33 Terms
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Physical anthropology
The branch of anthropology that studies the development of the human race in the context of other primate species.
Industry: Anthropology
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Physical anthropology
savanna
Anthropology; Physical anthropology
A tropical or subtropical grassy plains. Savannas are usually the habitat of larger herbivores and their predators. The first hominids apparently evolved on and near African savannas.
melanoma
Anthropology; Physical anthropology
A type of aggressive skin cancer. Specifically, it is a cancer that begins in melanocytes and rapidly spreads to other parts of the body.
Homo habilis
Anthropology; Physical anthropology
A transitional species between the australopithecines and Homo erectus. Homo habilis appeared by 2. 4 million years ago and continued until about 1. 6 million years ago. They lived in East and ...
slash-and-burn
Anthropology; Physical anthropology
A traditional land-clearing practice whereby trees and other dense vegetation are cut with axes or machetes and later burned. Ash from the burned vegetation provides fertilizer for agricultural crops ...
percussion flaking
Anthropology; Physical anthropology
A tool making technique in which a brittle rock (e. G. , obsidian, flint, chert, and basalt) that will potentially be an artifact is struck with a heavy glancing blow from another dense rock (i.e., a ...
pressure flaking
Anthropology; Physical anthropology
A tool making technique developed in the Upper Paleolithic as a further refinement in shaping brittle-flaking rock artifacts. After preliminary shaping by percussion flaking, they often finished a ...
core tool
Anthropology; Physical anthropology
A tool made from a relatively large block of rock rather than from the flakes that are removed from it by percussion flaking in the manufacturing process. Most hand axes are core tools.
