Diffusionism

Diffusionism was popular in the early 1900's. There were two main centers for Diffusionist theory, one British and one German. The German school was led by Father Wilhelm Schmidt and Fritz Graebner. They believed that cultural traits diffused outward from a variety of cultural centers in circles to other regions and people. These culture circles were known as Kulturkreise. In the British version of Diffusionism, only one culture center existed from which all cultural traits were diffused. This cultural center was Ancient Egypt. The main proponents of this theory were G. Elliot Smith and William J. Perry. They had both studied Ancient Egypt extensively which resulted in their belief that Ancient Egypt was the only cultural center. Both of these groups felt that people who did not posses traits that were considered civilized had degenerated and lost those traits.

Diffusionism is, however, still important today. The concept of diffusion explains how some cultural traits are acquired or spread. Diffusionism also helps to explain acculturation. Diffusionism cannot explain all aspects of culture as early Diffusionists believed. There are examples of cultures in close contact that do not share many traits.