Physical anthropology

Physical anthropology

The branch of anthropology that studies the development of the human race in the context of other primate species.

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Physical anthropology

universal time scale

Anthropology; Physical anthropology

A time scale, or calendar, that can be used any place in the world since it has a finite beginning point from which any earlier or later event can be related exactly. All chronometric dates are given ...

agonistic display

Anthropology; Physical anthropology

A threatening gesture, stare, pose, or display intended to intimidate others.

symbol

Anthropology; Physical anthropology

A thing, such as a word, that can represent something else that is not here and now. The meaning of a symbol is arbitrary and is given by those who use it. Human languages are systems of symbols.

artifact

Anthropology; Physical anthropology

A thing that is intentionally made according to a cultural pattern or inadvertently modified as a result of culturally patterned behavior. Artifacts are usually relatively portable objects such as ...

blade flake

Anthropology; Physical anthropology

A thin, roughly parallel-sided stone flake that is at least twice as long as it is wide. They were made out of brittle breaking materials such as flint , chert, and obsidian. Blade flakes were ...

phyletic gradualism

Anthropology; Physical anthropology

A theoretical model of evolution in which species change slowly at a more or less constant rate through time into other species. See punctuated equilibrium.