Have peoples faces changed over the last 100-200 years???

Question

if all things were equal-could anthropologists say this skull /face is from the 1800's?? Do our faces change over time--is facial structure still evolving???

Answer 1

Abe Vigoda's face hasn't changed over the last 100 years

Answer 2

Certainly our faces have changed over time, all over the world. Skin tone and facial structure - which are oddly enough two of the main determinants for those who think they can identify races "scientifically" - are highly variable traits. Though the general humn morphology (body plan) and proportions are more or less conservative - that is, they don't change or vary all that much in human populations - the fine qualities that shape our faces are highly variable from generation to generation.

Anthropologists might be able to guess a skeleton's origin in terms of population, not genetics. But it would be mostly educated guesswork and comparison. Much more useful to an anthropologist who wants to identify some remains with a population is, for archaeologists and evolutionary anthropologists, geography and dating techniques. Forensic anthropologists and scholars who study contemporary human variation can make some use of DNA in this regard, but still cannot determine a person's race genetically, as races are social, not biological, categories. "Ancestry" and "population of origin" would be more precise terms for what anthropologists can infer about human remains.

Facial structure is certainly still changing. I look a little like both of my parents, but have my own distinct appearance. So do you, and your children won't look exactly like you either. Changing ideas about what is beautiful, attractive, or desireable in a mate is highly variable through history and across geography - i.e., people in 20th century China have a different view of what is attractive than people in 15th century Italy or 22nd century North America had or will have. Facial variation in humans is therefore constantly changing, evolving even, but not in the manner of "natural selection". This is what is called "sexual selection" which operates a little bit differently than natural selection.

Answer 3

Better nutrition and less scarring disease have probably played a part. If a certain sort of jaw/skull ratio I consistently favoured, it would be selected for. Otherwise I find it hard to make a case, especially in so few generations with shifting attitudes to beauty, and without serious efforts at eugenic control etc.

Answer 4

Our faces have changed over the past two hundred years. since then we have increased the amount of travel exponentially, leading to a wider variety of breeding partners, which combined the different genetic facial structures of many cultures.

Yes, the facial structures of humans are evolving. Evolution is always occurring. There is even a slight difference between consecutive generations of all species.

Answer 5

Yes faces have changed in the past 200 years. The reason is that since about 1900 as a matter of fact the human brain has increased in size on the average of I beleive 4 oz. Therefore your skull has gotten bigger to accomodate the increased brain size, thereby changing the structure of the face itself.

Answer 6

^Dude(ette), give him (sacred dinosaur) the best answere award, he's right, I think.