Anthropologists study the similarities and differences of past and present, small and large, exotic and familiar communities in order to discover the regularities of human behavior. To avoid a bias in their understanding of other cultures anthropologists use a relativistic approach. Finally, many anthropologists use the holistic approach when they describe other cultural systems. While each of these subsystems can be studied independently, they are interdependent and changes in one subsystem can be expected to result in changes in the other subsystems. Through its history several subfields have developed in anthropology.
Physical anthropologists study the relationship between biology and behavior.
Archaeologists study the remains of past cultural systems through the scientific excavation of human activity areas, such as small camp sites and work areas to large urban areas. They are especially interested in how human groups have adapted to various environments and the processes of change within cultural systems. Cultural anthropologists study the culture of contemporary, or recent, groups. Anthropological linguists study the many diverse languages of humankind since language is an example of cultural behavior and is a primary mechanism for the transmission of culture. Finally, applied anthropologists make use of the many understandings from anthropology to help solve practical problems faced by groups within today's complex world.