Archaeology Exam 2

the dominant tool type is called a _____

handaxe

How old are the oldest handaxes

1.7-1.8 million years old

homo erectus used what tools

acheulean

hard hammer percussion

oldowan tools

soft hammer percussion

striking the stone with bone tools

handaxe sexual selection hypothesis is 

not testable and not science

Olduvai Gorge Tanzania

oldest acheulean handaxes are 1.7 million years old

persistence hunting

chasing after an animal for long distances until the prey exhausts itself

homo erectus had

long limbs and a thin body designed for endurance running

homo erectus was likely

hairless and could sweat allowing for extreme long distance running

homo erectus was the first hominid to

leave Africa

Homo erectus life span

20-30 years

first controlled fire

500,000 years ago

the oldest human ancestor site outside of africa (1.8 mya) is 

Dmanisi in the Republic of Georgia

Dmanisi

at first scientists thought this to be a new species but it is now considered to be a subspecies of homo erectus

Eugene Dubois

he discovered the H. eretcus skull cap on his first dig

java man “pithecanthropus”

upright ape-man

Zhoukoudian “peking man”

750,000 years ago, evidence for fire

where there handaxes at the Zhoukoudian site?

no

fire advantages

warmth, light, cooking, scaring off animals, processing raw materials

range expansion would have required 

fire and clothing of some sort

Movius Line

a theoretical line drawn across northers India

the first proposed person to notice no handaxes

Hallam L. Movius

what does the Movius like illustrate

the technological difference between the prehistoric tool technologies of the eat and west of the old world

Why no handaxes?

maybe because the axe materials were switched to bamboo? maybe the knowledge has been lost? 

homo erectus in Eurpoe

turns into homo heidelbergensis

canabalism?

yes

Sima de los Huesos

deep sinkhole that dates to 400,000 BP that has 32 individuals of homo heidelbergensis

maybe a ritual? maybe for dead people and the smell?

What was found in the bone pit?

32 individuals, 9 male 9 female, 14 indeterminate; most between 13&17 years old; cases of death unknown