The Races of Europe is a popular work of physical anthropology

Physical anthropology

Biological anthropology is that branch of anthropology that studies the physical development of the human species. It plays an important part in paleoanthropology and in forensic anthropology...

 by Carleton S. Coon

Carleton S. Coon

Carleton Stevens Coon, was an American physical anthropologist, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, lecturer and professor at Harvard, and president of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.-Biography:Carleton Coon was born in Wakefield, Massachusetts to a...

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History

In 1933, the Harvard anthropologist Carleton S. Coon was invited to write a new edition of William Z. Ripley

William Z. Ripley

William Zebina Ripley was an American economist, lecturer at Columbia University, professor of economics at MIT, professor of political economics at Harvard University, and racial theorist...

's 1899 The Races of Europe

The Races of Europe (Ripley)

William Z. Ripley published The Races of Europe: A Sociological Study in 1899, which grew out of a series of lectures he gave at the Lowell Institute at Columbia in 1896. Ripley believed that race was critical to understanding human history, though his work afforded environmental and non-biological...

, which Coon dedicated to Ripley.

Coon's entirely rewritten version of the book was published in 1939. At the time, he explicitly avoided the discussion of either blood groups

Blood type

A blood type is a classification of blood based on the presence or absence of inherited antigenic substances on the surface of red blood cells . These antigens may be proteins, carbohydrates, glycoproteins, or glycolipids, depending on the blood group system...

 or racial differences in intelligence

Race and intelligence

The connection between race and intelligence has been a subject of debate in both popular science and academic research since the inception of intelligence testing in the early 20th century...

, the latter of which he claimed to know "next to nothing about" at the time.

The conclusions from the book entail the following:

1. The Caucasoid race is of dual origin consisting of Upper Paleolithic (mixture of sapiens and neanderthals) types and Mediterranean (purely sapiens) types.
2. The Upper Paleolithic peoples are the truly indigenous peoples of Europe.
3. Mediterraneans invaded Europe in large numbers during the Neolithic and settled there.
4. The racial situation in Europe today may be explained as a mixture of Upper Paleolithic survivors and Mediterraneans.
5. When reduced Upper Paleolithic survivors and Mediterraneans mix a process of "dinaricization" occurs which produces a hybrid with non-intermediate features, epitomized by the Dinaric race
   Dinaric race
   The Dinaric race is one of the sub-categories of the Europid race into which it was divided by physical anthropologists in the early 20th century...
   
   .
6. The Caucasoid race extends well beyond Europe
   Europe
   Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
   
    into the Middle East
   Middle East
   The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
   
   , Central Asia
   Central Asia
   Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
   
   , South Asia
   South Asia
   South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
   
   , North Africa
   North Africa
   North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
   
    and the Horn of Africa
   Horn of Africa
   The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
   
   .
7. "The Nordic race in the strict sense is merely a pigment phase of the Mediterranean", created by the combination of Corded
   Corded Ware culture
   The Corded Ware culture , alternatively characterized as the Battle Axe culture or Single Grave culture, is an enormous European archaeological horizon that begins in the late Neolithic , flourishes through the Copper Age and culminates in the early Bronze Age.Corded Ware culture is associated with...
   
    and Danubian elements.

In The Races of Europe, Coon classified Caucasoids into racial sub-groups named after regions or archaeological sites, expanding the tripartite system Mediterranean

Mediterranean race

The Mediterranean race was one of the three sub-categories into which the Caucasian race and the people of Europe were divided by anthropologists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, following the publication of William Z. Ripley's book The Races of Europe...

-Alpine

Alpine race

The Alpine race is an historical racial classification or sub-race of humans, considered a branch of the Caucasian race. The term is not commonly used today, but was popular in the early 20th century.-History:...

-Nordic of Ripley (1899)

The Races of Europe (Ripley)

William Z. Ripley published The Races of Europe: A Sociological Study in 1899, which grew out of a series of lectures he gave at the Lowell Institute at Columbia in 1896. Ripley believed that race was critical to understanding human history, though his work afforded environmental and non-biological...

 by types such as
Brünn, Borreby, Ladogan, East Baltic

East Baltic race

The East Baltic race is one of the subcategories of the Europid race into which it was divided by anthropologists in the early 20th century....

, Neo-Danubian, Lappish, Atlanto-Mediterranean, Irano-Afghan, Hallstatt, Keltic, Tronder, Dinaric

Dinaric race

The Dinaric race is one of the sub-categories of the Europid race into which it was divided by physical anthropologists in the early 20th century...

, Noric and Armenoid

Armenoid

The Armenoid or Assyroid race in physical anthropology is a subtype of the Caucasian race.-Origin, distribution and physiognomy:Carleton S...

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External links

• The Races of Europe (1939) by Carleton Stevens Coon at the Internet Archive
  Internet Archive
  The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...