Physical Anthropology Of The Koch Populations Of India

The study of human evolution and also of human variation are two major focuses of Anthropology. Spatio-temporal variation among human population due to genetic and environmental causative factors is an important objective of physical anthropology. The present treaties is probably the first attempt to write on the biological variation at micro-level among the Koch population, a detribalized caste population. The author?s attempt is to trace any significant regional variation in their physical characters and to reveal any definite clustering pattern. The author?s concern is also to examine if the results of the genetic investigation support the conclusions drawn from metric data or not. The book provides a biocultural perception of population dynamics in Koch of Assam. The author discusses in details the on-going micro-evolutionary trend in the Koch and deals with the statistical deviation of detribalized descendant Koch population from their ancestral tribal populations. The present volume is an extremely valuable addition to the subject of physical anthropology which intersects allied disciplines at several points.

Dr. Sarthak Sengupta (b. 1955) currently teaches physical anthropology at the Dibrugarh University. He was educated at Dibrugarh University where he got his M.Sc. Degree in Anthropology in 1977, securing First Class First position. Eversince he has been active in research and teaching. He was awarded Ph.D degree in Anthropology by the Gauhati University in 1983. He also worked with the Anthropological Survey of India and conducted field studies among diverse tribes and castes in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya and Uttar Pradesh. A Visiting Lecturer for some time at the Anthropology Department on North Eastern Hill University, he has authored about seventy research papers in different journals of India and abroad and is an active member of a number of professional organisations. A project on diet and nutrition and indigenous health practices in some tribal populations of Assam is one of Dr. Sengupta’s current research interest.