AANT Exam 2 study

Taphonomy

What happens to your body after death

Radiometric Dating

Measures the ratio of radioactive parent isotopes to stable daughter products

Electron trap dating

Measures the time since something was heated or buried <100,000 years, based on the accumulation of trapped electrons in minerals

Radiocarbon (14C) dating

Determines the age of organic materials <60,000 y/o by measuring the decay of radioactive carbon-14

Potassium-Argon dating

Determines the age of volcanic rocks and minerals by measuring the radioactive decay of potassium-40 into argon-40

Pliocene and Pleistocene

time periods marked by steady decrease in temperature

Homo Habilis

First human species to use tools

Homo erectus

First human species to evolve with a human-like body + leave Africa
“Boy from Nariokotome”
Longest living homo species

Homo florensis

found in Indonesia ~60,000-100,000 y/a

Human species’ discovery of insular dwarfism

Homo heidelbergensis

First human species to use wooden spears for big game hunting

Common ancestor of both neanderthals and homo sapiens

Homo neanderthalensis / neanderthals

Close relative of h. sapiens, utilized fire, shelter & tools

Survived through the Ice Age

Pliocene

Epoch the genus homo started initially appearing in