Irano-Afghan race

The Irano-Afghan race or Iranid race is an obsolete racial classification of human beings based on a now-disproven theory of biological race.^[1]^[2]^[3] Some anthropologists of the 20th century classified the populations native to the Iranian plateau as belonging to this race,^[4]^[5]^[6] which was usually seen as a subrace of the Caucasian race or the Mediterranean racial subtype of that race, depending on the authority consulted.

Physiognomy

American anthropologist Carleton S. Coon described the Irano-Afghan race as a branch of the Mediterranean race,^[7] describing them as being long-faced, high-headed and leptorrhine (having long and narrow noses). By contrast, Swedish anthropologist Bertil Lundman postulates an "Iranid" subtype of his "Eastern Mediterranean" race. American anthropologist Earnest Hooton in 1946 describes the "Iranian Plateau type" as distinct from the Atlanto-Mediterranean one:

particularly in its long, high-bridged, and boldly jutting nasal promontory. It has the same huge dolichocephalic head and massive, usually long face. The great nose may be either straight or convex, more often the latter.^[8]

According to Italian anthropologist Renato Biasutti the type was defined by:

Brunet-white color, very dark hair and eyes, abundant pilosity; medium stature (165), slim body; very long (74) and high head with prominent occiput; long face; large and high nose with root at the level of the forehead, straight or convex spine, strongly curved nostrils (64); full lips, robust chin.^[9]

British anthropologist John Lawrence Angel, following Coon in 1971, discusses a "Nordic-Iranian type" in the following terms:

D1 lies between Anglo-Saxon and Keltic area norms, and D2 is the earlier pre-Bronze Age Corded form which Coon identifies. Type D3, lighter and more hawk-nosed, is transitional to the Mediterranean type B4 and to type D4 (Iranian), which is the Proto-Iranian of Vallois, Irano-Afghan of others, and Proto-Nordic of Krogman, and which is more linear and more rugged than D3 and has a more tilted chewing plane, more nasal convexity, and deeper occiput. Type D5 approximates Coon's Danubian-Halstatt and successor Central European forms.^[10]

References

^ Templeton, A. (2016). "Evolution and Notions of Human Race". In Losos, J.; Lenski, R. (eds.). How Evolution Shapes Our Lives: Essays on Biology and Society. Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press. pp. 346–361. doi:10.2307/j.ctv7h0s6j.26. ... the answer to the question whether races exist in humans is clear and unambiguous: no.
^ Wagner, Jennifer K.; Yu, Joon-Ho; Ifekwunigwe, Jayne O.; Harrell, Tanya M.; Bamshad, Michael J.; Royal, Charmaine D. (February 2017). "Anthropologists' views on race, ancestry, and genetics". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 162 (2): 318–327. doi:10.1002/ajpa.23120. PMC 5299519. PMID 27874171.
^ American Association of Physical Anthropologists (27 March 2019). "AAPA Statement on Race and Racism". American Association of Physical Anthropologists. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
^ S. M. Garn, Human races, Thomas, 1971, 3rd ed., University of Michigan, p. 196
^ Race and Racism: An Introduction (see also) by Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, Pages 127–133, Publication Date: December 8, 2005, ISBN 0759107955
^ The Races of Europe by Carleton S. Coon
^ Coon, Carleton Stevens (1939). The Races of Europe. The Macmillan Company. p. 418. ISBN 978-0837163284. In the first place, they belong as a group to the Irano-Afghan branch of the Mediterranean race.
^ "Earnest Hooton on the Mediterranean Subrace (from E. A. Hooton, Up from the Ape, 1946)". Archived from the original on 2011-03-25. Retrieved 2009-05-15.
^ Biasutti, Renato. "Renato Biasutti on Caucasoid Subraces: from Le Razze e i popoli della terra". pp. 409–410. Archived from the original on 2012-05-11.
^ J. Lawrence Angel, The people of Lerna; analysis of a prehistoric Aegean population, Princeton, N.J., American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1971, pp. 36–38 [1]