Chapter 9

Question 1

mosaic evolution

Answer 1

a pattern of evolution in which the rate of evolution in one functional system varies from that in other systems; ex: in hominin evolution, the dental system, locomotor system, and neurological system (esp. brain) all evolved at markedly different rates

Question 2

culture

Answer 2

behavioral aspects of human adaptation, including technology, traditions, language, religion, marriage patterns, and social roles; a set of learned behaviors transmitted from one generation to the next by nonbiological, nongenetic means

Question 3

multidisciplinary

Answer 3

pertaining to research involving mutual contributions and the cooperation of experts from various scientific fields, or disciplines

Question 4

artifacts

Answer 4

objects or materials made or modified for use by hominins; the earliest artifacts are usually tools made of stone or occasionally bone

Question 5

stable carbon isotopes

Answer 5

isotopes of carbon that are produced in plants in differing proportions, depending on environmental conditions; by analyzing the proportions of the isotopes contained in fossil remains of animals (who ate the plants), it’s possible to reconstruct aspects of ancient diet and environments (particularly temperature and aridity

Question 6

taphonomy

Answer 6

the study of how bones and other materials came to be buried in the earth and preserved as fossils; taphonomists study the processes of sedimentation, the action of streams, preservation properties of bone, and carnivore disturbance factors

Question 7

context

Answer 7

the environmental setting where an archaeological trace is found; primary context is the setting in which the archeological trace was originally deposited; a secondary context is one to which it has been moved (such as by the action of a stream)

Question 8

chronometric dating

Answer 8

a dating technique that gives an estimate in actual numbers of years; also known as absolute dating

Question 9

stratigraphy

Answer 9

the study of the sequential layering of deposits

Question 10

principle of superposition

Answer 10

in a stratigraphic sequence, the lower layers were deposited before the upper layers; the stuff on top of a heap was put there last

Question 11

half-life

Answer 11

the time period in which one-half the amount of a radioactive isotope is converted chemically to a daughter product; ex: after 1.25 billion years, half the potassium-40 remains; after 2.5 billion years, one-fourth remains

Question 12

thermoluminescence (TL)

Answer 12

a technique for dating certain archaeological materials (such as stone tools) that were heated in the past and that, upon reheating, release the stored energy of radioactive decay as light

Question 13

paleomagneticism

Answer 13

dating method based on the earth’s shifting magnetic pole

Question 14

biostatigraphy

Answer 14

a relative dating technique based on the regular changes seen in evolving groups of animals as well as the presence or absence of particular species

Question 15

blanks

Answer 15

in archaeology, stones suitably sized and shaped to be further worked into tools

Question 16

flake

Answer 16

a thin-edged fragment removed from a core

Question 17

core

Answer 17

a stone reduced by flake removal; a core may or may not itself be used as a tool

Question 18

lithic

Answer 18

(lith, meaning “stone”); referring to stone tools

Question 19

knappers

Answer 19

people (frequently archaeologists) who make stone tools

Question 20

direct percussion

Answer 20

striking a core or flake with a hammerstone

Question 21

microlithis

Answer 21

small stone tools usually produced from narrow blades punched from a core; found especially in Africa during the latter part of the Pleistocene

Question 22

pressure flaking

Answer 22

a method of removing flakes from a core by pressing a pointed implement (e.g., bone or antler) against the stone

Question 23

microwear

Answer 23

polishes, striations, and other diagnostic microscopic changes on the edges of stone tools

Question 24

phytoliths

Answer 24

microscopic silica structures formed in the cells of many plants, particularly grasses