Question

Based on early accounts, many early anthropologists assumed decent groups would be key to understanding how cultures outside of Europe and North America were organized. Why might this have been the case?

Answer 1

Early anthropologists emphasized descent groups to understand non-European cultures due to ethnocentric views and the assumption that all societies evolve from primitive to civilized stages. Ethnology became a tool for comparing Indigenous societies and debunking misconceptions about their political organization.

Step-by-step explanation:

Early anthropologists believed that understanding descent groups was essential for comprehending the organization of cultures outside of Europe and North America because they assumed these groups were integral to the social structures of indigenous societies. This focus was likely influenced by the prevailing ethnocentric views of the time. 19th-century anthropologists like Edward Tylor used an evolutionary framework to categorize societies, believing that culture evolved from 'savagery' through 'barbarism' to 'civilization,' with non-Western societies stereotypically placed at the more 'primitive' stages. Ethnology, a branch of anthropology, aimed to compare Indigenous societies to understand their relationships and migrations. Anthropologists who conducted fieldwork in colonial contexts discovered societies well-organized with political systems contrary to European assumptions of Indigenous political structures being chaotic or oppressive.