THE 5 MAIN PRECURSORS OF ANTHROPOLOGY - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2024

Some of the precursors of anthropology are Herodoto, Marco Polo, Fray Bernardino or Frank Boas. As it is a science with a very extensive object of study, philosophers such as Plato or Aristotle, discoverers such as Christopher Columbus or linguists such as Saussure can also be presented as precursors.

Anthropology comes from the union of two Greek words. On the one hand, "anthropos", which means "man", and, on the other, "logos", which translates as "knowledge".

It is, therefore, the study of the human being as a social and cultural being. The biological or physical aspects are not neglected either. There are numerous branches within science, from linguistic, physical or social anthropology, to that which studies culture or ethnology.

Predecessors and precursors of Anthropology

1- Herodotus of Halicarnassus (484-425 BC)

Herodotus is known as the father of History as a scientific discipline. However, he not only stayed in the account of the events, but was the author of works in which a certain anthropological perspective can be glimpsed.

Among these, those he made on the inhabitants of ancient Greece stand out. His condition as a traveler, visiting Egypt, Anatolia, and part of the Persian Empire made him collect first-hand information in order to write his impressions. Likewise, it was based on ancient texts to be able to contextualize the cultures that it was analyzing.

Among his negative points, it should be noted that other Greek authors accused him of not being too rigorous with what he described and of inventing some data.

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Well known as a traveler and merchant, the book he wrote about his famous journey along the Silk Road (from Venice to China) has very interesting anthropological contributions.

In this book, in addition to recounting his experiences, he records everything he sees, describing the different cultures that he encounters in his path.

He also describes in detail what he finds in the court of Kublai Khan or his adventures with cannibal tribes in Sumatra.

The most outstanding thing is that he does not stay only with the anecdotes of his journey, but also makes an effort to tell his readers the physical and cultural characteristics of the towns he is visiting.

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This Spanish ecclesiastic was one of those who dedicated himself to the study of Native Americans after the conquest. This made it difficult for him to even confront the Church that considered his work as an opposition to the task of evangelization.

The highlight of his work is that the method he used was very similar to that later used by modern ethnologists.

Not only did she learn the language, but she also prepared a preliminary questionnaire and used indigenous translators and intermediaries. His study is one of the most complete of those written in colonial Mexico.

4- Charles Darwin

Darwin, father of the Theory of Evolution, was also a great forerunner of Anthropology. His works with fossils served to better understand the human species and to understand how cultures (apart from the species) are adapting to the environment in order to survive and develop.

In any case, Darwin was still the son of his time and many accuse him of expressing many racist opinions in his writings. In them he made a clear differentiation in intelligence and capacity between the various human cultures.

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Faced with the followers of Darwin in anthropology, Boas is known as the man who modernized science, leaving behind the most racial currents.

He studied the Kwakiutl Indians in Canada for years, creating a new approach to understanding the concepts of race and culture. Thus, he is considered the creator of cultural relativism.

This explains that the differences between the different peoples are due to social, geographical and historical conditions, not being able to establish moral criteria to value them.

References

1. Maria Marzal, Manuel. History of anthropology. Recovered from books.google.es
2. Kavanagh, William. Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, the little-known precursor of Social Anthropology. Recovered from dspace.ceu.es
3. The International History Project. Anthropology. Recovered from history-world.org
4. Anthrosio, Jason. How Did Anthropology Begin? Understanding Humanity. Retrieved from livinganthropologically.com
5. Columbia University in the City of New York. Franz Boas. Retrieved from anthropology.columbia.edu