Paleoanthropology

"Paleoanthropology, also spelled Palaeoanthropology, also called Human Paleontology, interdisciplinary branch of anthropology concerned with the origins and development of early humans. " [R2]

Human evolution on stampIn other worlds, Paleoanthropology or Palaeoanthropology, is a science about human origin and evolution based on fossils record, primitive (flint, stone) tools, artifact and settlement locations. Paleoanthropology studies the prehistoric ancestors of humankind, referred to in a group as hominids.

Don't miss it with Archeology
and Anthropology.
Archeology - science about modern human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture.
Anthropology - science about modern humans and human behavior and societies in the past and present.

Fossil can be of different types: entire, fragmented skeletons or just a single bones or teeths, tissue or even entire bodies preserved in permafrost, footprints etc.
Human fossil on stamp Human fossil on stamp Human fossil on stamp Hominid footprints on stamp

Paleoanthropologist at work on stamp Paleoanthropologist at work on stampPaleoanthropologist at work on stamp Scientists who study this fossils called Paleoanthropologists
or
Palaeoanthropologists .
They dig for fossils in the field, bringing them to universities, labs or museums where they dissect, study and assemble it.
In the field, discovering physical remains and other fossils follows painstaking procedures similar to those archaeologists use when uncovering cultural remains.
Once remains are discovered, they are usually sent to a laboratory or research center where they are carefully studied, using chemical and physical dating methods, X-Rays, MRIs, and other special tools. Paleoanthropologists are most interested in noting how the finds are similar and how they are different from already established ancestral lines [R3]


Results of their study, allows us to restore human evolution tree and make some reconstruction of prehistoric hominids and humans, as represented on many stamps from around the world.
Human evolution on stamps


References:
[R1] Wikipedia
[R2] Britanica
[R3] New World Encyclopedia

Acknowledge: many thanks to fellow collector Peter Brandhuber for his support and image of human evolution illustrated by stamps