In what ways are physical anthropology and archaeology multidisciplinary?

Albert Einstein once stated, “The more I know the more I know nothing.” This theory can be applied to almost every educational field but certainly in the field of anthropology. Within the four sub-fields, physical anthropology and archaeology are amass with multiple disciplines in each. The reason for this goes back to Einstein’s quote: the field of anthropology is so vast that anthropologists cannot hope to cover the entire field with any intent of successful research. The information is too vast.

            The subfields of archaeology are easier to understand in the idea that with parts of the world come different sections of archaeology. Egyptologists, for example, would not be working in the Antarctic on a regular basis. Classicists, Near Eastern archaeologists, paleontology archaeologists, and marine archaeologists all have different skill-sets and education needed to become the best researches possible. Even within these fields, archaeological finds can be puzzling and may require the advice of another expert such as a culture archaeologist or a linguist.

            In physical anthropology you fall into many of the same concerns regarding the vast amount of knowledge, experts are required by common sense to choose a specific emphasis. The most notable sub-discipline in physical anthropology comes from forensics (Newall); an excellent example of this is the Body Farm at the University of Tennessee. But even at the research facility, there are entomologists, forensic specialists, environmentalists, and biologists. All of these fields work together at the Body Farm to achieve a single objection: The study of human remains decomposition.

            The importance of understanding the concept of these multidisciplinary fields is that any one research project or excavation is filled with a multitude of specialists working towards a single goal. In evaluating the results from these projects, there is a certain level of academic debate that will go into every outcome, simply because of the amount of opinions combed through to reach a single decision.