Exam 2 Flashcards
How are hominins identified?
Bipedalism
What is the main advantage of bipedalism?
It is energy efficient; The movement is economical, and it allows for safe movement during midday
Who was Selam?
Australopithecus afarensis, dated 3.3 MYA
3 year old female child; brain was still developing at time of death
What 2 unique human traits are connected?
Bipedalism and prolonged childhood (slower brain development)
Punctuated Equilibruim
Stability in the fossil record followed by periods of rapid change; Fits the human fossil record best
What are some features of Archaic H. Sapiens?
Pronounced brow ridges
Lower forehead
Occipital bun
No chin
Shorter
More robust
Shorter limbs
Cold-adapted
What are some features of Anatomically Modern H. Sapiens?
Little or no brow ridge
High rounded brain case
Flatter occipital region
Distinctive chin
Taller
More gracile
Longer limbs
Tropical-adapted
Symbolic Consciousness
Information able to be stored outside of the human brain
What are the benefits of symbolic consciousness?
Access to a greater volume of information allows for more complex problem solving
Transmission of social information allows for more complex forms of social organization
Mitochondrial DNA
Maps the geographic dispersal of modern humans; Everyone shares L haplotypes
How can race best be described?
Race is a social construct, not a meaningful way of understanding human variability. Race incorrectly views human biological variability as having fixed categories with clearly defined categories
Race can more correctly be understood as being clinal, fluid and continuous
Racism
A complex system of power relationships that draws upon culturally constructed categories of race
Individual Racism
Personal prejudiced beliefs and discriminatory actions
Institutional Racism
Impersonal patterns of racial inequality structured by cultural institutions, policies, and systems
What is the Paleolithic Period also known as?
The Old Stone Age
Oldowan
Stone cobbles with minimally worked edges; Made by H. habilis
Acheulian
Teardrop shaped “hand axes;” Made by H. erectus
Flake
A fragment of stone removed from a core
Core
A nucleus or mass of rock that shows signs of flake removal
Percussion Flaking
Removal of hard flakes by striking the core with an object
Hard Hammer
Stone
Soft Hammer
Bone or antler
Pressure Flaking
Removal of flakes by applying pressure to the edge
Foragers
Societies that subsist on wild plant and animal resources
Through what means do forager economies respond to seasonal and geographic fluctuations in resource availability?
Scheduling, storage, and mobility
What types of storage do hunter-gatherers use?
Physical storage
Ecological storage
Social storage
Biological storage
Upon what do mobility strategies depend on?
Environment
What storage strategies do foragers use?
Move people to resources
Daily foraging
Residential mobility
What storage strategies do collectors use?
Move resources to people
Storage of surpluses
Logistical mobility
Generalized Reciprocity
How people share things with no regard for their value or interest in compensation; The primary mechanism of exchange among foragers
What are some features of general reciprocity?
Gift giving (value & time of repayment aren’t specified)
Social connections hold priority over the gift itself
Balanced resource variability (social storage)
How does band level political organization work within hunter-gatherer groups?
Groups are small scale with no absolute authority
Egalitarian social relationships
Control is maintained through informal mechanisms (shame, accusations of witchcraft, etc)
The First Hominins
Species:
Ardipithecus
Australopithecus
Age:
5-2.5 MYA
Physical Trait:
Bipedalism
Behavioral Trait:
Prolonged childhood
The First Humans
Species:
Homo habilis
Homo erectus
Age:
2.5 MYA-500 KYA
Physical Trait:
Big brains
Behavioral Trait:
Adaptation to environmental change
Archaic Humans
Species:
Neanderthals
Age:
500-40 KYA
Physical Trait:
Occipital bun
Brow ridges
Behavioral Trait:
Behaviorally Modern Humans
Species:
Behaviorally modern humans
Age:
90 KYA-present
Physical Trait:
Behavioral Trait:
Symbolic consciousness
Anatomically Modern Humans
Species:
Anatomically modern humans
Age:
200-90 KYA
Physical Trait:
Rounded frontal cortex
Behavioral Trait:
Lower Paleolithic
Core tool industries
Scavenging, possible hunting
Controlled use of fire
Middle Paleolithic
Flake tool industries and levallois cores
Efficient use of stone
Hand-held spears
Upper Paleolithic
Blade cores, pressure flaking, tools as symbols
Rapid stylistic and technological change
Atlatls and bone harpoons
Long distance acquisition of materials
Cave paintings
What features are different in bipedals when compared with quadropedals?
Spine is ‘S’ shaped
Foramen magnum is at bottom of head
Pelvis is wide
Compact, arched foot without an opposable big toe
What are the features of Australopithecus?
Short, bipedal hominins
Small, chimp-like brains
What was likely the diet of Australopithecines?
A vegetarian diet
What was likely the diet of Homo habilis?
A diet full of fats and meat, found through scavenging
Hypo-descent
One-drop rule (Common in the U.S. and Japan)
Who colonized greater Australia?
Modern humans colonized greater Australia 70,000 years ago by crossing 70 km of open ocean over and over again
What important features did Homo habilis possess?
Larger cranial capacity
Decreased prognathism (bulging out (protrusion) of the lower jaw)
Big brain relative to body size
Increase in brain folds (surface area)
Enlargement of Broca’s area (linked to speech)
Why did the genus Hom show up 2.5 MYA?
Territory detached from environmental boundaries
Ability to learn new environments
Adapted to environmental instability
Universalism
The belief that social systems have operated roughly the same way all over the world at all times past and present
Mode of Subsistence
A way in which people interact with the environment to meet their needs. Each mode of subsistence involves its own forms of knowledge, techniques, technologies, and social organization
Gathering-Hunting
The mode of subsistence in which people rely on resources readily available in their environment. Gathering-hunting peoples collect fruits, nuts, berries, and roots and harvest honey. They also hunt and trap wild animals
Seminomadic
The practice of settling in one place for a period of time, usually a few weeks, then moving to a new site to find fresh resources
Bands
A form of social organization associated with gatherer-hunter societies. Bands are relatively small, often around 50 people, ideal for a nomadic or seminomadic lifestyle
Egalitarian
Emphasizing equality and sharing
Analogous Structures
Anatomical similarities between two species that suggest not a common ancestor but rather similar environmental adaptations
Angiosperm Theory
A hypothesis that suggests that primate origins and typical primate characteristics developed in response to the emergence of flowering plants
Arboreal Theory
A hypothesis that proposes that primates evolved the traits they did as an adaptation to life in the trees
Artificial Selection
The process of deliberately breeding certain specimens of plants or animals to encourage desired traits
Biological Species Definition
A definition of species as members of populations that actually or potentially interbreed in nature
Catastrophism
The theory that changes in Earth’s fauna and flora were caused by supernatural catastrophic forces rather than evolution
Binomial Nomenclature
The scientific naming system developed by Carolus Linnaeus that represents two parts of a taxonomic name. The name is italicized, the genus is always capitalized, and the species is always lowercased. For example: Homo sapiens
Derived Characteristics
Physical traits that are present in related organisms but absent from their last common ancestor. They are often associated with a speciation event
Foramen Magnum
The opening at the base of the skull where the spinal column and nerves enter to reach the brain. The position of the foramen magnum can be used to determine if a species was bipedal
Genetic Anthropology
A branch of biological anthropology that uses molecular science to explore questions concerning human origins, early human migrations, and the appearance of disease across time
Genetic Drift
Random changes in the frequencies of alleles in a gene pool
Interspecific Variation
The genetic variation seen between two species
Intraspecific Variation
The genetic variation seen within a species
Prognathism
Projection of the face, as seen in many nonhuman primates and early hominins
Taxonomy
The science or technique of naming and classifying life
Sexual Dimorphism
Differences in physical characteristics other than reproductive organs that appear between males and females of the same species
Out of Africa Theory
Theory that proposes that Homo sapiens developed first in Africa and then spread around the world between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago
Occipital Bun
An anatomical feature seen in the Neanderthal skull that appears in the rear of the skull
Mitochondrial Eve
Genes traced through mitochondrial DNA that represent the female genetic originator of all humans who lived 200,000 years ago in Africa
Encephalization Quotient
A measurement defined as the ratio between brain and body size
Coevolution
An interaction between different species that influences each species’ evolution; the simplest case of this is predator-prey relationships
Handedness
The use of a dominant hand, suggests lateralization of the brain and cognitive development
Hafting
The process of attaching stone points to a handle, which increases a tool’s effectiveness for hunting
Evolutionary Mismatch
A hypothesis that disease and nutritional deficiencies result when people’s bodies are unable to adapt to an environment that they have not spent most of their evolutionary history in
