Cultural Anthropology - Essay Example

Task: Cultural Anthropology Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology that deals with cultural issues of a people. On that note, these cultural matters entail how customs and traditions play a fundamental role in influencing the survival strategies of such natives. Therefore, this essay is going to understand and appreciate the legacy of Tom Harrison who is credited for bringing transformations to the study of cultural anthropology. Additionally, this paper delves into the numerous studies conducted by Tom Harrison and his team and succeeding publications and monographs (Bodley 43).

Furthermore, the discussion analyzes his videos in terms of scientific and empirical input in producing objective works that have interested people in the field of cultural anthropology. In the field of cultural anthropology, Tom Harrison is a revered figure who transformed the field until his demise in 1976. With many publications that include papers and monographs in respected scientific journals, the anthropologist loved for walking barefoot during his researches is an indelible mark in anthropology.

For instance, the videos detail many of his groundbreaking academic researches that range from studying people, cultures, traditions and customs among others in order to understand the link between culture and existence. However, his studies on the inhabitants of Melakula in the New Hebrides propelled him into his seminal book: Savage Civilization that was generated from the study. Another endearing trait that makes him an icon in the cultural anthropology was his ability to integrate both scientific and empirical methods of research (Bodley 48).

For instance, his studies of the Tribes of the Deccan in Hyderabad, India prospered because of his non-political allegiance and self-publicity character. He also formulated several theories to strengthen his ideas that bordered on artistic and scientific inspiration. Similarly, while conducting his research on The Men Who Hunted Heads, Harrison incorporated his emotional love in interacting with his subjects that later earned him an award heightening his world acclaim. Apart from the aforementioned great documentaries detailing Tom Harrison’s ethnographic expertise in anthropology, he also did some work on the Land of the Gurkhas.

This film broadcast in the BBC around 1960s is narrated by David Attenborough details how the natives of Gurkhas survived with weird customs and beliefs despite their challenges (Bodley 56). In this documentary, the respected cultural anthropologist uses different empirical studies and scientific reports to understand the driving motive of the people of Gukhas in their survival mechanisms. In the same breadth, his exhaustive research skills are displayed as he studies The Apa Tani together with his team.

Their fieldwork conducted in Arunachal Pradesh in the mid 40s entails further empirical studies that led to his publication: Living Among Cannibals. Born in 1911, Tom Harrison was a man of many hats: explorer, museum curator, archeologist and conservationist among other fields that helped him excel in cultural anthropology. Together with two friends, Harrison began a project to observe the everyday existence of the common people in Britain. This project was called Mass-Observation and it led to his 1939 publication: Britain by Mass-Observation followed by Britain Revisited in 1961.

All these works were fundamental in understanding the lives of persons living in Britain (Bodley 53). Alternatively, after official discharge from the war, he assumed the role of a curator at Sarawak Museum where performed numerous researches and authored a paper called The Peoples of Sarawak: Sarawak Museum in 1959. This paper has been significant in the further demystification of the peoples of Sarawak by historians and archaeologists. The feat of Tom Harrison did not stop there. Together with Barbara Harrison, they began pioneering excavations in the 50s and 60s in Great Cave at Niah, Sarawak.

During their research, they chanced upon a human skull that marked Harrison’s iconic status in the field of cultural anthropology. The deposits of the human skull had been dated about 40,000 years back by radiocarbon in Borneo. On that note, Tom Harrison gave another paper backing their achievement titled: World Within. A Borneo Story. However, the inappropriateness of disseminating the results led to several vindications by other groups such as the Niah Cave Project in the early 2000 (Bodley 52).

Tom Harrison passed on in 1976 leaving a trail of legacy marked by several awards and his honest biography: The Most Offending Soul Alive. In summary, the field of cultural of anthropology needs to put mechanisms on how to celebrate Tom Harrison. For instance, more documentaries of his works should be distributed to cultural anthropology students to find different angles of understanding the field (Bodley 48). This will ensure an everlasting prosperity of this British Polymath who was also a soldier.

Work Cited Bodley, John. Cultural Anthropology: Tribes, States, and the Global System. Mason, OH: Rowman Altamira. 2011. Print.