Biological anthropology, also known as physical anthropology, is a scientific discipline concerned with the biological and behavioral aspects of human beings, their extinct hominin ancestors, and related non-human primates, particularly from an evolutionary perspective. There are subfields that makes up biological anthropology. Paleoanthropology is the subfield of biological anthropology that I found the most interest in.  Paleoanthropology or paleo-anthropology is a branch of archaeology with a human focus, which seeks to understand the early development of anatomically modern humans, a process known as hominization, through the reconstruction of evolutionary kinship lines within the family Hominidae, working from biological evidence (such as petrified skeletal remains, bone fragments, footprints) and cultural evidence . Paleoanthropologists study all aspects of the human past.  They pay particular attention to the biological and cultural dimensions of human ancestors.  To study these dimensions, paleoanthropologists rely on evidence in the form of artifacts, fossilized bones of ancestors, and the contexts in which these specimens are found.  This is very difficult work.  In general, the older something is (in geological terms), the greater the chance that the forces of nature have destroyed it.  For this reason, most evidence from the prehistoric past has disappeared.  Paleoanthropologists actively search for traces of the past that have not disappeared, and they work to infer what happened by using these clues.

The website that I found particularly interesting was paleoantro.org. The Paleoanthropology Society was founded in 1992. It recognizes that paleoanthropology is multidisciplinary in nature and the organization’s central goal is to bring together physical anthropologists, archaeologists, paleontologists, geologists and a range of other researchers whose work has the potential to shed light on hominid behavioral and biological evolution. This site goes into detail on how paleoanthropology works. This site was a little difficult to fully navigate because it did not have a lot of information however Its shared links to articles related to paleoanthropology. One article that was interesting to me in the Paleoanthropology Society website was “Human Paleontology and Prehistory. Contributions in Honor of Yoel Rak.”  This article explains how humans have changed over time. The author started off the article by claiming that modern humans have experienced more change over the last two million years than any other living species. He uses non-human primates for comparison. He uses baleen whales as an example. And, in terms of body size, many mammal lineages show dramatic changes in body size since the beginning of the Holocene. He also explains the presumed high rate of human evolution by material culture. Material culture affects human evolution not in the traditional sense of a biocultural continuum, but by fragmenting populations when the environment deteriorates. This occurs because culture permits the expansion of human populations into habitats that are marginal when environmental conditions are good. Populations collapse and fragmentation results when conditions worsen. Marginal habitats are abandoned, and local extinction takes place.

In conclusion I believe that paleo anthropology plays a pivotal role in modern anthropology as a whole. It is a way that humans understand who they are and where they come from. It also shows the evolution of humans. I believe it is important to know how our ancestors lived because it can explain why humans behave a certain way.