Field Methods

Biological Anthropology

Physical or biological anthropology makes use of field methods combined with laboratory work to understand aspects of humankind as a biological species. The place of humans in nature, their anatomy, physiology, evolution, similarities and differences with related species, physical adaptations to various environments, and biological diversity are all topics of interest to biological anthropology and are studied in the field.

Biological studies of deceased individuals and past groups make use of archaeological techniques to acquire fossil, bone, and other tissue samples and record the context in which they are found. Genetic and medical studies use blood, other physical samples, and anthropometric data, such as weight and height, collected from living or deceased individuals. Ethological or animal behavior studies of nonhuman primates make use of social observation and limited participation in animal groups.

Archaeology

Archaeological anthropology uses field methods to understand all aspects of the human past, with particular emphasis on what can be learned from remaining material culture, including artifacts and stratigraphic contexts. Field archaeologists conduct landscape surveys and sampling to locate sites of past human activity and identify patterns of occupation of the landscape. They conduct controlled excavations to collect artifacts and human remains, from which they assemble detailed data about particular sites.

In ethnoarchaeology, living people are observed and joined by means of participant-observation and conversation in order to learn how artifacts are made and disposed. Discarded objects and the processes involved in the formation of archaeological sites, or taphonomy, are also observed to learn how to interpret the archaeological record.

Sociocultural Anthropology

Sociocultural anthropology studies contemporary human groups in the field in order to understand the range of social relationships and organizations that human groups exhibit, as well as the learned beliefs and values that guide behavior. Most fieldwork in this subfield is directed toward producing ethnographies, [Page 963]or written descriptions of ethnic groups. Thus, ethnological field techniques are often termed ethnographic methods.

Living among the people under study, ethnographers use observation and description of the settings in which people live, participant-observation in social activities, various forms of interviewing, and focus groups. Participant-observation is cultural anthropology's central contribution to the methodology of social science.

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