Anthropic units

The phrase anthropic units (from Greek anthropos meaning [hu]man) is used with different meanings in archaeology, in mensuration and in social studies.

In archaeology anthropic units are strata or deposits of material containing a high proportion of man-made detritus. For example:

"… 'degraded anthropic units', i.e., deposits produced by weathering and decay of fired bricks and mixed fill with non-selected inclusions …"

Following the coinage of the term "anthropic principle" by Brandon Carter in 1973–4, units of measurement that are on a human scale are occasionally referred to as "anthropic units", as for example here:

"… the metre and kilogram occupy a reasonably central position as far as symmetry in positive and negative powers of ten is concerned, emphasising that the SI units are natural anthropic units …"

In fields of study such as sociology and ethnography, anthropic units are identifiable groupings of people. For example:

"Ethnographers have been accustomed to deal with the 'race', the 'tribe' and the 'nation' as social or anthropic units …"

and:

"... among the more primitive anthropic units it seems a grave ineptitude for the Chukchees not to adopt the snowhouse building complex from the neighboring Eskimos"

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