Jantz R L
Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville 37996-0720, USA.
Hum Biol. 1995 Jun;67(3):345-53.
The contributions to physical anthropology with which Franz Boas is usually credited are in the areas of growth, plasticity of head and body form, and biometric genetics. Such a listing of Boas's contributions overlooks the tremendous amount of research he did with biological variability of Native American populations. The rediscovery of his anthropometric data documents the tremendous investment in time, money, and effort Boas devoted to the topic and provides the opportunity to rediscover his insights into a subject that is of continuing interest. The design of his massive anthropometric survey of native North Americans reveals a concern for population analyses and a rejection of the typological framework of the time. If Boas's ideas had been adopted at the turn of the century, the development of physical anthropology in America might have been much different.
弗朗茨·博厄斯通常被认为在身体人类学方面的贡献在于生长、头部和身体形态的可塑性以及生物计量遗传学领域。这样罗列博厄斯的贡献忽略了他对美洲原住民群体生物变异性所做的大量研究。他的人体测量数据的重新发现证明了博厄斯在这个主题上投入的大量时间、金钱和精力，也为重新发现他对一个仍具持续吸引力的主题的见解提供了机会。他对北美原住民进行大规模人体测量调查的设计显示出他对群体分析的关注以及对当时类型学框架的摒弃。如果博厄斯的观点在世纪之交被采纳，美国体质人类学的发展可能会大不相同。
