roots go back to the intellectual Enlightenment of the 18th and early 19th centuries in Europe and North America. As European nations developed colonies in distant parts of the world, and Americans expanded west and south into the territories of the Native Americans, it became apparent to them that humanity was extremely varied. Anthropology began, in part, as an attempt by the members of scientific societies to objectively record and comprehend this variety. What primarily motivated these early amateur anthropologists was curiosity about the strange people and customs in far-off parts of the world. By profession, they were most often naturalists, doctors, Christian clerics or explorers. They were looking for answers to fundamental questions such as whether or not the differences between human cultures are the result of genetic inheritance, and 12 1 Match each key-word from the text to its definition. a. roots 1. register, in writing or any other permanent form b. record 2. initial, early, original c. customs 3. members of the clergy, the church d. clerics 4. what is transmitted from parents or ancestors e. inheritance 5. primary sources, origins f. pioneering 6. practices followed by people of a particular group or region