Prehistory

Question 1

Ardipithecus ramidus

Answer 1

4.4 million years ago
- Chimp like + human features
- More animal/instinctual lifestyle

Question 2

Australopithecines

Answer 2

4.1 million years old
- Pronounced apelike teeth
- Strong muscles
- Brain ⅓ size of modern brains
- Walked upright = bipedalism
- Humanlike stride
- Traveled in groups (25-30)
- Lived in forests
- Climbed trees - Food, escape, sleep

Question 3

Homo habilis

Answer 3

2.5 million years ago
- Brain size + humanlike teeth = our ancestors?
- Developed + used stone tools = creative ability

Question 4

Homo erectus

Answer 4

2 million years ago
- Massive + high eyebrow ridges
- Boney crests at neckline
- Complete Bipedalism
- Hunters + Gatherers
- Made tool of stone, wood, + bone
- First to use FIRE
- Migrated from Africa to Europe + Asia

Question 5

Homo sapiens

Answer 5

400 000 - 450 000 years ago
- Formulated spoken language
- Developed more sophisticated tools
- Migrated a lot

Question 6

Neanderthals

Answer 6

230 000 yrs ago - disappeared 30 000 yrs ago
- Broad noses + thick eyebrow bridges over eyes
- Low foreheads
- Lacked strong chin
- Face jutted forward beneath eyes
- Short limbs + stocky bodies
- Travelled central Europe - central Asia (even south to middle east)
- Population fewer than 100 000 at a time
- Hunters + gatherers
- Most didn’t survive 30s

Question 7

Homo sapiens sapiens

Answer 7

40 000 years ago
- Height, facial features, + cranial similar to modern northwestern Europeans
- High foreheads, curving noses, large jaws, small teeth
- Made clothing, better shelter, efficient hearths
- Migrated Africa - Europe
- Ability to endure colder climates
- Some moved to Asia & Australia

Question 8

Human Characteristics: BODIES
6mil yrs ago

Answer 8

• small size + long arms + short legs + wide rib cage
• Ate mainly plants - longer time to digest = long digestive tracts

Question 9

Human Characteristics: BODIES
1.9mil yrs ago

Answer 9

• adapted to hot climates + narrow bodies + long legs (to travel longer distances) + large brains + tall
• Eating meat = smaller digestive tract = more energy
• Narrow bodies kept them cool

Question 10

Human Characteristics: BODIES
400 000 - 50 000 yrs ago

Answer 10

400 000 yrs ago:
- Short, wide bodies + depend on raw meat & cooked food + short digestive tract
- Wide bodies conserved heat

• Changing diets = change in body shape
• Early humans had very active lifestyles = thicker + stronger bones
  - 50 000 yrs ago: less physically demanding
  lifestyles = sleeker + weaker bones

Question 11

Human Characteristics: TOOLS & FOOD
2.6 mil yrs ago

Answer 11

Used tools to cut, pound, crush, + access new foods
- Butchered animals

Question 12

Human Characteristics: TOOLS & FOOD
Beginning 1.7mil yrs ago

Answer 12

Toolmakers shaped large flakes into handaxes
- Multipurpose tools influenced human
technology for a million yrs

Question 13

Human Characteristics: TOOLS & FOOD
1.5 mil yrs ago

Answer 13

Fire led to use of hearths = cooking
- Cooking improved/changed human diets
- Released nutrients in foods
- Easier to digest food
- Rid plants of poison

Question 14

Human Characteristics: TOOLS & FOOD
500 000 yrs ago

Answer 14

Humans made wooden spears + used to kill large animals

Question 15

Human Characteristics: TOOLS & FOOD
100 000 yrs ago

Answer 15

100 000 yrs ago: tools of bone, ivory, + antler
- Clothing for warmth
- Spear-throwers = less chance of injury from prey
- Stone or bone points, attached to spears or darts = exploit fast-moving prey
- Hunting = unpredictable = risky
- Solution: Long spears to hunt at a safer
distance

Question 16

Human Characteristics: BRAINS
800 000–200 000 yrs ago

Answer 16

Brain size evolved quickly during climate change
- Large brain able to process new information
- Big brain = advantage for social interactions + unfamiliar habitats
- Environments became more unpredictable
- Big brains = survival