Physical anthropology

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

point mutation

Anthropology; Physical anthropology

A mutation that occurs as an error in a codon of a DNA or RNA molecule.

interglacial

Anthropology; Physical anthropology

A long, period of warmer conditions between glacials when the earth's glaciers have shrunk to a smaller area. Interglacials during the Pleistocene Epoch lasted 10's of thousands of years. We are ...

seriation

Anthropology; Physical anthropology

A relative dating method based on the fact that artifact types change through time in frequency as a result of new technologies, styles, and available construction materials. The frequency of ...

beta particle

Anthropology; Physical anthropology

A kind of energy charged subnuclear particle (consisting of an electron or a positron) given off by some isotopes when they decay or fission.

accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS)

Anthropology; Physical anthropology

A research instrument primarily used in physics to accelerate streams of charged subnuclear particles to high velocities in order to sort and analyze them. This technique is now also used to count ...

multiple sclerosis (MS)

Anthropology; Physical anthropology

A genetically inherited progressive disease of the central nervous system. MS occurs as a consequence of one's own immune system attacking the insulating sheath that normally protects neurons. ...

radiocarbon dating

Anthropology; Physical anthropology

A radiometric dating method based on the fact that the amount of carbon-14 steadily decreases in all organisms after death. The reduction in the frequency of this isotope in a sample occurs at a ...