ANTH 1102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Caucasian Race, Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, Negroid
7 Oct 2016
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Document Summary
Modern biological diversity: explaining the human phenotype, why populations look different. Short flat nose = warm weather: teeth. Large teeth = grittier food: allen"s & bergman"s rules. Skin color: melanin, darker skin = more protection against skin cancer and sunburn, lighter skin = greater ability to form vitamin d, skin color is relative to proximity to equator. Origins of race as scientific categories: johann friedreich blumenbach (1795) Anthropology has helped to: define race as a biological category. Oppose race as biological categories: franz boas 1900"s-1940"s, william montague cobb 1943, aaa race project. The presumed biological category: isolated subdivision of a species, based on common ancestry and biological traits. Highly problematic definition: based primarily on skin color, skin color has a clinal distribution. Gradual shift in genetic traits: no reproductive barriers. Race is not a scientific biological categorical system: does not explain human biological differences.
