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The typological versus the evolutionary approach in skeletal population studies
Author(s) -
Bennett Kenneth A.
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1330300311
Subject(s) - typology , ideal (ethics) , ideal type , population , evolutionary biology , epistemology , geography , biology , sociology , demography , anthropology , archaeology , philosophy
An examination of ideal and extreme type constructs indicates that ideal types do not serve as testable hypotheses in a theoretical system. Extreme types, on the other hand, can be empirically valid. In physical anthropological studies of human skeletal populations, ideal typology must be replaced with population thinking if we hope to arrive at a meaningful understanding of the biological attributes of prehistoric populations.