Introduction
Anthropology has become an increasingly popular optional subject in the CSS exam because of its conceptual clarity and high-scoring potential. In CSS 2024, the Anthropology MCQs tested knowledge of cultural, biological, linguistic, and archaeological anthropology. Here, we provide the solved paper MCQs with detailed explanations.
This will help aspirants revise and understand not only the answers but also the underlying concepts.
CSS Anthropology Paper 2024 (MCQs Solved)
Q1. The study of artifacts and excavation of material remains is linked to which branch?
(A) Social Anthropology
(B) Physical Anthropology
(C) Primatology
(D) None of these
✅ Correct Answer: (A) Social Anthropology
Explanation: Archaeology, a subfield of social anthropology, deals with material remains and past human life through excavation.
Q2. The study of human evolution, fossils, and physical traits is called?
(A) Physical Anthropology
(B) Archaeology
(C) Linguistics
(D) None of these
✅ Correct Answer: (A) Physical Anthropology
Explanation: Physical Anthropology focuses on human evolution, fossil records, genetics, and biological variation.
Q3. The mindset that one’s own culture’s values and customs are superior is known as?
(A) Xenocentrism
(B) Ethnocentrism
(C) Egocentrism
(D) None of these
✅ Correct Answer: (B) Ethnocentrism
Explanation: Ethnocentrism occurs when one judges other cultures using the standards of their own.
Q4. The process through which individuals learn cultural values is called?
(A) Transculturation
(B) Acculturation
(C) Enculturation
(D) None of these
✅ Correct Answer: (C) Enculturation
Explanation: Enculturation is the learning of one’s own culture during childhood and adulthood.
Q5. The anthropological method where the researcher immerses into community life is called?
(A) Observation
(B) Participant Observation
(C) In-depth Interviews
(D) None of these
✅ Correct Answer: (B) Participant Observation
Explanation: Participant Observation is a fieldwork method central to anthropology.
Q6. Farming and subsistence practice involving crops and domesticated animals is known as?
(A) Horticulture
(B) Foraging
(C) Herding/Pastoralism
(D) None of these
✅ Correct Answer: (A) Horticulture
Explanation: Horticulture is small-scale farming practiced with hand tools and simple technology.
Q7. Marriage practice in which a man is allowed to have multiple wives is known as?
(A) Polygyny
(B) Polyandry
(C) Monogamy
(D) None of these
✅ Correct Answer: (A) Polygyny
Explanation: Polygyny is widely observed in traditional societies, especially in Africa and South Asia.
Q8. The custom where a widow is expected to marry her late husband’s brother is called?
(A) Levirate
(B) Sororate
(C) Cross Cousin Marriage
(D) None of these
✅ Correct Answer: (A) Levirate
Explanation: Levirate marriage helps maintain kinship ties and protect widows economically.
Q9. A political leader whose influence is informal and based on persuasion is called?
(A) Chief
(B) Headman
(C) Lord
(D) None of these
✅ Correct Answer: (B) Headman
Explanation: Headmen guide communities through respect and influence rather than coercion.
Q10. Anthropologist who studied symbolic anthropology through rituals?
(A) Clifford Geertz
(B) Malinowski
(C) Franz Boas
(D) None of these
✅ Correct Answer: (A) Clifford Geertz
Explanation: Geertz introduced “thick description” to analyze symbols and rituals.
Q11. The study of how people use space in social interactions is called?
(A) Proxemics
(B) Semiotics
(C) Kinesics
(D) None of these
✅ Correct Answer: (A) Proxemics
Explanation: Proxemics, developed by Edward T. Hall, examines personal space and distance in communication.
Q12. The cross-cultural study of marriage and kinship falls under which branch?
(A) Cultural Anthropology
(B) Physical Anthropology
(C) Archaeology
(D) None of these
✅ Correct Answer: (A) Cultural Anthropology
Explanation: Cultural Anthropology studies family systems, kinship, marriage customs, and traditions.
Q13. Linguistic relativity, or the idea that language influences thought, was proposed by?
(A) Franz Boas
(B) Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
(C) Malinowski
(D) None of these
✅ Correct Answer: (B) Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Explanation: Sapir and Whorf argued that the structure of a language shapes worldview and cognition.
Q14. Anthropologist associated with the functionalist school?
(A) Clifford Geertz
(B) Bronislaw Malinowski
(C) Karl Marx
(D) None of these
✅ Correct Answer: (B) Bronislaw Malinowski
Explanation: Malinowski emphasized how institutions serve individual needs and social stability.
Q15. “Cultural Ecology” as a method of studying human-environment relation was introduced by?
(A) Julian Steward
(B) Leslie White
(C) Franz Boas
(D) None of these
✅ Correct Answer: (A) Julian Steward
Explanation: Steward highlighted adaptation to environment as a key to understanding cultural change.
Q16. The anthropological approach that studies humans as holistic beings is called?
(A) Structural Functionalism
(B) Holism
(C) Evolutionism
(D) None of these
✅ Correct Answer: (B) Holism
Explanation: Anthropology follows a holistic approach by studying humans biologically, socially, and culturally.
Q17. The father of American Anthropology is?
(A) Clifford Geertz
(B) Franz Boas
(C) E.B. Tylor
(D) None of these
✅ Correct Answer: (B) Franz Boas
Explanation: Boas rejected racial determinism and emphasized cultural relativism.
Q18. Totemism as a religious system was studied by?
(A) Emile Durkheim
(B) Max Weber
(C) Malinowski
(D) None of these
✅ Correct Answer: (A) Emile Durkheim
Explanation: Durkheim analyzed totemism in “Elementary Forms of Religious Life.”
Q19. The genealogical method of studying kinship was introduced by?
(A) Lewis Henry Morgan
(B) Malinowski
(C) Alfred Radcliffe-Brown
(D) None of these
✅ Correct Answer: (A) Lewis Henry Morgan
Explanation: Morgan pioneered kinship charts and clan studies.
Q20. The person who answers anthropologists’ questions in fieldwork is called?
(A) Respondent
(B) Key Informant
(C) Interlocutor
(D) None of these
✅ Correct Answer: (B) Key Informant
Explanation: Key informants are individuals who provide in-depth cultural knowledge to researchers.
CSS 2025 Anthropology Paper MCQs
Conclusion
This solved paper of CSS Anthropology 2024 MCQs provides a complete guide with explanations. Aspirants can use this as a revision tool and to understand how anthropology concepts are tested in competitive exams.