9781422273043

famous primatologist who you will learn about later in this chapter. Biological anthropologists are also known as physical anthropologists . Linguistic anthropologists study how languages are used for cultural, social, and daily purposes. They gather information via fieldwork, participant observation, and audiovisual/video recordings. Some linguistic anthropologists work to save and DID YOU KNOW? It’s estimated that there are at least 5,000 languages in the world, down from 6,703 separate languages in 1996, according to the Linguistic Society of America. Experts predict that up to 80 percent of current languages may be extinct by the end of the century if efforts aren’t intensified to save them.

document languages that are in danger of extinction. For example, anthropologists on the National Geographic Enduring Voices Project documented the Chipaya language of Bolivia, the Yshyr Chamacoco language of Paraguay, and the Matukar Panau language of Papua New Guinea, along with many others that are at risk of dying out. Archaeologists seek to learn about past

human cultures by studying artifacts such as pottery, textiles, stone tools, and the remains of structures; human, plant, and animal remains; and written and oral stories about past cultures. They conduct archaeological digs in which they search for artifacts and other evidence of past

An archaeologist

at Mount Rainier National Park sifts dirt to search for arrowheads and other artifacts.

cultures, document their findings using scientific methods, carefully remove the

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