What UPSC asks most

Optional Papers I and II (250 marks each): physical, social and archaeological anthropology with theory and methods (Paper I), Indian society, tribal India and tribal administration (Paper II).

Traps to avoid

• Writing general sociology without anthropologists, ethnographic examples and fieldwork.
• Leaving out labelled diagrams in physical anthropology and prehistory answers.

How to study it here

1. Read one chapter, then write two of its past questions under time and compare with the model answers.
2. Keep a list of ethnographies, thinkers and Indian tribes, and practise the standard diagrams (skulls, tools, kinship charts).

Mains: Optional: define the term with its anthropologist, add an ethnographic or Indian tribal example and a diagram where it helps, and end with present-day relevance.