Physical and Biological Anthropology
Encyclopedias and Reference
The following links will take you to encyclopedias and reference manuals to help you get started on your research. Here you can find general background information, definitions, and history on many anthropological terms and concepts. Searching in an encyclopedia can also help you find a topic for a paper or project.
Online
- Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology: Health and Illness in the World's CulturesDescribes the cultural practices relevant to health in the world's cultures and provides an overview of important topics in medical anthropology.
History of Physical Anthropology by Call Number: Ref. GN50.3.H57 1997The comparative study of humans as biological organisms, their evolution, and their physiological and anatomical functions and ecology of primates surveys the entire field and summarizes and organizes the basic knowledge, fundamental principles and development.
Ecce Homo: An Annotated Bibliographic History of Physical Anthropology by Call Number: Z5118.S7 S64 1986This annotated bibliography, the first book-length survey of the historic development of inquiry in physical anthropology, brings together a broad selection of source materials that will enable the student to obtain an accurate perspective on its history and perceive the underlying thematic continuity of anthropological thought.
Finding Articles
Use databases to find academic articles to continue your research. Below are the most helpful databases for finding relevant articles for anthropological topics.
- Anthropology Plus This link opens in a new windowIncludes the Anthropological Literature from Harvard University and Anthropological Index, Royal Anthropological Institute from the UK together into one database. Anthropology Plus provides extensive worldwide indexing of journal articles, reports, commentaries, edited works, and obituaries in the fields of social, cultural, physical, biological, and linguistic anthropology, ethnology, archaeology, folklore, material culture, and interdisciplinary studies.
- PubMed This link opens in a new windowMEDLINE biomedical database. Molecular biology databases of DNA/protein sequences and 3-D structure data.
- Biological Abstracts This link opens in a new windowLife sciences literature with abstracts from life sciences research journals worldwide. 1995-present.
- Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new window
Academic Search Ultimate offers an enormous collection of full-text journals, providing users access to critical information from many sources unique to this database. In addition, it includes peer-reviewed full text for STEM research, as well as for the social sciences and humanities. Scholarly content covers a broad range of important areas of academic study, including anthropology, engineering, law, sciences and more.
Good Starting Journals for Physical Anthropology
The following are links to specific academic journals which are published and peer-reviewed by experts in the field. If you want to narrow your search to a specific time period or methodology, finding a journal that publishes in that area can help.
- American Journal of Physical AnthropologyThe American Journal of Physical Anthropology (AJPA) is the official journal of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists. Within this framework, the AJPA publishes in established areas, including human biology and non-human primate behavior, and also seeks submissions in new and developing fronts that contribute to the growth of the science and increased understanding of human and non-human primate evolution.
- Evolutionary AnthropologyEvolutionary Anthropology is an authoritative review journal that focuses on issues of current interest in biological anthropology, paleoanthropology, archaeology, functional morphology, social biology, and bone biology—including dentition and osteology—as well as human biology, genetics, and ecology.
- American Journal of PrimatologyThe objective of the American Journal of Primatology is to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and findings among primatologists and to convey our increasing understanding of this order of animals to specialists and interested readers alike. This includes but is not limited to the behavioral ecology, conservation, evolutionary biology, life history, demography, paleontology, physiology, endocrinology, genetics, molecular genetics, and psychobiology of the nonhuman primates.
Search the entire library catalog here.
Materials on Anthropology are found under the "C" subclass on the fourth floor of the library.
| GN1-890 | Anthropology |
|---|---|
| GN49-298 | Physical anthropology. Somatology |
| GN281-289 | Human evolution |
| GN296-296.5 | Medical anthropology |
| GN406-442 | Technology. Material culture Including food, shelter, fire, tools, etc. |
Internet Resources
Online texts, sites, and sources about physical anthropology.
- Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural of HistoryThe Division of Anthropology is concerned with all aspects of human behavior, past, present, and with an eye to the future. Our work is biological, archaeological, socio-cultural and linguistic.
- Accessing Anthropology: Online Databases and Other ResourcesThe Department of Anthropology, a part of the National Museum of Natural History, maintains ethnographic, archaeological, and human biological collections numbering over two and a half million items and the nation’s premier archives devoted to anthropological manuscripts and film. Anthropology collections document world cultures past and present and the history of anthropology. Information on collections, conservation, and research is available through the databases and web pages listed below.
- PrimateLitThe PrimateLit database is no longer being updated as of November 30, 2010. It was supported by Grant RR15311 from the National Center for Research Resources, National Health Service. The PrimateLit database provides bibliographic access to the scientific literature on nonhuman primates for the research and educational communities. Coverage of the database spans 1940 to present and includes all publication categories (articles, books, abstracts, technical reports, dissertations, book chapters, etc.) and many subject areas (behavior, colony management, ecology, reproduction, field studies, disease models, veterinary science, psychology, physiology, pharmacology, evolution, taxonomy, developmental and molecular biology, genetics and zoogeography).
- Biological Anthropology TutorialsCreated and Maintained by Dr. Dennis O'Neil, Behavioral Sciences Department, Palomar College, San Marcos, California
- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History: Physical Anthropology CollectionsThe Anthropology Department maintains a diverse series of human anatomical specimens, primarily osteological, that are used for studies in biological anthropology (skeletal biology, paleopathology, human variation), medical research, forensic investigations, and questions concerning human origins. Nearly 33,000 specimens represent populations throughout the world.