Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
is considered in terms of the resulting impact on biology and therefore population history
overall.
Try to approach skeletal research as a functional morphologist, investigating the etiology
of factors such as trauma, pathology, and cross-sectional shape and the possible implications
these had for the life history of the individual. This reflects Washburn's call for a “new phys-
ical anthropology” (1951), which while published over six decades ago, still has relevance for
the practice of biological anthropology today.
In addition,
Blakey (1998)
proposed that we be critically self-reflective of our cultural
assumptions that creep into the scientific process. Further, he suggested that we realize
that science, because human beings practice it, cannot be utterly objective. While we strive
for objectivity, subjective interpretations can influence our analyses and conclusions (
Blakey,
1998
). As a result, it is necessary to take an anthropological viewpoint towards our role as
scientists, the research that we do, and the impact it has on society at large. It would be to
our advantage if we could acknowledge our limitations as scientists as a result of inherent
cultural bias. Consciously taking a critical and self-reflective approach to the questions we
choose to pursue, to hypothesis construction, and to the interpretation of results will enable
us to more effectively communicate our conclusions. As emphasized in several chapters in
this volume, each scientist is a product of their own culture and the associated sociopolitical
thought. Therefore, we have a responsibility to society to acknowledge how our own cultural
biases affect our questions, methods, results, and conclusions.
TRENDS IN HUMAN SKELETAL BIOLOGY
A critical read of the content in this volume demonstrates that several trends are apparent
in contemporary skeletal biology. These include (1) an increased awareness of secular trends;
(2) a recognition of the importance of developing population-specific standards for both bio-
archaeological and forensic applications of skeletal analysis; (3) an emphasis on validation
studies; (4) an increased reliance on robust statistics; (5) advances in technology that permit
the posing of anthropological questions in new and creative ways; and (6) the potentiality
that biodistance analysis will continue to clarify how evolutionary forces have affected our
species' history.
Secular trends, as demonstrated by several chapters in this volume, are important for
understanding a variety of processes. The fact that populations change through time due
to environmental forces demonstrates the influence that the environment, via evolutionary
forces, has on biology. The first author lives in Bogot´ , Colombia, where a walk of the streets
quickly reveals that males in their fifties and above are a great deal shorter than teenage
boys and young males in their twenties. While this observation falls into the first part of
the scientific method, the subsequent hypothesis would be that secular change has occurred
in the
Bogotano
population over the past few decades, possibly as a result of improved
access to medical care, improved nutrition, and improved sanitation for city dwellers (coin-
ciding with sociopolitical change) that has at least affected biological growth. A contrary
hypothesis could be that the decreased stature in older males is a result of stature reduction
as a result of aging and compression of the soft tissues of the body or collapsing of the
vertebrae.
