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paleoanthropology
Sign in to saveAlso known as paleanthropology, palaeoanthropology
Paleoanthropology or paleo-anthropology is a branch of paleontology and anthropology which seeks to understand the early development of anatomically modern humans, a process known as hominization, through the reconstruction of evolutionary kinship lines within the family Hominidae, working from biological evidence (such as petrified skeletal remains, bone fragments, footprints) and cultural evidence (such as stone tools, artifacts, and settlement localities).
Paleoanthropology is a field of study that combines paleontology and anthropology to understand how modern humans evolved by examining fossil remains, bones, and cultural artifacts like stone tools and ancient settlements. It matters because it helps us trace our evolutionary history and biological relationships within the human family by analyzing the physical and cultural evidence left behind by our ancestors.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Wikidata facts
- Subclass of
- anthropology
- Founded by
- Édouard Lartet
- Image
- Fossil hominids.jpg
Show 2 more facts
- Commons category
- Paleoanthropology
- topic's main category
- Category:Paleoanthropology
via Wikidata · CC0
~18 min read
Encyclopedic overview
15 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Hominoid taxonomies
- History
- 18th century
- 19th century
- Asia
- Africa
- 1920s – 1940s
- 1950s – 1990s
- 21st century
- Renowned paleoanthropologists
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
Paleoanthropology or paleo-anthropology is a branch of paleontology and anthropology which seeks to understand the early development of anatomically modern humans, a process known as hominization, through the reconstruction of evolutionary kinship lines within the family Hominidae, working from biological evidence (such as petrified skeletal remains, bone fragments, footprints) and cultural evidence (such as stone tools, artifacts, and settlement localities).
The field draws from and combines primatology, paleontology, biological anthropology, and cultural anthropology. As technologies and methods advance, genetics plays an ever-increasing role, in particular to examine and compare DNA structure as a vital tool of research of the evolutionary kinship lines of related species and genera.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “paleoanthropology” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.