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Human Races
The Origin of Man
The origin of man is shrouded in mystery. But the protagonists of the
Theory of Evolution' believe that man is the last product of slow evolution of life
on the earth since the beginning of the Palaeozoic era. "Through
the millennia
following
the creation of living substance billions
of years ago, life differentiated
into
myriad
plant and animal life, a result of the forces of evolution
working
incessantlythrough the ages in the interplay of organisms and environment.
By
70 millionyears ago, on a limited part of the earth, presumablytoday's Africa,
certainanimal form and environment converged to produce the ancestors of the
creature
that now is spread over the earth-man."l (Vide Fig. 6.
l).
Primitive
Primates
Anthropoids
•Insectivore
ancestor
(Proconsul)
Tree Shrews
Lemurs
Tarsiers
New World
Monkeys
Old World
Monkeys
Apes
Man
Plio-
Paleocene Eocene
Oligocene
Miocene
cene
Pleistocene
Fig. 6.1 : Evolution of Man (After R. Platt and G. Reid, 1967).
Most probably the chimpanzeeis the closest relative of man becausehe
belongs to the same taxonomic order and genus Homo. The new study has found
AUSTRALOPITHECUS
NEANDERTHAL MAN
JAVA MAN
CROMAGNON MAN
Fig.6.
: Showing comparison of Australopithecus, Java Man, Neanderthal Man and
Cromagnon Man (After Simpson and Beck).
Concept of Race
Raceis a valid biological concept: it denotes breed, not culture. In common
parlance when we talk of an English race or a French race as if it were defined in
termsof speech : we never classify dogs by their bark, but by their breed.
Similarly the concept of a Hindu race or a Muslim race based on religious belief
is devoidof its biological meaning. It is valid neither for a social class nor a tribe.
Kroeberhas rightly observed : "A race is a valid biological concept. It is a group
unitedby heredity : "a breed or genetic strain or sub-species.
It is not a valid
socio-cultural
concept."3In the opinion of J.B. Birdsell a race is "an inter-
breeding
group
whose gene pool is different from other populations".
Blachehas defined race as follows : "We understand race to mean classi-
fication based
on somatic characteristics affecting the morphology or physioloyw
Ofthe human body. Physiologically there are few pure races today; geogra-
Phically,
there are none hut thoroughly mixed groups. And it is certain that the
Hunan
Races
131
If the cephalic
index is less than 75, the race is termed as Dolichocephalic
whereas
if it is more than 80 it is called Brachyccphalic.
If its value lies between
75.80,
the race is known as Mesocephalic. The
Alpine-Mongolian
racial groups
areby
and large Brachycephalic,
the Mediterranean
people arc Mesoccphalic and
the
Negroes and Australoid people are generally
Dolichocephalic. "There is
usually
a slight change in the cephalic index as a child grows up
quite
independent
of the race" (G. Taylor).
The orbito-cephalicindex refers to the arch or flatness of the head. It is
determined
by the ratio of vertical diameter and transverse diameter
of the head.
Lessthan 58%
Platy-cephalic
58
Orthocephalic
63+ % Hyplicephalic
- Nasal Index
—It is an important physical trait. It refers to the ratio
between
the length and breadth of the nose.
Lessthan 75%
Leptorrhine
75 -
Mesorrhine
85+ %
Platyrrhine
Generally
the Negroid people are Platyrrrhine, the Mongoloidsare
Mesorrhine
and the Caucasoids are Leptorrhine.
- Hair Structure
The character of hair has been used as an important
criterionfor classification of human races. Haddon based his classificationon
hair structure as follows
—
a) Woolyor Frizzy Hair (Ulotrichi) Negritoes and Negroids
b) StraightHair (Leiotrichi) Mongoloids, Polynesians and Amerinds
c) WavyCurly Hair (Cymotrichi)
Caucasoids, Pre-Dravidian & Australoids
The hair texture is deemed to be a permanent hereditary index.
G. Taylor
likeHaddonused it as a significant physical trait in his racial classification.
- Skin Colour
— The colour of the skin, particularlythat of the eye is
considered
an important discernible trait. The specific colors associatedwith
threemajorraces of mankind by Cuvier are:
Caucasoids
White
Mongoloids
Yellow
Negroids
Black
"In the old world there is a clear correlation between climatic and the
locations
of the major divisions of skin colour. The light-skinnedpeopleare in
the
north-west
where the greatest amount of cloudiness
throughoutthe year is
found.
The very dark skins are in the equational regions where the greatest
intensity
of sunshine is experienced. The yellow-brown
skins are in the areas
seasonally
exposed to moderate intensity followed by low intensity of solar
radiation."
(Carter)
Fundamentals of
Human
152 Geography
Kroeber does not attach much significance to skin colour as the sole
criterionof classificationadopted by Cuvier. "The classificationby Cuvierinto
Caucasian,Mongol
and Negro ... by mere complexion into white,
yellowand
black race ... cannot be regarded justly or sufficiently."S In reality there are
several
colour gradations found in different racial groups.
Topinardattaches
great weightage
to the eye colour. The great majority
of
people
in India have dark brossn eyes, but a few people in Konkanhave
grey
eyes "hile the Nordic element in Indian population has blue eyes. Blond
hair
and
blue eyes are characteristicof the Nordic race in Northern Europe
whilethe
people of Central Europe have brunette (grey) eyes. Of course there are
variations in eye colour due to variations in pigmentation of the iris.
6. Prognathism : The projectionof the jaws is treated as an important
physical trait. This is particularly true of the Negroids who are noted
for
pronounced prognathism. The Nordics have virtually no prognathism whereasthe
Mongoloids have moderate prognathism.
- Cranial Capacity : The cranial capacity of the skull is ali0 a criterionfor
racial classification. But it can be measured for the dead only. It is estimatedthat
modem man has an average cranial capacity of 1450cc.
The cranial
capacity
increases with the
body development. It has no correlation with racial
intelligence.
- Eye-orbital Index : The ratio of the breadth and the length
of the eyeis
called eye-orbital index. It is 80 for the Negroid, 85-87 for the Australoid and
89-
95 for the Mongoloid. The Chinese eye also has a typical epicanthic fold on the
slantingeye.
Classification of Human Races
The pioneering work of Linnaeus (1758) provided the first classificationof
races based on the continents
viz. American,
European, Asiatic and African.
Blumenbach (1806) changed it to Caucasian.
Mongolian, American,
Ethopian
and Malay. Cuvier also based his classification on skin colour. Topinard
made
the characterof hair as the basis of his classificationwhich was also accepted
later on by T. Huxley, A.C. Haddon and Deniker. G. Taylor made cephalic index
and hair structure as the bases of his major races of mankind.
Hooton
has used
skin colour, hair colour, hair structure,
head form, nose form, face form
and
stature in his exhaustive classification of the human races.
Kroeber has rightly observed : "The only classification that can claim to rest
upon a true or natural basis is one which takes into consideration as many traits
as possible and which weighs the more important more heavily than the
unimportant features."
9
Haddon's Classification
A.C. Haddon) Ogave his classificationof races in his book "The RacesOf
Man" on the basis of hair structure as follows :
