Virtual Lab: Race and the Human Skull

Instructions

Examine the content at the following links. Also, make sure to read the section on race in Chapter 5. Then, respond to the questions below.

http://archive.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2002/10/56101 (Links to an external site.)

Article from Wired Magazine on Franz Boas’ research on variation in skull shape and recent challenges to his interpretations of the data.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/does-race-exist.html (Links to an external site.)

Essays from two physical anthropologists, one supporting and one opposed to the concept of biological race.

Can You Tell a Person’s Race from His or Her Skull? (Links to an external site.)

Article from Slate about the strengths and weaknesses of race identification in forensic anthropology.

1- What were Franz Boas’ findings on head shape in immigrant populations? How do the recent findings of Jantz and Sparks described in the Wired article differ from Boas?

2- Why does Loring Brace oppose and George Gill support the concept of biological races in humans? Make sure to summarize the scientific evidence used by each scientist?