Glossary 3062 Flashcards
Abstract thoughts
The most complex stage in the development of cognitive thinking; intellectual thought that encompasses higher forms of thinking beyond the obvious, and the ability to conceptualise.
Acheulean tools
Stone tools of the Lower Palaeolithic period having a teardrop or almond shape, made by Homo ergaster, Homo erectus and Homo heidelbergensis.
Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area
Two areas of the brain that are essential for speech, as they contain the nerve linkages that coordinate the throat and mouth muscles.
Domestication of plants and animals
The growing of plants mainly for food and the taming of animals to use their products such as meat, milk and wool for survival.
Home base
An area where people gathered and food was brought back to be consumed.
Hunter-gatherers
People who subsist in the wild, finding food by foraging and hunting.
Mousterian tools
Complex stone and wood tools of the Middle Palaeolithic, made by Homo neanderthalensis.
Multiregional model
A theory that postulates that modern humans evolved independently by parallel evolution in many part of the world, from the descendants of the Homo erectus people who left Africa about 1.5 million years ago.
Oldowan tools
The earliest stone or ‘pebble’ tools, made by Homo habilis.
‘Out of Africa’ / replacement model
A theory that postulates that it was only the African descendants of Homo erectus who migrated out of Africa and completely replaced the regional populations of earlier Homo erectus people, who gave rise to modern humans.
Palaeolithic period
The period extending from 2.5 million years ago to 10 000 years ago, divided into Lower, Middle, Upper Palaeolithic and the Mesolithic periods.
Upper palaeolithic tools
A more specialised, complex and advanced range of tools made by Homo sapiens.
