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stein10_ppt_ch17_fall_2014.pptChapter Seventeen
The Analysis of Human Variation
Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778)
* Taxonomy – classification of plants and animals
In the 1758 edition (10th), Linnaeus
classified 4,400 species of animals
and 7,700 species of plants.
Linnean Subspecies of
Homo sapiens
- Homo sapiens Americanus (“Red”)
- Homo sapiens Europaeus (“White”)
- Homo sapiens Asiaticus (“Yellow”)
- Homo sapiens Afer (“Black”)
- Homo sapiens Monstrosus (“birth defects”)
These taxa are an example of scientific racism
Three Anthropologists Instrumental in Countering Scientific Racism
Franz Boas, 1858-1942
W. Montague Cobb, 1904-1990
Ashley Montagu,
1905-1999
www.understandingrace.org
The Concept of RACE – what do most anthropologists say today?
There is greater genetic variation within any group than
between them
Comparison of genetic variation:
Chimpanzees and Humans
Height red bars = mean number of differences between pairs of individuals drawn from same population
Height of blue bar = mean differences between populations in different geographic regions
The Concept of RACE – what would an anthropologist say?
There is greater variation within any group than between them
Racial taxonomies are typological – discrete and based on
stereotypes
The Concept of RACE – what would an anthropologist say?
There is greater variation within any group than between them
Racial taxonomies are typological – discrete and based on
stereotypes
Skin tone, eye color, hair color traits are polygenic
(influenced by many genes and have a range of expression)
The Concept of RACE – what would an anthropologist say?
There is greater genetic variation within any group than
between them
Racial taxonomies are typological – discrete and based on
stereotypes
Skin tone traits are polygenic – influenced by many genes and
have a range of expression
Human attributes, such as cognitive, athletic, artistic, and music
abilities, are also polygenic and evolved long before skin
tone variation.
Human races are social constructions, not legitimate biological
categories
17-*
Do Human Races Exist?
- Races do not exist in a biological sense
- However, race does exist in a social sense and has significant cultural and political meaning.
- The debate over race and intelligence is a strong illustration of the political nature of discussions about race.
- While some have equated certain races with cultural superiority and the development of civilization, researchers have pointed out that where civilizations arose had to do with availability of domesticatable plants and animals and issues of geography that made the spread of these plants and animals possible.
