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Human Origins > paleoanthropology > Flashcards

paleoanthropology Flashcards

1
Q

definition of hominin

A

earliest evidence dates to end of micocene and includes dental and cranial pieces

  • distinguished from greate apes by:
  • -bpedal locomotion
  • -large brain size
  • -toolmaking behavior
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2
Q

mosaic evolution

A

pattern of evolutino in which the rates of evolution in one functional system vary from those in other systems

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3
Q

hominoids

A

humans and all apes

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4
Q

hominids

A

orangutans, gorillas, bonobos, chimps, and humans

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5
Q

paleoanthropology

A

study of early humans

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6
Q

artifacts

A

material clues that include objects or aterials made or modified for use by hominins

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7
Q

tahponomy

A

the study of the decay of organisms over time, and/or fossilization of organic material. also patterns of sedimentation and damage done to organic material post-deposition

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8
Q

context

A

the environmental setting where an archaeological trace is found

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9
Q

primary context

A

the setting in which the archaeological trace was originally deposited

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10
Q

secondary contect

A

is one to which it has been moved (sucha s by the action of a stream)

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11
Q

dating methods

A

placing sites and fossils into a time frame

  • relative dating
  • chronometric dating
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12
Q

relative dating

A

whether an object is older or younger than other objects

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13
Q

chronometric (absolute) dating

A

age in years

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14
Q

statigraphy

A

used in relative dating

  • the law of superposition states that a lower stratum(layer) is older than a higher stratum
  • valuable in reconstructing the history of earth and life
  • drawback: disturbances can shift strata and objects, making it difficult or impossible to reconstruct the history
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15
Q

fluorine analysis

A

applied to bones to assess the amount of flourine in ground water incorporated during fossilization
-the longer the time, the more flourine incorporated

-drawback: only useful with bones found at the same location

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16
Q

Dendrochronology (tree ring dating)

A

dating based on the analysis of patterns of tree rings in wood

  • can date the time at which a tree ring formed
  • each ring usually corresponds to a year
17
Q

chronometric dating techniques

A

potassium/argon (k/Ar)

  • used for dating material between 1 and 5 million years old (good for hominins)
  • involves the decay of potassium into argon
  • k/Ar has a half-life of 1.25 billiion years
  • Best samples include rocks heated extremeley high
18
Q

Carbon-14

A

half life of 5730 years

  • used to date organic materials
  • can estimate ages from just under 1,000 to 60,000 years
19
Q

Thermoluminiscence

A

relies on principle of radiometric decay

  • stone contains trace amounts of radioactive elements
  • heating the rock releases displaced beta particles that glow
  • by heating the sample and measuring its amount of glow, a date can be determined
20
Q

biostrataphy

A

faunal correlation

  • use faunal remains from different site
  • Dates when fossil pigs, elephants, antelopes were present can be used to cross check the other methods
21
Q

Experimental archaeology

A

helps to understand how artifacts were made and used by reconstructing prehistoric techniques of stone toolmaking, butchering, etc.

22
Q

environmental determinism

A

links sample environmental changes directly to a major evolutionary shift in an organism

23
Q

theories on origin of bipedalism

A
  • ecological influences
  • energy efficiency
  • dietary influences
  • sexual selection and mating influences
24
Q

ecological influences and bipedalism

A

bipedal stance allows better view of surrounding

-also exposes to predators though, and doesnt address why other terrestrial primates arent bipedal

25
Q

Energetic efficiency and bipedalism

efficient walking model

A

bipedal walking is more energetically efficient

-not evidence that early hominins were walking long distances

26
Q

thermoregulatory model (bipedalism reason)

A

recuces heat gain and increases heat loss

27
Q

postural feeding (bipedalism reason)

A

began as a way to reach fruit high up in trees

28
Q

responce to resources model (bipedalism)

A

resource availability influenced bipedality, group size, body size

29
Q

sexual selection and mating strategies (provisioning model)

A

male provisioning of female and offspring (i.e. bringing food back)
-implies monogamous pair bond, not supported

30
Q

habitual bipeds

A

bipedalism is most common form of locomotion

31
Q

obligate bipeds

A

hominins cannot efficiently locomote in other ways

Human Origins (6 decks)

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