Introduction:
Anthropology is the science which
deals with the comparative study of man, as a physical and cultural being. It
has two main branches – Cultural or social anthropology and Physical
anthropology. The study of man as a cultural being, his work, behavior, social
patterns etc., are the main subject of study of the cultural anthropologists,
while physical anthropology is concerned with man as a physical organism in
time and space. Here ‘Time’ means stages of development of man in the
process of evolution during different period of time, while ‘Space’
refers to the differentiation of physical types in modern man living in
different parts of the globe. Thus, physical anthropology has two principal
focuses and they are human evolution and human variation.
Man, as such was not created by God or
nay other agency in a day or a short span of time. To attain the present human
status man had to pass through various stages of evolution. What are these
stages; i) at which time and stage the human line bifurcated from the common
stem; ii) what are physical features of the early hominoids and hominids; iii)
where did they live; many such questions naturally come to our mind. To get the
answer we are to unearth, collect and study the palaeontological or fossil
remains of our ancestors and their collaterals. Very broadly, we can
distinguish three main stages of hominid evolution. First the stage of
Australopithecus. In this stage also we see different varieties of creatures,
the good representatives of which were unearthed in some parts of Africa. Some
of them were the true tool makers and tool users. In this connection we should keep
in mind that man is the only animal having the ability of manufacturing and
using tools; and this is one of the characteristics which distinguish man from
other animals. The next stage is the stage of Homo erectus. Man
is the only animal capable of standing erect on two feet in the truest sense of
the term and of bipedal locomotion, another distinguishing features of man.
The fossils remain of the representatives of this stage have been discovered
from different parts of Asia, Europe and Africa. some of the famous discoveries
are: Pithecanthropus erectus or Java Man, Sinanthropus pekinensis
or Pekin man and Homo heidelbergensis or Heidelberg man. Then we find
the stage of Neanderthal man. The true representatives of the various types of
Neanderthal race mostly lived in Europe, West Asia and North Africa. After this
stage we meet the Homo sapiens.
The main aims of studying
physical anthropology:
i) The aim of studying evolution of
man is not only to establish the different stages during the evolutionary
process but also to understand the mechanism of the whole process. Scientists
like Lamarck and Darwin put forward their theories of evolution. Lamarck laid
more stress on the use and disuse of bodily parts and inheritance of acquired
characters. On the other hand, Darwin tried to explain the process by ‘natural
selection’ that is selection of certain varieties by nature. How the varieties
evolved? There were many questions which the earlier scientists could not
answer. Now with the advent of sciences we come across several new schools of
thought throwing light on the concept of evolution. We can name two
schools- Neo-Darwinism and
Neo-Lamarckism.
ii) Physical anthropologists are
interested in studying the primates, the close relatives of man, from different
angles for different reasons. First, the study of fossils primates in relation
to geological and temporal sequence. This helps in understanding the
evolutionary stages. Second, the comparative anatomical study of the living
primates. Anatomical features include bone, morphological features, blood
chemistry, dermatoglyphic traits and the like. Third, the study of primate
behavior in their natural surroundings. Fourth, the experimental study of apes
and monkeys in the laboratory. This is to understand certain fundamental
aspects of man and these animals. Thus, primatology is an important aspect of
physical anthropology.
iii) This sort of study on the
primates helps in understanding the nature and degree of relationship between
man and other member of the primate. This relation is not accidental, but
because of common ancestry. It has already been stated that there exists a very
close relationship between man and chimpanzee. They have similar type of blood,
both suffer from the similar types of disease and so forth. Therefore,
experiment could be carried on chimpanzee to understand certain fundamental
aspects of man.
iv) The study of human variation is
the other principal focus of physical anthropology, scientists are generally
agreed that all men living today belong to a single species, Homo sapiens,
and that all men are derived from a common stock. Therefore, any man from any
part of the globe can marry any woman of any part. From the biological point of
view such union is viable and hence can produce fertile children. But though
all men belong to the same species, remarkably variations in respect of physical
features are observed among different populations. Some populations are wooly
haired, other have straight hair, some are dark-skinned, while others have
lighter skin. Then there are differences in nose form, head form, face form,
stature, blood types and many other such traits. Hence nobody can deny that
this single species comprises several types of varieties of population.
On the basis of variation and
similarity with regard to physical features, physical anthropologists have
divided mankind into certain smaller groups, called the races. There are three
major races of man viz- Negroid, Caucasoid and Mongoloid. Some like to add one
more, the Australoid. Others want to include the Australoid under the Caucasoid
giving a name, the Archaic Caucasoid. Each of the major races is again divided
and subdivided into smaller groups.
We should remember that race
is a concept, we can define race as a population characterized by some
concentrations, relative as to the frequency and distribution, of genes or
physical characters, which appear, fluctuate, often disappear in the course of
time by geographic and cultural isolation.
The physical anthropologist
must remember that man is always dependent on his environment. Therefore man
must be studied in relation to his environment, both social and physical. (source- Outline of Physical Anthropology by B.M. Das )
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