Because anthropology developed from so many different enterprises (see History of anthropology), including but not limited to fossil-hunting, exploring, documentary film-making, paleontology, primatology, antiquity dealings and curatorship, philology, etymology, genetics, regional analysis, ethnology, history, philosophy, and religious studies, it is difficult to characterize the entire field in a brief article, although attempts to write histories of the entire field have been made.
bɪkˈʌz ˌænθɹəpˈɑːlədʒi dɪvˈɛləpt fɹʌm sˌoʊ mˈɛni dˈɪfɹənt ˈɛntɚpɹˌaɪzᵻz sˈiː hˈɪstɚɹi ʌv ˌænθɹəpˈɑːlədʒi, ɪŋklˈuːdɪŋ bˌʌt nˌɑːt lˈɪmɪɾᵻd tə fˈɑːsəlhˈʌntɪŋ, ɛksplˈoːɹɪŋ, dˌɑːkjuːmˈɛntɚɹi fˈɪlmmˈeɪkɪŋ, pˌeɪliːoʊntˈɑːlədʒi, pɹˌaɪmɐtˈɑːlədʒi, æntˈɪkwᵻɾi dˈiːlɪŋz ænd kjʊɹɹˈeɪɾɚʃˌɪp, fɪlˈɑːlədʒi, ˌɛɾɪmˈɑːlədʒi, dʒɪnˈɛɾɪks, ɹˈiːdʒənəl ɐnˈæləsˌɪs, ɛθnˈɑːlədʒi, hˈɪstɚɹi, fɪlˈɑːsəfi, ænd ɹᵻlˈɪdʒəs stˈʌdiz, ɪɾ ɪz dˈɪfɪkəlt tə kˈæɹɪktɚɹˌaɪz ðɪ ɛntˈaɪɚ fˈiːld ɪn ɐ bɹˈiːf ˈɑːɹɾɪkəl, ɔːlðˈoʊ ɐtˈɛmpts tə ɹˈaɪt hˈɪstɚɹiz ʌvðɪ ɛntˈaɪɚ fˈiːld hɐvbɪn mˈeɪd.