Early Humans and Prehistory Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering early human development, prehistoric dating techniques, hominid species, and the Paleolithic Age based on lecture notes.

Prehistory

The period of human history before writing was developed.

Archaeology

The study of past societies through analysis of what people left behind, such as artifacts.

Anthropology

The study of human life and culture based on artifacts and human fossils.

Artifacts

Objects made by humans, including tools, weapons, art, and buildings.

Fossils

Rocklike remains of biological organisms, such as a leaf imprint or a skeleton.

Radiocarbon Dating

A dating method that measures the radioactive carbon (C-14) remaining in a organism after it dies, accurate for objects up to about $50,000$ years old.

Thermoluminescence

A scientific dating method that measures light given off by electrons trapped in surrounding soil, accurate for objects back to $200,000$ years ago.

Chaco Canyon

Site in New Mexico where chemical analysis in $2008$ discovered cacao (chocolate) residue in pottery from between A.D. $850$ and $1250$, providing the earliest evidence of chocolate beverages in the American Southwest.

Hominid

A human or other humanlike creature that walks upright.

Australopithecus

Meaning 'southern ape,' the earliest hominids discovered by Donald Johanson that lived in eastern and southern Africa $4\text{ million}$ years ago.

Olduvai Gorge

A site in East Africa where Mary Leakey discovered a hominid skeleton in $1959$ dated to about $1.8\text{ million}$ years old.

Homo habilis

Meaning 'handy human,' a hominid that developed from $2.5$ to $1.6\text{ million}$ years ago with a larger brain and likely used stone tools.

Homo erectus

Meaning 'upright human,' a hominid emerging around $1.5\text{ million}$ years ago with modern human arm and leg proportions, and likely the first to leave Africa.

Homo sapiens

Meaning 'wise human,' a hominid species emerging around $250,000$ years ago that showed rapid brain growth and mastered fire.

Homo sapiens sapiens

Meaning 'wise, wise human,' the first anatomically modern humans that appeared in Africa between $200,000$ and $150,000$ years ago.

Out-of-Africa Theory

Also called the replacement theory, referring to when Homo sapiens sapiens spread out of Africa about $100,000$ years ago and replaced earlier hominid populations in Europe and Asia.

Neanderthals

Early hominids living in Europe and Turkey between $200,000\text{ B.C.}$ and $30,000\text{ B.C.}$ who were the first known early people to bury their dead.

Paleolithic Age

Also called the Old Stone Age, the early period of human history from approximately $2,500,000\text{ B.C.}$ to $10,000\text{ B.C.}$ when humans used simple stone tools.

Nomads

People who move from place to place to survive, typically living in small hunting and gathering groups of $20$ or $30$.

The Ice Ages

A global period from about $100,000\text{ B.C.}$ to $8000\text{ B.C.}$ where thick ice sheets covered large parts of Europe, Asia, and North America, lowering sea levels to expose land bridges.

Chauvet Cave

A cave site in southern France discovered in $1994$ containing over $300$ paintings of animals created for religious or decorative purposes.