Chapter 3: Early Hominins

Question 1

Lithic analysis

Answer 1

the archaeologicial study of stone tools

Question 2

Knapping

Answer 2

the manufacture of stone tools

Question 3

Percussion

Answer 3

a sharp blow to a rock in order to break off a smaller piece

ex. lower Paleolithic tools

Question 4

Flake

Answer 4

the piece that is struck off

Question 5

Core

Answer 5

the piece from which the flake is struck

Question 6

Ventral face

Answer 6

the sureface that is split off of the core

Question 7

Bulb of precussion

Answer 7

• a convex area at the end where it was struck
• produced when the force of the blow enters the rock as a cone (like stone dropped in water)

Question 8

Direct percussion

Answer 8

a hit directly at the core

Question 9

Hard-hammer direct percussion

Answer 9

a rock used as a hammer

Question 10

Soft-hammer direct percussion

Answer 10

• either an antler or a piece of hardwood is used
• allows the knapper to produce thin flakes with a less pronounced bulb of percussion

Question 11

Indirect percussion

Answer 11

• the use of an intermediary device known as a punch between the hammer and the core
• advantage - the precise placement of the blow can be controlled
• used in making long blades or shaping arrowheads

Question 12

Pressure techniques

Answer 12

• same as percussion except pressure is applied
• used for very fine shaping of tools

Question 13

Retouch

Answer 13

the careful secondary shaping of a core or flake

Question 14

Stones used by knappers

Answer 14

are brittle and fine grained and do not have internal features that determine the direction in which they break

ex. flint (chert), basalt, and obsidian are used to make stone tools

Question 15

Hominins

Answer 15

all the members of the human lineage after it split with the chimpanzee lineage

Question 16

Sahelanthropus tchadensis

Answer 16

a possible early member of the hominin lineage 7 million years ago

Question 17

Ardipithecus ramidus

Answer 17

an early species in the hominin lineage 4.5 million years ago

Question 18

Radiation

Answer 18

• a period in which there is a rapid increase in the diversity of a single lineage
• occurred in hominin lineage 4-2 million years ago

Question 19

Australopithecine

Answer 19

a hominin genus that lived in Africa 4-1.8 million years ago

Question 20

Laetoli

Answer 20

in Tanzania where tracks of australopithecine footprints were found, showing that australopithecines walked upright

Question 21

Homo habilis

Answer 21

earliest species in the genus Homo 2.5-1.6 million years ago

Question 22

Homo erectus

Answer 22

first hominin found on sites outside of Africa 1.9-1.5 million years ago

Question 23

East African Rift Valley

Answer 23

a geo-logical feature stretching from East Africa to the Middle East that is the richest context for the recovery of early hominin archaeological sites

Question 24

Olduvai Gorge

Answer 24

• most impressive and important location in the East African Rift Valley for the study of human evolution
• Australopithecus afarensis

Question 25

Lower Paleolithic

Answer 25

the period when hominins began producing stone tools

Question 26

Oldowan Lower Paleolithic

Answer 26

stone tool industry characterized by choppers and flakes

Question 27

Acheulian

Answer 27

* lower Paleolithic stone tool industry * handaxes and cleavers

Question 28

Bifaces

Answer 28

* characteristic tools of the Acheulian * handaxes and cleavers

Question 29

Taï Forest

Answer 29

* location where chimpanzees use stone hammers and anvils to break open hard nuts * tools found not manufactured

Question 30

Hadar

Answer 30

East African Rift Valley where many important fossils, including the near-complete fossil of an australopithecine, and some of the earliest known stone tools have been discovered

Question 31

Lomekwi

Answer 31

in Kenya where earliest stone tools 3.2 million years ago have been found

Question 32

Lokalalei

Answer 32

in Kenya and indicates that stone tool manufacture at this early date was more complex than anticipated

Question 33

FLK North (FLKN)

Answer 33

in Olduvai Gorge where the remains of an elephant were found together with stone tools

Question 34

Home-base/food-sharing model

Answer 34

the sharing of meat at base camps as a fundamental part of the lives of early hominins

Question 35

DK

Answer 35

in Olduvai Gorge where a stone circle was found suggesting evidence of a temporary structure built on a home-base site

Question 36

Palimpsest

Answer 36

produced by a series of distinct brief occupations

Question 37

Chesowanja

Answer 37

in Kenya and has produced unconfirmed evidence for the use of fire by early hominins

Question 38

Dispersal

Answer 38

an event where a single species dramatically expands its range

Question 39

Ubeidiya

Answer 39

one of the earliest archaeological sites outside of Africa in Israel

Question 40

Dmanisi

Answer 40

oldest known archaeological site outside of Africa in the Republic of Georgia

Question 41

Sangiran and Perning

Answer 41

on the island of Java where fossils of Homo erectus were found

Question 42

Nihewan Basin

Answer 42

in northern China where there is solid evidence of human occupation