Module overview
A four-field Anthropology brings together Archaeology, Biological and Social/Cultural Anthropology and Linguistics. This approach started in North America, but has since become useful globally, and ties in with Southampton’s long-established integrative approach to the disciplines. The four fields all explore different aspects of human diversity past and present, and all co-developed as disciplines over the last two centuries. Sometimes the connections between the four disciplines have been closer than at other times, but all investigate what it is to be human, using ethnographies, artefacts and resources, spatial organisation of space, physiological variation, evolution and languages. We shall explore some of the main themes that have informed archaeological and anthropological thought, from these disciplines’ beginnings in antiquarianism and exploration many centuries ago, to their growth as university disciplines in the nineteenth century and their current interdisciplinary approaches. Intersections and co-development with closely related disciplines (e.g. primatology, geography, history, natural sciences) will also be explored in this module. We shall discuss some of the philosophical and scientific influences on archaeology and anthropology (the Enlightenment, evolution, ethnography, science and cultural theory), relating these to broader historical trends in the development of archaeological and anthropological thought.