Exam review, H. ergaster/erectus Behaviour

Question 1

how did how fire and cooking affected the diet of H.ergaster/erectus

Answer 1

Why cook?
Cooking meat kills bacteria and parasites, and it detoxifies some vegetables, essentially rendering them edible.
It takes far less energy to digest cooked food than raw food. This likely freed up more energy for the ever-developing brains of our H. erectus ancestors

Question 2

the evidence (sites & dates) surrounding when they emerge (fire and cooking)

Answer 2

At the very large Wonderwerk Cave site in Northern Cape Province, South Africa, burned bits of animal bone and vegetation (as ash) have been recovered from sediments dating (not very securely) to around 1 mya

These deposits were approximately 30 m from the mouth of the cave, meaning they were likely not carried in by the elements

Question 3

where was H. erectus pekinensis found

Answer 3

Zhoukoudian, northern China

Question 4

what is another evidence site for fire and cooking

Answer 4

H. erectus pekinensis Use of fire for cooking, ca. 770 kya?
Apparent ash layers within the Zhoukoudian cave site may indicate in-situ control of fire. Further, very small, charred animal bone fragments were found within these deposits, indicating cave occupants were cooking

Question 5

The first uncontested examples of hearths (fire‐pits) for any hominin are found wherw

Answer 5

Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel

Question 6

The first uncontested examples of hearths (fire‐pits) for any hominin are dated to

Answer 6

between 690 and 790 kya

Question 7

There is, however, contested evidence of use of fire (possibly naturally-produced) by between when

Answer 7

1.4 and 1.6 mya (Lower Pleistocene) at two sites in E. Africa

Question 8

where is the contested evidence of use of fire (possibly naturally-produced)

Answer 8

At Chesowanja, Kenya, 51 very small, concentrated flecks of reddish-‐brown clay, fired at 400° C. The fragments were were found approximately 15 m from several P. boisei cranial vault fragments and fragmented non-hominin animal bones. Despite this, the researchers argue that H. ergaster was responsible for the fire and animal bone deposits.
Skeptics argue the concentration of these clay fragments appear to be consistent with a tree stump, burned out by a naturally-occurring brush fire
At Koobi Fora, discolored soil patches with Oldowan tools were once exposed to temperatures of between 200 and 400° C. It is unclear whether or not this was the result of natural fires. These patches were dated to between 1.5 and 1.6 mya