Syllabus: Paper I > 12. Applications of Anthropology > Anthropology of sports
Archaeological Anthropology — 2015 Paper I
Question · 2015 · Paper I · 10 Marks
Archaeological Anthropology.
Model Answer
VAID ICSApproach
- Demand of Question: Explain Archaeological Anthropology as the study of past human cultures through their material remains.
- Structuring the Response: Define its scope, major evidence and methods, and show how it reconstructs cultural processes through time.
- Key Dimensions to Cover: Material culture, excavation, stratigraphy, dating, settlement pattern, subsistence, ethnoarchaeology and cultural reconstruction.
Model Answer
Introduction: Archaeological Anthropology reconstructs past human behaviour and cultural development through the systematic study of material remains and their contexts. It provides anthropology with its major temporal or diachronic dimension.
Sources of evidence include:
- stone and metal tools;
- pottery;
- structures and settlements;
- burials;
- animal and plant remains;
- art and symbolic objects.
Its basic procedure is:
Survey → Excavation → Recording → Dating → Interpretation
Major methods include stratigraphy, typology, seriation and chronometric dating such as radiocarbon dating. Environmental remains help reconstruct subsistence, ecology and human adaptation.
Archaeological anthropology studies:
- technological change;
- origin of agriculture;
- settlement and urbanization;
- trade and exchange;
- social differentiation;
- ritual and symbolic behaviour.
Ethnoarchaeology strengthens interpretation by studying how contemporary behaviour creates material residues.
Unlike history, archaeology can investigate societies without written records.
Conclusion: Archaeological Anthropology connects material culture with human behaviour, enabling reconstruction of long-term transformations in technology, economy, social organization and culture.
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UPSC Anthropology Optional 2015 — Paper I
28 questions7(a) What is an anthropometric somatotype ? Describe Heath and Carter's method of somatotyping.
20 Marks
Syllabus: Paper I > 10. Human growth and development > Human physique and somatotypes
1(a) Archaeological Anthropology.
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.3 Main branches of Anthropology > Archaeological Anthropology
Syllabus: Paper I > 6. Anthropological Theories > Postmodernism in Anthropology
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.4 Human Evolution and emergence of Man > Biological and cultural factors in human evolution
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.6 Phylogenetic status, characteristics and geographical distribution > Homo erectus
Syllabus: Paper I > 9.4 Chromosomes and chromosomal aberrations in man
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.4 Human Evolution > Theories of evolution > Darwinism
Syllabus: Paper I > 2.4 Family > Definition and universality of the family
Syllabus: Paper I > 6. Anthropological Theories > Diffusionism and Evolutionism
5(e) DNA technology in Medicine.
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 12. Applications of Anthropology > DNA technology in diseases and medicine
5(b) Down's Syndrome.
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 9.4(c) Autosomal aberrations > Down syndrome
Syllabus: Paper I > 7. Culture, language and communication > Emic and etic perspectives
Syllabus: Paper I > 12. Applications of Anthropology > Forensic Anthropology > Personal identification
Syllabus: Paper I > 3. Economic Organization > Formalist and Substantivist debate
Syllabus: Paper I > 6. Anthropological Theories > Symbolic and Interpretive Anthropology > Geertz and Turner
Syllabus: Paper I > 9.3 Concept of genetic polymorphism and selection
1(e) Historical Particularism.
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 6. Anthropological Theories > Historical Particularism (Boas)
1(d) Horticulture.
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 3. Economic Organization > Modes of subsistence > Horticulture
Syllabus: Paper I > 9.1 Human Genetics: Methods and Application > Immunological methods
1(c) Incest Taboos.
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 2.3 Marriage > Rules of marriage > Incest taboo
5(c) Longitudinal method of studying growth.
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 10. Human growth and development > Methodologies for growth studies > Longitudinal method
5(d) Menopause and its impact.
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 11.1 Relevance of menarche, menopause and other bio-events to fertility
Syllabus: Paper I > 6. Anthropological Theories > Classical Evolutionism > Morgan
5(a) Palaeolithic culture.
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.8(b) Cultural Evolution: broad outlines of prehistoric cultures > Palaeolithic
7(b) Critically examine the physiological responses and acclimatization to cold climate in Man.
15 Marks
Syllabus: Paper I > 9.7 Man's physiological responses to environmental stresses > Cold climate
Syllabus: Paper I > 5. Religion > Theories of religion > Durkheim; sacred and profane; totemism
1(b) Society and Culture.
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 2.2 The Nature of Society > Society and culture