Evolution and development of social Anthropology as a discipline or field of study and the phases of anthropology

Anthropology traces its roots to an ancient Greek historical and philosophical writings about human nature and the organisation of the human society. Herodotus thus a Greek historian who lived in the 400s BC,as the first thinker to write widely on concepts that would later become central to anthropology.He described the cultures of various peoples of the Persian Empire which the Greeks conquered during the first half of he 400s BC. Another historian is Ibn Khaldun and he lived in the 14th century ad and he was another early writer of ideas relevant to anthropology.He examined the environmental,sociological,psychological and economic factors that affected the development and the rise and fall of civilization.

During the 15th century ad,biblical scholars dominated European thinking on questions of human origins and cultural development. These were issues of belief and promoted the idea that human existence and human diversity were the creations of God.The European explorers who were looking for wealth in new lands described various cultures which they encountered in Adia, Africa etc but they did not understand the languages of they people so they made brief observations which are not systematic.


The European Age of Enlightenment of the 17th and 18th centuries marked the rise of scientific and rational philosophisical thought.Various enlighteent thinkers like Jean-Jacques Rousseau of France and others wrote  a number of humanistic works on the nature of mankind.

In the 19th century,modern anthropology came into being with the development and scientific acceptance of theories of biological and cultural evolurion. In the early 19th century,a number of scientific observations especially unearthed bonnes and other remains such as stone tools indicated that humanity's past had covered a much greater span of time .


Online Encyclopedia 2003
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The phases of anthropology
Basically, there are just four phases involved in the study of anthropological studies and they are:
1.The formative phase(1860-1900s):Some anthropologist were referred to as 'Armchair anthropologist' and they were using the reports of other missionaries,British administrators to reshape the history and story of the various societies.It means they were dependant on the explores of others to restructure the society.

2.Classical phase is also another phase that is related to the study of anthropology.Classical anthropological research findings wrer written by mist scholars or icons.

3.Modern phase :During this phase,there was a shift of focus from the small scale societies to the analytical studies of complex societies as the primary focus of social anthropology widens.

4.Transnational and global period or phase:At this period,the interest of anthropology shifted to the nation,transnational and global issues.The local issues and communities assumed a transnational and global dimension.


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