Human paleontology

Paleontology as defined by Abercrombie is the ’study of fossils and evolutionary relationships and ecologies of organism which formed them’.

Like paleontology, human paleontology utilizes evolutionary theory and the scientific method to test hypothesis about past lifeways and relationships.

The terms human paleontology and paleoanthropology are often used interchangeably, although the former is primary focused on the study of human fossils and the latter is a broader multidisciplinary activity.

Although human paleontology has some incidental overlaps of included techniques with animal paleontology, the evolution of human culture is a feature of the human species’ existence which compares only with successful biological differentiation of more advanced varieties and species in animal paleontology.

Human paleontology had two independent origins, from human anatomy and vertebrate paleontology, which fused by the middle of the twentieth century. The earliest human fossils were recovered by naturalist and archeologists and generally described by medical practitioners or paleontologists, who brought different backgrounds to their analysis.
Human paleontology