Alan Mann

The Mismeasure of Science: Stephen Jay Gould versus Samuel George Morton on Skulls and Bias

Stephen Jay Gould, the prominent evolutionary biologist and science historian, argued that “unconscious manipulation of data may be a scientific norm” because “scientists are human beings rooted in cultural contexts, not automatons directed toward external truth” [1], a view now popular in social studies of science [2]–[4]. In support of his argument Gould presented the case of Samuel George Morton, a 19th-century physician and physical anthropologist famous for his measurements of human skulls. Morton was considered the objectivist of his era, but Gould reanalyzed Mortons data and in his prize-winning book The Mismeasure of Man [5] argued that Morton skewed his data to fit his preconceptions about human variation. Morton is now viewed as a canonical example of scientific misconduct. But did Morton really fudge his data? Are studies of human variation inevitably biased, as per Gould, or are objective accounts attainable, as Morton attempted? We investigated these questions by remeasuring Mortons skulls and reexamining both Mortons and Goulds analyses. Our results resolve this historical controversy, demonstrating that Morton did not manipulate data to support his preconceptions, contra Gould. In fact, the Morton case provides an example of how the scientific method can shield results from cultural biases.

Why not the Neandertals

Some workers have suggested that a hypothetical genetic mutation in an African population less than 100,000 years ago led to a cascade of neurological changes in the human brain that culminated in the appearance of modern language. Language then triggered the socioeconomic and cognitive changes we associate with behavioral modernity and Africans, armed with behavioral modernity, then spread out from that continent, out-competing, displacing, extirpating, outbreeding or, most generally, replacing the Neandertals and other archaic humans throughout the middle latitudes of the Old World. The Neandertals of Europe are the best-known, best-represented and longest studied test case for this theory. In this paper we present evidence from skeletal anatomy, mitochondrial DNA, morphology and genetics of speech and the archaeology of the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition in Europe that directly contradicts all of the elements in this replacement scenario. The processes leading to modernity involved the entire human species, and were based on the ethnogenic principle of communication and reticulation among populations.

Fibrous Dysplasia in a 120,000+ Year Old Neandertal from Krapina, Croatia

We describe the first definitive case of a fibrous dysplastic neoplasm in a Neandertal rib (120.71) from the site of Krapina in present-day Croatia. The tumor predates other evidence for these kinds of tumor by well over 100,000 years. Tumors of any sort are a rare occurrence in recent archaeological periods or in living primates, but especially in the human fossil record. Several studies have surveyed bone diseases in past human populations and living primates and fibrous dysplasias occur in a low incidence. Within the class of bone tumors of the rib, fibrous dysplasia is present in living humans at a higher frequency than other bone tumors. The bony features leading to our diagnosis are described in detail. In living humans effects of the neoplasm present a broad spectrum of symptoms, from asymptomatic to debilitating. Given the incomplete nature of this rib and the lack of associated skeletal elements, we resist commenting on the health effects the tumor had on the individual. Yet, the occurrence of this neoplasm shows that at least one Neandertal suffered a common bone tumor found in modern humans.

The origins of American physical anthropology in Philadelphia

With its location on a river with easy access to the sea, its central placement between the English speaking colonies to the north and south and its trading connections with the western frontier, there were many reasons Philadelphia became one of the most important towns of prerevolutionary America. In the early 1770s, it was the site of the first meeting organized to deal with the perceived inequities of the British government toward the colonies. It was where Thomas Jefferson wrote much of the Declaration of Independence, whose soaring statements reflecting the Age of Enlightenment spoke of the equality of all men. It was to this debate, centered on just who was included in this declaration that the origins of physical anthropology in America can be traced. Notable men in the early phases of this disputation included Samuel Stanhope Smith and especially Samuel George Morton, considered the founder of American physical anthropology. The American School of Anthropology, which argued for the polygenic origins of human races was substantially founded on Mortons work. Recent accusations that Morton manipulated data to support his racist views would appear unfounded. The publication of The Origin of Species in 1859 and the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862-63 effectively ended the earlier debates. By the time of the American Civil War, 1861-65, physical anthropology was beginning to explore other topics including growth and development and anthropometry.