Glossary of terms

[sublime]

I thought it would be a nice idea to post a glossary of terms to help new members. Please feel free to add to this thread.

While preparing the glossary I came across a number of interesting sources of information. I have provided links to them for further reference.

Society for Nordish Physical Anthropology - Glossary
Wikipedia - Online Encyclopedia

[sublime]

Dinaric -

The term Dinaric comes from the name of a mountain called Dinara, on the border of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In geography, it is used to describe the Dinaric Alps mountain chain.

The Dinaric people are a group of humans in physical anthropology originating from the Dinaric mountains, characterized by broad face, relatively flat skull, stocky build, and long and more or less inclined nose and short arms. There is a fair mix of brunettes, blonds and brown-haired individuals in the Dinaric group and their skins are usually rosey to olive. Male members have a robust, or rustic look while the females tend to be more masculine. They share some affinities with the Alpines, Kypchaks and the Iranians and are sometimes indistinguishable from some Anatolians and Caucasus groups.

Slavic language speakers constitute the majority of Dinarics while there are also large numbers of Romanian, Albanian and Turkic language speakers. It is estimated that more than 60% of the population in the Balkans and in the north of Italy are Dinarics, and up to 30% in Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and Ukraine.

Source

[sublime]

Mestizo -

a person of mixed blood; specifically : a person of mixed European and American Indian ancestry

Etymology -

Spanish, from mestizo, adjective, mixed, from Late Latin mixticius, from Latin mixtus, past participle of miscEre to mix

Source
[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mestizo
]Further reading[/url]

[sublime]

Mulatto -

1 : the first-generation offspring of a black person and a white person
2 : a person of mixed white and black ancestry

Etymology -

Spanish mulato, from mulo mule, from Latin mulus

Source
Further reading

[sublime]

Mongoloid -

1. Anthropology Of or being a major human racial classification traditionally distinguished by physical characteristics such as yellowish-brown skin pigmentation, straight black hair, dark eyes with pronounced epicanthic folds, and prominent cheekbones and including peoples indigenous to central and eastern Asia. Not in scientific use.
2. Characteristic of or resembling a Mongol.
3. also mongoloid Offensive Of or relating to Down syndrome.

Source

[sublime]

Epicanthal fold -

An epicanthal fold, epicanthic fold or epicanthus is a skin fold of the upper eyelid (from the nose to the inner side of the eyebrow) covering the inner corner (medial canthus) of the eye. This fold covers and appears to lower the inner corners of the eyes, creating the appearance of "slanted eyes."

The presence of an epicanthal fold is normal in people of many though not all groups of East Asian and Southeast Asian descent. Epicanthal folds may also be seen in young children of any race before the bridge of the nose begins to elevate.

An epicanthal fold is also common in people with Down syndrome and is the origin of the (once neutral, now considered offensive) term "mongoloid."



Source
Further reading

[sublime]

Caucasian -

In physical anthropology, Caucasian (Varietas Caucasia) is a race that includes most of the natives of Northern, Eastern and Central Europe, West and central Asia, North Africa, and as far east as the Indian subcontinent. This category was first proposed by the German scientist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752-1840), who coined the term in his treatise "On the Natural Varieties of Mankind" in 1775. His studies based the classification of the Caucasian race primarily on skull features, which Blumenbach claimed were optimized by Georgian people, one of the indigenous peoples of the Caucasus.

Later anthropologists such as Carleton Coon have further expanded upon the classification of the Caucasian race proposed by Blumenbach, and have subdivided the group into Nordic, Alpine, Mediterranean, and at times Dinaric and Baltic subdivisions. However, it is clearly observable that many people do not correspond easily to one such subracial type or another.

There is currently extensive debate on the scientific validity of racial classifications, and many people reject systems of racial classification as inherently arbitrary and subject to wide divergences in most populations. But Caucasian remains a common term in North America to describe whites of northern, eastern and western European descent. Southern Europeans are often termed as 'Latins'. Caucasian peoples of Asian, African, or Mediterranean origin are generally excluded from the popular definition of Caucasian. As a matter of fact, the term retains some accuracy only when applied to forensic anthropology in North America. Its relevance is debatable as a physical anthropological, ethnic/cultural or socio-political concept.

While the term Caucasian is still used for the lack of a better word in describing the peoples of western Eurasia, careful speakers generally limit the term to describe the Caucasian peoples and the inhabitants of Asia Minor, especially when describing any specific ethnic or cultural traits.

Popularly, the word "white" is used synonymously with "Caucasian" in North America, especially in government terms.

Source

[sublime]

Occiput -

(Anatomy) Lower posterior portion of the skull largely covered (and protected) by the muscles of the neck.


[url=http://uscneurosurgery.com/graphics/anatomy/gross/cranial/skull/calvarium/suboccipital-oblique-asteri.jpg
]Further picture[/url]

Source
Further Reading

[sublime]

Cephalic index -

The ratio, multiplied by 100, of the maximum breadth from side to side of the head to its maximum length from front to back in living individuals.

Cephalic indices are grouped as

< 70.0 : hyperdolichocephalic, or extremely 'long-headed'
70.0 to 74.9 : dolichocephalic, or 'long-headed'
75.0 to 79.9 : mesocephalic, or 'medium-headed' (sometimes mesaticephalic)
80.0 to 84.9 : brachycephalic, or 'round' or 'short-headed'
85.0 to 89.9 : hyperbrachycephalic, or extremely 'round' or 'short-headed'
>= 90.0 : ultrabrachycephalic, or far beyond the normal degree of 'round' or 'short-headededness'


Source
Source 2
Further reading (The values given for the cephalic indices at this URL are incorrect as pointed out by Dienekes Pontikos.)

[k5125]

I can't stand how "caucasian" has come to mean nowadays anybody who has blond hair, blue eyes, and pale skin.

It should strictly refer to people from the caucas.

And the term "white" is useless and completely arbitrary.

Back in the early days, Irish people weren't even white. Now they are.

Thats why its such a dumb word.

[pconroy]

k5125 said:

I can't stand how "caucasian" has come to mean nowadays anybody who has blond hair, blue eyes, and pale skin.

It should strictly refer to people from the caucas.

And the term "white" is useless and completely arbitrary.

Back in the early days, Irish people weren't even white. Now they are.

Thats why its such a dumb word.

How would you describe Irish people, if not white?

[mike2]

White is only useful if it is used as a synonym for Caucasoid. That's why white nationalists are stupid. There's no such thing as a European race that ends as soon as one enters West Asia or North Africa. There is only a white race, a white race that before colonial times spanned Europe, West Asia, North Africa, the Iranian Plateau, India, and Turkestan. Europe is a continent. Not a people.

[SensoUnico]

Caucasian is perfectly fine by me to represent the race of Europe, West Asia and North Africa. White is fine also. Caucasoid is overdone mostly by people who cannot accept certain Caucasian groups as Caucasian because those groups are not NW Europeans in phenotype. It is just racism. Blumenbach may have been deluded to think a female skull from Georgia was the epitome of the European white race but he chose it and it had been accepted by biologists, anthropologists and those interested in race until the racist viewpoint of White is distinct from Caucasian is distinct from Caucasoid came into vogue probably 10 years ago. It is just the lack of knowledge about biology and anthropology and their history. I doubt too many people actually live in the Caucasus mountains to warrant the name Caucasian applied to them particularly as they are a racial, ethnic and religious hotch potch. Anyhow should it not be pronounced as cauc' as' i' an like an Armenian name for those peoples and cauc' asian for Caucasians?

[jay (mulatto)]

platyrhine - wide ass nose.
leptorhine - skinny ass nose
mesorhine - intermediate nose.