DSST General Anthropology study guide
DSST General Anthropology · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The DSST General Anthropology exam is a credit-by-examination opportunity for people who have learned introductory anthropology outside a traditional classroom and want to demonstrate that knowledge for possible college credit. It is aimed at adult learners, military service members and veterans, homeschooled students, and currently enrolled students who want to accelerate progress toward a degree. The exam is delivered in multiple-choice format and is organized around four broad content areas: physical anthropology, cultural anthropology, archaeology, and linguistics. Because the four domains are equally weighted, a candidate cannot safely skip any one of them; a strong performance in cultural anthropology will not compensate for weak preparation in, say, archaeology or linguistics. Topics on this exam: Physical Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, Archaeology, and Linguistics. The DSST General Anthropology study guide has 4 sections and about 1,482 words.
01Physical Anthropology
Physical Anthropology examines human biological evolution, primate anatomy and behavior, osteology, genetics, and adaptation. On the DSST General Anthropology exam, this domain rewards the ability to read skeletal traits as evidence and to separate evolutionary patterns from popular misconceptions. Evolution is a change in allele frequencies across generations. Natural selection, mutation, gene flow, and genetic drift are mechanisms; natural selection is not the same as progress.
406 words, about 2 min02Cultural Anthropology
Cultural Anthropology tests how anthropologists analyze learned, shared, symbolic behavior: fieldwork, kinship, exchange, politics, religion, and identity. The exam asks you to apply concepts to small cases, not merely define terms. Culture is learned, shared, symbolic, integrated, and adaptive. Enculturation transmits it; culture is not static or biologically inherited.
341 words, about 2 min03Archaeology
Archaeology tests how researchers reconstruct past behavior from material remains: survey, excavation, stratigraphy, dating, taphonomy, and interpretation. The exam emphasizes method and inference, especially what a find can and cannot prove. Context combines provenience, matrix, and association. An artifact without context loses much interpretive value because its date and associations are unknown.
380 words, about 2 min04Linguistics
Linguistics tests the systematic study of language: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, and historical change. The exam favors analysis of small language data and distinctions between descriptive patterns and prescriptive rules. Phonology studies contrastive sounds. A phoneme is a sound that can distinguish meaning; allophones are variants of one phoneme, often in complementary distribution.
355 words, about 2 min