The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity

Anthropology is the scholarly study of human behavior and human societies. Considered one of the social sciences, anthropology contains sub-specialties like cultural anthropology, which focuses on cultural values and social norms, and social anthropology, which focuses on patterns of human behavior. There is also a newer sub-division of anthropology, namely archeological anthropology, which focuses on material evidence of past human societies to investigate patterns of social behavior and cultural beliefs in early human history. Like archeology, the field of anthropology grew out of the project of European imperialism and colonialism, and as such, has been subject to scrutiny and reevaluation in recent history.

Another field within the social sciences, archeology consists of the study of physical evidence of human activity in throughout history, including prehistoric civilizations and other now-defunct societies. Archeologists examine historical artifacts, including architecture, written evidence, artistic productions, everyday objects, and geographical sites, to examine the development of human societies and cultures. Part of the objective of archeology is to understand how civilizations rise, fall, and change over time. Again, like anthropology, the discipline of archeology was founded amidst the rise of European imperialism and colonialism; thus, many of its earliest premises have been subject to reevaluation, as well.