Anthropology from the Margins: The Craniological Network of Carl Gustav Carus

Abstract This paper examines the role of Carl Gustav Carus within the emerging field of physical anthropology during the mid-nineteenth century. Despite his extensive connections with contemporary anthropologists, Carus’s craniological approach was increasingly marginalized, ultimately excluding him from the foundational phase of German anthropology. Reconstructing Carus’s craniological network from largely unpublished correspondence, this study presents four key aspects. First, it traces the scholar’s research in craniology, situating it within Goethe’s and Oken’s morphological vertebrae theory. Second, it outlines the typology and transnational scope of his craniological network. Third, the paper explores Carus’s complex relationship with anthropology, highlighting the tension between his physiognomic methods and the evolving anatomic standards of his time. Lastly, the analysis highlights his aristocratic approach to anthropology, characterized by selective access to his cranial collection and an emphasis on the European “genius” as the pinnacle of human development. Ultimately, although well-connected among his peers, Carus was marginalized as physical anthropology shifted toward more empirical, metrical-morphological methodologies.