Dispersal and Cultural Evolution Flashcards
Cultural evolution
Passing on traits and skills by learning rather than by genetic processes.
Acheulan tool culture
Tools made and used by Homo erectus
Typically tear dropped shaped
50 blows
Frontal lobe allowed them to make tools
Hunters - could use tools to hunt and kill
First to use fire habitually
Fully shaped tools that took more time and precision
Mousterian tool culture
Tools made and used by Homo neanderthalensis.
Typically hand axes but including scrapers and fine points.
Tools for hunting, making more tools, clothing, shelter
Oldowan tool culture
First tools made by Homo habilis. Typically a chopper for striking bones to extract the marrow.
5 blows
Scavengers
Dig up vegetation, crack bones to get bone marrow, scraped meat from bones
Feeds the brain - frontal lobe for creativity, planning etc. Cerebellum for precision grip.
Made by striking two stones together to produce a sharp edge.
Paleolithic tool culture
Stone age culture of Homo sapiens. Still in use by some groups of humans.
250 blows
Composite tools - wood and stone, putting two materials together to make tools
Travelled far to get materials to make tools.
Leaving Africa
Approximately 100,000 years ago, Homo sapiens emigrated out of Africa. Gradually replaced the other Homo populations that occupied Asia and Europe.
Multiregional Model
The Multiregional Model argues that Homo erectus left Africa around 1.8 mya and spread to Europe and Asia.
Homo sapiens then evolved simultaneously in these archaic populations.
Regular gene flow/interbreeding between separate populations allowed for evolution resulting in a single species, Homo sapiens, rather than multiple species of Homo.
Out of Africa model
The Out of Africa model argues that modern Homo sapiens evolved in Africa and not from wandering, interbreeding Homo erectus populations.
Some Homo sapiens left Africa approximately 100,000 years ago. These migrants replaced the other Homo species.
Domestication
Deliberately managing the reproduction of a species to make use of it for human benefit. Typically involves wild species becoming tamed and physically/phenotypically altered in some way to provide a benefit to humans.
Forethought
The ability to imagine an outcome or product before it happens.
Vital for planning ahead, particularly in tool making, hunting and migrating.
Levallois technique
Multistage process involving preparing a core-stone then using a hammer and chisel to strike of a flake with very sharp edges. Required
forethought and skill, and some amount of teaching/learning.
The Denisovans
A group of hominins identified from finger bones and teeth, found in Central Asia, with genetic links to people of east Asian and Melanesian ancestry.
How were Homo successful in leaving Africa?
Efficient bipedal gait
allowed long distance travel, possibly following grazing herds that could be hunted using intelligence and teamwork, and effective tools to obtain meat.
What were the advantages of tools?
Bipedalism allowed for the evolution or precise hand movements necessary for making and using simple tools.
These tools would have allowed our ancestors to
access protein-rich food sources.
How was using fire good for food?
- Cooking causes a number of chemical changes that make starches and protein easier to digest.
- cooking kills most pathogens, parasites and detoxifies some
plant poisons making food safer to eat. - by making food more digestible, the need
for large digestive tracts is reduced, as is the need for large jaws and teeth along with the muscles
associated with them.
