Anthropology

Research Paper
ANTH 1020
Cameron Mugleston

The subfield of physical anthropology that has been chosen for

discussion is biological anthropology. The interest in the subfield holds a
scientific discipline concerned with the biological and behavioral aspects of
human beings, their related non-human primates and their extinct hominin
ancestors.
The general questions in this subfield could be why our bodies are
structured the way they are today and potential changes it that can occur
through the progression of time, the behavior of our organs and limbs with
what theyre able and unable to perform in contrast to primates and hominin.
A specific question that this paper will later address would be how early the
development of vocal capabilities began and how its progression into early
Neanderthals effect ways of communicating with one another. Further
divided areas of research include paleoanthropology, primatology, human
behavioral ecology, human biology, bioarcheology, paleopathology, and
forensic anthropology.
The history scientific physical anthropology began in the eighteenth
century. Some notable figures of the subfield were James Cowl Prichard,
Samuel George Morton, and Johann Friedrich Blumenbach. Major discoveries
that have contributed to the understanding of this field has helped determine
the environments modern humans evolved and dispersed across the planet,
morphology, genetics, behavioral adaptations (evolutionary, environmental,
ecological), and understanding mortuary context of remains. Its also given

us an understanding about diseases, injuries, and illnesses in which youll

find in both human biology, and biomedical anthropology. Returning to the

1 Different positions of the larynx from each skull type.

topic of early development of superlaryngeal vocal tracts, its allowed us to
find that the larynx in early Neanderthals were actually located much higher
in the throat than the average male human, meaning their voices were much
higher than an adult mans (Liberman, 1971).
A fairly recent discovery under this field includes the finding of the
female remains of described genus and species of Pliobates cataloniae,
discovered at Catalonia NE, Spain in 2015. She was named Laia and
weighed about four to five kilograms. Her diet seemed to consist of various
fruits. She was a forest dweller, using branch locomotion as her form of
movement. Her discovery is important because it allows further analysis of
linking closer relations to great apes, humans, and gibbons (National Science
Foundation, 2015).

The methods used to conduct research vary from studying behavior,

physical characteristics, movement, and interactions of mass amounts of
monkeys, apes, and humans. Another can be recovering fossils, and studying
their anatomy, potential lifestyle, and the type of environment they lived and
adapted to. Computers (3D measuring, anatomical predictions and
calculations, etc.), carbon dating, excavation crews, and an array of medical
instruments are all used to gain accuracy in their findings. Data can range
anywhere from features and measurements of certain body parts, types of
diets,

forms of locomotion,
environmental factors, and

how
old

the

material is. (Fitch & Lieberman, 1971, 2000, 2007). As the development of
technology progresses, its allowed anthropologists to get more accurate
numbers on measurements, age, and rough indications of what early
monkeys, apes, and humans mayve looked like with 3D generated sculpts
that analyzes and predicts body structure and placement with remains
thatve be recovered. This was also done to retest and verify Libermans
findings and results of his analysis of the larynx in Neanderthals.

A major theory that biological anthropology follows is the theory of

evolution and how the human form came to be what it is today. Its allowed
us to gain a better understanding of not just human origin, but the origin of
all life on the planet as well. Questions still needing an answer could be
specific dates of when certain bodily changes and behaviors occurred in
certain species, skeletal remains indicating new or similar breeds, and any
undiscovered material could prove valuable to medical and science
professionals for following generations to come (Johansson, 2011). Regarding
back to the Neanderthal vocal tract, the closest date that can be pinned
when some sort of speech was used among our ancestors has only been
narrowed down to no less than four hundred thousand years ago (Johansson,

2 A 3D mesh of a Neanderthal skull and the calculated location of

where its hyoid would sit within the throat.
2011), which still lacks a full clarity.

3 A classic visual representation of the theory of evolution.

This subfield has allowed us to study human beings, primates, and the
extinct hominin ancestors to understand the gradual changes that occur
throughout the of course time and generations. What started off as racial
classification in the early eighteenth century, eventually led to bigger and
more interesting findings. These include the influence of environment on
animals, skeletal structures that indicate certain attributes, early tools, and
the development of speech. What we can take away from all of this is getting
one step closer to understanding our origin and what it means for tomorrow.
What implications does our existence have on the world around us? With our
incredible numbers, expansion, and knowledge, weve been able to
manipulate and shape the environment at an alarming rate. While its
improved human living, its begun to leech the rest of the world. In fact,
these rapid changes are causing extreme harm to both the planet and all of
its inhabitants, which is why we must find the means to improve the quality
of health and life to keep our preservation of the past and future alive. We

owe it to the world thats gotten us to this point.

4 This will be the next skull we find if we continue down the

irresponsible path of polluting the planet.

Annotated Bibliography
Fitch, W. T. (2000). The evolution of speech: a comparative review. Trends in
cognitive sciences,
4(7), 258-267.
Johansson, S. (2011). Constraining the time when language
evolved. Linguistic and Philosophical
Investigations, 10, 45.
Lieberman, P., & Crelin, E. S. (1971). On the speech of Neanderthal
man.Linguistic Inquiry, 2(2),
203-222.
Lieberman, P. (2007). The evolution of human speech. Current
Anthropology,48(1), 39-66.
MacLarnon, A. M., & Hewitt, G. P. (1999). The evolution of human speech: The
role of enhanced
breathing control. American journal of physical
anthropology, 109(3), 341-363.
National Science Foundation. (2015, October 29). A new primate species at
the root of the tree
of extant hominoids. Retrieved March 18, 2016,
from
https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?
cntn_id=136880&org=NSF&from=news