The paper argues that the formal subdivisions of anthropology, through which it is administered and taught, are less important than linkage between the different kinds of theory that they represent. It is suggested that we have reached a moment in the history of the subject, following the rejection of old stereotypes as to what constitutes “social anthropology”, and through methodological cross-fertilization between disciplines, when it is essential to re-engage with evolutionary approaches, though not to weakly imitate them.