Columbia Encyclopedia

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rock carvings and paintings

(Encyclopedia)rock carvings and paintings, designs inscribed on rock surfaces and huge stone monuments in many parts of the world by prehistoric or preindustrial peoples. They have been found on every continent and...

infancy

(Encyclopedia)infancy, stage of human development lasting from birth to approximately two years of age. The hallmarks of infancy are physical growth, motor development, vocal development, and cognitive and social d...

soul

(Encyclopedia)soul, the vital, immaterial, life principle, generally conceived as existing within humans and sometimes within all living things, inanimate objects, and the universe as a whole. Religion and philosop...

forestry

(Encyclopedia)forestry, the management of forest lands for wood, water, wildlife, forage, and recreation. Because the major economic importance of the forest lies in wood and wood products, forestry has been chiefl...

Americas, antiquity and prehistory of the

(Encyclopedia)Americas, antiquity and prehistory of the, study of the origins of the aboriginal peoples of the Americas. Archaeologists believe humans had entered and occupied much of the Americas by the end of the...

archaeology

(Encyclopedia)archaeology ärkēŏlˈəjē [key] [Gr.,=study of beginnings], a branch of anthropology that seeks to document and explain continuity and change and similarities and differences among human cultures. ...

depilatory

(Encyclopedia)depilatory dĭpĭlˈətôrˌē [key], substance used to remove hair. In preparing hides for tanning, lime is the chief depilatory. For the removal of superfluous hair from the human body, metal sulfid...

Dunhuang

(Encyclopedia)Dunhuang or Tunhwang both: do͞on-hwäng [key], town, extreme NW Gansu prov., China. Crescent Lake, a noted tourist attraction surrounded by high sand dunes, is there. The Caves of the Thousand Buddha...

Clovis culture

(Encyclopedia)Clovis culture, a group of Paleo-Indians (see Americas, antiquity and prehistory of the) known through artifacts first excavated in the early 1930s near Clovis, N.Mex. The artifacts, including chipped...

fer-de-lance

(Encyclopedia)fer-de-lance fĕrˌ-də-lănsˈ [key], highly poisonous snake, Bothrops atrox, found in tropical South America and the West Indies. A pit viper, related to the bushmaster and the rattlesnake, it has h...