World Archeology - Exam 1

Olduvai Gorge

Tanzania; classic Oldowan locality—early Homo behavior, tools, and faunal butchery

Zhoukoudian

China; major Homo erectus (Peking Man) site with long core-and-flake sequence

Boxgrove

England; well-preserved Lower Paleolithic site (~500 kya) with large-game butchery and handaxes

Central African Sahel

Region with key early hominin and Australopithecine fossil finds

Blombos Cave

South Africa; Middle Stone Age symbolism: engraved ochre, bone tools, shell beads

Taung (Taung Baby)

South Africa; Australopithecus africanus juvenile demonstrating early bipedalism

Chauvet Cave

France; early, high-quality Upper Paleolithic cave paintings (parietal art)

Gesher Benot Ya’aqov

Israel; evidence for controlled fire and clustering of burned materials (~750–790 kya)

Shanidar

Iraq; Neandertal burials showing care and possible ritual behavior

Katanda

DRC (Zaire); Middle Stone Age bone harpoons—early aquatic resource exploitation

Pavlov & Dolní Věstonice

Czech Republic; Gravettian burials, figurines, and early ceramic activity

Monte Verde

Chile; pre‑Clovis evidence for early human presence in the Americas

Paisley Caves

Oregon; early North American occupation claims (human coprolites)

Sterkfontein

South Africa; rich Australopithecine fossil site central to South African paleoanthropology

Archaeology

Study of past human behavior using material remains

Oldowan

Earliest widespread stone tool industry (simple cores and flakes), ~2.6 mya (Gona)

Acheulean

Bifacial handaxe/cleaver industry associated with H. erectus (~1.8 mya–~0.5 mya)

Mousterian

Middle Paleolithic industry often linked with Neandertals; includes Levallois technique

Levallois

Prepared-core technique producing standardized flakes/points in Middle Paleolithic

Law of Superposition

In undisturbed strata, older layers lie beneath younger layers

Relative dating

Methods that order events without giving calendar years (e.g., stratigraphy, seriation)

Absolute dating

Methods that provide calendar age ranges (e.g., radiocarbon, K‑Ar)

K‑Ar dating

Potassium‑Argon radiometric method for dating volcanic rocks and ash (millions of years)

Radiocarbon (C‑14) dating

Dates organic material up to ~40–45 kya; half-life ≈ 5,730 years

Paleomagnetic dating

Uses recorded magnetic polarity in sediments/rocks to correlate with geomagnetic timescale

Ethnoarchaeology

Study of living peoples to build analogies for archaeological interpretation

Middle‑range theory

Hypotheses linking archaeological patterns to human behaviors/processes (experimental archaeology, taphonomy)

Movius Line

Proposed east–west technological divide: Acheulean handaxes common west, core-and-flake east

Encephalization Quotient (EQ)

Brain size relative to body size; used to infer cognitive trends

Artifact

An object made or modified by humans

Relational analogy

Inference based on cultural continuity between ethnographic and archaeological cases

Expensive Tissue Hypothesis

Theory that increased brain size was enabled by reduced gut size and a higher-quality diet

Central place foraging

Foraging model where resources are returned to a central camp/home base; linked to site organization

Thomas Jefferson

Early practitioner of stratigraphic mound excavation in North America

Raymond Dart

Described the Taung child (Australopithecus africanus); argued for African origin of early hominins

Mary Leakey

Pioneering East African excavator; key Olduvai discoveries linking tools and fauna

Richard Leakey

Led major East African paleoanthropology; significant Homo fossil discoveries and leadership

Lewis R. Binford

Processual archaeologist emphasizing behavioral/ecological models; critiqued earlier hunting/home-base models

Glynn Isaac

Proposed central-place/home-base model and division-of-labor interpretations for early sites

Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis)

Partial skeleton (~3.2 mya) showing clear bipedal adaptations

Turkana Boy (Nariokotome)

Nearly complete H. ergaster/erectus skeleton (~1.5 mya) showing modern-like proportions

Laetoli footprints

~3.6–3.4 mya fossil footprints in Tanzania providing direct evidence of bipedalism

First stone tools (Oldowan)

~2.6 mya (Gona); Lomekwi evidence suggests tools possibly ~3.3 mya

First Homo (H. habilis)

~2.4–1.8 mya; associated with early Oldowan tools

H. erectus dispersal

~1.8 mya; earliest clear hominins outside Africa (Dmanisi ~1.8 mya)

Gesher Benot Ya’aqov fire

~750–790 kya; clustered burned flint and burned floral/faunal remains indicate controlled fire use

Earliest well-dated modern H. sapiens (Kibish)

~195 kya (Ethiopia)

Neandertal temporal range

Approximately 125–30 kya (origins/earlier dates debated)

Behavioral modernity window

First widespread signals in Africa ~70–100 kya (ornaments, symbolic artifacts, blades)

Bipedal anatomical evidence

Foramen magnum under skull; short broad pelvis; valgus femoral angle; foot arch and non-divergent big toe

Bipedal archaeological evidence

Laetoli footprints; pelvic and limb morphology (Lucy, A. afarensis) indicating habitual bipedalism

Hypotheses for bipedalism

Seeing over grasses; energy-efficient walking/endurance; tool use/carrying; thermoregulation; freeing hands

Evidence for early meat consumption

Cut marks and percussion fractures on bones; spatial association of stone tools and butchered remains (Olduvai FLK Zinj)

Oldowan vs Acheulean

Oldowan: simple cores & unretouched flakes; Acheulean: standardized bifaces (handaxes/cleavers) with more planning

Indicators of controlled fire

Burned hearths, burned flint clusters, burned floral/faunal remains, spatial clustering of burned materials (Gesher Benot Ya’aqov)

Central-place foraging implication

Home-base model where resources are processed/shared; suggests social organization and transport behaviors

Paleomagnetic reversals

Allow correlation of polarity in sediments/rocks with geomagnetic polarity timescale for dating

mtDNA evidence for modern humans

mtDNA and Y-chromosome data point to a recent African common ancestor ~150–200 kya and greatest genetic diversity in Africa

Neandertal nuclear DNA

Shows ~1–4% Neandertal ancestry in non-African modern humans, indicating limited admixture events

H. habilis tools

Oldowan cores and flakes used for cutting and butchery; evidence for early tool-assisted meat processing

H. erectus technology shift

Associated with Acheulean bifaces—greater standardization, planning depth, and sometimes prolonged site use

Tool technologies by hominin group

Oldowan: H. habilis/earlier; Acheulean: H. erectus/ergaster; Levallois/Mousterian: Neandertals/archaic humans; Upper Paleolithic blades and bone tools: H. sapiens

Detecting hunting vs scavenging

Analyze skeletal part representation, cut marks vs tooth marks, timing indicators, and transport/selection patterns of carcass parts

Expensive Tissue supporting evidence

Humans have large brains but reduced guts compared to expectations for body size; suggests dietary change enabled brain growth

Cooking hypothesis (Wrangham)

Cooking increases caloric/nutrient availability and digestibility; may have supported brain expansion but archaeological timing is debated

Radiocarbon basics

14C produced in atmosphere, incorporated into living tissue; decays after death (half-life 5,730 yrs); dates reported with ± sigma; limit ~40–45 kya

Reading radiocarbon dates

Results given as mean ± standard deviation (e.g., 23,500 ± 500 BP); ±1σ ≈ 68% probability; ±2σ ≈ 95% probability range

Detecting past glaciation

Use oxygen-isotope curves (δ18O), ice cores, marine cores, geomorphology (moraines), and radiometric/paleomagnetic dating for age control

Dmanisi significance

Early Eurasian hominin site (~1.8 mya) showing early dispersal and morphological variation outside Africa

Lomekwi significance

Site with stone artifacts ~3.3 mya suggesting tool production before Homo emergence

Katanda bone harpoons significance

Evidence for specialized aquatic resource exploitation and complex tool manufacture in Middle Stone Age Africa

Blombos symbolic artifacts significance

Engraved ochre, shell beads, and worked bone indicate early symbolic behavior and personal ornamentation in Africa

Pavlov/Dolní Věstonice significance

Complex Upper Paleolithic social practice: figurines, ceramics, elaborate burials and craft specialization

Monte Verde significance

Pre‑Clovis site in S. America providing evidence for earlier-than-Clovis human presence in the Americas

Movius Line implication

Reflects regional variability in Lower Paleolithic technologies; may stem from raw material differences or behavioral choices