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UPSC Optional Subject Syllabus: Anthropology | Anthropology Optional for UPSC PDF Download

Anthropology is a popular optional subject for the UPSC Civil Services Mains Examination due to its scientific approach, concise syllabus, and overlap with General Studies papers, particularly in areas like Indian society, tribal issues, and human evolution. The Anthropology syllabus is divided into two papers, Paper I and Paper II, each carrying 250 marks, for a total of 500 marks. Below is the detailed syllabus for Anthropology as prescribed by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).UPSC Optional Subject Syllabus: Anthropology | Anthropology Optional for UPSC

Why Choose Anthropology as an Optional?

  • Scientific and Concise Syllabus: The syllabus is well-defined and blends scientific (biological) and social (cultural) aspects, making it manageable.
  • Overlap with General Studies: Topics like Indian society, tribal issues, and social change overlap with GS Paper I (Society) and GS Paper II (Governance).
  • Scoring Potential: Anthropology is considered scoring due to its objective nature and the ability to use diagrams and case studies.
  • Interest and Relevance: The subject appeals to candidates interested in human evolution, culture, and tribal development.
  • Resource Availability: Ample study materials, coaching, and online resources (e.g., EduRev, Vision IAS) are available

Paper - I

  • Meaning, Scope and development of Anthropology.
  • Relationships with other disciplines: Social Sciences, behavioural Sciences, Life Sciences, Medical Sciences, Earth Sciences and Humanities.
  • Main branches of Anthropology, their scope and relevance:
    (a) Social-cultural Anthropology.
    (b) Biological Anthropology.
    (c) Archaeological Anthropology.
    (d) Linguistic Anthropology.
  • Human Evolution and emergence of Man:
    (a) Biological and Cultural factors in human evolution.
    (b) Theories of Organic Evolution (Pre-Darwinian, Darwinian and Post-Darwinian).
    (c) Synthetic theory of evolution; Brief outline of terms and concepts of evolutionary biology (Doll’s rule, Cope’s rule, G ause’s rule, parallelism, convergence, adaptive radiation, and mosaic evolution).
  • Characteristics of Primates; Evolutionary Trend and Primate Taxonomy; Primate Adaptations; (Arboreal and Terrestrial) Primate Taxonomy; Primate Behaviour; Tertiary and Quaternary fossil primates; Living Major Primates; Comparative Anatomy of Man and Apes; Skeletal changes due to erect posture and its implications.
  • Phylogenetic status, characteristics and geographical distribution of the following:
    (a) Plio-preleistocene hominids in South and East Africa—Australopithecines.
    (b) Homo erectus: Africa (Paranthropus), Europe (Homo erectus heidelbergensis), Asia (Homo erectus javanicus, Homo erectus pekinensis).
    (c) Neanderthal man—La-chapelle-aux-saints (Classical type), Mt. Carmel (Progressive type).
    (d) Rhodesian man.
    (e) Homo sapiens—Cromagnon, Grimaldi and Chancelede.
  • The biological basis of Life: The Cell, DNA structure and replication, Protein Synthesis, Gene, Mutation, Chromosomes, and Cell Division.
    (a) Principles of Prehistoric Archaeology.
    (b) Chronology: Relative and Absolute Dating methods.
    (c) Cultural Evolution—Broad Outlines of Prehistoric cultures:
    (i) Paleolithic
    (ii) Mesolithic
    (iii) Neolithic
    (iv) Chalcolithic
    (v) Copper-Bronze Age
    (vi) Iron Age
  • The Nature of Culture: The concept and Characteristics of culture and civilization; Ethnocentrism vis-a-vis cultural Relativism.
  • The Nature of Society: Concept of Society; Society and Culture; Social Institution; Social groups; and Social stratification.
  • Marriage: Definition and universality; Laws of marriage (endogamy, exogamy, hypergamy, hypogamy, incest taboo); Type of marriage (monogamy, polygamy, polyandry, group marriage). Functions of marriage; Marriage regulations (preferential, prescriptive and proscriptive); Marriage payments (bride wealth and dowry).
  • Family: Definition and universality; Family, household and domestic groups; functions of family; Types of family (from the perspectives of structure, blood relation, marriage, residence and succession); Impact of urbanization, industrialization and feminist movements on family.
  • Kinship: Consanguinity and Affinity; Principles and types of descent (Unilineal, Double, Bilateral Ambilineal); Forms of descent groups (lineage, clan, phratry, moiety and kindred); Kinship terminology (descriptive and classificatory); Descent, Filiation and Complimentary Filiation; Decent and Alliance.
  • Economic Organization: Meaning, scope and relevance of economic anthropology; Formalist and Substantivist debate; Principles governing production, distribution and exchange (reciprocity, redistribution and market), in communities, subsisting on hunting and gathering, fishing, swiddening, pastoralism, horticulture, and agriculture; globalization and indigenous economic systems.
  • Political Organization and Social Control: Band, tribe, chiefdom, kingdom and state; concepts of power, authority and legitimacy; social control, law and justice in simple Societies.
  • Religion: Anthropological approaches to the study of religion (evolutionary, psychological and functional); monotheism and polytheism; sacred and profane; myths and rituals; forms of religion in tribal and peasant Societies (animism, animatism, fetishism, naturism and totemism); religion, magic and science distinguished; magico-religious functionaries (priest, shaman, medicine man, sorcerer and witch).
  • Anthropological theories:
    (a) Classical evolutionism (Tylor, Morgan and Frazer)
    (b) Historical particularism (Boas) Diffusionism (British, German and American)
    (c) Functionalism (Malinowski); Structural—Functionlism (Radcliffe-Brown)
    (d) Structuralism (Lévi-Strauss and E. Leach)
    (e) Culture and personality (Benedict, Mead, Linton, Kardiner and Cora-du Bois)
    (f) Neo—evolutionism (Childe, White, Steward, Sahlins and Service)
    (g) Cultural materialism (Harris)
    (h) Symbolic and interpretive theories (Turner, Schneider and Geertz)
    (i) Cognitive theories (Tyler, Conklin)
    (j) Post-modernism in anthropology.
  • Culture, Language and Communication: Nature, origin and characteristics of language; verbal and non-verbal communication; social context of language use.
  • Research methods in Anthropology:
    (a) Fieldwork tradition in anthropology
    (b) Distinction between technique, method and methodology
    (c) Tools of data collection: observation, interview, schedules, questionnaire, case study, genealogy, life-history, oral history, secondary sources of information, participatory methods.
    (d) Analysis, interpretation and presentation of data.
  • Human Genetics: Methods and Application: Methods for study of genetic principles in man-family study (pedigree analysis, twin study, foster child, co-twin method, cytogenetic method, chromosomal and karyo-type analysis), biochemical methods, immunological methods, D.N.A. technology and recombinant technologies.
  • Mendelian genetics in man-family study, single factor, multifactor, lethal, sub-lethal and polygenic inheritance in man.
  • Concept of genetic polymorphism and selection, Mendelian population, Hardy-Weinberg law; causes and changes which bring down frequency-mutation, isolation, migration, selection, inbreeding and genetic drift. Consanguineous and non-consanguineous mating, genetic load, genetic effect of consanguineous and cousin marriages.
  • Chromosomes and chromosomal aberrations in man, methodology.
    (a) Numerical and structural aberrations (disorders).
    (b) Sex chromosomal aberration- Klinefelter (XXY), Turner (XO), Super female (XXX), intersex and other syndromic disorders.
    (c) Autosomal aberrations- Down syndrome, Patau, Edward and Cri-du-chat syndromes.
    (d) Genetic imprints in human disease, genetic screening, genetic counseling, human DNA profiling, gene mapping and genome study.
  • Race and racism, biological basis of morphological variation of non-metric and characters. Racial criteria, racial traits in relation to heredity and environment; biological basis of racial classification, racial differentiation and race crossing in man.
  • Age, sex and population variation as genetic marker: ABO, Rh blood groups, HLA Hp, transferring, Gm, blood enzymes. Physiological characteristics-Hb level, body fat, pulse rate, respiratory functions and sensory perceptions in different cultural and socio-economic groups.
  • Concepts and methods of Ecological Anthropology: Bio-cultural Adaptations—Genetic and Non-genetic factors. Man’s physiological responses to environmental stresses: hot desert, cold, high altitude climate.
  • Epidemiological Anthropology: Health and disease. Infectious and non-infectious diseases, Nutritional deficiency related diseases.
  • Concept of human growth and Development: Stages of growth—pre-natal, natal, infant, childhood, adolescence, maturity, senescence.
    (a) Factors affecting growth and development genetic, environmental, biochemical, nutritional, cultural and socio-economic.
    (b) Ageing and senescence. Theories and observations
    (c) Biological and chronological longevity. Human physique and somatotypes. Methodologies for growth studies.
  • Relevance of menarche, menopause and other bioevents to fertility. Fertility patterns and differentials.
  • Demographic theories-biological, social and cultural.
  • Biological and socio-ecological factors influencing fecundity, fertility, natality and mortality.
  • Applications of Anthropology: Anthropology of sports, Nutritional anthropology, Anthropology in designing of defence and other equipments, Forensic Anthropology, Methods and principles of personal identification and reconstruction, Applied human genetics—Paternity diagnosis, genetic counselling and eugenics, DNA technology in diseases and medicine, serogenetics and cytogenetics in reproductive biology.

Paper - II

Preparation Tips for Anthropology Optional

1. Understand the Syllabus: Break down the syllabus into manageable sections and create a study plan.
2. Standard Books and Resources:

  • Physical Anthropology: "Physical Anthropology" by P. Nath.
  • Social/Cultural Anthropology: "An Introduction to Social Anthropology" by D.N. Majumdar and T.N. Madan.
  • Indian Anthropology: "Tribal India" by Nadeem Hasnain, "Indian Anthropology" by R.N. Sharma.
  • Theories: "Anthropological Theories" by Ember and Ember.
  • Human Evolution: "Human Evolution" by B.M. Das.

3. Diagrams and Flowcharts: Use diagrams for physical anthropology topics (e.g., human evolution, genetics) to enhance answers.

  • Case Studies: Include ethnographic case studies and tribal examples in Paper II to substantiate answers.
  • Current Affairs Integration: Relate tribal issues and development policies to current events using newspapers (e.g., The Hindu) and reports (e.g., Ministry of Tribal Affairs).
  • Answer Writing Practice: Practice previous years’ questions to improve structuring and presentation of answers.
  • Revision and Mock Tests: Regularly revise notes and take mock tests to evaluate preparation and time management.
  • Toppers’ Strategy: Refer to strategies by toppers like Anudeep Durishetty (AIR 1, 2017) for balancing scientific and socio-cultural aspects in answers.
The document UPSC Optional Subject Syllabus: Anthropology | Anthropology Optional for UPSC is a part of the UPSC Course Anthropology Optional for UPSC.
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FAQs on UPSC Optional Subject Syllabus: Anthropology - Anthropology Optional for UPSC

1. What is the syllabus for the UPSC optional subject Anthropology?
Ans. The syllabus for the UPSC optional subject Anthropology includes topics such as the concept of culture, social structure, kinship, marriage and family, economic organization, political organization, religion, language, and ethnicity. It also covers topics like human evolution, primatology, biological diversity, human genetics, and forensic anthropology.
2. How many papers are there in the UPSC optional subject Anthropology?
Ans. There are two papers in the UPSC optional subject Anthropology. Paper I covers topics like the history of anthropology, physical anthropology, and archaeology, while Paper II focuses on social anthropology and Indian anthropology.
3. What are the frequently asked questions in the UPSC optional subject Anthropology exam?
Ans. The frequently asked questions in the UPSC optional subject Anthropology exam can include topics like the significance of studying anthropology, the role of anthropology in understanding human societies, the importance of fieldwork in anthropology, the relevance of biological anthropology in modern times, and the impact of cultural anthropology on policy-making.
4. How can I prepare for the UPSC optional subject Anthropology exam?
Ans. To prepare for the UPSC optional subject Anthropology exam, candidates should start by thoroughly understanding the syllabus and exam pattern. They should then make a study plan, gather relevant study materials, and focus on understanding the concepts and theories in depth. Regular revision, solving previous year question papers, and taking mock tests can also be helpful in improving preparation.
5. What are the career prospects for candidates with a background in anthropology?
Ans. Candidates with a background in anthropology have a wide range of career prospects. They can work as anthropologists in research institutions, museums, and universities. They can also pursue careers in fields like cultural resource management, development agencies, NGOs, and policy-making organizations. Additionally, anthropologists can work in sectors like public health, human rights, international relations, and tourism.
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