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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.

Contributors in Physical anthropology

Physical anthropology

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.

False positive

Anthropology; Physical anthropology

A test result that indicates a medical problem when there actually is not one.

Robust

Anthropology; Physical anthropology

A term used by paleoanthropologists to refer to a big boned and muscular body. The robust species of early hominins were Australopithecus robustus, boisei, and aethiopicus.

Clinal model

Anthropology; Physical anthropology

A system for classifying people based on the knowledge that genetically inherited traits often gradually change in frequency from one geographic region to another--that is, they change in clines.

Typological model

Anthropology; Physical anthropology

A system for classifying people based on the false assumption that humans can be unambiguously placed into "races" on the basis of selected traits such as skin color, hair form, and body shape. ...

Populational model of human variation

Anthropology; Physical anthropology

A system for classifying people based on the assumption that the only biologically distinct groups are long isolated breeding populations whose evolutionary paths have separated from other ...

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