08 Human Population Genetics Module : 20 Concept of Race

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Paper No. : 08 Human Population Genetics Module : 20 Concept of Race

Development Team

Prof. Anup Kumar Kapoor Principal Investigator Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi

Paper Coordinator Prof. Gautam K. Kshatriya Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi

Content Writer Ms. Shalini Singh and Prof. GK Kshatriya Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi

Content Reviewer Prof. A.Paparao Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh

Human Population Genetics Anthropology Concept of Race

Description of Module

Subject Name Anthropology

Paper Name 08 Human Population Genetics

Module Name/Title Concept of Race

Module Id 20

Human Population Genetics Anthropology Concept of Race

Learning objectives: a. It aims to understand the social and biological concept of Race. b. It aims to understand the various physical and biological criteria of racial classification c. It aims to understand the primary races of man with a greater emphasis on the racial elements present in Indian Population.

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction I. Overview II. Definition III. Biological concept IV. Social concept 2. Criteria of Race

2.1 Physical Criteria of Race I. Skin colour II. Hair III. Stature IV. Head form V. Face form VI. Nose form VII. Eye VIII. Ears IX. Lips X. Finger, Palm and Sole prints 2.2 Biological Criteria of Race I. Blood group II. Colour blindness III. Response to Drugs IV. Growth 3. Primary races of Man 4. Classification of Human Races I. Risley II. Haddon III. Hutton IV. Guha

Human Population Genetics Anthropology Concept of Race

5. Summary

Introduction In a lay man’s language race refers to the classification of human being’s, ancestry, its origins and ethnicity. The concept of race has varied across the whole world and has also been subjected to controversy for social, biological and political reasons. Race brings out differences between skin colour, language, nationality and religion. Various disciplines at different time span had tried to classify the races of the world. The term race is used as an eminent classificatory tool in understanding human differences and diversity. Human differences can be studied by knowing the genetic differences, which in turn helps in understanding human evolution, development and disease. Application of the term race in various senses is used to connote a group of having certain well defined or marked characters in common. The characters or notions at which differences should be laid differ from one individual’s opinion to another. Just for example, all fair skinned people cannot be grouped under White race. The concept of race can be understood in two different landscapes i.e. biological and social. The concept of race provides a frame where all the individuals can be arranged systematically. Definition Hooton has defined race as a great division of mankind where the members individually vary and are characterised by combinations of morphological and metrical features which are non adaptive and are derived from a common descent. He further divided races into Primary and Secondary. Primary races resulted due to early geographical differentiation and genetic isolation. It resulted by mutation, selection, migration and drift. Secondary races came into existence due to hybridisation among the primary races. Ashley Montagu defined race as populations differing with other in frequency of some genes having a capability to exchange across boundaries with other populations of different species. S.Washburn(1962) proposed that the number of races will depend on the purpose of classification and thought that we should require people who propose a classification of races to state in the first place why they wish to divide the human species. According to the one drop rule , a sociological and legal principle of racial classification that was historically prominent in the United States stating that any person having one ancestor of sub-Saharan- African ancestry is considered to be black or Negro. This concept evolved over the course of the 19th century and became codified into law in the 20th century. Malcomson, (2001) propounded a book named One Drop of Blood- The American misadventure of Race. In this book he concluded about race which is . not a fixed, concrete, natural attribute . the institutionalisation of physical appearance 4

Human Population Genetics Anthropology Concept of Race

. socially or culturally and historically constructed . Categories defined and assigned significance by the society . social meaning which has been legally constructed . shaped by those in power In anthropological sense we can define race as a population characterized by same frequency of physical traits or characters appearing or disappearing in course of time by means of cultural and geographical isolation. The biological or anthropological concept illustrates all men belonging to a single species, Homo sapiens, which include vivid populations and groups differing with each other in relative commonness of hereditary characters. Each of the population belonging to the species Homo sapiens may be regarded as race. The framework of systematically arranging the populations should not be confused in merging certain groups like national, geographical, religious and cultural groups with racial group or ethnic group. Indians, Germans and Americans do not form a race likewise Dravidians or Aryans are the linguistic group. A race type or concept is fairly in our mind where assumptions are based on the consequent isolation and inbreeding of a group of people acquiring a number of similar traits with a group of people with different trait. The concept of race is surrounded by many problems in human society like superiority and inferiority. Different scholars divided mankind into higher and lower categories which led to formation of racial prejudice. The socially constructed definition of race affected the mankind in availing facilities like health, education, power, prestige and discrimination on the grounds of eating, visiting to places, speaking and barring them from anything they wanted to do of their wish. Criteria of race In order to classify the vivid people of the world into various groups or races a large number of external and internal physical characteristics are used, and is not restricted to only one particular trait. Due to an advancement of science, human genetics have unfolded many mysteries regarding the existence of man. It showed the presence of a recessive genes in our body the phenotypic and genotypic characteristics didn’t tally. Almost all the criteria of classification of race except blood groups are phenotypic in nature. The other criterias for racial classification like skin colour, hair colour, nose form, stature, etc are influenced and are subjected to change in the environment and food habit. Sarkar (1965) stated the various points to be kept in mind before studying the various races. 1. The racial classification should not be based on a single trait. 2. While studying the racial classification more emphasis should be given in studying the racial criteria. 3. In order to avoid inaccuracy during, more people should be studied. 4. The various features of racial classification depended on the age and sex of the individual, therefore a comparison between individuals of same age and sex should be carried out. 5

Human Population Genetics Anthropology Concept of Race

There are seven basic phenotypic criteria’s to be undertaken while studying race. These are 1. Skin colour 2. Hair 3. Stature 4. Head form 5. Face form 6. Nose form 7. Eye 8. Finger and Palm prints

Skin Colour: The colour of the skin is an eminent character that attracts one’s interest and is also placed as the first criteria for racial classification by some authorities the pigmentation of the skin is due to the presence of various granules in the deeper layer of epidermis and frequency among the presence of these granules is leads to different skin colour among people. Like for example, the Tasmanians residing in the temperate areas have darker skin whereas the Americans Indians living in tropical areas possess dark skin colour.The people of the world can be classified into three groups on the basis of skin colour. 1. Leucoderms or white skinned people: Europeans, Western Asiatics, North Africans, Polynesians etc. come under this group. They vary from pinkish white in the north to tawny white or light brown in the south. 2. Xanthoderms or Yellow skinned people: The best example in this criteria is that of Asiatic Mongoloids, Armenoids, Hottentotos and Bushmen. These exhibit a yellowish tinge in the colour of their skin. 3. Melanoderms or Black skinned people: the Negros, negroids, Papuans, Melanesians, Pre Dravidians and Australians are the best example of this group. They are usually a dark chocolate brown, but are really black in colour in Africa.

The technique called spectrophotometry has been made the basis of an objective and accurate measurement of the colour of the human skin. these colometric values can be computed from the spectrophotometric curves and analysis of the obtained wavelength gives the identification of the substances that give rise to skin colour. Skin is composed of two main layers , the outer cuticle and the true skin. The epidermis varies in thickness in different parts of the body including palms of the hand and soles of the feet and has no blood supply. The outer most stratum of the epidermis called the horny stratum is transparent and scaly. The detailed information regarding the inheritance of the skin colour in human has still been a mystery. There are no evidences for a particular gene responsible for the occurrence of different skin colour.

Human Population Genetics Anthropology Concept of Race

Skin color is a function of melanin production in the dermis layer of the skin and is highly adaptive in nature. Due to its large adaptive in nature it cannot be placed as strong criteria for classification. Hair After skin colour hair defines as the next important characteristic feature for racial classification. Hair grows abundantly on head and no population in the world possess an inherent baldness. The population has been studied for a vivid hair form, colour, texture, quantity and hair whorl. Hair form: Hair form can be divided into three broad groups: I. Leiotrichy or straight hair: this type of hair is found among the mongoloids and is further divided into three types  Stretched : This hair type is thick, coarse and straight.  Smooth: The hair type is thinner and soft.  Flat wavy : This type of hair has a tendency of forming waves with largest radius. II. Cymotrichy or wavy hair: this type is widely distributed among the people of western Asia, some parts of Africa and Europe. It can also be divided into three types.  Broad wavy: This hair type possess waves with smaller radius..  Narrow wavy: in this type of hair, the waves likes in one plane and has strong curvature.  Curly: the spirals present in third type of hair are broad and the curvatures do not lie in one plane. III. Ulotrichy or wolly hair: this type of hair is found among the Negroids, Andamanese, Bushmen, Melanesians and Papuans. It is further divided into the following:  Frizzly: this type possesses short and deep waves.  Loose Frizzles: This type of hair has spirals that are circular and flat.  Thick Frizzles: The spirals in this case are thick.  Fulfil: this type of hair are popularly rolled and are called as peppercorn.

The hair form also has a relationship between the varying environmental conditions. The straight hair form has been found in dry and cold climate. Moist and warm climate is sometimes responsible for wooly hair but the fact is not reliable maximum times. In nutshell hair form is a non-adaptive feature. Colour: The colour of the hair is due to some brown or black granular and non granular pigments. The hair shaft consists of three parts namely, the outer layer (unpigmented), cortex and medulla. The cortex consists hair pigments, in some cases it is also found in the medulla. The grey colour in the hair is due to reflection of light from the unpigmented cortex and medulary spaces of the hair shaft. During old

Human Population Genetics Anthropology Concept of Race

age the greyness in hair increases due to increase in the medullary spaces. Environment doesn’t have a remarkable affect on the hair colour. Change in colour of hair with an increasing age is evident. Texture: The texture of a hair strand can be divided into three broad categories namely coarse, medium and fine. The texture of the hair may be found by rubbing it with the help of fingers. Garn has given a classification to study the texture of hair which are as follows: Fine Hair - 56μ Medium Hair- 57μ-84μ Coarse hair- -84μ Quantity: The quantity of hair has been classified into groups namely Scanty, Medium, Thick, Very thick and Rich. Hair is sparsely distributed all over the face and body in Negroids and Mongoloids. White races show rich quantity of body and face hair. Cross section: The cross section of human hair can be dived into two groups Circular and Oval. Circular type of cross section is found among the hair of mongoloids whereas the oval type of cross section is found among the hair of Negroids. The cross section of hair is no more considered as a useful criteria for classification of race Hair Whorl: Hair Whorl is undertaken in the study to know the nature of the hair of an individual. The hair whorl can be of two types: (a) Clockwise and (b) Anti- clockwise. Presence of more than one hair whorl is common in a person. The clockwise hair whorl is dominant over anti clockwise. Stature Stature as a physical trait does not serve as a satisfactory criteria for defining race as it is greatly influenced internally on the configuration of genes and externally to a number of environmental condition. Thus stature is dependent on two factors hereditary (idiotypical) and environmental (paratypical). It also depends internally on hormonal secretion from glands named Thymus and pituitary gland and is much particularly affected by the dietetic pattern. Children suffering from malnutrition fail to attain a definite height. Stature also depends on the differences in occupation, social class hygiene and other environmental conditions. Hence stature cannot be taken as reliable criteria for classification as we find a wide range of variation in every group.

Human Population Genetics Anthropology Concept of Race

Head Form: A very valuable character is the general form of head, when it is observed from the top , it can be seen as long, short, narrow and broad. This distinction can be made my Cephalic Index which is the ratio of the breadth to its length , the latter taken as 100. When the ratio falls below 75 the skull is termed as dolichocephalic (narrow headed), when it is between 75 and 80 it is mesocephalic ( medium headed), when it exceeds 80,it is termed as brachycephalic (broad headed). The head form ranges amongst the three primary races- Negroid, Caucasoid and Mongoloids from the dolichocephaly, to brachycephaly through mesocephaly. In mongoloids and Negroids the brachycephalic and dolichocephalic elements are rarely present. in caucasoids no form of head is present numerically. Martin classification of head form Hyperdolichocephalic ( very long and narrow ) – 69.9 Dolichocephalic (long and narrow )- 70.0- 75.9 Mesocephalic ( medium) – 76.0-80.9 Brach cephalic (short or broad) – 81.0-85.5 Hyperbrachycephalic ( very short and broad)- 85.6 Face Form: Face may be different in shape varying from oval, round to square but the exact shape of the face can be understood by scientific measurements. Face length is measured from the nasion to the lowest point in the middle line of the lower jaw; and the breadth measured by spreading callipers. Facial index is the length expressed as percentage of the breadth. The facial index tells us whether the face is broad, medium or narrow. Morphological Facial Index = Morphological Facial length × 100 Bizygomatic Breadth

Hyper euryprosopic ( very broad face) ...– 78.9 Euryprosopic ( broad face) ... 79.0-83.9 Mesoprosopic (medium face)... 84.0-87.9 Leptoprosopic ( narrow face) ... 88.0-92.9 Hyper leptoprosopic ( very narrow face).... 93.0-

In studying face , prognatism is a feature to be studied and a marked elongated and prominence of lower jaw is observed among the people of Africa and Oceania. The face not showing prognathism is called orthognathous . These characters are dependent on the size of the jaws. Though the face criterion cannot be used extensively for purposes of racial discrimination as it is affected by age, 9

Human Population Genetics Anthropology Concept of Race

function and sex. Females possess comparatively short and broad faces than the males of same species. A broad face is associated with broad cranium Nose: The nasal index of the skull is the ratio of the breadth of the nature aperture to the height taken from the nasion. The different parts of nose is – root and bridge. The bridge may be low (platytonic), medium (mesopic) or broad (prosopic). The bridge is that portion of nose, which extends from the point below nasion to the tip of nose. The bridge in the profile may be straight, concave, convex or concave convex. The tip of the nose may be rounded , sharp, pointed, thick or thin. The nasal septum may be directed downwards or directed upwards. Classification of living individual on skull Hyperleptorrine ( very narrow nose) 54.9 Leptorrhine ( Narrow Nose) 55.0- 69.9 -47 Mesorrhine ( Medium Nose) 70-84.9 47-51 Platyrrhine or Chamaerrhine (Broad Nose) 85.0- 99.9 51- 58 Hyperplatyrrhine ( very broad nose) 100- Eye Hooton gave only two types of eye. The one was the mongoloid eye and a non- Mongolian eye. A Mongolian eye consists of a Mongolian eyelid where a fold (inner epicanthus or epicanthic) of skin hangs over the upper lid and extends from outer corner to inner corner and appears not to be straight on an axis. This kind of eyelid shows variation with different age group (young, middle aged and old) and sex (male or female). This kind of eye occurs among Mongoloids, Bushmen, African Negros and Hottentots. The non- mongoloid eye is open, wide and straight and eye fold is absent. This type of eye is observed among the members of white racial stock. Eye colour should also be given emphasis in studying about the criteria of race. Eye colour is dependent on the amount of pigment present in the iris, which is further dependent on two factors- (a) the amount of pigment present in the back side of the iris. (b) the amount of pigment present in the front layers. Different colour of the eye is due to different relative qualities of the brown pigments. A pink coloured eye of an albino is due to the absence of pigments in all parts of body including iris as red colour of blood vessels are seen through the iris from outside. Finger and Palm prints The palm and sole prints have been used as criteria for racial criteria because they have been used for various purpose and are known for their permanency and unchangeability throughout life. Thus they 10

Human Population Genetics Anthropology Concept of Race

have been used as a means of personal identification since Christain Era. Palm and sole prints are used in an anthropological context of twin study, primatology and paternity diagnosis. Boyd ( ) proved the palm and sole prints as a racial criteria as it fulfilled the following criteria:

 Non- adaptive.  Not subjected to mutation  Not modified by environment

The finger pattern consists of arches, loops and whorls as identified by Galton ( ). Population Whorls (%) Loops (%) Arches(%)

Mongoloid 40-50 50-60 1-2

Caucasoid 20-30 60-70 4-7

Negroid 30 50-60 6-7

It is evident that whorl finger pattern is most frequent among the mongoloids and least common among the Caucasoid. Loops appeared among the Caucasoids while an equal frequency was seen among Mongoloids and Negroids. Arches appeared maximum in Negroids. Lips: Negros has a distinct type of lip i.e. they are thick, puffy and everted. Non- negroid races show a diminished lip thickness. Biological trait Blood group: Racial classification based on blood groups was given by W.C. Boyd. Each constituent of the blood is genetically determined and this factor is being utilised by the scientists and is served as a reliable criteria for classification. The human race in its evolutionary process has witnessed many changes by dispersing to various parts of the world. A lot of advantage is seen in placing blood group as a racial criteria as 1. Blood groups are inherited in a Mendelian fashion. 2. They do not change by the influence of climate, illness and food. 3. Blood group arose early in human’s evolution. 4. The blood groups are sharply distinguishable in characters and form a stable characteristic in a population.

Human Population Genetics Anthropology Concept of Race

Racial classification based on ABO blood group

Ottenberg (1925) Lahovary (1946) Boyd (1950)

European European- Nordics and Alpines of Early European Group Europe and the North East (hypothetical)

Intermediate (Russians, Turks, Arabs, Mediterranean European Group etc). (Caucasoid)

Hunan- Japan, South China, Hungery Mongolian- Central Asia and Euresia African Group (Negroid)

Afro-Southern Asiatic- Negros, Indonesia Asiatic Group (Mongoloid) Madagascars)

Pacific- Amerindians- Indians, American Indians American Indian Group Australians, Phillipines.

Hindu- Manchu, Korea, North China, Oceanic, including the Japanese Australoid Group Gypsies, Hindu

Australian

Growth: Schultz demonstrated remarkable differences between Negros and Whites with respect to body proportions. Excessive length of appendages i.e, length of forearm in comparison to upper arm and smaller hip breath with respect to shoulder length can be seen in Negros when compared to the Whites. A superiority of stature can be seen in Negros when compared to Dutch. Colour- Blindness Colour blindness affects a significant percentage of population. It is the X linked recessive disorder, which results in inability to perceive differences among objects. Its manifestation is one among 300,000 persons and is frequent in females rather than in males.

Human Population Genetics Anthropology Concept of Race

Formal Human Classification 1. Linnaeus Systemae Naturae, 1758

Europeaeus Americanus Asiaticus Africans

White; muscular; hair – Reddish; erect; hair – Sallow (yellow); hair Black; hair – black, long, flowing; black, straight, thick; black; eyes dark frizzled; skin silky; eyes blue wide nostrils nose flat; lips tumid

2. Johann Friedrich Blumenbach first used the word ―race‖ to classify humans into five divisions in 1795.

. Caucasian

. Malayan

. Ethiopian

. American

. Mongolian

3. Primary Races of mankind (Sarkar,1965)

Human Population Genetics Anthropology Concept of Race

CHARACTERIST CAUCASOID MONGOLOID NEGROID ICS

Head form Long to broad Broad Long

Head height Medium to very high Medium Low to Medium

Face Form Narrow to medium broad Medium to very Broad Medium Broad to narrow

Prognathism Absent Rare Marked

Nose form Long and Narrow Medium Broad

Bridge High Low Low

Profile Straight, concave or Usually Concave Straight or concave convex

Eye Form Occasional presence of Medial epicanthic fold Vertical Fold common lateral fold Colour Brown to brown black Dark Brown to black Light blue to dark brown

Hair Form Straight to wavy Straight Wooly

Colour Light brown to dark brown Dark Brown Dark Brown to Black

Texture Fine to medium Coarse Coarse

Cross section Usually ovaoid Dark Brown Flat Oval

Body Hair Moderate to Heavy Sparse Slight

Lips Thin to Medium Medium Very thick

Skin Colour Reddish white to Light Light yellow to Brown to sooty black

Human Population Genetics Anthropology Concept of Race

Brown yellowish Brown

Stature Medium to tall Medium short to Very short to tall. Medium tall

RACIAL ELEMENTS IN INDIAN POPULATIONS

India has been considered as the melting pot of races. The people with varied racial, ethnic, blended, segregated characters resulted in a complex element. Here are the various classifications of these elements by eminent ethologists.

According to Herbert Risley, there are seven racial types in Indian population.

1. The Turk-Iranian: The turk- Iranian people are found in the Frontier Province and Baluchistan areas of Pakistan. They are tall, fair and possess dark eyes and narrow nose.

2. Indo-Aryan: Indo Aryan people are found in Eastern part of Punjab, Rajasthan and Kashmir. They are tall, have long heads, prominent noses, fair complexion and dark colour eye.

3. Scytho-Dravidian: They are the mixed type of Scythians and Dravidians and their racial ancestry is said to be traced in Saurastra, Coorg and hilly tracts of Madhya Pradesh. They are broad headed, fine nose, fair complexion and medium height. Sythians are the upper strata people whereas Dravidians belong to the lower strata.

4. Aryo-Dravidian: This racial type is found in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar. They are the product of inter-marriages between the Indo-Aryans and the Dravidians. They have long head and the complexion varies from lights brown to black.

5. The Mongol-Dravidians: In the population of Bengal and Orissa this racial type is most prominent. Bengali Brahmins and Kayasthas form the largest percentage. This racial type has come into existence as a result of intermixture of Mongolians and Dravidians while some element of Indo-Aryan race is also found. These people are generally black and round headed having medium nose and medium height. 15

Human Population Genetics Anthropology Concept of Race

6. The Mongoloid: This racial type stretches from Nepal and Assam to Burma.

7. The Dravidian: This racial type is found in Southern India, particularly south of M.P, Chotnagpur, Madras and Hyderabad. The Santhals of Chotnagpur represent this type. They have dark complexion, dark eyes, short stature, long head and broad nose.

The Dravidian race, as mentioned by Risley, like the Aryan, is a linguistic group and pots a racial group, says Majumdar. Most of the Indian anthropologists are not inclined to accept the racial classification of the Indian population presented by Risley.

Classification of A. C. Haddon: Haddon did not agree with the classification of races advanced by Herbert Risley. Therefore, he put forward his own classification of races in India. According to Haddon, the oldest existing stratum is represented by Pre-Dravidian jungle tribes. The population of India, as says Haddon, consists of (1) the Pre-Dravidian jungle tribes, (2) the Dravidians who are long headed and brunette, (3) the Indo-Aryans who are fair complexioned and long-headed, (4) the Indo-Alpines who are broad headed and (5) the Mongolians.

Classification of J. H. Hutton: Hutton believed that the earliest occupants of India were probably the Negrito race who, however, have left little trace in India. They are followed by the Proto-Austroloid. Next came an early branch of the Mediterranean race speaking an agglutinative tongue from which the present Austro-asiatic languages are derived. These are credited with a crude knowledge of agriculture and a megalithic cult. From Eastern Europe came a later wave of Mediterranean immigration, more advanced than the earlier hords, equipped with knowledge of metals and who developed the city states.

Hutton believed that the broad headed elements in the population of India can be traced back to the Armenodi branch of the Alpine race. They spoke a Dravidian language. Hutton has written, ―This civilization was flooded in the West during the third millennium B.C. by immigration from the Iranian plateau and the Pamirs, of a Brachycephalic race perhaps an Indo-European language of the Pisacha or Dardic family‖.

The Mongolian element came from the East and moved towards the South. The Indo-Aryan race came to India in 1500 B.C. Hence, the population of India, according to Hutton, consists of the following races, (1) Negrito, (2) Proto-Austroloid, (3) Mediterranean: (a) East Mediterranean, (b) Mediterranean, (4) Armenoid branch of Alpine, (5) Mongoloid, (b) Indo-Aryan.

Human Population Genetics Anthropology Concept of Race

Classification of B. S. Guha: Dr. Guha has divided the population of India into the following races:

1. The Negrito: According to him the presence of Negrito race in India is a controversial issue. However, it is claimed that there is an element of Negrito race in Indian population and Negrito element is found in the blood of Andaman Islanders. Further, it is also pointed out that Negrito element is found in the blood of some South Indian tribal people like the Kadar and blood of Nagas.

There are some who maintain that there are is no weighty evidence to prove conclusively the existence of Negrito element in Indian population. Whatever evidence is available, according to them, is inadequate to establish the presence of Negrito element in Indian population.

Although there is controversy, it may be stated that the Negrito race existed in the past and has left little trace in India.

2. The Proto-Austroloid: The Proto-Austroloid is also known as the Pre-Dravidian race. Dr. Guha says that the tribal population of central India is fairly dominated by this racial element. The Santhals, the Mundas, the Juangas, the Soaras, the Kondhs are some of the many tribes belonging to this racial type.

3. Mongoloid: People of this racial ancestry are mainly found in North-Eastern India. Dr. Guha divides this race into two types, namely (a) The Palaeo-Mongoloid and (b) The Tibeto-Mongoloid.

(a) The Palaeo-Mongoloid: This racial type is further divided into two types, one the long headed type and the other Broad headed type.

The Angami Nagas are of the long headed type of the Palaeo-Mongoloid race. The people inhabiting in the Himalayan foot hills from Kashmir to Assam are said to be the brood headed type of the Palaeo- Mongoloid race.

(b) The Tibeto-Mongoloid: The people of Sikkim and Bhutan are said to belong to the Tibeto- Mongoloid branch of Mongoloid race.

4. The Mediterranean: This race is one of the dominated race in India. Mediterranean is divided into three types. They are (a) Palaeo-Mediterranean (b) Mediterranean, (c) Oriental.

Human Population Genetics Anthropology Concept of Race

(a) The Palaeo-Mediterranean: This racial type is represented by the Tamil and Telugu Brahmins of the South.

(b) The Mediterranean: People of this racial type are believed to be the builders of the Indus valley civilization.

5. Western Brachycephals: This race is of three types, namely (a) the Alpenoid, (b) the Dinaric, (c) the Armenoid.

(a) The Alpendoid: People belonging to this race are found in Sourashtra, Gujarat and also Bengal.

(b) The Dinaric: This strain is found among the people of Bengal, Orissa and Coorg.

6. Nordic Race: People of this racial origin came to India from the North and South-East Asia spread all over Northern India during the 2nd millennium B.C. This race is mainly found in North India in a mixed form with the Mediterranean race. The people of this stock are believed to have greatly enriched Indian culture. The first three races such as the Negrito, the Proto-Austroloid and the Mongoloid constitute the tribal population. The other three, namely the Mediterranean, the Western Brachycephals and the Nordic races constitute the general population of India Summary:

. Race is a social, cultural, political and economical part of a system and is linked with terms like Black, White, Asian, English, Gypsies, Latino, etc.

. The concept of race provides a frame where all the individuals can be arranged systematically.

. Human populations have not been reproductively isolated long enough to have developed into biological races.

. Early human classification into races have been dependent solely on the evaluation of phenotype (manifest biology—appearance, skin color, eyes and nose shape, hair texture, etc.).

. Race refers to a person's physical evaluation, such as skin colour, nose and head form, palm prints, hair, or eye color. Ethnicity encompasses the cultural factors, including nationality, regional culture, ancestry, and language. An example of race is brown, white, or black skin (all from 18

Human Population Genetics Anthropology Concept of Race

various parts of the world), while an example of ethnicity is German or Spanish ancestry (regardless of race).

. A long continued geographical isolation in areas of characterization does tend to produce a general uniformity of physical appearance which may term as race or stock. Whereas geographical isolation are a big hindrance to cultural growth.

. As quoted by the anthropologists ―the history of mankind lies on the basis of the cultural advancements seen in a culturally and socially adhered group learnt from the neighboring group.

. Climatic conditions affect the germplasm so that the definite responses have become heritable. Biological traits have always adjusted a change in them due to environmental factors. For example skin colour is adaptive in nature as dark skinned protects from excessive ultraviolet radiation. Thus, Light skinned people are maladapted for tropical areas and Dark skinned people are maladapted to northern areas

. Racial classifications are made on the basis of certain genetic traits and the important requirements were its objectivity, non- adaptive nature, non- alterable, not subjected to a high rate of mutation and its control by a known genetic mechanisms.

. Formal Human Classification as in Linnaeus Systemae Naturae, 1758 divided mankind into four types Europeans, Americans, Asiatics and Africanus whereas Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, the father of Physical Anthropology divided humankind into five races in the year 1795 namely Caucasian, Malayan, Ethiopian, American and Mongolian.

. It can be stated that the Indian population is composed of important races of the world. All the races in India, over the past centuries, have got mixed up with one another due to intermarriages. As such, now there is no race in India which is completely pure. Therefore, in true sense no rigid separation of these races is possible.

Human Population Genetics Anthropology Concept of Race