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Down With Dobie > Humans in the Holocene > Flashcards

Humans in the Holocene Flashcards

Section II of Social Science USAD Resource Guide terms and definitions

1
Q

When is the oldest fossil record of Homo sapiens dated to?

A

300,000 years ago

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2
Q

When did Homo sapiens become the last surviving members of the Homo genus?

A

40,000 years ago

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3
Q

Before the Holocene, the global human population may not have surpassed …

A

10 million

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4
Q

What is current human population according to the United Nations?

A

8 billion

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5
Q

Pleistocene

A

A period characterized by cycles of glaciers growing or receding and, at times, covering vast portions of the Earth’s surface

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6
Q

Last Glacial Maximum (LGM)

A

It was a period when much of present-day Europe and North America were covered by ice, and Asia experienced permafrost

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7
Q

How long ago was the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM)?

A

20,000 years ago

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8
Q

Younger Dryas

A

A major glacial meltwater event caused by solar cycles that cooled ocean temperatures and reversed warming trends for roughly a millennium

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9
Q

What did the conclusion of the Younger Dryas period mark?

A

The beginning of the Holocene

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10
Q

How long ago was the Younger Dryas period

A

c. 12,900 to 11,700 years ago

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11
Q

Interglacial period

A

A warm period between ice ages

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12
Q

Quaternary Period

A

A unit of geologic time that consists of both the Pleistocene and the Holocene

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13
Q

When did the Quaternary Period begin?

A

2.6 million years ago (at the beginning of the Pleistocene)

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14
Q

How many interglacials have occurred within the past 800,000 years?

A

8

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15
Q

Milankovitch cycles

A

Patterns in the Earth’s orbit that affect the amount of solar energy the Earth absorbs at different times

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16
Q

What is the Early Holocene also known as?

A

Greenlandian Stage

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17
Q

Early Holocene

A

Occurred during part of the warmest period of the Holocene, and coincides with a meltwater event in Canada when a glacial ice sheet collapsed

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18
Q

When did the Early Holocene occur?

A

11,000 to 7,000 years ago

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19
Q

What does the Early Holocene’s classification as the Greenlandian Stage refer to?

A

An ice core in Greenland, NGRIP2

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20
Q

NGRIP2

A

An ice core that bears evidence of the onset of the Holocene at a depth of 1,492.45 meters

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21
Q

New research has investigated human practices during the Early Holocene in what places?

A

The Iberian Peninsula and Madagascar

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22
Q

The beginning of the Holocene coincides with what event in North America?

A

The extinction of dozens of large mammals

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23
Q

What is the Middle Holocene also known as?

A

Northgrippian Stage

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24
Q

When did the Middle Holocene occur?

A

8,236 to 4,250 years ago

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25
Q

What does the beginning of the Middle Holocene coincide with?

A

The collapse of the glacial Laurentide Ice Sheet in Canada

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26
Q

What does the Middle Holocene’s classification as the Northgrippian Stage refer to?

A

An ice core in Greenland that bears evidence of cooling temperatures compared to the Early Holocene

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27
Q

Laurentide Ice Sheet

A

A vast ice sheet that covered much of North America during ice ages throughout the Pleistocene and which advanced most recently from c. 95,000 to c. 20,000 years ago

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28
Q

Meltwater event

A

This accelerates the flow of icy water into the ocean

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29
Q

Mid-Holocene Transition

A

This period marks a turn toward the cooler temperatures that would continue in the Late Holocene when temperatures began to decline due to weakened solar energy

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30
Q

When did the Mid-Holocene Transition occur?

A

Between 5300 and 3700 BCE, around 7,300 years ago

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31
Q

Middle Holocene

A

The transition from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age when humans began utilizing metal instruments and built large agricultural societies

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32
Q

When was the Mesopotamian civilization established?

A

3500 BCE

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33
Q

What is the Late Holocene also known as?

A

Meghalayan Stage

34
Q

When did the Late Holocene begin?

A

4,250 years ago

35
Q

What does the Late Holocene’s classification as the Meghalayan Stage refer to?

A

The location of Mawmluh Cave in northeast India where mineral deposits give evidence of a climatic event at the date marking the beginning of the Late Holocene

36
Q

What does the beginning of the Late Holocene coincide with?

A

The Holocene Turnover

37
Q

Mesopotamia is located in and around the current national boundaries of which country?

A

Iraq

38
Q

Where does the water supply of Mesopotamia come from?

A

The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

39
Q

The Sumerians

A

Developed writing, a priestly class, and planned cities in Mesopotamia between 3600 and 3000 BCE

40
Q

For what period was the Akkadian Empire in place?

A

Between 2334 and 2218 BCE

41
Q

What abrupt climate changes occurred in Mesopotamia at the onset of the Late Holocene in 2250 BCE?

A

Cooler and dryer conditions

42
Q

Old Kingdom

A

The collapse of this Egyptian empire is often linked to the onset of drought at the start of the Late Holocene

43
Q

When did Egyptians begin to utilize their own form of writing?

A

3200 BCE

44
Q

By when were colossal monuments like the Pyramids built in Egypt?

A

2500 BCE

45
Q

Where is the Indus Valley located?

A

Pakistan

46
Q

Into what three periods are the Indus Civilization divided into?

A

The Early, Mature, and Late Harappan

47
Q

When did the Early Harappan occur?

A

3200 to 2600 BCE

48
Q

What is the Early Harappan characterized by?

A

population growth, new settlements, and urbanization

49
Q

When did the Mature Harappan occur?

A

2600 to 1900 BCE

50
Q

What is the Mature Harappan characterized by?

A

highly stratified social groups, complex city planning with gridded streets and drainage, and trade between multiple villages and urban centers

51
Q

When did the Late Harappan occur?

A

1900 to 1000 BCE

52
Q

What is the Late Harappan characterized by?

A

Populations moved out of urban centers in favor of smaller village settlements

53
Q

In chronological order, which societies were present in the Andes?

A

Chavin, Inca

54
Q

In chronological order, which societies were present in Mesoamerica?

A

Olmec, Maya, Aztec

55
Q

When did the Chavin civilization rule?

A

900 to 200 BCE

56
Q

When did the Inca Empire consolidate control over the Andean region?

A

The 1400s

57
Q

When did the Olmec rule?

A

1200 to 400 BCE

58
Q

Alexander the Great

A

He conquered Egypt and Persia, which established Greek as a shared common language

59
Q

Where is Alexander the Great from?

A

Macedonia

60
Q

When was the Roman Empire at its peak?

A

117 CE

61
Q

What were the climatic conditions around the Mediterranean between the eighth to fifth centuries?

A

Cooler and wetter

62
Q

When did the Western Roman Empire collapse?

A

476 CE

63
Q

What does the fall of the Roman Empire represent?

A

The transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages/medieval period

64
Q

When did the Middle Ages end?

A

1450 or 1500

65
Q

When was the Renaissance?

A

1300 to 1600

66
Q

What was the worst year to be alive?

A

536 CE

67
Q

Why was 536 CE the worst year to be alive?

A

Volcanic eruptions served as a forcing factor that ushered in a cold “year without a summer” for the next fifteen years

68
Q

Michael McCormick

A

This historian was the first to boldly assert that 536 CE was the worst year to be alive

69
Q

To what dynasty do human records date back to in China?

A

Shang

70
Q

Which dynasty established the mandate of heaven?

A

Zhou

71
Q

Mandate of heaven

A

The concept that external conditions such as prosperity in the land and perhaps even favorable weather validated the authority of the current ruler

72
Q

What is one of the most well-researched events of the Late Holocene?

A

The Little Ice Age (LIA)

73
Q

When did the Little Ice Age (LIA) occur?

A

1300 to 1850

74
Q

Solar minima

A

Periods of lower solar activity identified by a lack of sunspots

75
Q

What were the leading causes of the Little Ice Age (LIA)?

A

Volcanic forcings and solar minima

76
Q

In chronological order, which minima occurred during the Little Ice Age (LIA)?

A

Wolf, Maunder, Dalton

77
Q

Wolf minimum

A

Occurred between 1280 through 1350 and corresponds to a glacial advance in the European Alps from the late 1200s to 1380

78
Q

Maunder minimum

A

Occurred between 1654 through 1715 and corresponds to a glacial advance in the European Alps from the 1580s to 1600

79
Q

Dalton minimum

A

Occurred between 1790 through 1820 and corresponds to a glacial advance in the European Alps from the 1810 to 1860

80
Q

When did the Sahel region experience drying events?

A

Around 1600 and between 1800 to 1850

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