Biological anthropology is the field that studies the physical development of the human species. Specialties that fall within biological anthropology include human evolution, primatology, human genetic variation, paleopathology, forensics, human osteology, evolutionary medicine, and human behavioral ecology. The British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology (BABAO) provides a forum for discussion and intellectual exchange for professionals and students in all areas of biological anthropology.
BABAO acts as an advocate to encourage discussion of new research discoveries, provides guidance to biological anthropologists in the form of our Code of Ethics and Code of Practice, provides help to museum curators in the form of our Guidance for Institutions Receiving Collections, and where possible education to the general public on issues relating to biological anthropology. We believe that it is vitally important that we improve our understanding of our species through the study of the remains of humans and human ancestors who lived in the past, in conjunction with study of modern humans and closely related species of primates living around the world today. Such knowledge helps us to comprehend just what it is to be human.
As BABAO president, I hope very much that you will find this website helpful and informative.
Piers Mitchell
President of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology (BABAO)
Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
University of Cambridge
October 2012