Early Human History and Archaeology Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering historical timeline abbreviations, scientific professions, early human species, and prehistory concepts.

Archaeologist

A professional who studies the past by using artifacts to learn about ancient civilizations.

Homo Habilis

Meaning 'Man of skill', an early human species that lived 2.4 million to 1.4 million years ago and made simple tools from rock.

Hominids

The first humans that walked upright, which allowed them to see predators and prey from further distances.

Homo Erectus

A species that lived 2 million to 143,000 years ago; they were the first to control fire, develop spoken language using individual words, and make better tools.

Paleontologist

A professional who studies the past by examining fossils to determine an organism's evolution and their environment.

Out of Africa

The theory that early humans originated in the Rift Valley of east Africa and migrated outward to settle in other locations around the world, always settling along sources of fresh water.

The Paleolithic Era

Also known as the Old Stone Age; a period that began 2.4 million years ago and ended around 8,000 BCE, during which stone was the primary material for making tools.

Homo Sapiens

Meaning 'Wise Man', a species that emerged in east Africa about 100,000 years ago; they built shelters, made complex tools, lived in family clans of about 20 people, painted cave art, buried their dead, and communicated in basic sentences.

Artifact

An object made by a human that is of historical or cultural value.

Geologist

A professional who studies the past by examining rocks and minerals to identify the climate and other natural patterns of the past.

Anthropologist

A professional who studies human behavior and the cultures of past and current civilizations.

AD

An abbreviation standing for Anno Domini or Year of our Lord.

CE

An abbreviation standing for Common Era.

BC

An abbreviation standing for Before Christ.

Carbon Dating

A method for determining the age of an object that contained organic material (material that once lived), such as bones, cloth, or wood.

Bipedalism

The ability to walk on two feet, enabling early humans to travel over ground easier and faster than other primates, while increasing their area for gathering food and hunting animals.

Historian

A professional who studies the past, trying to give an objective interpretation of it.