Chapter 12: The Emergence of Anatomically Modern Humans Flashcards
signification
a sign (a character, a word, an image) that identifies an entity or assigns meaning to a situation; for example, a red light at an intersection or a dollar sign
population bottleneck
an evolutionary event in which a population is reduced in number, resulting in the loss of genetic variation
effective population size
a measure of reproductive potential based on the likelihood that individuals in a population of a given size contribute genes equally to succeeding generations
behavioural modernity
having the attributes of modern human behaviour (e.g., cognition, language, symbolism, social relationships)
Middle Stone Age
the period spanning 250 000 to 40 000 years ago in Africa; it is associated with archaic and anatomically modern humans
blade tools
tools made of long, parallel-sided flakes struck from a prepared core
microliths
small, flaked tools made from blades or parts of blades
composite tools
tools consisting of two or more components; for example, stone tools hafted onto wooden spear shafts
Later Stone Age
the period of time spanning 40 000 to 10 000 years ago in Africa
burins
stone tools used to shape bone, wood, antler, and ivory into other tools
atlatl
a device fashioned from bone, antler, or wood that increases mechanical advantage in spear-throwing, increasing distance and force
entoptic
images that arise from within the eye during altered states of consciousness
Paleo-Indians
the name given to the first occupants of North and South America
Beringia
an exposed land bridge that connected Siberia and Alaska during the last glacial period when sea levels were lower
haplogroups
groups of similar haplotypes that share a common ancestor; haplotypes are groups of genes that are inherited together
