Wk 6 - Hominins

Question 1

Hominins are…(x2)

Answer 1

Modern humans, extinct human species and all immediate ancestors
genera Homo, Australopithecus, Paranthropus, Ardipithecus

Question 2

Hominids are…(x2)

Answer 2

All modern and extinct great apes

Humans plus chimps, gorillas, orang-utans and immediate ancestors

Question 3

Louis and Mary Leakey refer to stone tools as…(x1)

Answer 3

Fossilised human behaviour

Question 4

The Oldewan industrial complex is associated with which ancestral species? (x2)
From what time period? (x1)

Answer 4

Australopithecines - gahri
Early Homo - habilis
2.6 million years ago

Question 5

Oldewan tools show evidence of…(x3)

Answer 5

Awareness - choice of stone, some better than others
Forethought - stone brought from other regions
Cooperation - hunting, eating, sharing meat

Question 6

Do Oldewan tools evidence cumulative culture? (x1)

Explain (x3)

Answer 6

No
Shape controlled by primary form/size/properties of raw material
No modification after initial construction/cleaving from base stone – ‘least effort strategies’
No suggestion of even basic imitation, just trial and error learning

Question 7

Acheulian tools were found…(x3)
Through which time frame? (x1)
Made by..(x1)

Answer 7

Africa, West Asia, Europe
1.6 million - 100 thousand yrs ago
Homo erectus

Question 8

How did Acheulean tools advance on Oldewan? (x3)

Answer 8

Application to multiple uses,
Economy of raw material use
Utility of resharpening flakes

Question 9

Acheulian tools indicate the start of imitation in that…(x2)

Answer 9

Fairly consistent design/manufacture over a million yrs

Large, symmetrical axes show importance of act and mastery of making, over finalised object - evidence of causal opacity

Question 10

Putt et al (2014) examined the overlap between tool and language evolution in study involving…(x3)
Finding…(x3)
Concluding that…(x2)

Answer 10

Verbal – goals, advice and info conveyed through vocal and demonstration; and
Nonverbal groups
Both groups - experienced knapper separately to practice for one hour, once a week, for 5 weeks
Capacity similar across verbal and nonverbal groups
But:
• Nonverbal made more waste, with more increase in learning
• Verbal made larger striking platform - often a sign of the quality of the end product = larger flakes
Shape, form, concept of symmetry can be transmitted verbally or nonverbally -
It’s at least possible to make these without language

Question 11

Do Acheulian tools evidence cumulative culture? (x1)

Explain (x2)

Answer 11

No
Repetitive design/manufacture for a million yrs
But do display the potential emergence of overimitation

Question 12

Mousterean tools are found across…(x3)
Were made by…(x1)
During which time period? (x1)

Answer 12

Unglaciated Europe, Near East and North Africa
Neanderthals
300-30 K yrs ago

Question 13

The Levallois method emerged in which industrial complex?
And involved…(x1)
Which allowed…(x1)

Answer 13

Mousterean
Flaking the edges of a tool prior to striking it from the stone base
Much smaller tools - don’t damage the tip during knapping

Question 14

Do Mousterean tools evidence cumulative culture? (x1)

Explain (x2)

Answer 14

Yes
Regional stylistic and technological variants are clearly identifiable – culture
Potential evidence of Neanderthals running into cromagnon man (modern humans), which influenced Neanderthal tool making

Question 15

What additional evidence supports the emergence of cumulative culture in Neanderthals? (x4)

Answer 15

Highly sophisticated “standardized” multi- part tools
Tailored clothes
Art - cave painting, jewellery, maybe musical instruments
Religion/ritual - pollen found in graves leads to suggestion of flowers in graves? Why bury them at all?

Question 16

What neural evidence suppports the overlap of language and tool-making skills? (x2)

Answer 16

Broca’s region activation during replication of Oldowan and Acheulian tools
Language and stone toolmaking = common cerebral blood flow lateralisation signatures

Question 17

Wynn (1998) has argued that homo erectus…(x1)

Which would have required he integration of…(x1)

Answer 17

Used tools along with vocalisations, gestures to direct and describe present and future actions
Several cognitive domains - species-specific skill

Question 18

In what species do we find the majority of neocortical expansion?
And yet the tool-making/cumulative culture processes we examine do not emerge until…(x1)
Which coincides with the emergence of which species-specific life stages? (x2)

Answer 18

Homo erectus - early to late went from 800/00cc to 1200cc
Neanderthalensis
Childhood, and post-menopausal women

Question 19

How is human childhood different from other species? (x3)

Answer 19

Most mammals - birth, infancy, adulthood
Monkeys/apes - a juvenile period after infancy increases length of dependency
Humans - early weaning = 3yo that can’t prep own food, care for self

Question 20

Locke and Bogin (2006) identify what 6 characteristics of childhood?

Answer 20

Slow and steady rate of body growth and relatively small body size - declines after birth to about 5yo, then ramps up, peak around 13yo
Large, fast-growing brain
Higher resting metabolic rate than any other mammalian species
Immature dentition
Dependence on older people for care and feeding
Motor and cognitive advances

Question 21

Childhood is…(x2)

And provides many advantages to the processes of…

Answer 21

Extended period, and developmental patterns of the human brain associated with it, provide opportunity for extensive learning and for sophisticated cultural behaviours to develop
Can do all the complex development without worries over survival
Overimitation, social motivation, pedagogy

Question 22

Bogin (1990) has argued that the period of human childhood also allows for…(x3)

Answer 22

Patterns of growth that help establish teacher-student roles that remain stable for a decade or more,
Allowing a great deal of learning, practice , and modification of survival skills to occur
So we see the emergence of pedagogical relationships that aren’t there if you don’t have this stage