Anthropology The science of humans. Physical anthropology deals with the natural history of humans. Cultural anthropology researches the story of Civilisation (called sociology by Herbert Spencer). Modern social anthropologists include Claude Levi-Strauss and Margaret Mead. Ethnology studies racial origins and distribution. Anthropology is the study of the physical and social characteristics of humanity through the examination of historical and present geographical distribution, cultural history, acculturation, and cultural relationships. It is holistic in two senses: it is concerned with all human beings at all times and with all dimensions of humanity.