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Patenting Hominins

Taxonomies, Fossils and Egos

University of New South Wales, Sydney, r.derricourt{at}unsw.edu.au

Palaeoanthropology — the study of hominin evolution — has features which differentiate it from most other sciences. It has long been characterized by the announcement of a dramatic discovery of fossil hominin remains — often following a long and arduous process of field exploration. Commonly this has been accompanied by naming a new species, or even a new genus, to mark the importance and uniqueness of the find. In time, the discipline of palaeoanthropology erodes these claims to uniqueness and merges the claimed individual species with other finds, while in turn new claims to uniqueness accompany new discoveries and announcements. The potential ways in which any set of materials can be classified is vast, and subjective elements determine classificatory schemes. In the study of fossil hominins such schemes do not just reflect preferences between `lumpers' and `splitters' but nationalisms, egos and the maintenance of the image of the scientist-hero.

Key Words: discoveries of fossil mankind • history of palaeoanthropology • hominins • taxonomy

Critique of Anthropology, Vol. 29, No. 2, 193-204 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0308275X09104089


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