Anthropology

The study of humanity, our ancestors, human biological evolution, societies past and present, and what makes us human across time and around the world.
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Onega Petroglyphs At Sunset
Petroglyphs of Lake Onega and the White Sea is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Republic of Karelia in northwestern Russia. These rock carvings date back to around 6,000–7,000 years ago (Neolithic period).
Updated April 15, 2026

Overview

This section provides a brief introduction to the field of anthropology, including its main areas of study, key questions, and other subjects important to anthropology research. It is designed to give you a clear starting point and help you understand the scope and focus of the discipline.

Anthropologists study people—their cultures, languages, biology, and history — to better understand what it means to be human. They study how humans live today, how they lived in the past, and how we've changed over time. Anthropology is also the study of humanity. It examines everyday life, including family, food,  work, traditions, health, material remains, and artifacts from past cultures and societies.

 

Anthropologists study how people live, communicate, organize societies, adapt to environments, and understand the world around them.

 

Anthropologists research everything from human evolution and ancient tools to modern social norms, beliefs, and institutions. If you're curious about ancient civilizations or global cultures today, anthropology explores how humans have changed and stayed the same over time.

 

For an in-depth description of anthropology, read the following:

 

 

In most American colleges and universities, anthropology is typically divided into the four main subfields listed below, each focusing on a different aspect of human behavior.  If you would like to read more about these subfields and their concepts, links to the free, peer-reviewed OpenStax textbook, Introduction to Anthropology, are provided. OpenStax provides free, high-quality textbooks written by subject experts, reviewed by faculty, and commonly used in introductory and core undergraduate courses.

 

Anthropology's Four Main Fields:

 

  • Archaeology - Investigates past human societies through material remains such as tools, buildings, and artifacts to understand cultural development over time.
  • Biological (or Physical) Anthropology - Examines the biological and evolutionary aspects of humans, including human evolution, genetics, primatology, and the study of fossil hominins.
  • Cultural Anthropology - Studies contemporary human cultures, beliefs, practices, and social structures. It explores how people live, interact, and make meaning in their societies.
  • Linguistic Anthropology - Focuses on language and its role in social life. It studies how language influences culture, communication, identity, and social interaction.

 

Some programs also recognize a fifth field:

 

  • Applied Anthropology - Uses anthropological methods and insights to solve real-world problems in areas like public health, education, development, and cultural preservation.

 

Read more about the "four fields" in OpenStax's Introduction to Anthropology: 1.2 The Four-Field Approach: Four Approaches within the Guiding Narrative.

 

Anthropology is a highly interdisciplinary field that draws on the humanities and other social sciences to gain a deeper understanding of humans and their societies. These include biology, economics, environmental science, geography, history, medicine and public health, religion, political science, psychology, and sociology.

 

If you’re thinking about majoring in anthropology, these resources can provide useful background information and help guide your next steps. They explain what to expect from the major and the wide variety of career paths available to you.

 

 

Anthropology Subfields

Most universities teach multiple subfields of anthropology. However, the discipline is traditionally divided into four major subfields often referred to as the "Four-Field Approach." Below are separate guides to the four major subfields of anthropology. Scroll through the listing provided or view all subfields.

Archaeology

The study of material remains left by past historic or prehistoric human societies.

Anthropology Reference

Anthropology reference sources focus on the geography, people, cultures, languages, and archaeological records studied in the field. They often include specialized tools, such as cultural dictionaries and ethnographies. Below, we've listed the most comprehensive reference resources used by anthropology researchers. We provide links to either the publisher’s websites or Amazon for further details and descriptions.

Atlases play an unusually important role in anthropology. The discipline is fundamentally concerned with geographic location and cultural variation across the globe—often in ways that other social sciences are not. Anthropological atlases also differ from traditional atlases in purpose and content. While traditional atlases depict physical geography (such as mountains, rivers, and political borders), anthropological atlases visually represent the historical, physical, cultural, and linguistic landscapes central to anthropological research.

A bibliography lists sources cited in research papers, such as books, articles, documents, websites, and other academic materials. Oxford Bibliographies is widely regarded as the leading scholarly reference source for expert-curated bibliographies across disciplines.

A biography provides a detailed account of a person's life, covering key aspects such as their early years, education, career, achievements, challenges, and impact on the world. Biographies about well-known anthropologists are particularly valuable, helping researchers understand:

 

  • How anthropological knowledge is created
  • How anthropological theories, concepts, and methods are developed
  • The realities of how fieldwork is conducted

 

The following are comprehensive reference works that provide biographical information on influential figures in anthropology.

Subject encyclopedias are specialized reference works providing in-depth information on specific discipline topics. Unlike general encyclopedias that cover a wide range of topics, subject encyclopedias focus exclusively on one discipline, offering detailed and comprehensive entries written by experts. For a list of general and specialized encyclopedia databases, go to Getting Started – Reference Resources.

Subject encyclopedias are specialized reference works that provide in-depth information on specific discipline topics. Unlike general encyclopedias, which cover a wide range of topics, subject encyclopedias focus exclusively on one field, offering detailed and comprehensive entries written by experts. For a list of general and specialized encyclopedia databases, go to Getting Started—Reference Resources.

 

Handbooks provide authoritative overviews, in-depth analyses, and critical discussions of a particular academic field, discipline, or topic. The following are important general handbooks in anthropology.

Companions offer concise yet comprehensive introductions to a subject. Written by experts, introductions present key ideas, theories, and debates clearly and understandably. The following books are ideal for readers new to anthropology, providing foundational knowledge without requiring prior expertise.

General Databases

Academic libraries subscribe to a diverse range of research databases of which EBSCO and ProQuest are two of the largest providers. Most colleges and universities offer access to one or both platforms. Here are some key insights about each:

  • Both are multidisciplinary research databases covering multiple disciplines.
  • Both provide access to dozens of subject databases with a single search interface.
  • Both provide a varied mix of e-books, scholarly journals, peer-reviewed journals, trade publications, magazines, images, and newspapers.

EBSCOhost is a major research database platform that allows users to search multiple EBSCO databases simultaneously. The difference between EBSCOhost and Academic Search is that Academic Search can be searched as part of the EBSCOhost platform or searched separately if your institution has a subscription. To check if your institution subscribes to EBSCOhost, use EBSCO’s Find your institution page.

ProQuest is a major database vendor and platform that provides access to hundreds of database collections. The ProQuest platform provides a multidisciplinary search with access to scholarly ebooks, journals, video and audio, newspapers, and more, all searchable simultaneously. ProQuest is unique in providing dissertations and theses, historical newspapers, and other primary sources.

Scholarly Databases

Scholarly research databases provide peer-reviewed academic journal articles, book reviews, and other scholarly resources authored by scholars, researchers, or academics who are experts in their fields. Unlike magazines (Time, Newsweek, etc.) focused on current events, news, and general-interest stories written by journalists, articles in scholarly journals undergo rigorous review before publication. The following is a list of the most important multidisciplinary scholarly research databases.

Google Scholar is a free academic search engine that helps researchers and studentsfind scholarly literature across disciplines. It indexes journal articles, books, conference papers, theses, patents, and other resources from academic publishers, universities, and professional organizations.

The International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS), compiled by the British Library of Political and Economic Science at the London School of Economics, provides access to a vast collection of scholarly literature in the social sciences. Covering multiple disciplines, IBSS includes references to journal articles, books, newspapers, and dissertations, with records dating back to 1951.

JSTOR is an important scholarly research database for the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. It provides the full text of articles from thousands of influential academic journals. In addition to journal articles, users can access eBooks, book chapters, images, and primary source documents. JSTOR also provides an AI research tool that provides key points and arguments of articles.

Project MUSE offers online access to a vast collection of scholarly journals, books, and academic resources in the humanities, social sciences, and arts. As a leading provider of digital humanities content, it features high-quality, peer-reviewed publications from prestigious university presses, scholarly societies, and academic publishers.

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses is a database of dissertations and theses from universities worldwide. It provides access to millions of full-text works across many disciplines, including the social sciences, humanities, sciences, and business. Each dissertation includes an abstract or summary that provides a concise overview of the research, its methodology, and key findings.

ScienceDirect is a leading full-text scholarly scientific database that provides journal articles and book chapters from more than 2,500 peer-reviewed journals and more than 11,000 books. It covers over 24 major subjects in the physical sciences and engineering, life sciences, health sciences, social sciences, and the humanities.

Social Sciences Full Text provides access to a wide range of scholarly literature in the social sciences. It covers many disciplines, including sociology, psychology, international relations, political science, anthropology, economics, and education.

Web of Science is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary research and citation index that provides access to a wide range of scientific, technical, social science, and humanities research. It maintains rigorous criteria for the journals and publications it indexes, ensuring that only high-quality, peer-reviewed content is included. Web of Science includes 98 million papers dating back to 1900.

Anthropology Subject Databases

Searching general or multi-disciplinary databases can sometimes give you too many results. To narrow your focus, try using a database dedicated to anthropology research. The list below highlights the top databases for finding anthropology journals and articles.

The Annual Review of Anthropology is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes comprehensive literature review articles in anthropology. Each year, a new volume is released, consisting of articles written by leading experts in the field, providing overviews of the most important and influential research and scholarship in anthropology.

Anthropological Fieldwork Online is a primary-source database that provides access to original materials created by anthropologists during field research. It includes field notes, diaries, photographs, recordings, correspondence, and draft writings. The collection features important archival materials from well-known anthropologists such as Bronisław Malinowski, Victor Turner, Ruth Benedict, and Max Gluckman, drawn from major research archives.

Anthropological Literature is a database created by Harvard University’s Tozzer Library of anthropology and archaeology scholarship. It indexes thousands of articles, essays, and reports from hundreds of journals worldwide — covering cultural, social, biological, linguistic, and physical anthropology as well as related areas like archaeology and ethnohistory. Available through EBSCO.

Anthropology Online is a full-text research collection of core written works in anthropology, including classic ethnographies, seminal texts, field reports, memoirs, and contemporary studies about human culture and behavior around the world.

Anthropology Plus combines the content of two prominent anthropology databases:  Anthropological Index Online (AIO) and Anthropological Literature (AL). It provides access to a wide range of anthropology-related scholarly literature, including journal articles, books, book chapters, conference proceedings, and reports. Subjects covered include:

Anthrosource is an online platform for anthropological research. Produced by the American Anthropological Association (AAA) it provides access to scholarly journals, newsletters, and bulletins published by the AAA and other affiliated organizations.

 Electronic Human Relations Area Files (eHRAF)  is an online anthropological database that provides access to a large collection of ethnographic information about cultures from around the world. It is a unique resource that allows researchers to explore and compare cultural information across different societies and time periods. eHRAF contains ethnographic data from various sources, including books, articles, dissertations, and field reports.

Anthropology Journals

Journal Citation Reports (JCR) is widely regarded as the leading subscription-based resource for identifying high-quality, peer-reviewed journals and assessing the impact, influence, and quality of scholarly journals across disciplines, including anthropology. To learn more about JCR and journal impact, go to Journal Databases.
To review the entire JCR list of highly cited anthropology journals, go to Journal Citation Reports (JCR) and choose Categories > Social Sciences, General > Anthropology. Listed below are the top ten anthropology journals that received the highest number of citations in 2024.

Journal of archaeological science

The Journal of Archaeological Science focuses on the development and application of scientific techniques and methodologies across all subfields of archaeology—from isotopic analysis and radiocarbon dating to GIS, remote sensing, archaeobotany, and more.

Journal Site

Journal of human evolution

The Journal of Human Evolution publishes high-quality research on all aspects of human and primate evolution. It focuses on paleoanthropology, fossil discoveries, and comparative studies of living species using morphological and molecular evidence.

Journal Site

Social networks

Social Networks is an international, interdisciplinary journal that publishes research on the structure of social relationships and networks. It is foundational to anthropological studies of kinship, small-scale societies, power, status, inequality, and cultural diffusion.

Journal Site

Current anthropology

Current Anthropology is a leading journal that publishes research across all areas of anthropology. Its articles cover topics from human origins to the complexities of contemporary life, offering both theoretical and empirical insights across the discipline.

Journal Site

Annual Review of Anthropology

The Annual Reviews are peer-reviewed journals that publish critical literature reviews annually across many disciplines. The Annual Review of Anthropology highlights developments in major areas of anthropology, including archaeology, biological anthropology, linguistics, regional studies, and sociocultural anthropology.

Journal Site

The journal of peasant studies

The Journal of Peasant Studies is a leading journal on rural politics and development, examining social structures, power relations, and processes of change in agrarian societies, with a focus on the agency of marginalized groups.

Journal Site

American Anthropologist

American Anthropologist, the main journal of the American Anthropological Association, publishes archaeological, biological, sociocultural, and linguistic research from both academic and practicing anthropologists, emphasizing the discipline’s relevance to global human issues.

Journal Site

Antiquity a review of world archaeology

Antiquity is a leading peer-reviewed archaeology journal publishing global research across all time periods, from the earliest human origins to contemporary archaeological theory.

Journal Site

American journal of human biology

The American Journal of Human Biology publishes original research, reviews, and theoretical articles on all aspects of human biology, health, and disease, with an emphasis on comparative, developmental, ecological, and evolutionary perspectives.

Journal Site

Archaeological and anthropological sciences

Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences publishes research that integrates natural scientific methods with archaeological inquiry, covering topics such as geoarchaeology, geophysical prospection, and other scientific approaches to the study of the past.

Journal Site

Anthropology News

Anthropology news sources and magazines highlight emerging research topics and trends, sparking ideas for research questions and assignments. Remember that magazines are written for the general public and lack peer review, while scholarly articles are written by experts and reviewed by other scholars for accuracy and research quality.

Anthropology News is an online magazine published by the American Anthropological Association (AAA). Each issue is developed around one specific theme featuring articles from anthropologists working in academia, business, government, and nonprofit organizations. The American Anthropological Association (AAA) is the largest professional organization of anthropologists in the United States.

Anthropology Now is a peer-reviewed magazine intentionally written for general readers as well as academics. Unlike many journals that are dense and highly technical, Anthropology Now features clear, understandable writing with minimal jargon and short, essay-style articles on topics connected to current events.

Archaeology Magazine is published by the Archaeological Institute of America. The magazine is written for a broad audience and presents current archaeological discoveries for general readers, with articles about artifacts and the scientific methods used to interpret the past.

Discover magazine is a well-known general science magazine. It appears in both print and online formats. While Discover isn’t a dedicated anthropology magazine, it does publish anthropology-related content, particularly topics related to human evolution, archaeology, ancient civilizations, primatology, human behavior, and cultural anthropology.

​Fieldsights is an online magazine produced by the Society for Cultural Anthropology (SCA), a section of the American Anthropological Association. Started in 2012, Fieldsights is a platform to share ideas, stories, and conversations about culture, society, and current events—from an anthropological perspective.   

SAPIENS is a free, online anthropology magazine designed to make anthropological knowledge accessible to the public. Providing articles written by anthropologists, SAPIENS includes essays, interviews, personal narratives, podcasts, videos, and photo essays. Topics covered include identity, race, inequality, climate change, archaeology, and global pandemics.

Scientific American – Anthropology is the anthropology-related content published by Scientific American, the popular science magazine that covers science for general readers. It’s not a separate magazine — instead, it’s a special topic area where Scientific American groups together articles focused on human evolution, cultures, societies, ancient history, archaeology, and ethics in anthropology.

Research Methods

Research methods are the specific strategies, tools, and techniques researchers use to collect and analyze information to answer questions or solve problems. Research methods can be qualitative ( interviews or observations), quantitative (numerical and statistical), or a mixture of both. Most social science students are required to take at least one research methods course as part of a department's core curriculum, which introduces the basics of how research is done in a specific discipline. 

Sage Research Methods

Sage Research Methods is a major subscription database that guides users in understanding research methodologies across different academic disciplines. It provides electronic access to reference books, journal articles, instructional videos, and other qualitative methods resources.

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Anthropology Research Methods

The following books offer clear, in-depth explanations of research design concepts, methods, and techniques used in anthropology and its subfields.

Do You Know
Franz Boas, who established the first department of anthropology in the United States at Columbia University, is regarded as the founder of American anthropology. Boas helped establish anthropology as a four-field discipline (archaeological, biological, cultural, and linguistic anthropology). He rejected racial hierarchies and emphasized cultural relativism and fieldwork. Learn More
Franz Boas
Source: Smithsonian Institution
Source: Smithsonian Museum
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