Biological Anthropology

Biological anthropology is the branch of anthropology that studies how the physical structure of the human body has changed over time. Biological anthropologists interpret these changes from a biological and an evolutionary standpoint, assigning classifications to different eras of human development based on when deviations occurred. Biological anthropology, sometimes referred to as physical anthropology, makes use of many other scientific disciplines to support its findings including human biology, paleontology, human genetics, and anatomy and physiology. This branch of anthropology can be further divided into serval subfields such as paleoanthropology, primatology, bioarchaeology, behavioral ecology, and forensic anthropology. Biological anthropologists seek to gain insight into the origin of the human race through understanding how, when, and why human biological and behavioral differences came to be. The discoveries made by biological anthropologists have become useful outside the anthropological realm, helping society understand the history of subjects such as language, culture, and climate change.

Background

The study of anthropology from a biological perspective dates back to the late eighteenth century when scientists (then referred to as natural historians) began classifying humans and their biological characteristics by their race and skull size. The science of craniology, which compared the shape and sizes of the skulls of different human races, was hugely popular. At this time, science still adhered to a somewhat religious understanding of the world. The theory of creationism held that humanity was created by God, and as such humans had always been exactly as they were. Many scientists also believed that God had created separate races of varying intellect. These theories allowed racist sentiments to prevail within the scientific community; some believed Caucasians (white people) were created by God as the superiors of other races.

Scientists were becoming increasingly critical of biblical creationism by the nineteenth century. Scientific advancements had shed light on many natural processes of the human species by this time, many of which contrasted with the accepted theories of humanity's origins. A great shift in thought occurred following the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species(1895), which propelled the theory of evolution into the scientific spotlight. Darwin defined evolution as the biological process by which organisms change over time as a result of an alteration in inherited physical or behavioral traits. Darwin's theories greatly affected scholarly views of the origins of humankind, inspiring thinkers from all over the world to conduct their own research into the possibilities of evolution. Evolutionary theory led to a schism in the anthropological world as members of the community began committing themselves to evolutionist or creationist thought.

Evolutionary thought was very unpopular in its earliest years but gained some ground in the beginning of the 1900s. Despite the discouragement, scholars across the globe continued to question the biological nature of human development. In the United States, three individuals provided important contributions to the advancement of biological anthropology in the first half of the twentieth century: Franz Boas, Earnest A. Hooten, and Aleš Hrdlička. Boas was known for his breakthrough studies on European immigrants and human development during childhood, which shed light on how the environment affects different populations. Hooten, a professor at Harvard University, strongly promoted biological anthropology practices in his teachings, and many of his students went on to make important contributions in the field. Hrdlička was responsible for encouraging the recognition of biological anthropology as its own field of science. He also founded the American Journal of Physical Anthropology in 1918. The formative years of biological anthropology led to mass interest in the science and soon biological anthropology programs began appearing at universities all over the world. Over the next several decades, new concentrations emerged within the field that eventually became the many subfields associated with biological anthropology.

Overview

By the twenty-first century, biological anthropology had solidified its standing within the scientific world. Though the theory and methods of the earliest biological anthropologists has changed drastically over time, the same general principles still apply. Comprehensively, members of the field study human biological evolution and its relationship to biocultural diversity. The science emphasizes two key concepts. First, all people are products of biological change over time. Evolution is what distinguished humans from primates, giving modern humans greater intellect than their ape relatives. A change in the genetic makeup of humankind's ancestors led to the emergence of the homo sapien, the only human species that did not go extinct.

The second concept biological anthropologists agree on is people's biological makeup is strongly influenced by the environment they grow up in. The term environment as applied to biological anthropology involves not only people's natural surroundings related to the climate and region they grew up in, but everything that could affect them. This includes the exercise they engage in, the food they eat, the socioeconomic status of their family, and any other factors that can influence their health and well-being.

Biological anthropologists regularly travel the world to study the living and deceased ancestors of modern humans. They also study primates such as monkeys, apes, and lemurs, which are considered some of humankind's closest biological relatives. Biological anthropologists place heavy emphasis on the study of human biology in evolutionary terms, familiarizing themselves with the physical structure of both modern and ancient human beings in an effort to discern the cause of variation over time. The field often applies methods and theories from other scientific disciplines, which spawned a number of subfields within biological anthropology.

As the scope of biological anthropology continues to expand in the twenty-first century, scientists are able to draw highly supportable theories about the history of human biological development. Continued studies also provide insightful details about a number of topics related to social and environmental change, such as eating habits and climate change. The field of study remains an important discipline in anthropological research, revealing new discoveries about human ancestors that continue to fascinate the academic realm.

Bibliography

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Rothman, Jessica, Katy Gonder, Holly Dunsworth, and Kieran McNulty, eds. "Biological Anthropology." Nature. www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/biological-anthropology-98009799. Accessed 1 Nov. 2016.

Rudan, P. Physical (Biological) Anthropology. Eolss Publishing Co., 2009.

Than, Ker. "What Is Darwin's Theory of Evolution?" Live Science, 13 May 2015. www.livescience.com/474-controversy-evolution-works.html. Accessed 1 Nov. 2016.