Davidson Black was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1884. Black showed an early interest in biology and natural history and pursued a career in science despite a long family tradition in law. In 1903, he entered the medical school of the University of Toronto, graduating in 1909 with M.D. and M.A. degrees. Upon graduating from medical school, Black accepted a faculty appointment at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. His primary responsibilities were in anatomy, but Black found an outlet for his interests in anthropology by helping in the expansion of a museum of comparative anthropology and anatomy. His studies in anthropology continued on sabbatical leave in 1914. In Manchester, England, Black studied anthropology under noted paleoanthropologist Grafton Elliot Smith.

In the early twentieth century, the scientific community was divided over the question of whether Asia or Africa was the birthplace of humanity. Black argued in favor of Asia...