Ages, Species, and Races of Humankind

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Word Menu > Institutions > Social Sciences > Anthropology > Ages, Species, and Races of Humankind

anthropoid - member of primate suborder Anthropoidea, including monkeys, apes, and human beings
Australopithecus - extinct genus of small-brained, large-toothed, bipedal hominid near-men whose fossil remains date back to four million years in Africa and who had the ability to stand fully erect
Australopithecus afarensis - earliest species of Australopithecus that lived four million years ago in East Africa
Australopithecus africanus - species of Australopithecus, characterized by small stature and use of simple weapons, that lived three million years ago
Australopithecus boisei - species of rugged Australopithecus, characterized by large teeth, that lived one to two million years ago
Australopithecus robustus - species of Australopithecus, larger in stature but probably less intelligent than Australopithecus africanus, that lived two million years ago
bipedalism - locomotion on two feet, characteristic of hominids
Bronze Age - period beginning around 4000 B.C. characterized by use of bronze tools, the wheel, and ox-drawn plows, and by growth of first civilizations in Egypt and Sumeria
Caucasian race - one of three traditional human racial groupings, characterized by light skin pigmentation, straight to curly hair, and light to dark eyes, inhabiting Northern Hemisphere, esp. Europe
cave man - cave dweller, esp. of Stone Age
Copper Age - cultural period between Neolithic and Bronze ages, characterized by ability to extract copper for use in making tools
Cro-Magnon man - tall, erect Upper Paleolithic prototype of modern Homo sapiens in Europe between 40,000 and 30,000 years ago, that used stone tools and produced cave paintings
Eolithic Age - Dawn Stone Age, between 2.5 and two million years ago, in which hominoid near-men used primitive, fractured stone tools
Folsom culture - early North American hunting-gathering culture that flourished about 9000 B.C., characterized by use of fluted stone spearheads
Heidelberg man - species of primitive hominid contemporary with Pithecanthropus around 500,000 years ago, having massive teeth but undeveloped chin
hominid - any of modern or extinct bipedal primates of family Hominidae, including genera Homo and Australopithecus
hominoid - member of superfamily Hominoidea, including modern great apes, humans, and their extinct ancestors
Homo - genus of bipedal primates in family Hominidae, including modern Homo sapiens and several extinct species
Homo erectus - extinct species of hominid, formerly known as Pithecanthropus erectus, known from Peking and Java man discoveries, having erect stature and postcranial skull but smallish brain, low forehead, and protruding face, characterized by use of crude stone tools and possibly simple speech, that lived from 500,000 to 250,000 years ago
Homo habilis - extinct species of upright hominid in East Africa that existed two to 1.5 million years ago
Homo sapiens - species of bipedal primate to which modern human beings belong, beginning 250,000 years ago during Stone Age with Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, characterized by use of tools and language
humankind - all members of human race
Iron Age - period following Bronze Age, in which humankind learned to smelt iron for tools and weapons, beginning around 2000 B.C. in Near East
Java man - extinct race of early hominid, Pithecanthropus erectus, with apelike skull and human limb structure, whose skeletal remains were found in Java
Lower Paleolithic period - earliest portion of Old Stone Age, between two million and 200,000 years ago
Mesolithic period - Middle Stone Age following Paleolithic age, from 10,000 to 8000 B.C. in Europe, characterized by first food-producers, development of boats and sleds, and use of microliths
Middle Paleolithic period - middle portion of Old Stone Age, between 200,000 and 40,000 years ago
missing link - hypothetical species assumed to bridge evolutionary gap between anthropoid apes and human beings, sometimes identified as Australopithecus
Mongoloid race - one of three traditional human racial groupings, characterized by yellowish complexion, straight black hair, and epicanthic folds about eyes, esp. inhabiting Asia
Neanderthal man - extinct race of Middle Paleolithic man, powerful and physically robust with brain capacity comparable to modern man, that inhabited Europe and western Asia between 100,000 and 40,000 years ago
Negroid race - one of three traditional human racial groupings, characterized by dark skin pigmentations, curly hair, and wide features, primarily inhabiting Southern Hemisphere, esp. Africa
Neolithic period - New Stone Age preceding Bronze Age, between 8000 and 4000 B.C. in Near East, characterized by settlement into villages, domestication of animals, grain cultivation, pottery, textile weaving, cave painting, and flint-mining
Olmec - (adj) of or pertaining to an early prehistoric New World civilization, from 1500 to 500 B.C. in Mexico, characterized by extensive agriculture, dating system, pyramids, trade, and fine artwork
Paleolithic period - Old Stone Age period from two million years ago through 10,000 B.C., characterized by hunting-gathering society and use of increasingly sophisticated stone tools, divided into Lower, Middle, and Upper Paleolithic periods
Peking man - extinct, early Homo erectus whose fossil remains were discovered in China, characterized by hunting and use of fire and stone tools
Piltdown man - hypothetical early modern human being whose existence was based on skull fragments found in England, believed to be missing link between apes and man but later exposed as fake
Pithecanthropus - former genus of extinct hominids now assigned to proposed species Homo erectus
prehistoric man - certain hominid species of genus Homo that lived before recorded history
prehistory - period of human development prior to recorded events, known through archaeological discoveries
Proconsul - extinct hominoid subgenus that lived 17 to 20 million years ago and may have been ancestral to modern chimpanzees and apes
protohistory - period of transition between prehistory and earliest recorded history
pygmy - term denoting groups whose typical male averages less than 59 inches (150 cm) in height, generally hunter-gatherers with few crafts, found esp. in central Africa and Philippines
race - one of the three major human groupings whose members tend to breed among themselves and share inherited physical characteristics: Caucasian, Mongoloid, Negroid
Ramapithecus - extinct genus of late Miocene hominoid, formerly believed to have been ancestral to hominids, that lived about twelve million years ago
recorded history - written record of history made by culture having formal language
Stone Age - period beginning around two million years ago, characterized by use of increasingly sophisticated stone tools and weapons and, in latter ages, by development of food cultivation, villages, and crafts, usu. divided into Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods and ending with dawn of civilization in Bronze Age around 4000 B.C.
subrace - division within one of the three major human racial groupings, usu. inhabiting specific region
Sumer - ancient region in Near East in which city-states and written language first developed in late Neolithic period, after 4000 B.C.
troglodyte - prehistoric cave dweller
Upper Paleolithic period - latter portion of Old Stone Age, between 40,000 and 10,000 B.C.