Anthropologists are ... Science anthropology. Famous anthropologists

Anthropology is an exciting science that allows a person to look into his own past and present the stages of evolution, as well as learn about the history of the development of different peoples and ethnoses. Therefore, leading experts can often be not very well known, but at the same time very worthy of attention. Let's get acquainted with some of them.

Carlos Castaneda

Perhaps, this is the most famous American anthropologist. Carlos Castaneda - not just a scholar, but also a talented writer who created a chronicle of the teachings of the Indian shaman. His work can not be attributed to a particular genre - this is an original synthesis of literature, psychology, ethnography and mysticism. Some of Castaneda's definitions are now used not only by anthropologists - for example, the notion of "place of power" or "assembly point". Carlos himself was inspired by the works of Aldous Huxley, as well as by the images of local healers in Lima, where his family lived for a time. In addition, in his circle there was an active discussion of ideas that there is the possibility of programming dreams. In 1959, Castaneda graduated from college with a degree in psychology, and in 1960 entered the university with a specialization in anthropology, where he went deeper into studying the ethnic groups of interest to him. I traveled to Mexico and Arizona. The main theme of the scientific works of Castaneda was the use of hallucinogenic plants for shamanic rituals of Indians.

Eugene Dubois

Scientists-anthropologists often turned out to be specialists in medicine. So, the Dutchman Eugene Dubois, who became the discoverer of the Pithecanthropus, was a military doctor. It was he who discovered the skulls, fragments of the facial skeleton and femur bones of the species, which will later be studied as one of the ancestors of man. The search for Pithecanthropus was on the island of Java and in Trinila, repeated excavations with similar results were conducted in Leiden, where archaeologists also managed to find skeletons. Interestingly, Dubois's research was not accepted by the anthropologists surrounding him. This seemed too unusual and controversial. Paleoanthropology only arose, and the origin of man was not sufficiently studied. Another unusual fact - Dubois showed the skull to a French specialist, but after dinner forgot his bag with finds in the restaurant. Fortunately, he was returned to him - otherwise the most important exhibit could be lost.

Rudolf Virchow

Anthropology is the science of the origin of man, based on excavation and analysis of the found parts of skeletons and bones. Each opinion, in fact, is only a guess, so the results can be unpredictable. Thus, Rudolf Virchow became famous for denying the existence of Pithecanthropus and Neanderthals, discrediting the results obtained by other scientists. This markedly affected the development of science, albeit in a negative sense. Famous anthropologists have always listened to the opinions of colleagues, and Virchow's statements could not go unnoticed. He assumed that the bones from Neanderthal are the remains of a rickety and mentally retarded person. Finds related to Pithecanthropus, he considered the skeleton of a gibbon. In general, he believed that fossil people are quite possible, but judging something by the found bones is impossible due to age and pathological changes. The Virchow also left his mark in archeology. Found de Sautuola cave with Paleolithic painting, he called a deliberate fake, which slowed the study of the ancient monument of art in Spain for many years.

Gustav Koenigswald

It's amazing to find out what trivial things can sometimes be enough for an anthropologist to make a serious discovery with it. It may be a splinter of bone or just teeth. It was the latter that became the basis of the scientific works of the German scientist Gustav Koenigswald. In the teeth of the Chinese shops of pharmacists and finds of archaeologists in Java, he described Meganthropus and Pithecanthropus. With his research he deepened the studies of Eugene Dubois. From the teeth of the pharmacies in Hong Kong, he managed to establish the existence of a new species of Sinanthropus, unknown to a scientist before. Among other things, he described hominids from Ngandong, conducted active work in Java and in South China. Apart from humans, he also studied the fossil orangutan.

Family Faces

Sometimes human anthropology attracts not just one scientist, but a whole dynasty of specialists. The Lika brothers, as well as the wife of one of them, children and grandchildren, are a family of anthropologists who studied Kenyan fossils, the remains of monkeys and hominids of East Africa. Louis and Mary worked in the Olduvai Gorge, and Richard studied the Lake Turkana. On the account of the Lika family, a description of the many species of both human ancestors and fossil primates. The main discovery was the discovery of Australopithecines in East Africa, as well as the discovery of "people skilled". They became a link between the archanthropes and the Paranthropus boisei, replenishing the evolutionary chain.

Mikhail Gerasimov

Anthropologist, sculptor and archeologist from Russia made a serious contribution to the development of science. His method of restoring the appearance of a man by his remains is widely used now. At the age of thirteen, Mikhail worked at the anatomical museum, and in 18 he wrote his scientific article on Paleolithic excavations. Over the years, Gerasimov has created more than two hundred historical portraits-reconstructions. Undoubtedly, anthropology is the science of the origin of man as a whole, but specific individuals and their characteristics are included in the circle of her interests. Therefore, the reconstruction of the appearance of Ivan the Terrible, Yaroslav the Wise or Friedrich Schiller is so valuable. In addition, the technique allows you to create images of ancient people - Australopithecus, Pithecanthropus, Neanderthals. The beginning of the work involved the collection of factual material. Gerasimov proved the direct relationship between bone structure and soft tissues, on the basis of which reconstructions were created. It is interesting that colleagues once decided to try Gerasimov and gave him a skull, not indicating who he belongs to. He managed to accurately establish the appearance of the Papuans, which was almost identical to the photograph - the skull was brought during the expedition of Miklouho-Maclay.

Sergey Gorbenko

As mentioned above, anthropologists are often doctors, and the named Russian specialist is no exception. Gorbenko trained in the laboratory of the Miklukho-Maklai Institute, where they teach the method of reconstruction of Gerasimov. He defended his thesis on the reconstruction of the image of Yaroslav Osmomysl. The main achievements were the execution of numerous portraits of the French knights of the Middle Ages, King Louis the Eleventh and other famous heroes of the history of that period. Currently engaged in anthropological research of skulls from Clery-San Andre.