Addis Ababa Science & Tchnology University: College of Natural and Social Sciences Social Anthropology

ADDIS ABABA SCIENCE & TCHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF NATURAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY
(Anth 1012)
NAME:- YOHANNES BAYU
ID No.:- ETS 0698/12
SECTION:- N1
Sub. To:- Mr. DAGMAWI
Sub Date:- 03/072/2013

The difference between ethnographic and ethnographical approach
The word Ethnography comes from these two Greek words:”Ethnos”, meaning people & “Graphein”,
meaning writing. Wolcott (1999) defines ethnography is a description of “the customary social
behaviors of an identifiable group of people”. Ethnography is often referred to as “culture writing,” and
it refers to a type of documentation often employed by Anthropologists in their field work. This genre
of writing uses detailed first-hand written descriptions of a culture based on first-hand research in the
field.
Ethnology is the comparative study of two or more cultures. Ethnology utilizes the data taken from
ethnographic research and applies it to a single cross cultural topic. The ethnographic approach can be
used to identify and attempt to explain cross cultural variation in cultural elements such as marriage,
religion, subsistence practices, political organization, and parenting, just to name a few. Ethnology
often compares and contrasts various cultures.
Ethnography Ethnology
Requires field work to collect data Uses data collected by a series of researchers
Often descriptive Usually synthetic
Group/community specific Comparative/cross-cultural
Anthropologists who focus on one culture are often called ethnographers while those who focus on
several cultures are often called ethnologists.
Artifacts, features and ecofacts.

Artifacts are material remains made and used by the past peoples and that can be removed from the
site and taken to the laboratory for further analysis. Tools, ornaments, arrowheads, coins, and
fragments of pottery are examples of artifacts.
Fig:- examples of artifacts.

Features are defined as a non moveable element of an archaeological site. Features are evidence of
human activity that primarily consist of cultural made materials which are part of the natural layer.
Archaeological features include such things as house foundations, ancient buildings, fireplaces, steles,
postholes, trash pits, hearths, walls, or pathways.
Fig: example of feature
An ecofact is a biological artifact not altered by humans, but which may be indicative of human
occupation. Ecofacts are strictly natural, so human objects such as tools, pottery, weapons, or
structures are not ecofacts. Ecofacts fall into four main categories: faunal ecofacts, floral ecofacts,
inorganic ecofacts, and organic ecofacts.
 Faunal ecofacts are ecofacts that come from animals, such as bones, teeth, antlers, etc. Faunal
ecofacts are divided into human remains, bones of humans, and nonhuman ecofacts, anything
that is not from a human.
 Floral ecofacts are ecofacts that come from plants and trees.
 Inorganic ecofacts, are ecofacts from non biological remains. Examples of inorganic ecofacts are
soils and minerals.
 Organic ecofacts are ecofacts that are the remains of an organism that was once living.

Fig: example of eco facts
Social Darwinism
Social Darwinism, the theory that human groups and races are subject to the same laws of natural
selection as Charles Darwin perceived in plants and animals in nature. According to the theory, which
was popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the weak were diminished and their cultures
delimited while the strong grew in power and cultural influence over the weak. Social Darwinists held
that the life of humans in society was a struggle for existence ruled by “survival of the fittest,” a phrase
proposed by the British philosopher and scientist Herbert Spencer.
Eugenics and concept of ‘master race’

Eugenics is the practice or advocacy of improving the human species by selectively mating people with
specific desirable hereditary traits. It aims to reduce human suffering by “breeding out” disease,
disabilities and so-called undesirable characteristics from the human population.
The master race (German: Herrenrasse, also referred to as Herrenvolk "master people") is a concept in
Nazi ideology in which the putative Nordic or Aryan races, predominant among Germans and other
northern European peoples, are deemed the highest in racial hierarchy. Members of this alleged
master race were referred to as Herrenmenschen ("master humans").
The problems with the concept of a master race — aside from the obvious moral issues surrounding
eugenics — is that biological variation is necessary for the health of a population. Basically, if all
members of a population are the same, the population has no buffer against a particularly lethal or
catastrophic disease or any other major change in the species‘ selective environment. If everyone is
the same, everyone is susceptible to the same potential disaster. For this reason, many biologists
measure the overall health of a species by its very genetic diversity. So even if a master race were
possible, and one could (and would want to) manage to prevent any interbreeding, the end result
would be a genetically uniform and genetically vulnerable population. The idea of a master race is
therefore suicidal.
What do Anthropologists say about human race?

A race is a grouping of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into categories generally
viewed as distinct by society. The term was first used to refer to speakers of a common language and
then to denote national affiliations. By the 17th century the term began to refer to physical
(phenotypical) traits. Modern science regards race as a social construct, an identity which is assigned
based on rules made by society. While partially based on physical similarities within groups, race does
not have an inherent physical or biological meaning
Most anthropologists believe that categorizing human groups by race has no biological basis. Most
anthropologists believe that categorizing human groups by race has no genetic basis.
Cultural relativism
Cultural relativism is the ability to understand a culture on its own terms and not to make judgments
using the standards of one's own culture. The goal of this is promote understanding
of cultural practices that are not typically part of one's own culture. Cultural relativism describes a
situation where there is an attitude of respect for cultural differences rather than condemning other
people's culture as uncivilized or backward.
Respect for cultural differences involves:
 Accepting and respecting other cultures;
 Appreciating cultural diversity;
 Trying to understand every culture and its elements in terms of its own context and logic;
 Accepting that each body of custom has inherent dignity and meaning as the way of life of one
group which has worked out to its environment, to the biological needs of its members, and to
the group relationships;
 Knowing that a person's own culture is only one among many; and
 Recognizing that what is immoral, ethical, acceptable, etc, in one culture may not be so in
another culture.

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ADDIS ABABA SCIENCE & TCHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF NATURAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

NAME:- YOHANNES BAYU

ID No.:- ETS 0698/12

Sub. To:- Mr. DAGMAWI

Sub Date:- 03/072/2013

Artifacts, features and ecofacts.

Fig:- examples of artifacts.

Eugenics and concept of ‘master race’

What do Anthropologists say about human race?

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