THE HISTORY OF HUMAN ORIGINS RESEARCH ANDITS PLACE IN THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE: RESEARCHPROBLEMS AND HISTORIOGRAPHY

摘要

Palaeoanthropology is a relatively recent science when its history is compared to thatof other natural sciences, but it has grown to become a prominent field of study thathas produced many remarkable discoveries and important theories. It has constructeda professional identity and formed its own institutions, while still retaining closelinks with other natural and social sciences. Most significantly, it has revolutionizedour understanding of human origins and prehistoric human culture. This paper is ahistoriographical study of recent scholarship in the history of palaeoanthropology andother sciences involved in human origins research that will attempt to outline someprospective new areas of enquiry as well as some promising ways of examining thathistory. Historically palaeoanthropology grew out of a number of different sciencesand today it still encompasses a range of problems and sub-disciplines, and thereforein this paper I include within its scope human evolution, hominid palaeontology, andprehistoric archaeology, while acknowledging other fields that have contributed tothe study of human origins. Indeed, examining this conception of palaeoanthropol-ogy is one of my objectives.