Prehistory

Question 1

Tetrapods evolved from bony fishes 390 Ma during the ___ period.

Answer 1

Devonian

Question 2

Mammals evolved 225 Ma in the ___ period.

Answer 2

Triassic

Question 3

Homo and Pan split roughly this long ago.

Answer 3

6 Ma

Question 4

This human ancestor evolved 4 Ma.

Answer 4

Australopithecus

Question 5

Primates likely evolved sometime in this period.

Answer 5

Cretaceous

Question 6

Homo habilis, the first member of the genus, evolved this long ago, beginning the ___.

Answer 6

2.8 Ma, Stone Age

Question 7

Homo sapiens evolved this long ago.

Answer 7

200,000 years ago

Question 8

Homo heidelbergensis in Europe and west Asia evolved into ___, those in continental Asia became ___, and those in Africa became ___.

Answer 8

Homo neanderthalensis; Denisovans; Homo sapiens

Question 9

The first hominin to control fire.

Answer 9

Homo erectus

Question 10

Body and head lice split around this time, hinting at the origin of clothing

Answer 10

170,000 years ago

Question 11

75,000 years ago, the ___ occurs, which may or may not have caused a genetic bottleneck in humans

Answer 11

Toba supereruption

Question 12

64,000 years ago, the ___ replaced the ___ in Africa.

Answer 12

bow and arrow; atlatl

Question 13

50,000 years ago, the first ___, used by ___.

Answer 13

needle; Denisovans

Question 14

70,000 years ago, the first possible example of art created here.

Answer 14

Blombos Cave in South Africa

Question 15

Neanderthals go extinct.

Answer 15

40,000 years ago

Question 16

The oldest uncontested example of ___ is between 40,000 and 35,000 years old.

Answer 16

figurative art

Question 17

The first undisputed ___ remains, the ___, are about 15,000 years old.

Answer 17

domestic dog; first domesticated species

Question 18

About 29,000 years ago, this place is populated.

Answer 18

New Guinea

Question 19

Pottery is first used about 27,000 years ago to make a ___.

Answer 19

Venus figurine

Question 20

26,000 years ago, ___ is used for various purposes all around the world.

Answer 20

twisted fiber

Question 21

About 25,000 years ago, the ___ ends.

Answer 21

Last Glacial Maximum

Question 22

The oldest known permanent human settlement, made of ___, is built in ___ 25,000 years ago.

Answer 22

mammoth bones; the Czech Republic

Question 23

___ was colonized by Australian or Asian settlers about 29,000 years ago.

Answer 23

New Guinea

Question 24

The ___ is the earliest modern human culture in Europe, arriving from the Middle East beginning 40,000 years ago.

Answer 24

Aurignacian culture

Question 25

After the Last Glacial Maximum, the Americas are colonized between ___ and ___ years ago.

Answer 25

17,000; 13,000

Question 26

The domestic goat is the second domesticated animal, tamed in the Near East about ___ years ago (___ BCE).

Answer 26

10,000; 8,000

Question 27

The Late Glacial Maximum occurred, ending the most recent ice age, ___ years ago ( ___ BCE).

Answer 27

13,000 - 10,000; 11,000 - 8,000

Question 28

__ of North America, perhaps larger than any other lake in the world, has a major drainage event 13,000 years ago, and is depleted by 8,500 years ago (6,500 BCE).

Answer 28

Lake Agassiz

Question 29

The first known ___ are made in Göbekli Tepe in Turkey c. 9100 BCE. It is perhaps proto-religious.

Answer 29

megaliths

Question 30

The ___ period, marked by the culture of the same name, begins in Japan 14,000 years ago.

Answer 30

Jōmon

Question 31

The emergence of Jericho, perhaps the oldest city still inhabited, and the extinction of horses in the Americas occurred c. ___ BCE.

Answer 31

9,000

Question 32

The Neolithic Period began c. ___ BCE, beginning what is called the Neolithic Revolution, Agricultural Revolution, or Neolithic Demographic Transition.

Answer 32

10,000 - 7000

Question 33

Name the places where the transition to agriculture initially occurred, in order.

Answer 33

Fertile Crescent, Yangtze and Yellow River basins, New Guinea Highlands, Central Mexico, Northern South America, sub-Saharan Africa, eastern North America

Question 34

The ___ settlement begins in China in 7000 BCE, which cultivated rice and foxtail millet, and left behind flutes, evidence of brewing alcohol, and later, writing. Evacuated due to a flood.

Answer 34

Jiahu

Question 35

The ___ event occurs 13,000 - 12,000 years ago, a relatively sudden drop in temperature likely caused by a shutdown of the ___, though evidence is lacking.

Answer 35

Younger Dryas; North Atlantic “conveyor”

Question 36

The ___ event occurs 8,200 years ago (6,200 BCE), rapidly cooling the Earth for ___ centuries. Less extreme than its predecessor.

Answer 36

8.2 kiloyear event; 2 - 4

Question 37

The oldest man-made gold objects were made in ___ c. 4,500 BCE for a ___. The ___ is invented around the same time in Mesopotamia.

Answer 37

Bulgaria; burial; wheel

Question 38

Proto-writing appears earliest in ___ as the Jiahu symbols in 6000 BCE, in ___ as the Vinča symbols 5000 - 4000 BCE, and in ___ as the Dispilio Tablet c. 5000 BCE.

Answer 38

China; central and southeastern Europe; Greece