Lecture 2

Question 1

when was the lower paleolithic period

Answer 1

2.3 mya (million years ago) - 300 kya (thousand years ago)

Question 2

what are the 3 earliest periods of human culture divided into

Answer 2

lower <- archaic human
middle] <- archaic human
& upper paleolithic <- modern human

Question 3

when was the middle paleolithic period

Answer 3

300 kya - 50 kya

Question 4

when was the upper paleolithic period

Answer 4

50 kya - 12 kya

Question 5

what are the key characteristics of the paleolithic era

Answer 5

• hunting and gather
• mobile communities
• manufacturing technologies (stone/bone tools)

Question 6

what “humans” were in the lower paleolithic period

Answer 6

homo habilis (2.3 - 1.6 mya)
homo erectus (1.8 mya - 500 kya)
homo heidelbergensis (700 - 200 kya)

Question 7

What mode were the homo habilis known for?

Answer 7

mode 1: Oldowan (round rock tool, no point)

Question 8

What mode were the homo erectus known for?

Answer 8

mode 2: stone handaxes with a purposeful point

Question 9

what is the significance of boxgrove UK

Answer 9

• homo heidelbergensis archeological site
• animal butchery + tool manufacturing
• landscapes were complex
• mode 3: handaxes were round but sharp, allowing for technological characteristics to be done

Question 10

what’s the importance of handaxes?

Answer 10

• symmetry appears to be deliberate
• learning to make objects like that required ability to learn a shared standard
• consequence of presence of shared standards is that they must have had a greater decentration of thought
• complexities of the handaxes imply an organized hierarchy and ability to hold several concepts in mind

Question 11

what are the ritualistic behaviour evidence of the lower paleolithic period

Answer 11

only 3 sources
1.) 2 possible stone figures modified to maybe look like a human body
2.) cut + scrape marks on human remains (cannibalism)
3.) accumulation of bodies of 32 people at Sima de los Huesos

Question 12

what’s the significance of the Sima de los Huesos location

Answer 12

• Spain
• pit of bones
• 430 kya ~
• bones at bottom of cave (28)
• mostly adolescence and elderly
• argued purposeful burial
• one individual was an older person with spinal disease, meaning they had to have been cared for by the group to live to 40s

Question 13

what is prosocial behaviour

Answer 13

behaviours that benefit other people/groups like caring, sharing, donating, and cooperating. usually motivated by empathy and concern (maybe altuiristic)

Question 14

what are the “humans” of the middle paleolithic period

Answer 14

homo heidelbergensis (700 - 200 kya)
homo neanderthalensis (400 - 40 kya)

Question 15

what is the significance of the Neanderthals

Answer 15

• biological characteristics (similar to us)
• technology
• language and symbols
• ritual behaviour
• prior to their discovery, there was no acceptance of earlier forms of humans
• initiated the study of human evolution after Darwin’s publication of On the Orgin of Species in 1859
• associated with mode 3 technology

Question 16

where were the first neanderthal skeletal remains found

Answer 16

in a limestone cave in 1856 near Dusseldorf, Germany

Question 17

what are the origins of ritual

Answer 17

• it’s a prosocial activity that bonds a group
• groups with it are arguably more likely successful at surviving than groups that dont

Question 18

what is U-Th dating

Answer 18

Radiometric decay: uranium-234 decays to thorium-230. Dating is based on the measurement of these isotopes in a sample of calcium carbonate to establish ratio and thus
age since deposit

Question 19

what’s the significance of the Shanidar Cave Archaeological Site

Answer 19

• provided insights into neanderthal behaviour and culture (evidence for burial rituals and possible symbolic bejaviour)
• Iraq

Question 20

what is the red ochre

Answer 20

Naturally occurring clay and iron oxide pigment. Mixed with a liquid (e.g., blood, milk, fat, water) it can be applied as a paint. As a dry powder, it can be blown onto a surface

Question 21

what is Cognitive fluidity

Answer 21

the capacity to be flexible and adaptable in ones thinking (related to elasticity)