Archaeology Wordsmith

           

archaeology editor/writer providing solutions for busy archaeologists

Results for cranial:

(View exact match)

brain endocast

SYNONYM: endocranial cast
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: A cast of the cranial cavity (inner surface of the cranium) to produce an accurate image of and the approximate shape of the brain. These are made by pouring latex rubber into a skull. The fossil record can yield endocranial casts and, from them, possible brain volumes -- especially of early man.

cranial

CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: Of or pertaining to the cranium or skull. A cranial skeleton is the bones of the head, including the mandible. The cranium is the bones of the skull, not including the mandible.

endocast

SYNONYM: endocranial cast
CATEGORY: tool
DEFINITION: An internal cast, as of the inside of the human skull. A cast of the cranial cavity showing the approximate shape of the brain.

postcranial skeleton

CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: All bones other than those of the cranial skeleton.

(View exact match)

anatomically modern human

SYNONYM: AMH
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: The group of humans who were within the range of the modern human species, showing the anatomical traits of moderns such as a cranial capacity of over 1400 cubic centimeters and a chin.

Mechta-Afalou

SYNONYM: Mechta Afalou
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: The name given to a modern human physical type represented in the archaeological record of the Maghreb, especially on Ibero-Maurusian sites and associated with bladelet industries in the Nile Valley. Cemeteries such as those at Columnata and Afalou bou Rhummel have yielded large numbers of skeletons. The people were of medium height, robustly built, and with a mean cranial capacity of around 1650 cc. Remains from earlier periods suggest that the Mechta-Afalou population was of stock indigenous to northwestern Africa. Mechtoid-related forms are restricted to the western and central Sahara during the last 10,000 years and are considered a North African branch of Cro-Magnon man.

Mossgiel

CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The find site of a skeleton with robust cranial morphology on the western plains of New South Wales, Australia. Radiocarbon dating of bone gave an estimate of about 4000 BC.

Peking man

SYNONYM: Pekin man, Sinanthropus
CATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: An obsolete name for a variety of Homo erectus found at Zhoukoudian cave (Choukoutien), southwest of Beijing (Peking). The braincase was thick, with a massive basal and occipital torus structure and heavy browridges. The remains of over 40 fossil humans were found there. These Chou-k'ou-tien fossils are dated to the Middle Pleistocene, about 900,000-130,000 years ago. Peking man postdates Java man and is considered more advanced in having a larger cranial capacity, a forehead, and nonoverlapping canines.

Tartanga

CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Site on the lower Murray River, South Australia, with small cores, scrapers, bone points, grinding stones, and tula adze flakes dated to c 4000 BC. Skeletons of two juveniles found have some cranial features similar to the robust Talgai skull.

trepanation

SYNONYM: trepanning, trephining; trephination
CATEGORY: term
DEFINITION: A surgical practice in which small sections of cranial bone are removed or a hole is made in a living human's head. It was used as an attempt to cure tumors, to relieve the brain of pressure after injury, cure headaches or epilepsy, or to cure insanity. It is clear that many subjects survived the operation, for in several cases the bone has started to regenerate, while in others there is evidence for successive trepanations. There are many prehistoric records of the practice, especially in Neolithic France and pre-Columbian Peru. The practice survives among some primitive peoples.