˗ˏˋ modern homo sapiens ´ˎ˗ Flashcards
what type of traits do humans have?
mosaic (gradually and out of sync with one another).
what are human skeletal traits?
- modern skeleton is considered gracile (thinner and smoother)
- modern have a more globular braincase
- forehead tied to frontal lobe expansion
what is a brain case?
upper and back part of the skull, which forms a protective case around the brain.
what is a supraorbital torus?
bony ridge across the top of the eye orbits on many hominin crania.
what is a mental eminence?
- chin on the mandible of modern homo sapiens
- one of the defining traits of our species
why do modern homo sapiens have a different frame?
- better for long-distance running
- cools an active body in hotter climates
what is a generalist-specialist niche?
- ability to survive in a variety of environments by developing local expertise
- evolution toward this niche may have been what allowed modern homo sapiens to expand past the geographical range of other human species
what is african muliregionalism?
- idea that modern homo sapiens evolved as a complex web of small regional populations with sporadic gene flow among them
- gracile frame and neurological anatomy allowed modern humans to survive and flourish in a variety of environments
what are early modern homo sapiens (or early anatomically modern humans)?
- refers to transitional fossils between archaic modern homo sapiens that have a mosaic of traits.
- humans like ourselves, who mostly lack archaic traits, are referred to as late modern homo sapiens and simply anatomically modern humans
what is jebel irhoud?
- jebel irhoud, morocco
- site where at least five individuals were found, representing life stages from childhood to adulthood
what is the lower omo valley?
- in ethiopia
- omo kibish hominins
- site where three individuals were found dating back 233,000 years ago
what is herto?
- in ethiopia
- site where fossilized crania of two adults and a child were found, along with fragments of other individuals (unidentified)
- stone tools found
what is the middle stone age?
time period known for mousterian lithics that connects african archaic to modern homo sapiens.
what is the late stone age?
time period following the middle stone age with a diversification in tool types, starting around 50,000 years ago.
why did stone tools from the middle stone age remain the same?
- all similar because if not broke, don’t fix it
- no art has been found in this time period (yet)
what is the blombos cave, south africa?
- located along the present shore of the cape of africa
- toolmaking and artistry were more complex than previously thought for middle stone age
- found on site: two intact ochre-processing kits, 100,000 years ago and marine snail shell beads dating 75,000 years ago
- complexity shows a deep understanding of and relationship with the surrounding landscape
what is the border cave, south africa?
- dated in the later stone age
- changes in technology dating around 43,000 years ago
- stone-tool production changed from slower to faster processes
- microliths (small and precise stone tools, also called bladelets)
- also found on site: beads made of ostrich eggs
what are the main ideas of modern homo sapiens in africa?
- finds like in jebel irhoud show that early modern homo sapiens had a wide range across middle pleistocene africa
- change from the middle Stone Age to later stone age was fast but not immediate
- emergence of culture evidenced by art (beads)
- our ability to adapt helped us spread knowledge of tool making and art throughout different groups
what are modern homo sapiens in the middle east?
- amazing environment for fossils
- caves of mount carmel provided preserved skeletal remains and artifacts of modern homo sapiens, the first known group living outside of africa
what is skhul v?
- found in caves of mount carmel
- shows many modern homo sapiens traits (globular crania, gracile postcranial bones) but also had some archaic traits (occipital bunning)
- found with a boar’s jaw on his chest
what is qafzeh 11?
- also found in modern day Israel
- juvenile with healed cranial trauma
- found with an impressive deer antler rack placed over his torso
what is the fuyan cave?
- found in southern china
- 47 adult teeth dating between 120,000 to 80,000 years ago
- oldest known modern human site in china
what is the liujiang hominin?
- 67,000 years ago
- nearly complete skull
- taller forehead than archaic h. sapiens
- enlarged occipital region
- mix of modern and archaic traits
what are the main ideas of modern homo sapiens in the middle east and asia?
- humans were biologically diverse and had complex relationships with their environment
- people adapted to a variety of climates and environments, thanks to our generalist diet and big brains
- culture and art started to show up more prevalently
what are humans in australia?
- expansion of humans out of asia followed the coasts
- probably followed megafauna
what is lake mungo?
- skeletal remains are the oldest known from the continent
- now-dry lake
- 2 individuals dating around 40,000 years ago show artistic and symbolic behavior
- had intentional burials
what is the kow swamp?
- yielded skeletal remains that looked starkly different from those found at lake mungo
- between 9,000 and 20,000 years ago
- extremely robust brow ridges and thick bone walls
what is the madjedbebe rock shelter (northern territory of australia)?
- over 10,000 artifacts have been found at this location
- no fossil human remains
- diverse array of stone tools and different shades of ochre for rock art, including mica-based reflective pigment (like glitter)
- artifacts date as far back as 56,000 years ago
- earliest known presence of humans in australia
what are humans in europe?
- wo possible reasons it took us awhile to get into europe: neanderthals and it’s cold as hell
- traveled during the upper paleolithic (time period considered synonymous with the later stone age)
- by 40,000 years ago we had a visible presence in europe
what is the peștera cu oase (cave of bones), romania?
- 40,000 years ago
- bones and teeth of many animals
- fragmented cranium of one person and the mandible of a different person
- this mandible has yielded DNA that is very similar to that of a modern human’s DNA
- they were direct ancestors of modern europeans
what is předmostí u přerova in czech republic?
- 26,000 years ago
- over 30 individuals were buried here
- in one grave there were 18 people buried, some covered with wooly mammoth scapulae
- evidence of dog domestication
what is european technology?
- gravettian tradition
- 33,000-21,000 years ago
- atlatl (handheld spear thrower that increased the force of thrown projectiles)
what is european art?
- venus figurines (up to 33,000 years ago)
- cave art (31,000 years ago)
how did humans come to america?
- still debated how and when we got here
- but by at least 25,000 years ago it was only homo sapiens left, everyone else was gone
- some came over by way of beringia
- others may have come by way of the coasts
what was the south like in america?
- rapid spread and diversification
- no hominin competition
- plenty of megafauna (eating was good)
what is clovis culture?
- first example of a widespread culture across much of north america
- dates between 13,400 to 12,700 years ago
- clovis points were fluted with 2 small projections on either side
- spread as far as new mexico (town named after) up to the canadian border
- clovis sites also contain remains of mammoths or mastodons, suggesting hunting of megafauna
what is the assimilation hypothesis?
current theory of modern human origins stating that the species evolved first in africa and interbred with archaic humans of europe and asia.
what is foraging?
- lifestyle consisting of frequent movement through the landscape and acquiring resources with minimal storage capacity
- foragers typically live in bands
- ability to adapt and forage in a variety of environments aided us in our expansion and evolution
what is agriculture?
mass production of resources through farming and domestication.
what is the neolithic revolution?
time of rapid change to human cultures due to the invention of agriculture, starting around 12,000 years ago.
what is carrying capacity?
amount of organisms that an environment can reliably support.
what is the last glacial maximum?
time 23,000 years ago when the most recent ice age was the most intense.
what is the younger dryas?
- the rapid change in global climate, notably a cooling of the northern hemisphere, 13,000 years ago
- changing climates could have pressured foragers to stay put, rather than their nomadic lifestyle
when was agriculture invented?
beginning around 12,000 years ago, various groups of humans around the globe independently invented it.
what is sedentarism?
lifestyle based on having a stable home area; the opposite of nomadism.
what is urbanization?
increase of population density as people settled together in cities.
what is monumental architecture?
- large and labor-intensive constructions that signify the power of the elite in a sedentary society
- common type is the pyramid, a raised crafted structure topped with a point or platform
