Anthropology can be traced back to 5 B.C.E, where Hedotus, Marco Polo, and Ibn Khaldun wrote about the cultures they encountered in their all-encompassing travel of the world. Since Its early beginnings, anthropology has changed substantially. The methods used in the field changed, the adversities of anthropology changed, and its ethics as well.
When anthropology was first an official field of study, anthropologists studied cultures from an “armchair” (Cultural Anthropology in a Globalized World), this method of study is otherwise known as armchair anthropology. It consisted of anthropologists staying at home and studying the words of travelers, missionaries, explorers, and the cultures they encountered. The anthropologists had no further contact with the cultures they were studying. It wasn’t until the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, that anthropologists traveled to other places to know more about other cultures. However, they did not live with the civilians, but lived nearby them. The anthropologists would acquire natives to go where ever they stayed, instead of going into the field themselves. This research method is more similar to what a modern anthropologist does, and can be referred to as verandah anthropology. Now in the 21st century, anthropologists are more likely to use participant observation as a means to learn more about cultures. This method provides more accurate information than those used in past centuries. Instead of relying on words that