ANTHC 126 Midterm

the study of items left behind by dead people

The span of time before recorded history

basic unit of place that had phusical traces of past human activity

any object manufactured or modified by humans; the most common thing that archaeologists work with

a collection of one or more contexts representing some human non-portable activity that generally has a vertical characteristic to it in relation to site stratigraphy.

refers to a close relationship between two or more objects that can be proven to be deposited at the same time though the same context

"glacial age"

a period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets

preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past

term used to refer to the family of "humans" and "relatives of humans closer than chimpanzees"

walking on two feet

cast of the inside of the skull that reveals certain characterstics about the brain

old stone tool used by the Homo habilis, and Homo erectus like a cooking or skinning knife

the rock used to make stone tools before it has been manipulated

• - used by homonids
• - found in Sima de lose Huesos, Atapuerca, Spain

distinctive tye of stone knapping developed during the Palaeolithic period

• - found in Le Moustier, France (50,000 ya)
• - resembles a tortoise shell

portion of a tool with an edge designed to cut andor puncture, stab, slash, chop, slice, thurst, or scrape animate or inanimate surfaces of materials

- may be made from flaking

tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in dart-throwing

• - shaft with a cup or spur at the end that supports and propels the butt of the dart
• - originated in France during the Upper Paleolithic period (21,000 - 17,000 ya)
• - itroduced to America during the immigration across the Bering Land Bridge

the science determinging the relative order of past events without necessarily determining their absolute age

the process of determining an approximate computed age based on the ohysical or chemical properties of the materials of artifacts, buildings, or other items that have been modified by humans

the use of commonly recurring objects to date cultures or deposits of unknown date by reference to the occurence of the same kinds of objects in securely dated contexts elsewhere

archaeological dating based on the levels of sediment

scientific method of dating based on the analysis of patterns of tree/growth rings

natural occurin isotioe that is used in radiocarbon dating to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years

dating by means of measuring the accumulated radiation dose of the time elapsed since materical containing crystalline minerals was either heaved or exposed to sunlight

• - (1,700,00 - 10,000 BP)
• - glaciations; Ice Age
• - the period in which humans evolved into their present form; Homo erectus were only fossils found in their period

• - (2,500,000 - 1,500,000 BP)
• - earliest stone tool industry in prehistory being used during the Lower Paleolithic Period (Olduvai Gorge)
• - humans: Australopithecus

• - (1,500,000 - 100,000 BP)
• - era of the hand axe
• - name given to an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture associated with early humans during the Lower Palaeolithic era across Africa and much of W. Asia, S. Asia, and Europe
• - inhabitants: Homo erectus, archaic Homo sapiens (heidelbergensis)

- (100,000 - 35,000 BP)

• - predominantly flint tools dating to the Middle Paleolithic (the middle part of the Old Stone Age)
• - named after Le Moustier, France (a rock shelter in the Dordogne region of France)

- inhabitants: Homo neanderthalensis

- (35,000 - 10,000 BP)

• - last subdivion of the Paleolithic as it is understood in Europe, Africam ad Asia
• - includes the last glacial period followed by a warm global period

- inhabitats: Homo sapiens (modern humans) that used the same crude stone tools as Neanderthals and Homo erectus that evolved and started making more advanced tools

• - 3.9 to 2.9 mya
• - resided in E. Africa (Laetoli, Tanzania)

• - "Lucy": (3.2mya) discovered in 1974 brtweem two volcanic layers used to date her
• - may have made the Laetoli footprints

• - bipedal but has more ape like toes for climbing, full grown adult based on pelvis (basically the same as modern humans)
• - bipedal hominid with a small brain and primitive face, pelvis more ape-like, femurs angled in,

• - 3.5 to 2.3 mya
• - found in S.Africa (Taung, S.Africa)

• - slender build (gracile) than Australopithecus afarensis and significantly more like modern humans
• - larger cranium (larger brain)
• - curved fingers for climbing

- sexual dimorphism present

- Taung Child: found in Kimberley, S. Africa in 1924, that had a hole at the base of the skill over the spinal column (human like posture)

• - 2.0 to 1.0 mya
• - found in S. Africa (Swartkrans)

• - resembled Australopithecus africanus, but had some "robust" characteristics
• - head shaped like a gorillas with a massive built jaw and teeth in comparison to hominins within the Homo lineage

• - 2.4 to 1.5 mya
• - found in E. Africa (Koobi Fora, Kenya and Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania)

• - diet of scavenged meat and plants
• - used stone tools
• - strategic planning involved (collected stones for stone tools in case they would need them for a later time, est. giving tasks within a group)

- least similar to modern humans of all species in the genus; long arms, ape-like morphology

• - 1.8 to 0.3 mya
• - found in Eurpe, Asia, and Africa (Dmanisi, Republic of Georgia)

- Turkana boy: discovered in 1984, gave evidence that they were capable of producing souds comparable to modern human speech

• - low forehead, large brow ridge, but from the neck down almost indistinguisable from a modern human
• - brain size is bigger than that of Homo habilis, but 2/3 the size of modern humans

• - used Oldowan and Aceulean tools, indicated use of controlled fire
• - lived in hunter-gatherer society

- "archaic Homo sapiens"

• - 400,000 to 33,000 mya
• - found in Europe, Africam Asia (Laetoli, Tanzania and Sima de los Huesos)

- larger brain than Homo ergaster, but very similar

• - may have been the first to bury their dead
• - acquired a primitive form of language

• - 130,000 to 35,000 mya
• - found in Europe (Neander Valley, Germany)

• - as large cranial capacity of modern humans; less neotenized skulls
• - stronger than modern humans; more robust than anatomically modern humans

• - perhaps 200,000 years ago to present
• - found worldwide

- vertical forehead that houses larger brains

- capacity for abstract thoughts and the use of symbolism to express cultural creativity

- located in Etheopia

- where "Lucy" was found

- located in Tanzania

- site of the Laetoli footprints (Australopithecus afarensis)

- located in Tanzania

• - occupied by Homo habilis, Homo erectus, and Homo sapiens
• - olduvian tools, Lithic flakes

- located in Lake Turkana

• - Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis, and Homo erectus
• - large quantities of stone tools (Olduwan and Acheulean)

- caving system in Beijing, China

- Peking Man: first specimen of Homo erectus

- geological formation located in East Africa

- inhabitants: Homo erectus

- a large number of Acheulean hand axes found here

- located in Soria, Spain

- large number of remains of stone tools that suggest early hominid hunting and scavenging and hunter-gathering

- located on the slopes of Mount Boron in Nice (26m above current sea level of the Mediterranean Sea)

• - holds traces of the earliest domestication of fire in Europe
• - stone tools madeout of beach stones

- located in the Bradsot mountain of the Zagros Mountains (Erbil Governate, Iraq)

- holds nine skeletons of Neanderthals of varying ages that suggest that Neanderthals had funeral ceremonies, burying their dead with flowers

- located in Uzbekistan, Asia

- remains of a male Neanderthal child discovered with five pairs of Ibex horns (funeral ritual)

- Kebara: most complete Neanderthal skeleton found to date ("Moshe")

-Qafzeh: skulls found that show "neanderthal features" before the arrival of Neandertahls in the region

- Et-Tabun: ---