Exam review, AMH

Question 1

The appearance of AMH (first in Africa, later elsewhere) coincides with increasingly complex behaviors, such as

Answer 1

an explosion of comparatively sophisticated technology
• unambiguous ritual burials
• the first true forms of art (symbolic creations)

Question 2

RECALL: C. J. Thomsen (1788- 1865): system of relative chronology with the three-age system

Answer 2

The Stone Age • The Bronze age • The Iron Age

Question 3

the three age system underwent further revisions; early archaeologists subdivided the Stone Age into two periods:

Answer 3

Paleolithic

Neolithic

Question 4

what is Paleolithic

Answer 4

Old Stone Age

Question 5

what is Neolithic

Answer 5

New Stone Age (emphasis on development of agriculture & sedentism)

Question 6

The focus of this course has been with the Paleolithic, the archaeological period spanning from the advent of the earliest stone tools until the emergence of “true” sedentary civilizations, what years was this

Answer 6

~3.3 mya – 12,000 BP).

Question 7

what is included in the Lower Palaeolithic (tools)

Answer 7

Oldowan

Acheulean

Question 8

what is part of The Upper Paleolithic

Answer 8

blades
microliths
Bones, antlers, ivory, shells

Question 9

what are blades

Answer 9

Standardized production of blades
• Greater efficiency with raw material
• Wider variety of tools produced from blades

Question 10

Anatomically Modern Humans are thought to be mostly responsible for what

Answer 10

the Upper Paleolithic, a tool industry

Question 11

when did Upper Paleolithic emerge

Answer 11

that was originally believed to have emerged around 40,000 BP in Europe

Question 12

what are Microliths

Answer 12

small,shaped flakes that were often hafted to wood or bone for composite tools

Question 13

what is significant about The Upper Paleolithic:

Stylistic / Regional Variation

Answer 13

“Style” is used to differentiate groups.
Artifact designs are not just utilitarian, but also send symbolic messages of group membership.
There is a marked increased in regional variation across Upper Paleolithic material culture

Question 14

when was the middle stone age, africa

Answer 14

280 kya to ~25 kya

• is associated with Archaic hominins and AMHs

Question 15

Increasingly, evidence for the earliest ‘modern’ material culture is stemming from where

Answer 15

South Africa

Question 16

The oldest undisputed ritual burial is found where

Answer 16

Qafzeh in Israel: a mother and child dating to around 92,000

Question 17

is there evidence for symbolic production

Answer 17

yes, 
bodily adornment
symbolic representations
music
figurative / abstract portable art
figurative / abstract cave art