European Prehistory

Who is credited with one of the first pan-European syntheses on prehistory and archaeology?

Vere Gordon Childe

What tool technology is associated with Homo neanderthalensis?

Mousterian tool technology

What site in Spain contains the remains of approximately 28 hominin individuals believed to show early burial behavior?

Sima de los Huesos

What behavior is indicated by the scratches on the incisors of Homo neanderthalensis remains?

Using teeth as a tool to hold items while cutting

What subadult skeleton found in Portugal has been debated as a possible hybrid between Neanderthals and Anatomically Modern Humans?

Lapedo Child

For what work was Svante Pääbo awarded the Nobel Prize in 2022?

Genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution

Where is the Divje Babe Cave, known for a Neanderthal bone flute, located?

Slovenia

The site of Sima del Elefante in Spain is important because this is the first archaeological evidence of the use of fire for cooking fish. (T/F)

False

One of the fascinating discoveries from the Neanderthal bone remains recovered from the site of El Sidron, Spain, is the extensive evidence for cannibalism, which included cut marks on skulls and dismembered leg joints. (T/F)

True

Who organized antiquities into a chronological three-age system: stone, bronze, iron?

Christian Jurgensen Thomsen

Recent ancient DNA at Denisovan Cave in Siberia has indicated a likely mitochondrical DNA (mtDNA) relationship with early hominin remains recovered at Sima de los Huesos cave in Spain. (T/F)

True

What archaeological site in Germany is known for well-preserved wooden artifacts dating back 400,000 years?

Schoningen

Which archaeological site in England is known for preserved foot impressions dated back to 900,000 years ago?

Happisburgh

Which species is believed to have left flint artifacts and butchered remains at Boxgrove, England?

Homo heidelbergensis

Following the last major glacial period in Europe, the retreat of glaciers and ice fields in the northern latitudes, eustatic rises in sea levels, and isostatic rises in land forms all contributed to the reshaping of the environment and physical landforms in Europe. (T/F)

True

At the archaeological site of Salzgitter-Lebenstedt in Germany, according to your textbook (Price 2013), thirty-some artifacts made from bone and ivory document the use of these materials my Neanderthals in addition to the stone tools recovered there. (T/F)

True

Radiocarbon dating allows archaeologists to date prehistoric sites back to at least 1.3 million years ago. (T/F)

False

What type of bones predominated at Salzgitter Lebenstedt, indicating specialized hunting by Neanderthals?

Reindeer

The archaeological site of Galerie Schoepfin at the Grotte du Renne in France has produced remarkable evidence of Neanderthal occupation. Due to the lack of this cave chamber being filled with sediments, the artifacts found are basically in the same condition as the Neanderthals left them. This included thousands of animal bones and many stone tools. The site resembles the den of animals and was probably a location where Neanderthals sheltered for some period of time. (T/F)

True

As discussed in one of the class lectures, the animal bone remains and those of Homo antecessor at Gran Dolina indicate clear patterns of similar breakage and cut marks. This has resulted in some scholars suggesting that cannibalism may have occurred between Homo antecessor groups. (T/F)

True

What physical trait was common among Neanderthals due to their active lifestyles?

Musculoskeletal hypertrophy

During the 17 and 18 centuries AD in Europe, people thought that the large stone tools that were occasionally found were the result of lightning strikes hitting the ground rather than evidence of ancient occupation (T/F)

True

What archaeological site in Israel provides early evidence for the use of fire and cooking fish?

Gesher Benot Ya'Aqov

What lithic tradition is characterized as a hybrid between Mousterian and Aurignacian technologies?

Châtelperronian

The Neanderthal bone remains from Vindija Cave in Croatia, and their excellent collagen preservation, were extremely important for the first successful studies of aDNA by the Max Planck Institute and Svante Pääbo. (T/F)

True

What characterizes the 'Creative Explosion' of the Upper Paleolithic?

It involved innovations in art, technology, personal ornamentation, and evidence of counting and time awareness.

What is the correct chronological sequence of the Upper Paleolithic subperiods from earliest to latest?

Châtelperronian, Aurignacian, Gravettian, Solutrean, Magdalenian.

The cave paintings at Grotte Chauvet are among the earliest known, dating to between 32,000 and 30,000 years ago. (T/F)

True

Tybrind Vig is located underwater because Denmark sits on a geological tilt line where the southwestern half is sinking. (T/F)

True

Rock art in Norway can be dated using shoreline displacement because the land is gradually rising due to glacial rebound. (T/F)

True

What does the decorated bone plaque from Abri Blanchard represent?

Evidence for counting systems and recording lunar phases.

What evidence indicates that Polderweg in the Netherlands was primarily a winter residence?

Emphasis on pike fishing and migratory waterfowl remains.

What advanced technology does Tybrind Vig demonstrate?

Sophisticated wooden artifacts including dugout canoes and decorated paddles.

What does the cemetery at Vedbæk, Denmark, provide evidence for?

High infant mortality and evidence of violent conflict

Homo sapiens (anatomically modern humans) first arrived in Europe around 40,000 years ago. (T/F)

True

The Upper Paleolithic period is characterized by the extensive use of stone blades and objects made from bone, antler, ivory, and wood. (T/F)

True

Cro-Magnon humans were intellectually different from modern humans due to their smaller cranial capacity. (T/F)

False

The obsidian found at Franchthi Cave came from the Aegean island of Melos, proving that Upper Paleolithic people were navigating the Mediterranean. (T/F)

True

The Mesolithic period in Europe lasted from 11,000 to 6,000 BP and represents the time of the last hunters before the arrival of farming. (T/F)

True

At Pestera cu Oase in Romania, what made the discovery of human remains particularly challenging?

Researchers had to dive underwater for 25 meters and climb up a 30-meter deep pit

Which of the following best describes the subsistence strategy at Dolní Věstonice?

Primarily focused on mammoth hunting with evidence of 800-900 mammoth remains

At Grotte de la Vache, the analysis of animal remains revealed:

Wild goats were hunted from autumn to spring, reindeer during biannual migrations

What does Doggerland refer to?

A large area of the North Sea floor that was dry land during colder periods.

Based on the lecture about early dog domestication, one of the most important archaeological sites in Europe is Bonn Oberkassel in German, where a dog was placed in a burial with two humans. Study of the dog's remains indicated that it likely suffered from canine distemper. (T/F)

True

Based on one of the class lectures, excavations at the site of Kostenki 11 in Russia has revealed a large, elaborate structure 40 feet in diameter made of mammoth bones that may have served a special purpose. Based on the recovery of minute lithic debitage inside the structure, it is thought that there may have been short occupations at this site. (T/F)

True

The class lecture on the Upper Paleolithic Sunghir burial discussed two burials from the cemetery at this site. One of them contained the remains for two subadult individuals (male and female children) buried together with an amazing variety of grave goods, including ivory lances, ivory beads, an antler baton, and fox teeth. (T/F)

True

What site produced some of the earliest evidence of fired clay objects?

Dolní Věstonice.

The 2022 publication by Bacon et al. "An Upper Paleolithic Proto-writing System and Phenological Calendar" argued that the purpose of some aspects of Upper Paleolithic cave painting was to record and convey specific seasonal behavioral information about animals. (T/F)

True

The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) occurred between 26,000 and 19,000 years ago when average winter temperatures were 10- 15°F colder than today. (T/F)

True

Blade manufacturing techniques allow for mass production of stone tools from a single nodule of flint, similar to peeling a carrot. (T/F)

True