Typology (anthropology)

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For other types of typology see typology

Typology in anthropology is the division of culture by races. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, anthropologists used a typological model to divide people from different cultures into "races," (e.g. negroid, caucasoid, mongoloid which were part of the racial system defined by Carleton S. Coon). This approach focused on a small number of traits that are readily observable from a distance such as skin color, hair form, body build, and stature.

The typological model was built on the assumption that humans can be assigned to a race based on some small number of traits. This assumption has proven false over time, and the typological model in anthropology is now thoroughly discredited. Current mainstream thinking is that the morphological traits that those who cling to the typological model use are due to simple variations in specific regions, and are the effect of climatic selective pressures.^[1] There are a minority of commentators who claim that the typological model of race is still valid,^[2] but their work has been criticized as anecdotal and unsupported by credible scientific evidence.[3] This debate is covered in more detail in the article on race.

[edit] References

• Cavalli-Sforza, Menozzi and Piazza, "The History and Geography of Human Genes"
• Brown, Ryan A and Armelagos, George, "Apportionment of Racial Diversity: A Review" Evolutionary Anthropology 10:34–40 2001 [4]

[edit] Notes

1. ↑ Modern Human Variation: Models of Classification [5]
2. ↑ Miele, Sarich, "Race: The Reality of Human Differences"