TheIrano-Afghan race orIranid race is anobsolete racial classification of human beings based on a now-disproven theory of biological race.[1][2][3] Someanthropologists of the 20th century classified the populations native to theIranian plateau as belonging to this race,[4][5][6] which was usually seen as a subrace of theCaucasian race or theMediterranean racial subtype of that race, depending on the authority consulted.
American anthropologistCarleton S. Coon described the Irano-Afghan race as a branch of theMediterranean race,[7] describing them as being long-faced, high-headed and leptorrhine (having long and narrow noses). By contrast, Swedish anthropologistBertil Lundman postulates an "Iranid" subtype of his "Eastern Mediterranean" race. American anthropologistEarnest Hooton in 1946 describes the "Iranian Plateau type" as distinct from theAtlanto-Mediterranean one:
particularly in its long, high-bridged, and boldly jutting nasal promontory. It has the same huge dolichocephalic head and massive, usually long face. The great nose may be either straight or convex, more often the latter.[8]
According to Italian anthropologistRenato Biasutti the type was defined by:
Brunet-white color, very dark hair and eyes, abundant pilosity; medium stature (165), slim body; very long (74) and high head with prominent occiput; long face; large and high nose with root at the level of the forehead, straight or convex spine, strongly curved nostrils (64); full lips, robust chin.[9]
British anthropologistJohn Lawrence Angel, following Coon in 1971, discusses a "Nordic-Iranian type" in the following terms:
D1 lies betweenAnglo-Saxon andKeltic area norms, and D2 is the earlier pre-Bronze Age Corded form which Coon identifies. Type D3, lighter and more hawk-nosed, is transitional to the Mediterranean type B4 and to type D4 (Iranian), which is the Proto-Iranian of Vallois, Irano-Afghan of others, and Proto-Nordic of Krogman, and which is more linear and more rugged than D3 and has a more tilted chewing plane, morenasal convexity, and deeper occiput. Type D5 approximates Coon's Danubian-Halstatt and successor Central European forms.[10]
... the answer to the question whether races exist in humans is clear and unambiguous: no.
In the first place, they belong as a group to the Irano-Afghan branch of the Mediterranean race.
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