"Race" is a very difficult concept to explain. It's difficult because culture has defined it, not science. In fact, the first physical anthropology studies done in the western world were an attempt to find the scientific bases of race (and, I'm afraid, thus a basis for racial discrimination), and they were a complete failure. From a scientific standpoint, the differences which provide humans with an excuse to discriminate against each other are extremely minor; some scientists have even advocated the abolition of the idea. I don't think that's the answer, though; I think the answer lies in discovering what those differences are, and how they were created. Nevertheless, the word "race" is so emotionally loaded that paleoanthropologists prefer to use "geographic variation," which describes in part the forces that produced the differences among us. At present (although it is unclear how much longer), paleoanthropologists recognize four fuzzy categories of geographic variation: Mongoloid (generally considered northeastern Asia), Australoid (Australia and perhaps southeast Asia), Caucasoid (western Asia, Europe and northern Africa), and Negroid or African (sub-Saharan Africa). According to long-time scientific tradition, the original inhabitants of the American continents have been considered descendants of northern Asia or Mongoloid descent; the Kennewick Man was early (and prematurely) declared "Caucasoid."
Problems with Geographic Variations
There are three reasons why we should be hesitant to assign a specific geographic variation category to Kennewick Man. I am certain that the principals involved in the Kennewick Man studies understand these reasons. But, the press being what it is (prone to snap judgments and sound bites), and racial tensions being what they are (ranging from mistrust to downright hatred), and political circumstances of the Kennewick Man being what they were (nothing approaching negotiation was attempted until late in the process), here we are.Questions for Kennewick Man Researchers
1. I can tell one race from another, just by looking at a person. Why do the scientists have such a hard time?Most of the characteristics that we use to differentiate race, at the skeletal level anyway, are those variations that occur in the midface area, that is, between the eyebrows and upper lip. The skeletal structure of your eyes and nose are partly the result of the adaptation to cold, aridity, and altitude; and it is here where the most apparent variations exist. But think about it; does everybody in your particular ethnic group have the same exact nose and eye shape? No; in fact, there is a great deal of variety; and what scientists have found is that the range of variation of any particular trait or set of traits within those fuzzy categories is much greater than the differences between the groups. If you could measure a population of 100 or more from, say, a single cemetery, you might be able to put the population into a category on that basis. But a single individual? No.
Kennewick Man Table of Contents | Part 2: What is a Caucasoid? | Part 3: But is the Kennewick Man Caucasoid? | Part 4: How Were the Americas Populated?
