(Introductory paragraph: containing thesis) Since the beginning of the human species, human beings have possessed an eternal curiosity about their entire existence and their surrounding environment. These curious obsessions, including one with their environment and other living organisms, have never been as strong, notable, and long-lasting as the curiosity we have had for ourselves both collectively and individually. Two anthropologists offer the compelling idea that “it is probably fair to say that wherever literate civilizations came into contact with members of different societies, something akin to ethnographic writing occurred” (McGee, Warms, 2012). It also seems plausible, even looking back into human origin and history as Homo neanderthalensis, that the first glimmer of curiosity appears. Of course Homo neanderthalensis would not write ethnographies detailing emic and etic perspectives within and about a culture, but since they are believed to have lived in complex groups and occasionally passed by another group or merged with another group in the passage, it would seem reasonable to assume that some basic curiosity must have been aroused. All ideas, good or not, begin with a thought. The field of anthropology is a rich transformation and fusion of ideas, thoughts, and theories that evolve over time. The purpose of this essay is to summarize the development of anthropological theory from the late 19th century to the current 21st century. The concept of degeneratism was a widely popular theory spanning the period from the Renaissance to the early 19th century. Degeneratism is “a Bible-based explanation of cultural diversity… [where] before the destruction of the Tower of Babel, all people belonged to God. Whe… half of the paper… to determine where the field of anthropology will go in the future, but I don't. A famous Greek philosopher once said: “The only constant is change” (Heraclitus). It is certain that he was right and that in the field of anthropology the only certainty we have is that its concepts and methods will change over time. It is up to future anthropologists to discover and determine what anthropology will become and what will be studied by future generations beyond them when they study the next link in the long chain of the history of anthropological theory. Bibliography Feder, Kenneth L. "Encounter with the Past." The past in perspective: an introduction to human prehistory. 6th ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2012. 2-23. Print.McGee, Jon R. and Richard L. Warms. Anthropological theory: an introductory history. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print.