What Was Significant About the Pioneering Work of Frantz Boas in the Field of Physical Anthropology?
Frantz Boas was a German-American anthropologist who is known for incorporating scientific principles into the field. His efforts directly influenced the anthropological pursuits in the modern era. His pioneering work played a crucial role in proving that indeed the environment had an influence on the body structure that was observed in different individuals. Essentially, as people moved from one region to the next, they were bound to witness a shift in their physical wellbeing. Such notion accounts for the differences in physical features that were discovered by anthropologists in the subsequent years. Overall, Boas redefined the scope of anthropology. More scholars came to believe that different races projected an equal ability to develop culturally. The new premises were a negation of the previous assumptions which assumed that differences in body constitution were caused by racial disparities. Overall, Boas revealed that racial composition was merely a social construct that could be redefined by factors such as the environment. In embracing the framework, many anthropologists were able to make groundbreaking discoveries on elements of human culture.
How Did He Help Anthropology Become More Rigorous?
In helping anthropology become more rigorous, Boas defined a four-field structure in anthropology. The four divisions of anthropology included cultural anthropology, physical anthropology, and archaeology. In embracing the four fields, the subsequent anthropological pursuits would be able to reveal a comprehensive and all-round picture of individuals in the given setting. His efforts were crucial to the unification of fields of research leading to a more comprehensive and in-depth study of different communities and the historical structure of the subject community.
