Final Exam Terms & Concepts Flashcards
Paleoanthropology
Branch of anthropology concerned with the origins and development of early humans
Bidepalism
Walking on two legs
Australopithecus
Group of extinct primates closely related to, if not actually ancestors of, modern human beings and known from a series of fossils found at numerous sites in eastern, north-central, and southern Africa
Homo erectus
Extinct species of the human genus (Homo), perhaps an ancestor of modern humans (Homo sapiens) most likely originated in Africa
Homo neanderthalensis
Member of a group of archaic humans who emerged at least 200,000 years ago during the Pleistocene Epoch (about 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago) and were replaced or assimilated by early modern human populations (Homo sapiens)
Homo sapiens
The species to which all modern human beings belong
Civilization
The stage of human social and cultural development and organization that is considered most advanced.
Chiefdom
A notional form of sociopolitical organization in which political and economic power is exercised by a single person (or group of persons) over many communities
Domestication vs. Cultivation
Domestication: a process in which humans place artificial selective pressure on plants and animals resulting in genetic and morphological changes
Cultivation: The human manipulation or fostering of a plant species (often wild) to enhance or ensure production.
3 S’s of complex societies
- Increased Size
- Increased Surplus
- Increased Social Stratification
Hassuna and Halaf/Samarra/Ubaid/Uruk/Early dynastic Mesopotamia
Mesopotamian villages; Samarra = irrigation beginnings
Cuneiform
System of writing used in the ancient Middle East (Sumer/Mesopotamia)
Temple-based society
Temple collects, controls, and redistributes surplus; Temple controls long-distance trade; Introduction of ruling class/state organization
Ziggurat
Mesopotamian pyramid with stepped levels
Queen shub-ad/Puabi
Buried in royal cemetery of Ur; 59 sacrificed ladies in
waiting, soldiers, oxen grooms
Indus Valley
Equitable distribution of wealth, anonymous rulers, surplus invested in public works, little evidence of warfare, evidence of trade present
Great Bath
Large public bath in Mohenjo Daro for public bathing rituals (Indus Valley)
Classic vs. Postclassic Maya
Classic: Mass production, urban cities, Teotihuacan
Postclassic: Labeled collapse (~900 A.D.), actually just change; Smaller populations, new trade networks and different political system
Pyramids of Giza
Pharoah’s place of burial; first one built by Djoser; Giza = largest pyramids, Great pyramid built by Khufu (demonstrate ability of pharoah’s to mobilize labor froces; larger pyramids = more power and authority)
Nile River
Annual floods deposit alluvial soil; predictable; very fertile + temps ideal for crops
Oldowan/Acheulean/Mousterian tools
Oldowan: Pebble tools ~2mya, percussion flaking (used by australopithecines, maybe H. erectus)
Acheulean: First biface tools, ~1mya, handaxes etc. (used by homo erectus)
Mousterian: Flake tools, neanderthal usage w/ diverse toolkit
Predynastic Egypt/Early Dynastic/Old Kingdom & Narmer
Predynastic: Divided into upper and lower Egypt; different ceramics and practices (warfare)
Old Kingdom + Narmer: Narmer unites Egypt and rules as first dynastic divine ruler
King Tut/Howard Carter
King Tut’s tomb
Liangzhu/Longshan/Xia/Shang/Zhou/Qin/Han
Liangzhu: Mound residences w/ elaborate burials
Longshan: Late Neolithic, increased political complexity, wheel thrown ceramics, towns
Xia: Transition between Neolithic and Shang; little known; Scapulimancy; Yu the Great
Shang: 2nd dynasty, dynastic rule, warfare key to rule, complex bronzeworking, scapulimancy w/ writing for politics, military, rituals (highly stratified)
Zhou: Defeat Shang, new capital at Hao, ban human sacrifice & use tax over labor draft; irrigation agriculture + trade flourish
Scapulimancy
Predicting future events/answering questions through warming turtle or shoulder bones to crack; interpreting the cracks (Chinese, i.e. oracle bones)
Great Wall
Wall constructed under rule of Qin Shi Huangdi; kept people in and invaders out (700,000 workers required)
Terracotta Warriors
First emperor Qin Shi Huangdi’s tomb buried with 8,000 plus military members, (600,000 workers, Mount Li)
Low density urbanism
i.e. Egypt, low density cities
Direct vs. indirect empires
Direct: Control over land directly
Indirect: Control over land based off threat of invasion
Tampu
Inca roadside lodging/storage alongside long road network
Sedentism
Living in permanent, year-round contexts such as villages
Neolithic Package
Domestication, population increase, storage, sedentism, ceramics, groundstone tools, communal social institutions
Agriculture vs. Foraging vs. Horticulture
Agriculture: an economic system in which humans depend on domesticates
for their subsistence (high labor demand, sedentism + large pop, less diverse diet)
Foraging: Dependence on wild food sources (more movement)
Horticulture: uses simple tools, simple technologies, and fallowing for plant cultivation (slash + burn, periodic movement, diverse diets)
Agricultural lifestyles vs. Foraging lifestyles
Agricultural: Little leisure time, unhealthy/shorter, more children + high infant mort
Hunter gatherer: More leisure time, healthier/taller, fewer children + low infant mort
Dynastic Mesopotamia
Expanded trade; began keeping records i.e. Epic of Gilgamesh (largely related to kings/record keeping)
Hypotheses for origin of agriculture
Independent invention of domestication due to environmental pressure/need to survive in many places across the world
Inca
Largest empire in world at its height, spoke quechua, Cuzco = capital (1200-1532)
Maya
(200-900) Mesoamerican civilization, Tikal + Teotihuacan
Laetoli, Tanzania
Afarensis footprints
Shanidar Cave, Iraq
Flower burial neanderthal
Lake Mungo
Oldest H. Sapien remains in aus
Ain Mallaha, Israel
Natufian settlements
Abu Hereyra, Syria
Early domestication in fertile crescent
Tehuacan Caves, Mexico
Trade
Guila Naquitz Cave, Mexico
Evidence of early domestication
Eridu
Earliest city in southern mesopot; divine kingdom
Royal cemetery of Ur
Queen puabi, evidence of intense stratification
Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
Infrastructure for sanitiation in MD, farming and irrigation + plow culture in harappa
Hierakonpolis
First use of mummification
Giza
Pyramids of Khufu Khafre and Menkaure
Chichen Itza
Smaller coastal city of the Maya, 25k pop
Anyang
Shang capital
Xianyang/Mount Li
Qin capital/Shi Huangdi burial w/ terracotta army
Tikal
Mayan pyramids and ruins in Guatamala rainforest
Teotihuacan, Mexico
Water redirection/pyramid of the sun
Cahokia, USA
Mounds/forgotten city of Native Americans
Angkor Wat, Cambodia
Resevoir w/ central temple and residences surrounding
