Anthro 110 exam 2

A. afarensis

3.9 - 3 Million years ago (Lucy). The middle one.

A. ramidus

4.4 - 5.8 million years ago.

Occasional biped.

Fruits, and nuts

Oldest.

Absolute Dating

Radiometric methods such as radioactive decay/unstable elements decay overtime at certain rates for each element.

Acheulean

Agriculture

Archaeological Record

Artifacts, Ecofacts, Features.

Artifact

an object made by a human being, typically an item of cultural or historical interest.

Bipedalism

the condition of having two feet or of using only two feet for locomotion

Domestication

The process of adapting wild plants and animals for human use.

Ecofact

Things that were not made by humans but are important in understanding the archaeological record

Egalitarian

Societies which are non-stratified social systems that lack hereditary statuses with ascribed coercive power

Feature

A non-moveable element of an archaeological site

H. erectus

1.7mya-70kya, Controlled use of fire, Hunting, Fruits, roots, meat, wild grains, “upright man”, Very diverse species, *first hominin to leave Africa*, Left Africa very soon after the species arose (within 100,000 years), Cranial capacity 1000 ccs, Face less robust than early Homo, more robust than ours, Postcranial skeleton a lot like ours, but a bit more robust, Achulean stone tool tradition – larger, biface

H. neanderthalensis

“Anatomically modern humans” (AMHs), aka us, Homo sapiens sapiens

H. sapiens

195,000 years ago to the present. Modern humans.

H. habilis

2.4 - 1.5 million years ago “handy man”

Earliest known species within the genus Homo, used tools.

Hominin

The group consisting of modern humans, extinct human species and all our immediate ancestors

Hominoid

The group consisting of all modern and extinct Great Apes

Interpretation

• Archaeology helps to answer questions about past societies with regard to...

• Technology (tools, knowledge exchange, adaptation)

• Economics (trade networks, subsistence patterns, interaction)

• Organization (political, kinship, ideology)

• Involves applying theoretical perspectives

Law of Superposition

When artifacts or features are found, they are grouped with all other artifacts found in that soil level (type of dating technique.

Mousterian

Natural Selection

The process through which populations of living organisms adapt and change

Artificial Selection

The process through which populations of living organisms adapt and change

Mutation

A change in the DNA sequence of an organism

Gene Flow

Allelic change due to movement of individuals from one place to another.

Genetic Drift (Founder and \n Bottle Neck)

Cases in which a small population is formed from a larger population

Charles Darwin

The theory of natural selection (1809 - 1882)

Subsistence Strategic

The ways that people obtain food from their environment (Foraging, pastoralism, horticulture, agriculture, industrialism)

Neolithic

The final stage of cultural evolution or technological development among prehistoric humans

Multiregional Hypothesis/ \n Out of Africa I

Idea that modern humans emerged from populations of "archaic" hominids in Africa, Europe, and Asia that evolved locally but also exchanged genes

Richard the III

Wrinkly, Crinkly spine lookin ass.

Relative Dating

We determine which things are older or younger based on their relationships

Replacement Model (Out \n of Africa II)

This proposes a single and relatively recent transition from archaic hominins to AMH in Africa, followed by a later migration to the rest of the world, replacing other extant hominin populations

Sedentism

The practice of living in one place for a long time

Seriation

The chronological ordering of artifacts of a particular class—but of different styles

Social Stratification

Hierarchical relationships between different groups, usually based off inequality and access to wealth, power, and prestige

Survey

Deals with surveying human evolution

Foramen Magnum (“great hole”)

The large opening in the base of the skull through which the spinal cord exits the cranial vault

Homologous/Analogous

Traits

A single identifiable material or non-material element within a culture

Gregor Mendel

Pea Plants. Discovered the fundamental laws of inheritance

Alfred Wallace

Independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural selection

Types and examples of microevolution

Mosquitoes evolving resistance to DDT.

Whiteflies resistance to pesticides.

Tenets of Natural Selection

Variation, Inheritance, Selection, Time and Adaptation

Examples of how humans are still evolving

Bones becoming lighter, genes constantly changing, not being able to drink milk without pooping :(.

Austrolopiths, H. habilis; H. erectus; H. neanderthalensis; H. sapiens: the order in which \n they evolved, and the features that distinguish them from other species (brain size, \n locomotion, teeth, tool use, anatomical features such as the valgus angle, etc.)

Bipedalism and its consequences

Hernias, varicose veins, back, hip, and knee problems

Human biological adaptations (microevolutionary changes since our species originated)

Gaining opposable thumbs, increasing lung capacity, walking upright, large brains

Neanderthals and Modern Humans

Types of archaeology

• Historic archaeology

• Classical archaeology

• Archaeometry

• Experimental archaeology

• Cultural resource management

• Zooarchaeology

• Paleoethnobotany

• Bioarchaeology

Methods and techniques

Geologic dating, stratigraphy, seriation, cross-dating, and horizon markers

Richard the III

Hunch Back, King Of England, Something wrong with his arms.

Ended up having scoliosis, no arm injury.

This shows why archaeology is important, we can correct historical wrongs.

Tulsa Race Massacre 1921

Black Wall St. burned down

“A shot was fired and all hell broke loose” -Livingston

It was said that there were 11 deaths but using archaeology it has been found that already 18 bodies have been found which means there could be way more than they said to begin with.

It is again being used to verify claims and right historical wrongs.

Domestication changes in plants and animals

Domestic species are raised for food, work, clothing, medicine, and many other uses. Domesticated plants and animals must be raised and cared for by humans. Domesticated species are not wild.

Consequences of domestication

The stability that came with regular, predictable food production led to increased population density. They didn’t have to work as hard for food as they used to.

“Man the Hunter” vs. hunter gathers

Everyone was a hunter and everyone was a gatherer it was incorrect to say man was the hunter especially when hunting they would basically wait for the animal to die or get killed and take what is left.

Theories of the rise of agriculture

Oasis - Climate Change, It argues that domestication arose as people, plants, animals were forced to congregate around water sources during the arid years following the Pleistocene. (problem the Middle East)

Natural Habitat Hypothesis - people started domesticating things within their environment. (problem we don’t find chickpeas only where they are naturally found now they are all over.)

Population pressure theory - presumes we had a very large population and we needed to grow things in order to preserve that population. (problem )

Oldest Monkey To Newest

Austrolopiths,

H. habilis,

H. erectus,

H. neanderthalensis,

H. sapiens