Set 1

Question 1

How old is the Earth?

Answer 1

Approximately 4.5 billion years.

Question 2

When did the first genus of modern humans appear and what species was it?

Answer 2

c. 2.5 mya and it was Homo habilis.

Question 3

How old are the earliest known human stone tools?

Answer 3

Anywhere from c. 2.75 MYA to c. 500,000 YA.

Question 4

When did the first Homo sapiens appear in Africa?

Answer 4

c. 150,000 YA.

Question 5

When did Homo neanderthalensis disappear?

Answer 5

c. 24,000 YA.

Question 6

When did agriculture first arise in Anatolia, the Middle East, and Mesopotamia?

Answer 6

c. 10,000 BCE.

Question 7

When did the first Chinese agricultural communities appear and where were they located?

Answer 7

c. 7000 BCE. They were based in the Yangtze River Valley.

Question 8

When and where was the first invention of an irrigation system?

Answer 8

c. 5500 BCE in Mesopotamia.

Question 9

When was copper first used and where?

Answer 9

c. 5000 BCE in Mesopotamia.

Question 10

When was the horse first domesticated and where?

Answer 10

c. 4500 BCE in Central Asia.

Question 11

When and where was the plow first used?

Answer 11

c. 4000 BCE in Mesopotamia.

Question 12

When was fire first domesticated?

Answer 12

Anywhere from 1.8 million to 500,000 YA.

Question 13

What is the Paleolithic period?

Answer 13

A period of time from the earliest use of stone tools about 2.5 million years ago up to the beginning of agriculture around 10,000 BCE.

Question 14

When did Homo habilis first appear?

Answer 14

Between 2.5 and 1.8 MYA.

Question 15

When did the Neanderthals first evolve?

Answer 15

Between c. 350,000 to c. 24,000 YA.

Question 16

When did Homo erectus first evolve?

Answer 16

c. 2 MYA to c. 0.5 MYA.

Question 17

When had prehistoric Homo sapiens developed all of the abilities of modern humans?

Answer 17

By at least 45,000 YA.

Question 18

What factor may have played an important role in the development of human speech?

Answer 18

Human language may have evolved because of the need to handle increasingly complex social information, perhaps around 250,000 YA.

Question 19

What was the “Great Leap Forward”?

Answer 19

A period around 40,000 YA when prehistoric humans developed language of the kind we would recognize as language today. This most likely occurred in tropical Africa or southwest Asia.

Question 20

When did humans first migrate out of Africa?

Answer 20

c. 50,000 YA.

Question 21

By when had humans colonized every continent except Antarctica?

Answer 21

c. 10,000 YA.

Question 22

Who were the Cro-Magnons?

Answer 22

They were an array of cold-adapted hunter-gatherer bands societies that flourished in Central and Western Europe from 40,000 YA to 10,000 YA.

Question 23

What was Sunda and why was it important?

Answer 23

Sunda was a huge continental shelf (an area of land now covered by higher sea levels) that was uncovered during the late Ice Age and extended from southeast Asia far into the Pacific. Only short stretches of open water separated New Guinea and Australia from this now-sunken land, and it is assumed that prehistoric humans migrated from southeast Asia to Sahul (linking Australia and New Guinea) about 45,000 YA and had colonized Australia by around this time.

Question 24

What was Sahul and why was it important?

Answer 24

Sahul was a huge stretch of land uncovered during the late Ice Age that linked Australia to New Guinea and that is now covered by rising sea levels. It is important because prehistoric humans are believed to have crossed from Sunda to Sahul around 45,000 YA to colonize first Australia and then New Guinea (New Guinea is believed to have been colonized around 40,000 YA).

Question 25

What was Beringia and why was it important?

Answer 25

Berinigia was a low-lying land bridge between Siberia and Alaska that was above water until about 10,000 YA and that allowed the first prehistoric humans to cross from Siberia to Alaska at least 15,000 YA.

Question 26

When did life first appear on Earth?

Answer 26

At least 3.5 billion YA.

Question 27

When was Stonehenge built and what was its assumed purpose?

Answer 27

Stonehenge was constructed from about 3000 BCE to about 2000 BCE. The circular mound that seems to have been its first phase is dated to about 3100 BCE. Although the site’s purpose remains unclear, many have speculated that the site had an astronomical or religious use. There were many burial sites around Stonehenge. The site is aligned to the winter solstice sunset at the site and the opposing sunrise of the summer solstice.

Question 28

When and where was metalworking first developed?

Answer 28

Anatolia and Mesopotamia around 6000 BCE.

Question 29

When was bronze first produced and what is bronze, exactly?

Answer 29

Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin and was first produced around 2500 BCE.

Question 30

When was the wheel first developed and what might have been its origin?

Answer 30

The wheel was first developed sometime in the fifth millennium BCE and is believed to have developed from the potter’s wheel.