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Tuscany

(Encyclopedia)Tuscany tŭsˈkənē [key], Ital. Toscana, region (1991 pop. 3,538,619), 8,876 sq mi (22,989 sq km), N central Italy, bordering on the Tyrrhenian Sea in the west and including the Tuscan Archipelago. ...

Neanderthal man

(Encyclopedia)Neanderthal man –tôlˌ [key], a species of Homo, the genus to which contemporary humans belong, known as H. neandertalensis after Neanderthal (now Neandertal), Germany, the valley where the first s...

Yucatán, peninsula, North America

(Encyclopedia)Yucatán yo͞okətănˈ [key], peninsula, c.70,000 sq mi (181,300 sq km), mostly in SE Mexico, separating the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico. It comprises the states of Yucatán, Campeche, and ...

Australopithecus

(Encyclopedia)Australopithecus ôstrāˌlōpĭthˈəkəs, –pəthēˈkəs [key], an extinct hominin genus found in Africa between about 4 and 1 million years ago. At least seven species of australopithecines are n...

Brittany

(Encyclopedia)Brittany brĭtˈənē [key], Breton Breiz, Fr. Bretagne, region and former province, NW France. It is a peninsula between the English Channel (N) and the Bay of Biscay (S) and comprises four departmen...

asteroid

(Encyclopedia)CE5 The asteroid belt lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Gaps where no asteroids are found are called Kirkwood gaps. The Trojan asteroids share Jupiter's orbit with the planet. asteroid,...

Hapsburg

(Encyclopedia)Hapsburg or Habsburg both: hăpsˈbûrg, Ger. häpsˈbo͝ork [key], ruling house of Austria (1282–1918). In the 19th cent. the Hapsburg position was challenged in Germany by Prussia, in Italy b...

Louis XI, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Louis XI, 1423–83, king of France (1461–83), son and successor of Charles VII. A born diplomat, Louis skillfully checked his foreign and domestic enemies and set up an efficient central administ...

Germanic religion

(Encyclopedia)Germanic religion, pre-Christian religious practices among the tribes of Western Europe, Germany, and Scandinavia. The main sources for our knowledge are the Germania of Tacitus and the Elder Edda and...

Pleistocene epoch

(Encyclopedia)Pleistocene epoch plīˈstəsēn [key], 6th epoch of the Cenozoic era of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table). According to a classification that considered its depos...