Cultural evidence (6) Flashcards
Fossils and genetic evidence are not the only
evidence of human evolution. Early hominins very
gradually began to control their environment; to
use it to alter their way of life because of the unique
combination of: (2)
- a larger brain, especially the cortical area.
- specialised physical features such as more dexterous hands.
This non-genetic means of adaptation, called cultural evolution, improved the success of early hominins.
African apes use objects such as _____ (to crack
nuts) and thin sticks (to pull termites out of
termite mounds). This behaviour is learnt from
their parents and it is likely that the common
ancestor of _____ and humans used tools
similarly. However, they did not make tools.
Therefore, the remains of manufactured tools are
evidence of human _____ evolution.
stones
chimpanzees
cultural
What is the next major step in human evolution in human evolution?
After the evolution of bipedalism (4.2 mya) in the
earliest genus of hominins, Ardipithecus, tool-
making was the next major step in human
evolution. It marks the first trait that is unique to
the genus Homo.
Why are hominin hands well adapted for tool-making?
Hominin hands are well adapted
for tool-making as they are capable of fine
manipulation and coordination.
Tool-making (modification of rocks and later bone,
metals, wood, etc.) and the use of the tools lead to: (2)
- new ways of getting food, e.g. the ability to crack open long bones and get at the marrow, to dig and to sharpen or shape wooden implements.
- efficient hunting in organised groups with the later more sophisticated tools. Hunting also required the development of good communication.
How did cultural evolution take place?
Gradually as the learned skills and behaviours
were passed on to offspring cultural evolution
occurred.
What does dating tools help with?
By dating stone tools, a clear pattern of tool evolution can be seen. The earliest tools were large, simple and crude while the most recent were small, complex and elegant. Put simply, much less skill was needed to make the early tools than the later tools. The greater the evidence of skill the more the brain, particularly the cerebral cortex and thus the species, must have evolved.
The first evidence of the intentional manufacture
of any stone-tool comes 2.5 mya from the _____ ______ ______.
Ethiopian Rift Valley
The early humans, probably ___ ____ , used hammerstones to strike stone cores and produce sharp flakes. These large simple tools represent the simplest form of stone tool technology and are known as _____ tools.
Homo habilis
Oldowan
Nonetheless, they are evidence that the early humans had intellectually evolved beyond their earlier hominin ancestors, the ________, who did not appear to make tools.
australopithecines
_______ ______ might have made bone tools for gathering plant foods. For more than 2 million years, early humans used these tools to cut, pound, crush and access new foods-including meat from large animals.
Paranthropus ropustus
There were two groups of tools. What were these? (2)
- Choppers (the remains of the core), which were for crushing nuts and seeds, or bones to get the marrow and for softening vegetable material.
- Scrapers (the flakes chipped off the core), which being sharp could cut the meat off a carcass killed by other animals.
These unsophisticated tools suggest that the early Homo species, Homo habilis, were _____ and not hunters.
scavengers
At about the same time as ____ _____ appeared archaeologists found that there was a major change in the stone-tool industry.
At about the same time as Homo ergaster
What did the advanced tools of the Archeulian industry show?
These more advanced tools of the Archeulian industry showed a preconceived design, not just a random hammering of a core stone.
What did these large tools look like?
These large tools had a central core of a stone with larger flakes chipped off and edges that were sharpened all round and had a more regular ‘tear-drop’ shape.
For well over a million years these double-faced hand-axes, cleavers and picks (collectively known as bifaces) were made and used. During this time they showed little variation. With these multi-purpose sharper tools _______ became an efficient ____ of small mammals, and was able to live on a mixed diet of meat and plants.
H. ergaster
hunter
The Acheulian tool industry ended only about 250 000 years ago, which may be associated with the rise of ____ ________ (archaic Homo sapiens).
Homo heidelbergensis (archaic Homo sapiens).
Technological and cultural evolution really accelerated from about 250 kya. The stone tools became more diverse, smaller and more refined, e.g. knives, scrapers, slicers and needles. Some tools had engravings with symbolic markings. What did these changes show?
These changes required thoughtful actions, fine motor control and co- ordination, all of which showed further cultural evolution.
Where have bone tools dated to about 80 000 years ago been found in South Africa?
Bone tools dated to about 80 000 years ago have been found in Blombos Cave, on the southern Cape coast of South Africa. Showing more cultural evolution.
By about 40000 years ago, humans had learned to craft small _____ and _____ that became part of a lightweight, sophisticated composite toolkit. The tools were used for an even greater variety of specific tasks, e.g. micro-blades and other points were probably hafted onto shafts to make spears, darts and arrows, which allowed the hominins to catch fast and dangerous prey. All of this is further evidence of hominin evolution.
flakes
blades
About 20 000 years ago the development of a far more complex tool kit, with microliths, bone and wooden tools with an infinite variety of uses, from stitching to harpooning fish, was further evidence of the evolution of ____ _____ behaviour. These later tools were also things of beauty, something not seen in earlier tool cultures, which showed an aesthetic appreciation - a human trait.
modern behaviour
About 5 000 years ago stone was replaced by copper, bronze and tin in tool-making as more complex ______ evolved.
societies
There are other practices that showed the cultural evolution of hominins. These include the following: (2)
- Co-operative hunting, which enabled early hunters to catch large prey that otherwise would not have been possible.
- Fire-making, provided a means of keeping warm, deterred predators from the campsite and helped drive prey during a hunt. During the evenings, fires probably also encouraged socialization.
All signs of cultural evolution.
The control and use of fire is highly significant as it enables anthropologists to determine a fair amount about the lifestyle of the early hominins - _____ / _____ (African H. erectus).
H. erectus / H. ergaster
What can the use of fires tell us about the lifestyle of H. erectus?
Fire could have: (10)
- led to social behaviour with the warmth and extended ‘daylight’ hours.
- encouraged conversation and teaching.
- offered more permanent (but still temporary) dwelling sites.
- given a measure of protection from predators at night.
- helped in co-operative hunting by herding animals away from fire.
- provided humans with roast meat making it more appetizing. This could have resulted in more protein being eaten, which may have aided brain development.
- a wider choice of food, including smoked and dried fish and meat, and led to the invention of cooking.
- been a sign of intelligence, as keeping a fire going showed forward planning.
- enabled better, stronger tools to be made that would have led to more successful hunting.
- been a factor that enabled H. erectus to migrate out of Africa and into colder climates in Europe and Asia.
Why was the controlled use of fire significant?
The controlled use of fire marked a crucial change in human behaviour as it showed they had the ability to adjust the environment to suit their needs.
