The end of racial science? Measuring difference in the Torres Strait, 1898-99

Abstract

The Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to the Torres Straits (1898-1899) has been credited with orienting anthropology towards field research and away from static racial analysis. Yet physical anthropology was central to its original research objectives. Drawing from the Expedition’s archives, this chapter reconstitutes the anthropometric work undertaken by the Cambridge team and examines its omission in their official reports. It also argues that while championing new ethnographic methods, they continued to pursue racial science by focusing on psychological and physiological characteristics. The Torres Strait Expedition thus represented a continuity of interest in racial anthropology, albeit through a consciously reinvented approach.