The Four Sub-Fields of Anthropology Anthropology is the discipline that examines all human beings and their beliefs. Since anthropology is extremely broad, no single anthropologists can master the entire discipline, therefore most of them specialize in one of the four principal subfields. This is so because the discipline of anthropology is subdivided into four discrete subfields, which include physical, Archaeology, Anthropological linguistic and cultural anthropology. Therefore, what brings the four sub-field of the anthropology together as a discipline is the history of the theoretical approaches, which promote cultural diversity and field research as a unique methodology. Therefore, the paper focuses on the four sub-fields of anthropology and what hold them together as part of one wide discipline. It also evaluates the historical reasons for their developments and example of the area of anthropological research that brings these four fields together.
The physical anthropology deals with humans as biological organisms. This branch is concerned with two broader fields of investigation, which include reconstructing the evolutionary record of the human species and the evolution of human beings. The evolution fields try to explain how and why the physical characteristics of human population differ throughout the world. This field of investigation is referred to as human variation. Therefore, the physical anthropology investigates how culture and environment have influenced the contemporary variations and biological evolution.
Archaeology is the branch attempts to reconstruct the cultures of the past which have no written records. The anthropologists study the past cultures and societies via their material remain. This subfield tries to recover material culture, such as tools, buildings and other artifacts, which are the remnants of former societies via site