34 research outputs found

    Perceptions of Race and Ancestry in Teaching, Research, and Public Engagement in Biological Anthropology

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    The concept of race has a complex history in the field of biological anthropology. Despite increased recognition of the racist origins of the discipline, there remains little agreement about what the concept means, how it is used, or how it is discussed. The present study presents the results of a survey of biological anthropologists to investigate the relationship of biological anthropology/ists with race and ancestry. The survey focuses on the areas of research, public engagement, and teaching as related to these concepts. Results indicate that a large majority of biological anthropologists argue for the separation of race (as a social not biological concept) from ancestry. The majority of respondents argued that ancestry categories should be based on geography (e.g., Asian, European, and African), and more anthropologists thought the terms “Hispanic/Latino” were inappropriate ancestry categories. While the majority of respondents felt that discussions of these terms were not matters of “political correctness,” nearly a quarter of respondents suggested that concerns over the moral and ethical implications of research (e.g., photos, terminology, ancestry, etc.) result in the silencing of anthropological research. Overwhelmingly, respondents felt that anthropologists have a responsibility to ensure the avoidance of misappropriation of their work in race science and by white nationalists/supremacists. Some differences in survey responses were found among respondents in relation to sub-discipline, educational level, location of respondents, age, self-identified racial/ethnic categories, and gender. In regard to teaching, survey results indicate that these concepts are minimally covered in university classrooms. When taught, topics focused on the colonialist/racist history of anthropology, the presence of white privilege/supremacy, and racism. Based on the results of this survey, we argue for greater public engagement on these concepts, a standardized system of teaching race and ancestry, and a disciplinary conversation about practice and terminology. In this way, biological anthropologists can best place themselves to combat racism in a socially responsible way

    Scientific Integrity in the Forensic Sciences: Consumerism, Conflicts of Interest, and Transparency

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    The goal of this paper is to discuss scientific integrity, consumerism, conflicts of interest, and transparency within the context of forensic science. Forensic scientists play crucial roles within the legal system and are constantly under various pressures when performing analytical work, generating reports based on their analyses, or testifying to the content of these reports. Maintaining the scientific integrity of these actions is paramount to supporting a functional legal system and the practice of good science. Our goal is to discuss the importance of scientific integrity as well as the factors it may compromise, so that forensic practitioners may be better equipped to recognize and avoid conflicts of interest when they arise. In this discussion we define terms, concepts, and professional relationships as well as present three case studies to contextualize these ideas

    Violence among foragers: The bioarchaeological record from central California

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    Spatial and diachronic patterns in skeletal evidence for three forms of violence were evaluated for central California with information from a bioarchaeological database that contains information on 16,820 burials from 329 sites. The most abundant form of violence was sharp force/projectile trauma (462/6278, 7.4%), followed by blunt force craniofacial trauma (264/6202, 4.3%) and trophy-taking/dismemberment (87/12,603, 0.7%). Signs of violence were concentrated in the area with the highest ethnographic population densities (Sacramento River), but also in the southern San Francisco Bay area which seems to have been a contested interface zone between established residents and incoming migrants. Sharp force/projectile trauma was also high in the Sierra Nevada following introduction of the bow and arrow, and violence in general was more common among males, although there is less of a sex-difference among individuals with blunt force craniofacial injuries in central California relative to southern California, suggesting greater participation by females in this form of violence as attested by historic eyewitness accounts. Temporal patterning shows two episodes of elevated violence: the Early Middle Period (500 cal B.C.–cal A.D. 420) when trophytaking/dismemberment peaked, and the Protohistoric/Historic Period (cal A.D. 1720–1899) marked by high levels of blunt force craniofacial and projectile trauma. The Protohistoric/Historic peak, preceded by the appearance of the bow and arrow ca. A.D.1000–1200 and an associated upturn in projectile violence, is attributed to the arrival of Europeans into southwestern North America 250 years before their permanent settlement in California ca. A.D. 1769

    Mobility and kinship in the world's first village societies

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    Around 10,000 y ago in southwest Asia, the cessation of a mobile lifestyle and the emergence of the first village communities during the Neolithic marked a fundamental change in human history. The first communities were small (tens to hundreds of individuals) but remained semisedentary. So-called megasites appeared soon after, occupied by thousands of more sedentary inhabitants. Accompanying this shift, the material culture and ancient ecological data indicate profound changes in economic and social behavior. A shift from residential to logistical mobility and increasing population size are clear and can be explained by either changes in fertility and/or aggregation of local groups. However, as sedentism increased, small early communities likely risked inbreeding without maintaining or establishing exogamous relationships typical of hunter-gatherers. Megasites, where large populations would have made endogamy sustainable, could have avoided this risk. To examine the role of kinship practices in the rise of megasites, we measured strontium and oxygen isotopes in tooth enamel from 99 individuals buried at Pınarbaşı, Boncuklu, and Çatalhöyük (Turkey) over 7,000 y. These sites are geographically proximate and, critically, span both early sedentary behaviors (Pınarbaşı and Boncuklu) and the rise of a local megasite (Çatalhöyük). Our data are consistent with the presence of only local individuals at Pınarbaşı and Boncuklu, whereas at Çatalhöyük, several nonlocals are present. The Çatalhöyük data stand in contrast to other megasites where bioarchaeological evidence has pointed to strict endogamy. These different kinship behaviors suggest that megasites may have arisen by employing unique, community-specific kinship practices

    Mobility and kinship in the world’s first village societies

    Get PDF
    Around 10,000 y ago in southwest Asia, the cessation of a mobile lifestyle and the emergence of the first village communities during the Neolithic marked a fundamental change in human history. The first communities were small (tens to hundreds of individuals) but remained semisedentary. So-called megasites appeared soon after, occupied by thousands of more sedentary inhabitants. Accompanying this shift, the material culture and ancient ecological data indicate profound changes in economic and social behavior. A shift from residential to logistical mobility and increasing population size are clear and can be explained by either changes in fertility and/or aggregation of local groups. However, as sedentism increased, small early communities likely risked inbreeding without maintaining or establishing exogamous relationships typical of hunter-gatherers. Megasites, where large populations would have made endogamy sustainable, could have avoided this risk. To examine the role of kinship practices in the rise of megasites, we measured strontium and oxygen isotopes in tooth enamel from 99 individuals buried at Pınarbaşı, Boncuklu, and Çatalhöyük (Turkey) over 7,000 y. These sites are geographically proximate and, critically, span both early sedentary behaviors (Pınarbaşı and Boncuklu) and the rise of a local megasite (Çatalhöyük). Our data are consistent with the presence of only local individuals at Pınarbaşı and Boncuklu, whereas at Çatalhöyük, several nonlocals are present. The Çatalhöyük data stand in contrast to other megasites where bioarchaeological evidence has pointed to strict endogamy. These different kinship behaviors suggest that megasites may have arisen by employing unique, community-specific kinship practices

    Bioarchaeology of Neolithic Çatalhöyük Reveals Fundamental Transitions in Health, Mobility, and Lifestyle in Early Farmers

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    The transition from a human diet based exclusively on wild plants and animals to one involving dependence on domesticated plants and animals beginning 10,000 to 11,000 y ago in Southwest Asia set into motion a series of profound health, lifestyle, social, and economic changes affecting human populations throughout most of the world. However, the social, cultural, behavioral, and other factors surrounding health and lifestyle associated with the foraging-to-farming transition are vague, owing to an incomplete or poorly understood contextual archaeological record of living conditions. Bioarchaeological investigation of the extraordinary record of human remains and their context from Neolithic Çatalhöyük (7100–5950 cal BCE), a massive archaeological site in south-central Anatolia (Turkey), provides important perspectives on population dynamics, health outcomes, behavioral adaptations, interpersonal conflict, and a record of community resilience over the life of this single early farming settlement having the attributes of a protocity. Study of Çatalhöyük human biology reveals increasing costs to members of the settlement, including elevated exposure to disease and labor demands in response to community dependence on and production of domesticated plant carbohydrates, growing population size and density fueled by elevated fertility, and increasing stresses due to heightened workload and greater mobility required for caprine herding and other resource acquisition activities over the nearly 12 centuries of settlement occupation. These changes in life conditions foreshadow developments that would take place worldwide over the millennia following the abandonment of Neolithic Çatalhöyük, including health challenges, adaptive patterns, physical activity, and emerging social behaviors involving interpersonal violence

    The Impact of the Medieval Climatic Anomaly in Prehistoric California: A Case Study from Canyon Oaks, CA-ALA-613/H

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    This study tests the hypothesis that the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA) resulted in resource stress and a decline in health in prehistoric California. Data were collected on the human remains (n = 98) from Canyon Oaks in Pleasanton, California. This analysis focuses on stature, linear enamel hypoplasias (LEH), dental caries, and evidence of violence in order to interpret patterns of growth stress, diet, and interpersonal violence in relationship to climatic changes. Statistical treatment reveals little diachronic change in the occurrence of stature, LEH, or interpersonal violence. However, the prevalence of dental caries shows significant temporal and sexual differences. These results suggest a substantive shift in diet during the MCA, without accompanying changes in growth stress or violence. It appears that this population mitigated stress through cultural and social means of buffering environmental changes. These findings underscore the role of the environment in prehistory, and the complexity of human responses to stress and climate

    Forensic Anthropology as a Discipline

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    This paper explores the current state of forensic anthropology in the United States as a distinct discipline. Forensic anthropology has become increasingly specialized and the need for strengthened professionalization is becoming paramount. This includes a need for clearly defined qualifications, training, standards of practice, certification processes, and ethical guidelines. Within this discussion, the concept of expertise is explored in relation to professionalization and practice, as both bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology have different areas of specialist knowledge, and therefore unique expertise. As working outside one’s area of expertise is an ethical violation, it is important for professional organizations to outline requisite qualifications, develop standards and best practice guidelines, and enforce robust preventive ethical codes in order to serve both their professional members and relevant stakeholders
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