Biocultural anthropology has long represented an important approach in the study of human biology. However, despite demonstrated utility, its somewhat amorphous identity leaves some scholars questioning just what it means to be biocultural. In this article, rather than providing proscriptive doctrine, we contribute to these conversations about the nature of biocultural anthropology by considering what biocultural research does. We begin with a consideration of some of the foundational themes of biocultural work including recognition of the dialectical nature of sociocultural and biological forces, interest in inequality, and incorporation of both evolutionary and political economic perspectives. To emphasize the consistency of biocultural work over time, we also trace these themes from originating work to their appearance in current research. We then identify some of the key actions of the biocultural approach, noting that biocultural work can execute any number though rarely all of these actions simultaneously. We then offer brief introductions to the articles that make up this special issue, highlighting the ways in which each piece undertakes key biocultural actions. Following these introductions, we provide a discussion of some of the types of biocultural work that are not present in this special issue, recognizing the breadth of biocultural research across multiple subfields of anthropology. Finally, we point to some potentially fruitful directions for future biocultural research. In the end, we conclude that while biocultural anthropology may not have a cohesive or set agenda, it does have a clear and recognizable form of content and methodology illuminated by its actions.

中文翻译：

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做生物文化人类学：连续性和变化。

长期以来，生物文化人类学一直是人类生物学研究的重要途径。然而，尽管显示出实用性，但其某种程度上的无定形性仍使一些学者质疑生物文化的含义。在本文中，我们没有提供说明性学说，而是通过考虑生物文化研究的作用，为有关生物文化人类学本质的这些对话做出了贡献。我们首先考虑一些生物文化工作的基本主题，包括对社会文化和生物力量的辩证性质的认识，对不平等的兴趣以及对进化和政治经济学观点的结合。为了强调生物文化工作在时间上的一致性，我们还追溯了这些主题，从原始工作到它们在当前研究中的出现。然后，我们确定了生物文化方法的一些关键行动，并指出生物文化工作可以执行任意数量的活动，尽管很少同时执行所有这些活动。然后，我们对构成本期特刊的文章进行简要介绍，重点介绍每篇文章采取关键生物文化行动的方式。在介绍了这些内容之后，我们将讨论本期特刊中未涉及的某些生物文化工作类型，从而认识到人类学多个子领域中的生物文化研究的广度。最后，我们指出了未来生物文化研究的一些可能富有成果的方向。最后，我们得出结论，尽管生物文化人类学可能没有一个统一的议程或既定议程，但它确实具有其行动所阐明的内容和方法的清晰可识别的形式。