Term
|
Definition
| genus including several species of early bipeds from eastern, southern, and central Africa living btwn about 1.1 and 4.3 mya, one of whom was directly ancestral to humans |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| one of the earliest bipeds that lived in eastern Africa |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| space btwn canines and other teeth allowing large projecting canines spaace within the jaw |
|
|
Term
| gracile australpithecines |
|
Definition
| members of the genus Australopithecus possessing a more lightly built chewing apparatus; likely had a diet that included more meat than that of the robust australopithecines |
|
|
Term
| robust australopithecines |
|
Definition
| several species within the genus Australopithecus, who lived from 2.5 and 1.1 mya in eastern and southern Africa; known for the rugged natureof their chewing apparatus (large back teeth, chewing muscles and bony ridge on skull for insertion of large muscles) |
|
|
Term
| Law of Competitive Exclusion |
|
Definition
| when 2 closely related species compete for the same niche, one will out-compete the other bringing about the latter's extinction |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| "handy man" first fossil of genus Homo appearing 2.5 mya w/ larger brains and smaller faces than australopithecines |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| first part of Old Stone Age beginning with earliest Oldowan tools spanning from about 200 or 250 kya to 2.6 mya |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| first stone tool industry beginning btwn 2.5 and 2.6 mya, made from very fine grained stone (like flint), had to travel to acquire stone and plan how to use it |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| in a food chain, third animal group (second to scavange) to obtain meat from a kill (usually large mammals from other carnivores) made by a predator |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| tool-making tradition of Homo erectus in Africa, Europe, and SW Asian in which hand-axes were developed from the earlier Oldowan chopper |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| tool-making technique by which 3 or 4 long triangular flakes were detached from a specially prepared core. Developed by members of Homo genus btwn H. erectus and H. sapiens |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a distinct group within the Homo genus inhabiting Europe and SW Asia from approx. 30kya to 125kya |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| middle part of Old Stone Age, known by development of the Mousterian tradition of tool making and the earlier Lavalloisian traditions |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| tool industry of the Neandertals and their contemporaries of Europe, SW Asia, and northern Africa from 40kya to 125kya |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| hypothesis that modern humans originated through a process of simultaneous local transition from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens throughout the inhabited world |
|
|
Term
| Out of Africa ("Eve") Hypothesis |
|
Definition
| hypothesis that all modern people are derived from one single population of archai H. sapiens from Africa who migrated out of Africa after 100kya replacing all other archaic forms due to their superior cultural capabilities |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| last part of (10kya-40kya)of Old Stone Age featuring tool industries known by long slim blades and an explosion of creative symbolic forms |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| European of the Upper Paleolithic after about 36kya |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| technique of stone tool manufacture by which long parallel-sided flackes are struck off the edges of a specially prepared core |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| stone tool with chisel-like edges used for working bone and antler |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| fold of skin at the inner corner of the eye that covers the true corner of the eye; common in Asiatic pops. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| an animal that maintains a relatively constant body temperature despite environmental fluctuations |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| an animal whose body temperature rises or falls according to the temperature of the surrounding environment |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| theory for primate evolution that proposes that life in the trees was responsible for enhanced visual acuity and manual dexterity in primates |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| hypothesis for primate evolution that proposes that hunting behavior in tree-dwelling prmates was responsible for their enhanced visual acuity and manual dexterity |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| large opening in skull through which the spinal cord passes and connects to the brain |
|
|
Term
| Adaptive Advantages of Bipedalism |
|
Definition
| efficient form of locomotion, travel far in times of food and scarcity, hands free to carry and manipulate, vigilance (spot predators over grassand see long distances), cope with heat stress on the Savannah |
|
|
Term
| Home Base Theory (Zinj floor) |
|
Definition
| concentrations of stone tools and animal bones represent a home base - a place where early hominids lived for some period of time, perhaps a month |
|
|
Term
| "Man the Hunter" hypothesis |
|
Definition
| early hominids were rough and ready hunters dominating their environment, hunting of large mammals by cooperative groups of males fostered development of intelligence, language, etc. (proposed by Desmond Morris in 1950s) |
|
|
Term
| Distinguishing Cranial Traits btwn Homo and Australopithecus |
|
Definition
| larger cranial capacity than Australopithecus, more rounded crania, absence of any crests or flaring zygomatic arches (cheeks that support chewing habits), small facial skeleton relative to brain case size, absence of dish-shaped face, less massive jaw, smaller molars and premolars, true parabolic-shaped dental arch |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| first hominid to leave Africa and colonized outside of home base (unusual for any species), had culture that allowed to move where there was new species, food, and better climate, flatter face, less sloping forehead, teeth similar to A. africanus, no crest |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| ice age full of multiple glacial advances and retreats 1.8 mya-10kya, first see hominids at end of epock |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| located in republic of Georgia,from 1.8mya, relatively primitive (more like ergaster), didn't have teeth so probs in a lot of pain and had to have someone helping which shows change in gestation, social interaction, and organizing functions |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| archaeological site, 400kya, where 5 wood spears and horses were found |
|
|
Term
| H. erectus use of fire and hunting |
|
Definition
fire-warmth, protection, and cooking
hunting-association of stone tools and butchered bones (also worked wood and bones) along an important migration route from 200-400kya in Torralba and Ambrona, Central Spain (found 55 elephants, 26 horses, 25 deer, 10 aurochs, 6 rhinos, and 4 carnivores) |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| site for greatest collection of H. erectus fossils (around 40 adults and children including discovered H. erectus in 20s and 30s)as well as 100,000 artifacts |
|
|
Term
| Taung child and significance |
|
Definition
| small-brained bipedal African ancestor that began evolution to modern day humans (controversy involved with scientific community and inability to accept small-brained ancestor)-discovered by Raymond Dart |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| oldest known so far (btwn 3.9 and 4.2 mya) "ape man of the lake"; particularities include sectorial premolar shaped to hone upper canine like apes, and (like other A. and humans, enamel in molars is thick and limb bone fragments indicate bipedalism |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
2nd species defined in fossil record (2.9-3.9 mya), one of best known due to "Lucy" (from Afar, Ethiopia); sexually dimorphic and bipedal, btwn 3.5 and 5 ft. tall, arms long in comparison
to legs and still have curvature of fingers and toes still more adapted to tree climbing, backward-sloping forehead,
large brow ridge, chinless with large jaws, brain small and apelike, more parallel tooth rows and slight diastema |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| (2.3-3 mya) evidence favors mental capabilities as comparable to those of modern great apes |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| fossils found in East Africa (approx. 1.75 mya), have enormous molars and premolars,large mandibles, sagittal crest, prominent brow ridges, skull more massive than other robusts (discovered by Leakeys) |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| relatively small braincase with huge temporal muscles for jaws, sagittal crest |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| clearly related to fertility and possibly fertility networks for growing selective genes in populations: to become more adapted to specific environments (way of finding mates outside of family groups) |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| 33kya, art of aggressive animals, predators, nonfood animals (like owls) - defied decided chronology of sophistication in cave art thus far because of the detail |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| 17kya, sorceror (shaman assoc. half man half animal), food animals, depiction of man dead w/ erection in back of cave |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| one of oldest and most complete Homo erectus fossils (tall adolescent boy from Kenya expected to have reached 6ft), significant because more robust than moderns, but post cranially modern |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| 1.8 mya, evidential site of earliest H. erectus migration out of Africa, associated with mostly complete fossils of old man that had been cared for; shows start of social development in how they cared for one another |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| discovered 1985 by diver Henri Cosquer, orig. entrance 115ft below (today's) sea level, huge chamber partly above sea where gallery exists: 177 animal figures found (presence of many sea animal to testify influence of local envir. on myths, horses and some rare animals) and 65 hand stencils; possibly very 1st example of specific medicine making in world history (27 kya) |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| crest running from front to back on the top of the skull along the midline to provide a surface of bone for the attachment of the large temporal muscles for chewing |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Chinese H. erectus site that many paleoanthropologists interpret evidence of fires, hackberries, and animal bones as hunting, gathering and and occupation of cave |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| due to visual sensations of trance experiences,the nervous system often generates a variety of luminous, pulsating, revolving and constantly shifting geometric patterns; apparent in upper paleolithic art |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| according to the theory of plate tectonics, movement of continents embedded in underlying plates on the earth's surface in relation to one another over the history of life on earth |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| forest begins to contract and becomes more arid; fossil gap - not sure exactly what led up to "Lucy" |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| almost complete skeleton discovered in 1974 in Afar triangle of Ethiopia by Donald Johanson; 3ft tall, female, looked as if could walk like a human, but very chimplike, suspected to have sloping forehead, small braincase, and large chimp face |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| 1.8mya-10kya, ice age with multiple glacial advances and retreats, first see hominids in New World at end of Pleistocene |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| ridge of bone at bottom/base of skull; belongs to strong, muscular creatures (such as H. erectus) - think football players necks |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| New Stone Age, prehistoric period beginning about 10kya in which people possessed stone-based technology and relied on domesticated plants/animals |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Middle Stone Age, in between the end of the Paleolithic and the beginning of the Neolithic, referred to as Archaic cultures in the Americas |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| term used to refer to Mesolithic cultures in the Americas |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| small blade of flint or similar stone, several of which were hafted together in wooden handles to make tools prominant in the Mesolithic period |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Mesolithic culture living in the lands that are now Israel, Lebanon, and western Syria btwn 10,200ya and 12,400ya |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| and evolutionary process where humans either intentionally or unintentionally modify the genetic makeup of a populaton of plants/animals, sometimes to the extent that members of the pop. cannot survive or reproduce w/o human assistance |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| cultivation of domesticated root crops, such as yams and taro |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| region encompassing southern Mexica and northern Central America |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| cultivation of crops carried out with simple hand tools such as digging sticks or hoes |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| intensive crop cultivation, employing plows, fertilizers, and/or irrigation |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| breeding and managing migratory herds ofdomesticated grazing animals, such as goats, sheep, cattle, llamas, and camels |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| (in anthro) a type of society marked by the presence of cities, social classes, and the state |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| in the Old World, the period marked by the production of tools and ornaments of bronze; began about 5kya in China and SW Asia and about 500 years earlier in SE Asia |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| items such as utensils, figurines, and personal possessions, symbolically placed in the grave for the deceased person's use in the afterlife |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| theory that explains civilization's emergence as a result of the construction of elaborate irrigation systems, the functioning of which required full-time managers whose control blossomed into the first governing body and elite social class |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| theory that self-serving actions by forceful leaders play a role in civilization's emergence |
|
|
