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Anthropologist
Studies human cultures, societies, and evolution — past and present.
Did you know?
Between 6,000 and 7,000 languages are spoken today, and most have fewer than 10,000 speakers. Anthropologists help record them before they fade.
How subjects help
- Sociology: Live alongside a community and observe how its family life and customs work.
- History: Compare how a culture's traditions have changed over many generations.
- Biology: Study bones and teeth to learn how early humans lived and evolved.
- Languages: Learn a community's language so you can talk with people directly.
A famous name
Margaret Mead: Anthropologist who lived in Samoa and wrote "Coming of Age in Samoa" (1928) about its young people.
Try it yourself: Build dig layers in a tub
- Fill your tub in layers: stones at the bottom, then different soils, sand and so on. Bury a button or two as "finds". Think about what each layer might mean, like a flood or a floor.
- Push a stick down the side through a few layers, like an ancient fence post, then pull it out and watch the hole fill in.
- Draw the layers as you see them from the side.
- Give each layer a number. Archaeologists call this a "context number". Which layer is oldest, and how do you know? Wash your hands afterwards.
Archaeologists dig one layer at a time and number and draw each one, because the order of the layers tells them what happened first.
Adapted from Young Archaeologists' Club: Make a stratigraphy jar.
Also try: Record a family memory interview.
Known for it in
USA, UK, France, Australia, Brazil