Exam review, Early Genus Homo and Tool Use

Question 1

The earliest known stone tool technology dates to around when

Answer 1

3.3 mya

Question 2

what is the preservation bias in hominin technology

Answer 2

A more significant problem for our purposes is that the vast majority of very early expedient and possibly more complex tools are presumed not to have preserved, due to various taphonomic processes. Organic materials are especially susceptible

Question 3

what is significant about when earliest known stone tool technology dates to

Answer 3

it predates our genus (species undetermined)!

Question 4

The earliest tool types were very rudimentary in design. They consisted of three general categories of tool type which were

Answer 4

Cores (choppers, discoids) Unmodified flakes (scrapers) Hammerstones

Question 5

what is the first type of tools used referred to as

Answer 5

Oldowan Tradition

Question 6

what species would have used Oldowan Tradition

Answer 6

There are two primary hominin suspects for the earliest habitual use of Oldowan technology:

1. Au. garhi (2.5 mya)
2. H. habilis (2.1-1.5 mya)

While the timing of the earliest Oldowan tools precludes H. habilis as a creator of the technology, it is clear the species was a prolific user

Question 7

when did Homo habilis live

Answer 7

2.1-1.5 mya

Question 8

where was Homo habilis found

Answer 8

First specimen (OH7) discovered at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
• Most specimens are from either Olduvai or Koobi Fora, Kenya

Question 9

what was the Cranial Morphology of h. habilis

Answer 9

Rounded crania with a rising forehead, with cranial capacity of 500-600
face is narrow and small; reduced prognathism
Compared to Australopithecines, H. habilis had wider parabolic dental arcade, reduced canines, deeper palate, relatively small and narrow molars

Question 10

what is the phylogenetic relationship between habilis and rudolfensis

Answer 10

The Olduvai H. habilis specimens all undoubtedly belong to the same species. The situation is more complicated further north at Koobi Fora, where a large number of hominins may have shared space between 2 and 1 mya.
• One of these hominins was the habilis-‐like
H. rudolfensis

Question 11

what is the relationship between early homo tool use and diet

Answer 11

Today, we believe Oldowan tool makers/users were both scavenging for meat and foraging, a broader concept of “gathering,” the collection of roots, leaves, fruits, nuts, seeds and insects

The evidence for this lies in the fact that at all known hominin sites with both Oldowan tools and preserved animal bones, the bones have been broken for marrow extraction. This would not necessarily have been done if other fat and protein was available.
• Animal fat and protein may have become more important to the diet at around 2 – 1.5 mya because larger brains require an increased amount of energy that can be obtained only through some dietary fats.