Anthropology Relationships with Earth Sciences

Anthropology is a branch of science concerning human behaviour, civilisations, and society. In Asia and North America, archaeology is regarded as a discipline within anthropology, not just as a topic, but also as a handbook for adopting survival methods in the context of environmental deterioration and natural disasters. It encompasses diversity and natural evolution. Many concepts are linked to anthropology.

Anthropology relationship with Earth sciences

Human behaviour and culture over time can be reconstructed by archaeological anthropologists.

Geography and climate have undergone drastic change over the years. The past can be studied mainly through geological deposits of different types and their impact on the life activities of prehistoric communities, particularly their psycho-social development. 

Earth science is of two types: geology and human geography. Let’s have a look at both and their relation with anthropology.

Anthropology and Geography

Geography is the study of the environment surrounding us, and also the changes, longitude, latitude at different parts of ecology. Anthropology is the evolution of humans.

Climate, soil, etc., which are part of geography, directly impact a human being and their evolution. Hence, this shows both are connected.

Geography and Socio-Cultural Anthropology

Cultural ecology is a prominent idea in the socio-cultural environment. Cultural ecology and the surroundings do not have separate domains and are mutually connected, as proposed by famous American anthropologist Julian Steward.

As per Steward, both the superstructure and the cultural core are important. Many fundamental components of civilisation are inextricably linked. It illustrates the complex relationship between the environment and human civilisation. 

Physical Anthropology and Geography

Geography explains how an area’s physical nature influences its weather. Physical anthropology, on the other hand, is concerned with the transformation of human evolutionary form, that is, the evolution based on the planet’s structure rather than physical and cultural factors.

The presence of numerous races and their conduct is discussed in geography. Race is important in physical anthropology as well because different races have different cultures and behaviours.

Archaeological Anthropology and Geography

Archaeologists employ a range of theoretical methods to look for links between discovered artefacts, how ancient man utilised them, the demand for such archaic goods, and how people’s thinking changed over time. In the perspective of anthropology’s primary purpose of researching evolution, physical anthropology and archaeology are opposites.

Relationship of Anthropology and Geology

Geology is the discipline that studies the earth’s geological structure, past, geography, the elements present, and the phenomena that occur regularly. 

Fossil evidence is essential for researching evolution, and geology is the analysis of rocks in the sedimentary sequence where fossils are found. Geology, which may be employed in physical anthropology, is needed to establish a trend in human evolution.

Pleistocene geology is concerned with human occupancy in diverse locations. The movement of people leads to changes in climatic circumstances. Anthropology’s key areas of migration and residence provide a wealth of information about life.

Geology and Socio-Cultural Anthropology

One may have heard of the varna system. This varna system works as a common zone between the two. 

Conclusion

We can conclude that anthropology is incomplete without Earth sciences. We can also determine that anthropology is related to the sciences, especially different kinds of Earth sciences. A variety of such relations are explained in detail above.