The discipline that studies human fossils is:

Answer Details

Palaeontology is the scientific discipline devoted to the study of fossils, including the fossilised remains of ancient humans and their ancestors. It combines techniques from biology and geology to reconstruct the history of life on Earth through evidence preserved in rock.

Human fossils - skeletal remains, teeth, and skull fragments of early hominins such as Homo habilis, Homo erectus, and Australopithecus - fall squarely within this field. Palaeontologists analyse these fossils to determine age (through radiometric and stratigraphic dating), reconstruct anatomy, and trace the evolutionary lineage of modern humans.

The other disciplines are distinct. Linguistics studies human languages and their structure, not physical remains. Ethnography is the systematic study of living cultures and peoples through direct observation. Anthropology is a broader social science that encompasses the study of human societies, cultures, and development; while physical anthropology overlaps with palaeontology in studying human evolution, the discipline specifically focused on fossils themselves is palaeontology.