Anthropology????

Question

can you explain to me some stuff about it?...or any relation to other topic..like suicide or self mutilation?or.....such stuff....?

Answer 1

The science treating of the physical, social, material, and cultural development of mankind, including his origin, evolution, including suicides and mutilations.

Answer 2

Intentional modification of the human body for religious, aesthetic, or social reasons is something that some cultural anthropologists study.  Intentional body modification and/or mutilation has been performed for magical or pseudo-medical purposes, but cosmetic motives are equally common. The variability of the results in different cultures reflects varying ideals of beauty or morality.  Depending on the culture and the prehistorical / historical time period, modifications and mutilations have included (and in some cultures, still include) head flattening, foot binding, insertion of a lip plug, tattoos, scarification, piercing of the ear and other parts of the body, amputation and male and female circumcision.

According to Self-Injury Through History and in Many Cultures by Melissa Flores:

    Self-injury and multilation have been prevalent throughout history and in many cultures today.  Self-injury in a cultural sense includes both acts of injury towards oneself and willingly allowing others to inflict pain or injury.  In many cases, self-injury is related to religious beliefs and practices.  The practice of self-injury may be so prevalent because it is part of many creation myths.  (see entire article. link below, for examples)

    

The myth of mutilation may be what leads many cultures to engage in rituals that seem barbaric according to Western standards.  In some cultures, enduring painful rituals are a way to prove that one is worthy of a certain position in society.  In many cultures such as that of Siberia and Australian Aborigines, it is believed that for one to be become a Shaman they have to endure rituals that include torutre and dismemberment, reduction of the body to the skeleton by scraping away of the flesh, and a renewal of blood.  It is believed that these rituals will allow one to spend time in h**l and the ascend to Heaven after which they will be able to heal others (Favazza, 1996).

    

Enduring pain and mutilation to gain a position in religion is not common in Western religions today, but it has been common in Christianity throughout history.  Many of the people viewed as martyrs and saints to do gained their status by enduring some type of painful mutilation.  The very basis of Christianity is a belief that Jesus Christ allowed himself to be nailed to a cross in order to save people from their sins (Favazza, 1996).  The idea that self-injury can be a form of repentance may stem from this.  The idea that pain must be endured in order to prove one's faith can be seen in the story of Saint Potitus.  Potitus was stretched on a rack when he refused to denounce his religion and for enduring this pain, he gained the status of a saint (Favazza, 1996).

    

Examples of actual rituals involve self-injury can be found in many cultures to this day.  In Papua New Guinea, it is common for men to injure their noses.  Nasal mutilation is practiced in initiation rituals of male adolescents.  In the coming of age ritual in the Gahuka-Gana tribe in Papua New Guinea, boys are covered with clay by their mothers before they are sent off to a river where warriors wait for them.  At the river, they insert sticks and leaves up their noses to induce hemorraging.  Boys spend six weeks living with warriors, repeating the ritual until their initiation into manhood is complete (Hogbin, 1970).  The reason for inducing nasal hemorraging in these tribes is that it is a way for a boy to cleanse himself and is related to female menstruation.

  

Finger mutilation is common in many tribes in Africa.  In one tribe, the Dugum Dani in New Guinea young girls cut their fingers off as a sacrifice at funerals.  In another tribe, the Bushman of Africa, it is believed that sickness can be cured by removing parts of the fingers.  In this tribe, part of a finger is removed for every sickness that someone gets, started with the little finger  (Favazza, 1996).  The Hottentot tribe removed parts of the fingers as a sign of engagement or marriage.  It was believed that in order to remarry, a widow had to remove a finger to break the bond between herself and her dead husband.  In the Pacific Islands, finger amputation is common as a sign of mourning after the death of a close relative.

Regarding suicide, click the link in sources, as Flores' includes a section on suicide that I did not include here

Answer 3

can you a tell a west african from a east african i am talking about there facial features

Answer 4

Do people associate anthropology first and immediately with suicide and mutilation?