Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Hooton, professor at Harvard, was interested in the use of cranial nonmetric traits to
typify groups and to answer his research questions about body form. He used the prevalence
of such traits and other cranial features in his descriptions of different groups for compara-
tive purposes (e.g.,
Hooton, 1918
). Arguably, however, his most important contribution to the
development of the field was that he produced a large number of PhD physical anthropolo-
gists in a relatively short time, being the major professor of 28 students, the first of whom
graduated in 1925 (
Giles, 1997; Caspari, 2003
).
14
Many of his students went on to found or
lead physical anthropology departments at colleges and universities around the United
States (
Spencer, 1981
).
When Franz Boas started at Columbia University in 1896, he had already developed
ideas of cultural relativism. He strongly believed in a four-field anthropological approach,
was the first to question the race concept, and vehemently rejected biological determinism,
preferring emphasis on the culture concept as an explanation for human social differences
(
Caspari, 2003
). While many of his contemporaries including Hooton and Hrdli
cka
accepted apriorithat races existed and therefore humans could be thusly classified, Boas
questioned this assumption and proposed that critical questions should be asked
regarding these assumptions, especially those related to the types of measurements that
were taken and their significance (
Montagu, 1964
). His influence on the field therefore still
resonates today, as we use a biocultural approach as the basis for the scientific questions
we pose.
Resolutions against the Race Concept: UNESCO and AAPA, AAA Statements
While typology defined a large part of the early years of physical anthropology, it was
not always to be so. In 1949, a new organization, the United Nations, asked one of its
committees, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO), to consider a public statement that would use scientific facts to combat racism
(
Shipman, 1994
). The recent end of World War II and the horrors of the Holocaust
d
ra-
cism's ultimate consequence
d
were the likely provocation. Panel members consisted
mainly of anthropologists and sociologists, notably including Ashley Montagu (a former
Boas student), a professor of anthropology at Rutgers University and race critic (
Brace,
2005
). This collaboration resulted in the 1950 Statement on Race, which (among other
points) declared (1) that all humans belonged to one species, (2) that the differences
between them were due to evolutionary forces, (3) that the species was therefore divided
into populations, and (4) that races defined populations that shared a number of physical
characteristics but did not define those groups sharing cultural characteristics (
Montagu,
1964
). However, it also stated that human variation is inherent and changing, and that
culture explains social differences between groups of people, and therefore the term
“ethnic group” should be used in lieu of “race.” Further, the statement went on to reject
biological determinism and asserted that mental capabilities were not connected with
race (
Montagu, 1964
).
14
There were only six PhD degrees awarded in physical anthropology in the U.S. prior to 1925 (
Caspari,
2003
).
