ANTH 101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Bone Fracture, Egg Cell, Osteoporosis
Document Summary
The idea of race--that human variation can be classified--is a recent invention. Early written records do not use the concept. American physical anthropologist c. loring brace argued that the race concept go its start in the 14th century, during the renaissance. The early scientific articulation of the race concept--namely, that living humans could be lumped into different taxonomic groups--first emerged in the 18th century. By the 1700s, europeans had encountered most of the biological diversity of the world"s populations. German anatomist johann friedrich blumenbach based his taxonomy on human skin color and other physical traits, but mainly on features of the skull, such as facial projection. While he focused on skulls, his racial taxonomy was subsequently applied to the living populations represented by those skulls. His study set the tone for the popular perception of human variation. That human beings come in categorical types called races. Was among the first scientists to challenge the taxonomic approach to human biological variation.
