Human Evolution, Archaeology, and Taxonomy

Vocabulary flashcards generated from lecture notes on human evolution, archaeology definitions, material culture, dating methods, and human taxonomy.

Homo sapiens

The surviving hominin species today (meaning 'wise humans') that first appeared between $315,000\text{--}210,000$ years ago, characterized by bipedalism, dexterity, advanced cognitive traits, and sophisticated tool making.

Early Hominins

A major group of hominins that lived approximately $7\text{--}4.4\text{ million years ago}$ in Africa, possessed ape-like characteristics including a small brain, and had smaller canine teeth more useful for eating than hunting.

Australopithecines

A major group of hominins that lived approximately $4.4\text{--}1.4\text{ million years ago}$ across Africa, exhibiting a mixture of ape-like and human-like features with skull, spine, and leg changes for bipedal locomotion.

Genus Homo

A genus of hominins that earliest appeared more than $2\text{ million years ago}$, characterized by larger cranial capacity, smaller teeth, reliance on stone tools, control of fire, and migration outside of Africa.

Archaeology

The study of the human past through material culture.

Material Culture

Anything made or manipulated by humans in the past.

Paleoarchaeology

The study of deep history and human pre-history.

Great Divergence

The evolutionary split between humans and chimpanzees that occurred approximately $7\text{--}6\text{ MYA}$.

Paleolithic Period

The Old Stone Age period of human history.

Neolithic Period

The New Stone Age period of human history.

BP

An abbreviation for 'Before Present'.

AD

An abbreviation for 'Anno Domini', meaning 'in the year of our Lord'.

Artifacts

Smaller, portable material culture items made or used by humans, such as clothes, tools, and smaller art.

Features

Large-scale, permanent items of material culture, such as wall art and houses.

Ecofacts

Preserved organic material that can inform archaeologists about past environments.

Hominin (Archaeological Remains)

Human biological remains studied in archaeology.

Context

The physical area in which archaeological objects are found, along with their precise location.

Excavation

A destructive archaeological technique involving digging within a defined area to reveal and remove buried materials, which can alter the digging site and ecosystem.

Survey

The method archaeologists use to search for, find, and record evidence of past human activity without digging up the ground.

Strata

Layers of soil and debris that have accumulated over time, with a single layer referred to as a stratum.

Taxonomy

The system scientists use to classify living things based on shared traits and evolutionary history.

Hominidae

The family of great apes, which includes humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans.

Homo erectus

An extinct species of human whose name means 'upright humans'.

Homo neanderthalensis

An extinct human species within the genus Homo.

Relative Dating

A method using strata to determine whether an object is older or younger than something else without obtaining an exact date.

Absolute Dating

A method used to determine a confident date for organic material based on carbon decay.

Seriation

A method used to compare material items in order to determine the time period from which they originate.

Bipedalism

The adaptation of walking upright on $2$ legs, allowing hominins to run, live in savannas, carry food long distances, migrate, and escape predators.

Homo naledi

A species discovered with pre-Homo skeletons featuring curved fingers, palms, wrists, and feet close to modern humans, supporting early hominin bipedalism.