[Basic] Skills of the week: Anthropology and Archaeology

johndallman · 06-16-2014, 06:01 AM

A thread for two skills, because they're adjacent in the list, deal with related subjects, and my local university traditionally taught a combined degree in them, known as "Archnanth."

Basic defines Anthropology as the study of evolution and culture, providing insight into cultures. The boundary between Anthropology and Sociology seems a bit vague, but the real-life fields also blur into each other. Anthropology seems to be studying a culture of which you aren't a member, while Sociology deals with one's own culture, or closely related ones. A simple rule for GURPS might be to use Sociology within one's own TL and CF, but Anthropology outside those.

GURPS Archaeology, meanwhile, is clearly the practical skill of finding and interpreting ancient artefacts and other remains. Anthropology is likely to be a complimentary skill for this, and the two skills appear together in several Talents and the wildcard skill History!

Fantasy has Archaeology as the practical skill for digging up the past. High-Tech lists portable laboratories for skills including Archaeology. Horror and Infinite Worlds have plenty of uses for both skills. Social Engineering has uses for Anthropology to cope with social situations in unfamiliar societies.

These skills are mostly enabling skills for the investigation parts of game scenarios. You really notice their lack when you don't have them. A campaign I'm playing in at present is the first-ever interstellar expedition, and we've found alien artefacts all over the solar system of Alpha Centauri B. We have natural scientists coming out of our ears, but no social scientists at all!

How have these skills come up in games for you?

06-16-2014, 06:01 AM	#1
johndallman Night Watchman Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Cambridge, UK	[Basic] Skills of the week: Anthropology and Archaeology A thread for two skills, because they're adjacent in the list, deal with related subjects, and my local university traditionally taught a combined degree in them, known as "Archnanth." Basic defines Anthropology as the study of evolution and culture, providing insight into cultures. The boundary between Anthropology and Sociology seems a bit vague, but the real-life fields also blur into each other. Anthropology seems to be studying a culture of which you aren't a member, while Sociology deals with one's own culture, or closely related ones. A simple rule for GURPS might be to use Sociology within one's own TL and CF, but Anthropology outside those. GURPS Archaeology, meanwhile, is clearly the practical skill of finding and interpreting ancient artefacts and other remains. Anthropology is likely to be a complimentary skill for this, and the two skills appear together in several Talents and the wildcard skill History! *Fantasy* has Archaeology as the practical skill for digging up the past. *High-Tech* lists portable laboratories for skills including Archaeology. *Horror* and *Infinite Worlds* have plenty of uses for both skills. *Social Engineering* has uses for Anthropology to cope with social situations in unfamiliar societies. These skills are mostly enabling skills for the investigation parts of game scenarios. You really notice their lack when you don't have them. A campaign I'm playing in at present is the first-ever interstellar expedition, and we've found alien artefacts all over the solar system of Alpha Centauri B. We have natural scientists coming out of our ears, but no social scientists at all! How have these skills come up in games for you?