Anthropology is the study of human societies and cultures and their development. A sub-field is Paleoanthropology. This is the branch affiliated with fossil remains, reconstructed behavior and evolution of human form. The professional organization I will be informing on today is The American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA). There are grants, professional honors, grants, funded programs, student awards and volunteer opportunities within the AAPA. Additionally, there are position statements within this organization such as the code of ethics, sexual harassment, native american graces repatriation act, and other statements dealing with race and racism. These position statements shape the value of this organization. 

One of their publications is the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. This is their official journal for their organization. It produces over one-hundred scientific papers and includes the organization’s meeting documentation. There are many involved and educators editors to the well-established publication. The AAPA hosts an annual meeting to review committees, hold workshops and apply for various scholarships. 

One of the most interesting parts about this organization is their resources for Anthropology. In their post What is Biological Anthropology, they give a holistic overview: “ One division, called cultural anthropology, focuses on an understanding of the way that people live in different societies or cultures around the world. Cultural anthropologists often conduct studies of peoples whose customs are quite different from our own and they attempt to explain the reasons for these complex patterns of social behavior.” The article proceeds to breakdown what Biological anthropologists do, why is it an interesting profession, opportunities to study and suggested readings.  Paleoanthropologist’s study fossils of humans and related organisms, study ancient stone tools, reconstruct ancient environments and study the evolution of the human form. Specifically, Paleoanthropology contributes to the broader theme of Anthropology in many ways. First, because Anthropology focuses on understanding humans and they way that they live, it’s critical to understand the differences in fossils to use fossils as resources for the past lives of humans. For example, trying to distinguish differences in social class from the 1900s, you can use fossil as a tool to understand what their lifestyles were like. You can see similar features or differences between people. Evolution is a key component in viewing and understanding the way people once lived. It’s crucial to know how our ancestors once lived so we can better understand why they died or behaved in particular ways. Paleoanthropology can help discover the mysteries of our ancestors: humans, animals and plants that are a part of our whole today. Understanding Paleoanthropology can help us discover when and where species were in a point in time. It can help us discover why they left certain areas. Some interesting news articles I found through the organization’s website was “Hydrological models locate ancient human migration routes” and “Move Over Honor Habilis: early human evolution remapped”. These are interesting articles if you need further examples of Paleoanthropology. One example that gave me a clear understanding of how  Paleoanthropology is used in our world today was: “We can use the techniques of archaeology to uncover the skeletal remains of our ancestors from the distant past. The exciting findings of human paleontology (the study of fossils) have pushed back our ancestry as tool-using humans who walked on two legs to several million years ago. As Louis Leakey showed us, our early human ancestors probably hunted and foraged for food on the continent of Africa long before North and South America or Australia were inhabited by people.” This subfield of Anthropology is a critical piece in a puzzle of Anthropology to help better understand humans and their lives.