Showing papers on "Biological anthropology published in 2009"

Understanding race and human variation: why forensic anthropologists are good at identifying race.

Abstract: American forensicanthropologists uncritically accepted the biological race concept from classic physical anthropology and applied it to methods of human identification. Why and how the biological race concept might work in forensic anthropology was contemplated by Sauer (Soc Sci Med 34 1992 107-111), who hypothesized that American forensic anthropologists are good at what they do because of a concordance between social race and skeletal morphology in American whites and blacks. However, Sauer also stressed that this concordance did not validate the classic biological race concept of physical anthropology that there are a relatively small number of discrete types of human beings. Results from Howells (Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology 67 1973 1-259; Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology 79 1989 1-189; Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology 82 1995 1-108) and others using craniometric and molecular data show strong geographic patterning of human variation despite overlap in their distributions. However, Williams et al. (Curr Anthropol 46 2005 340-346) concluded that skeletal morphology cannot be used to accurately classify individuals. Williams et al. cited additional support from Lewontin (Evol Biol 6 1972 381-398), who analyzed classic genetic markers. In this study, multivariate analyses of craniometric data support Sauer's hypothesis that there are morphological differences between American whites and blacks. We also confirm significant geographic patterning in human variation but also find differences among groups within continents. As a result, if biological races are defined by uniqueness, then there are a very large number of biological races that can be defined, contradicting the classic biological race concept of physical anthropology. Further, our results show that humans can be accurately classified into geographic origin using craniometrics even though there is overlap among groups.

Biological Anthropology of the Human Skeleton (2nd edition)

Abstract: The background to Biological Anthropology of the Human Skeleton is found in the history of the study of skeletal anatomy of fossils and animals. Coming out of the Age of Exploration, natural historians, including Linnaeus, Cuvier, Lamarck, and Darwin, began to analyze skeletal morphology, which was the catalyst for the development of theories of human evolution and variation that are the foundation for the discipline of physical anthropology. As science progressed, technological methods and the questions researchers could ask expanded, and a focus on skeletal morphology as a means of understanding human populations grew. This is demonstrated in Biological Anthropology of the Human Skeleton, a collaborative work by top researchers in the field of physical anthropology. The book consists of five sections or parts, each of which intro duces the reader to a different research focus within the discipline. Beginning with a comprehensive introduction to the general theoretical and methodological approaches utilized in the analysis of skeletal anatomy, the subsequent parts of the book each focus on specialized types of skeletal analysis that provide the theoretical framework to address different questions about growth and development, the ef fects of disease, and variation between populations. In Part I, the first chapter ( Bioarchaeological Ethics: A Historical Perspective on the Value of Human Remains) is one of the most refreshing aspects of the entire book, because it presents a candid discussion of the ethical dilemmas that are associated with conducting research on human remains. The benefit of the focus on bioarchaeological ethics is that it establishes the sensitivity of skeletal research and provides the reader with an understanding of why methodology has to be continually reassessed and revised. The second chapter of the book introduces the field of forensic anthropology, which focuses on the identification of un identified human remains in a legal setting. A discussion of forensic anthropology is important because this type of research utilizes the most fundamental methods associated with the analysis of human remains. The final chapter in Part I, on mortuary taphonomy, discusses the various factors that can affect the condition of the remains prior to and following burial. The second section of the book deals with morphological variation and biological development, both in terms of gross anatomy and at the microscopic level. In a broad sense, there are two basic emphases of this second part. First, there is a focus on trying to understand the processes at work on human skeletal anatomy during maturation through the analysis of dental and skeletal development. The other focus of Part II is the analysis, utilizing biomechanics and bone histology, of the morphological changes that occur in adult skeletons as a result of various environmental factors. Part III discusses pathologies and traumas that affect dental and skeletal morphology. The evaluation of pathologies is important because it provides a means of identifying genetic relationships through the inheritance of specific dis eases, population changes due to epidemics, stress caused by dietary distress, and robusticity changes associated with activity. Analysis of trauma is also a crucial element as it provides a means of understanding the lifeways of past populations through evidence of conflict between or within groups or due to socio-political inequalities. The methods discussed in Part IV covers some of the most advanced analysis techniques that researchers can conduct in skeletal anatomy, such as stable isotope and genetic analyses. Stable isotope analysis has allowed researchers to more accurately identify the diet of past populations, as well as determine environmental factors that altered bone. The genetic analysis associated with molecular anthropology has improved the understanding of how populations are related, caused researchers to question the validity of concepts such as race, and even more precisely defined the timeline of human evolution. The primary limitations of these methods are that they require the destruction of portions of the skeletal anatomy, which is problematic when the remains are associated with certain orthodox religions or indigenous groups whose beliefs abhor the desecration of the body or the disruption of a purposeful interment. The fifth and final section of the book focuses on the field of paleodemography, which draws on many of the same methods utilized in forensic anthropology to understand the history of entire past populations through the analysis of a collection of remains. The focus of these chapters is the quantitative analysis of metric and non-metric characteristics of the human skeleton, and their advantages and the limitations. While each of the parts or sections of the book can stand alone as a guide to conducting research on the human skeleton, it is important for the reader to note that in order to comprehend the story that skeletal morphology can tell about human existence, a researcher often must incorporate several of these methods simultaneously. While powerful tools for understanding the human skeleton, each of the methods is associated with some degree of limitation

Morphology to Molecular Anthropology: Castes and Tribes of India*

Abstract: Within the various fields of research of the present Biological Anthropology the study of human evolution as well as the study of genetic variation in modern man, hold an eminent place. An importan...

Fission-Fusion and Foraging: Sex Differences in the Behavioral Ecology of Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii)

Abstract: Stony Brook University Libraries SBU Graduate School in Anthropology Lawrence Martin (Dean of Graduate School), Diane Doran-Sheehy, PhD, Dissertation Advisor Professor and Chair, Department of Anthropology, Andreas Koenig, PhD, Chairperson of Defense Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Carola Borries, PhD, Member Research Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Charles Janson, PhD, Member Research Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolution Associate Dean, Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Richard Wrangham, PhD, External Member Ruth B Moore Professor of Biological Anthropology, Harvard University

Hominin paleoecology and cervid ecomorphology

Abstract: University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. April 2009. Major: Anthropology. Advisor: Dr. Martha Tappen. 1 computer file (PDF); xxii, 316 pages, appendices A-D.

The origins of American physical anthropology in Philadelphia.

Abstract: With its location on a river with easy access to the sea, its central placement between the English speaking colonies to the north and south and its trading connections with the western frontier, there were many reasons Philadelphia became one of the most important towns of prerevolutionary America. In the early 1770s, it was the site of the first meeting organized to deal with the perceived inequities of the British government toward the colonies. It was where Thomas Jefferson wrote much of the Declaration of Independence, whose soaring statements reflecting the Age of Enlightenment spoke of the equality of all men. It was to this debate, centered on just who was included in this declaration that the origins of physical anthropology in America can be traced. Notable men in the early phases of this disputation included Samuel Stanhope Smith and especially Samuel George Morton, considered the founder of American physical anthropology. The American School of Anthropology, which argued for the polygenic origins of human races was substantially founded on Morton's work. Recent accusations that Morton manipulated data to support his racist views would appear unfounded. The publication of The Origin of Species in 1859 and the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862-63 effectively ended the earlier debates. By the time of the American Civil War, 1861-65, physical anthropology was beginning to explore other topics including growth and development and anthropometry.

The State of Biological Anthropology in 2008: Is Our Discipline Strong and Our Cause Just?

Abstract: Biological anthropologists inform a largely professional discourse on the evolutionary history of our species. In addition, aspects of our biology, the ways in which we vary, and certain patterns of behavior are the subjects of a more public and popular conversation. The social contexts in which we work not only define our times but also produce the anthropologists that in turn construct an emergent understanding of our species' (and our societies') inner workings. In this review of scholarly production, I focus on developments within a selection of "sub-subdisciplines" that were particularly influential in bending the arc of biological anthropology in 2008, namely: evolutionary medical anthropology, anthropological neuroscience, forensic anthropology, primatology, and paleoanthropology. Ultimately, this review demonstrates, yet again, anthropology's great contribution: the ability to incorporate new technologies and research methodologies into a synthetic and integrative interdisciplinary approach toward the elucidation of human behavior, evolution, and biocultural engagements with the environment. (Keywords: biological anthropology, year in review, 2008, science and society)

Notes for the History of Forensic Physical Anthropology in Mexico

Abstract: This work is aimed at making known forensic physical anthropology in Mexico. This work was carried out through the consultation of various written sources, which allowed us to know that such activity began with the investigations of m.d. Francisco Martinez Baca and m.d. Manuel Vergara, at the former Puebla jail in Mexico city, and m.d. Ignacio Fernandez Ortigoza, at the former Belem jail in Mexico city, at the end of the XIX century and at the beginning of the XX century, whose studies are based on the so-called “criminal anthropology”. Already in the XX century, we have the works of Vargas, Alva and Lujan, and the one of Arturo Romano Pacheco carried out at the Procuraduria General de Justicia del Distrito Federal from 1975, a date that can be considered as the end of old-fashioned criminal anthropology and the beginning of modern forensic physical anthropology. This work also presents the contributions of Mexican physical anthropologists and students of physical anthropology at the Escuela Nacional de Antropologia e Historia to forensic physical anthropology. Their works have not only helped to solve cases but have also contributed to the teaching and divulging of this subject.

p ř íšeří aneb antropologická věda v n ě mecku 20. a 3 0. let

Abstract: The article presents the complicateted world of German anthropology in the twenties and the thirties of the 20 th century. The Denkwelt of anthropology in this period is shown as ambiguous, without a u nifying idea where more approaches to the study of race and its political application were involved. German anthropology during the Third Reich era is as a w hole often considered to be an exemplary case of ideologically contaminated and politically exploited science. Even common textbooks dealing with the history of anthropology support such viewpoints by bonding together racial ideologies and racial anthropology. Such oversimplifying attitudes suffer from several inaccuracies. First, the development of anthropological concepts in this period is to be interpreted rather in the context of the history of scientific (in particular biological) theories than of the history of ideologies. To achieve this, we prefer the contextual rather than the more common diachronic approach for treating this matter. Second, German anthropology did not consist solely of blumenbachian physical anthropology - other branches of anthropology bordering on eugenics, genetics and genealogy have to be taken into account. Third, the "race concept" of the Weimar and Third Reich anthropological science was an extremely complicated issue, which cannot be reduced to the level of mere continuity of blumenbachian anthropology or even chamberlainian / l apougian /g obineauian racial ideologies. Fourth, physical "racial anthropology" (not to be misconstrued for racial ideologies) as such was of minor importance for the practical social arrangements of the Third

Human Biological Diversity

Abstract: This text is intended for the sophomore level course in human variation/human biology taught in anthropology departments. It may also serve as a supplementary text in introductory physical anthropology courses.In addition to covering the standard topics for the course, it features contemporary topics in human biology such as the Human Genome Project, genetic engineering, the effects of stress, obesity and pollution.

Graduate Seminar in Physical Anthropology

Abstract: Course Objectives and Requirements ANTH 202 is a readings-based discussion seminar of theoretical issues and current research in biological/physical anthropology. Assessment consists of two essays (40%), preparatory writing and participation in each week’s discussion (40%) and a class presentation (20%). The course work is intended to develop skills in critical analysis of the science literature, and to engage with current issues and research in the discipline. Attendance and active participation at all class meetings is mandatory and you will be graded on both. You are expected to read the assigned articles before class so that you can fully participate in discussions.

Physical anthropology in Europe and beyond

Abstract: Methodologies and legislative frameworks regarding the excavation, retrieval, analysis, curation and potential reburial of human skeletal remains different throughout Europe. As work forces within Europe and beyond have become increasingly mobile and international research collaborations are steadily increasing, the need for a more comprehensive understanding of different national research traditions, methodologies and legislative structures within the academic and commercial sector of physical anthropology has arisen. Establishing how human osteoarchaeology is practiced and dealt with throughout Europe and beyond will promote sharing knowledge between countries and form the basis for pan-European exchanges and discussions on the best practice. The current paper focuses on an ongoing project entitled ‘Physical Anthropology and Legislation: European Perspectives and Beyond’ and provides insight into some of the results obtained so far.

A celebration of Clifford Jolly's contribution to biological anthropology.

Abstract: Biological anthropology is a unique scientific field in which, possibly more than in other sciences, progress depends on the effective integration and synthesis of data and evidence from a wide variety of disciplines. Combining the complexity and depth of modern biology with a desire to understand the unique historical event that is the origin of our own species, significant advances in biological anthropology often develop from the creative application of new methods developed in one scientific discipline to questions posed by researchers with entirely different interests. In addition, some of the most important advances during the history of human evolutionary studies have come from individual investigators who reframed traditional questions in light of new comparative evidence drawn from the living primates. Clifford Jolly‘s long and remarkably successful career illustrates the value and impact of integrating evidence and concepts from disparate fields in the service of the broad goals of biological anthropology. He has made substantive and lasting contributions to the interpretation of the human fossil record, to both knowledge of and methods used in the study of natural populations of living primates, to laboratory procedures for investigating those primates, and certainly to the conceptual framework that biological anthropologists employ to understand evolutionary diversity within and among primate species. In order to celebrate the many significant contributions Cliff has made and continues to make to our broad field of study, and to highlight the current exciting state of biological anthropology in general, we organized a conference designed to bring together active researchers from a variety of subfields in which he has worked. This section of Current Anthropology presents a series of five papers first presented at that conference. The conference, titled “Evolutionary Anthropology at the Interface,” was a two-day event held in New York in October 2007