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11.10 Implications for the concept of race

A recent survey showed that physical anthropologists were evenly divided as to whether race is a valid biological concept. Among physical anthropologists the vast majority of opposition to the race concept comes from population geneticists, so any new support for a biological concept of race would likely come from another source, namely, the study of human evolution.

Lieberman and Jackson argued that while advocates of both the Multiregional model and the Out of Africa model use the word race and make racial assumptions, none define the term. They conclude, however, they conclude that students of human evolution would be better off avoiding the word race, instead describing genetic differences in terms of populations and clinal gradations.