Chapter 9 Key Terms Flashcards
The study of the skeleton
Osteology
Physical differences between the sexes of a species that are not related to reproductive features
Sexual Dimorphism
An organism adapted to a diet of mostly meat.
Carnivore
An organism with mixed diet of animal and vegetable foods
Omnivore
The study of disease and nutritional deficiency in prehistoric populations, usually through the examination of skeletal material
Paleopathology
Cutting a hole in the skull, presumable to treat some illness
Trephination
Locations that contain fossil and archaeological evidence of human presence
Sites
Turned to stone
petrified
Here, the precise location where a fossil or artifact was found
Provenience
The principle of stratigraphy that, barring disturbances, more recent layers are superimposed over older ones.
Superposition
A dating method that indicates the age of one item in comparison to another
Relative Dating Technique
The study of fossils in there stratigraphic context. Used as a relative dating technique.
Biostratigraphy
Dating methods that give specific ages, years, or ranges of years for objects or sites.
Absolute Dating Techniques
Referring to the decay rate of a radioactive substance
Radiometric
A radiometric dating technique using the decay rate of a radioactive form of carbon found in organic remains
Radiocarbon Dating
The time needed for one-half of a given amount of radioactive substance to decay
Half-life
A radiometric dating technique used the rate at which radioactive potassium, found in volcanic rock, decays into stable argon gas.
Potassium/Argon
A radiometric dating technique that uses the decay of radioactive argon into stable argon gas. Can be used to date smaller samples and volcanic rock with greater accuracy than K/Ar dating.
Argon/Argon Dating
The study of how organisms become part of the paleontological record
Taphonomy
