Historical review of the Mexican Association of Biological Anthropology (AMAB).

Abstract

In 2021, the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Mexican Association of Biological Anthropology (AMAB) was celebrated. This scientific society was established in September 1981, months after the celebration of the “I Colloquium of Physical Anthropology”, held on the occasion of the first death anniversary of Dr. Juan Comas. The Colloquium revealed great interest in bioanthropological studies on the part of academics and students of our discipline and related areas, thereby promoting the creation of a scientific association that would allow dialogue between specialists and the broad projection of this field of knowledge. The steering committees that have headed the AMAB since then, made up of distinguished colleagues, have undoubtedly contributed to the permanence and continuity of the scientific promotion work entrusted to them, in which the “Juan Comas” International Physical Anthropology Colloquium stands out. . This work presents a historical outline of the development of the AMAB, its founders and the directives that have promoted it; academic events, its venues and publications, the result of four decades of fruitful activity. In addition, we carried out a bibliometric analysis of the Juan Comas Colloquiums from the first publication to which it gave rise, in 1981 until 2023, in order to appreciate the development of the research approaches and trends that have manifested in our union and that have characterized Mexican physical anthropology.