Biological anthropology, also known as physical anthropology, is a scientific discipline concerned with the biological and behavioral aspects of human beings, their extinct
hominin ancestors, and related non-human
primates, particularly from an evolutionary perspective.[1] This subfield of anthropology systematically studies
human beings from a biological perspective.
Branches
As a subfield of anthropology, biological anthropology itself is further divided into several branches. All branches are united in their common orientation and/or application of evolutionary theory to understanding human biology and behavior.
Bioarchaeology is the study of past human cultures through examination of human remains recovered in an
archaeological context. The examined human remains usually are limited to bones but may include preserved soft tissue. Researchers in bioarchaeology combine the skill sets of
human osteology,
paleopathology, and
archaeology, and often consider the cultural and mortuary context of the remains.
Forensic anthropology is the application of the science of physical anthropology and human
osteology in a legal setting, most often in criminal cases where the victim's remains are in the advanced stages of
decomposition.
Human behavioral ecology is the study of behavioral adaptations (foraging, reproduction, ontogeny) from the evolutionary and ecologic perspectives (see
behavioral ecology). It focuses on human
adaptive responses (physiological, developmental, genetic) to environmental stresses.
Paleoanthropology is the study of fossil evidence for
human evolution, mainly using remains from extinct hominin and other primate species to determine the morphological and behavioral changes in the human lineage, as well as the environment in which human evolution occurred.
Paleopathology is the study of disease in antiquity. This study focuses not only on pathogenic conditions observable in bones or mummified soft tissue, but also on nutritional disorders, variation in stature or
morphology of bones over time, evidence of physical trauma, or evidence of occupationally derived biomechanic stress.
Primatology is the study of non-human primate behavior, morphology, and genetics. Primatologists use
phylogenetic methods to infer which traits humans share with other primates and which are human-specific adaptations.
History
Origins
Biological Anthropology looks different today from the way it did even twenty years ago. Even the name is relatively new, having been 'physical anthropology' for over a century, with some practitioners still applying that term.[2] Biological anthropologists look back to the work of
Charles Darwin as a major foundation for what they do today. However, if one traces the intellectual genealogy back to physical anthropology's beginnings—before the discovery of much of what we now know as the hominin fossil record—then the focus shifts to human biological variation. Some editors, see below, have rooted the field even deeper than formal science.
Attempts to study and classify human beings as living organisms date back to ancient Greece. The Greek philosopher
Plato (
c. 428–
c. 347 BC) placed humans on the scala naturae, which included all things, from inanimate objects at the bottom to deities at the top.[3] This became the main system through which scholars thought about nature for the next roughly 2,000 years.[3] Plato's student
Aristotle (
c. 384–322 BC) observed in his History of Animals that human beings are the only animals to walk upright[3] and argued, in line with his
teleological view of nature, that humans have
buttocks and no tails in order to give them a cushy place to sit when they are tired of standing.[3] He explained regional variations in human features as the result of different climates.[3] He also wrote about
physiognomy, an idea derived from writings in the
Hippocratic Corpus.[3]Scientific physical anthropology began in the 17th to 18th centuries with the study of
racial classification (
Georgius Hornius,
François Bernier,
Carl Linnaeus,
Johann Friedrich Blumenbach).[4]
The first prominent physical anthropologist, the German physician
Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752–1840) of
Göttingen, amassed a large collection of human skulls (Decas craniorum, published during 1790–1828), from which he argued for the division of humankind into five major races (termed
Caucasian,
Mongolian,
Aethiopian,
Malayan and
American).[5] In the 19th century, French physical anthropologists, led by
Paul Broca (1824–1880), focused on
craniometry[6] while the German tradition, led by
Rudolf Virchow (1821–1902), emphasized the influence of environment and disease upon the human body.[7]
In the late 19th century, German-American anthropologist
Franz Boas (1858–1942) strongly impacted biological anthropology by emphasizing the influence of culture and experience on the human form. His research showed that head shape was malleable to environmental and nutritional factors rather than a stable "racial" trait.[10] However,
scientific racism still persisted in biological anthropology, with prominent figures such as
Earnest Hooton and
Aleš Hrdlička promoting theories of racial superiority[11] and a European origin of modern humans.[12]
"New Physical Anthropology"
In 1951
Sherwood Washburn, a former student of Hooton, introduced a "new physical anthropology."[13] He changed the focus from racial typology to concentrate upon the study of human evolution, moving away from classification towards evolutionary process. Anthropology expanded to include
paleoanthropology and
primatology.[14] The 20th century also saw the
modern synthesis in biology: the reconciling of
Charles Darwin's theory of
evolution and
Gregor Mendel's research on heredity. Advances in the understanding of the
molecular structure of DNA and the development of
chronological dating methods opened doors to understanding human variation, both past and present, more accurately and in much greater detail.
^Jurmain, R, et al (2015), Introduction to Physical Anthropology, Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.
^Ellison, Peter T. (2018). "The evolution of physical anthropology". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 165.4: 615–625. 2018.
^
abcdefSpencer, Frank (1997).
"Aristotle (384–322 BC)". In Spencer, Frank (ed.). History of Physical Anthropology. Vol. 1. New York City, New York and London, England: Garland Publishing. pp. 107–108.
ISBN978-0-8153-0490-6.
^Marks, J. (1995) Human Biodiversity: Genes, Race, and History. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
^Moore, Jerry D. (2009). "Franz Boas: Culture in Context". Visions of Culture: an Introduction to Anthropological Theories and Theorists. Walnut Creek, California: Altamira. pp. 33–46.
^American Anthropological Association. "Eugenics and Physical Anthropology." 2007. August 7, 2007.
^Washburn, S. L. (1951) "The New Physical Anthropology", Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences, Series II, 13:298–304.
^Haraway, D. (1988) "Remodelling the Human Way of Life: Sherwood Washburn and the New Physical Anthropology, 1950–1980", in Bones, Bodies, Behavior: Essays on Biological Anthropology, of the History of Anthropology, v.5, G. Stocking, ed., Madison, Wisc., University of Wisconsin Press, pp. 205–259.
Michael A. Little and Kenneth A.R. Kennedy, eds. Histories of American Physical Anthropology in the Twentieth Century, (Lexington Books; 2010); 259 pages; essays on the field from the late 19th to the late 20th century; topics include
Sherwood L. Washburn (1911–2000) and the "new physical anthropology"