Human ev 2nd half

Paleontology

study of history of life on earth as it is preserved in fossils (plants, animals, etc)

Archaeology

study of humans in the past and present thru physical evidence of behavior

Paleoanthropology

study of human evolution through the fossil and archaeological records

Paleontological site

location on site where fossils are preserved

Archaeological site

location on the landscape where past human activity are preserved

Context

relationship of an object in a site to all other objects and its environment

Provenience

location of an object within a site

Stratigraphy

studies rock layers and their formation, composition, relationships over time

Geoarchaeology

focuses on documenting site formation processes

Fossils

preserved remains of plants and animals

Body fossils

actual bones or remains

Trace fossils

Remains like Footsteps

Fossilization

minerals in the groundwater replace organic bone tissues, turning bone into stone

Taphonomy

study of the processes that affect the state of the remains from when it died to being recovered

Fossil preservation

rapid burial and fine grained sediment are favorable, while weathering/exposure to anmals/acidic soil are not

Aeolian environment

airborne

Lacustrine environment

lakeside

Alluvium environment

river/stream

Colluvium environment

Hills

Principles of stratigraphy

horizontality, superposition, cross cutting relationships

Horizontality

layers are deposited parallel to earth’s surface

Superposition

younger layers are deposited on top of older layers

cross cutting relationships

layer that cuts across others is younger than those it cuts

relative dating

how old something is in relation to something else

absolute dating

how old something is in years before present

lithostratigraphy

correlation of rock units to estimate relative age of different areas

tephrostratigraphy

uses volcanic ash layers to match rock layers across diff sites and determine relative age

biostratigraphy

principle of faunal succession, predictable sequences of fauna that can help date layers

paleomagnetism

study of earth’s past magnetic field recorded in rocks which helps date layers based on changes in magnetic direction over time

potassium argon dating

measures decay of potassium into argon in volcanic rock

radiocarbon dating

measures decay of carbon-14 to nitrogen-14 in once living things

dendrochronology

study of tree ring patterns

uranium series

measures decay of uranium into other elements in calcium bearing materials like caves

thermoluminescence

measures last time exposed to high heat

optically stimulated luminescence

measures last time a grain of sand was exposed to sunlight

060 mya-Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum

5-8 degrees celsius due to massive injections of carbon into the atmosphere, warmest period in the Cenozoic

030 MYA-Oligocene

temps drop, water levels down, polar water/equatorial dont mix

020 MYA-Miocene

reduced/then eliminated contribution of warmer Indian Ocean to N Atlantic

010 MYA

Earth cooler and drier due to water changing

rifting

mantle plume causes doming of the crust, heat and magma makes crust brittle

Milankovitch Cycles

pushing the envelope

Glaciation

many species go extinct, adaptations toward drier climate diets, organisms invade Africa

Hominins

all who are on the human lineage

foramen magnum

large hole at base (underneath), where spinal cord enters skull (gorilla angled, homo sap down)

explaining hominins

postural feeding, thermoregulation, free hands, expansion of savanna, vigilance, threat display, efficient energetics, terrestrial food gathering

bicondylar angle

angle between sagittal place and shaft of the femur

valgus knee

knee aligns underneath hips

Sahelanthropus tchadensis

7.0-6.0 Ma, Chad, 360-370 cc, oldest known possible hominin, uncertainty about foramen magnum

Orrorin tugensis

6.0-5.7 Ma, Kenya, no cranial, earliest postcranial evidence for bipedalism, limited material

Ardipithecus

5.8-3.9 Ma, Ethiopia, 300-350 cc, earliest well preserved skeleton, pelvis shows signs of walking

Australopithecus and Paranthropus

4.2-1.0 Ma, terrestrial and bipedal, same postcrania and diff crania

Which is gracile?

Australopithecus

Which is robust?

Paranthropus

Australopithecus anamensis

4.2-3.8 Ma, Kenya/Ethiopia, 370 cc, oldest australopith

Australopithecus afarensis

3.9-2.9 Ma, Ethiopia/Kenya/Tanzania, 380-430CC, clear evidence for habitual bipedalism

Australopithecus africanus

3.3-2.1 Ma, S Africa, 420-500 cc, first discovered, evidence of habitual biped, derived and ancestral traits

Paranthropus aethiopicus

2.7-2.3 Ma, Kenya, 410 cc, earliest know robust hominin

Paranthropus boisei

2.3-1.3 Ma, Kenya/Tanzania/Ethiopia/Malawai, 500-550 cc, specialized of the robust

Paranthropus robustus

2.0-1.0 Ma, S Africa, 410-530 cc, first taxon in genus, sexual dimorphism

Australopiths had a

broad positional repertoire and were arboreal and terrestrial

P differs from A traits

large molars (megadonty), mandible large, etc

Postorbital constriction

temporalis muscle passing behind the zygomatic arch limits cranium behind eyes

Paranthropus temporalis muscle

anteriorly/upwards

Australopithecus temporalis muscle

posteriorly/back

C3 Photosynthesis

woody plants (trees, bushes, shrubs, fruit)

C4 Photosynthesis

grasses and sedges

Culture

learned and shared behavior passed from generation to generation

Cultures

different learned traditions across groups within species

Archaeological record

material remains collected and studied by archaeologists begins with stone tools

Oldowan

earliest widely recognized stone tool industry, hunting/scavenging

Core

larger rock that flakes are chipped off to make tools, can also be used as a tool

Flake

thin pieces that breaks off from a core, used as a tool

Techno organic evolution

replaces need to evolve anatomical adaptations with application of tools

Homo habilis

Handyman, smaller teeth/brain, found with Oldowan, E and S Africa, 600-650 cc, first member of Homo genus

Turkana Boy

1.6-1.5 Ma, Turkana Kenya, 880 cc, first hominin with modern human like post cranium, committed terrestrial biped

Homo erectus in Dmanisi Georgia

oldest site outside of Africa, hunting/butchering medium sized mammals

Terrestrial meat eating

More social, engaged in persistence hunting

Pleistocene meat eating

locomotor efficiency, vitamin A evidence in fossils, parasites evidence

Expensive tissue hypothesis

higher quality foods like meat supported evidence of bigger brains as humans evolved smaller guts, brain expensive

Behvaioral adaptations

food sharing, central place foraging, simple residential mobility, human logistical mobility, planning depth

Central place foraging

gathered food and brought back to a central location which encouraged social behaviors

Simple residential mobility

non human primates, travel and eat as you go

Human logistical mobility

group moves residences over time and takes planned trips to collect resources

Zone of latent solutions

range of behaviors an individual can invent or recreate on their own, without needing social learning or cultural transmission

‘Local rules"‘ of stone flaking

requires cognition to follow rules to make one flake at a time

Oldowan to Achulean

leap in planning, complexity, rotational rules to achieve two planes of symmetry, advanced procedural memory

Use wear

damage forms on edge of a tool during use

Early acheulean

thicker/less refined bifacial core tools, Hard hammer, H. erectus and later.

Late acheulean

thinner and more symmetrical, 0.6 Ma to present, H. heidelbergensis-later, soft hammer.

Social learning

acquiring knowledge of skill by observing or interacting with others

Triadic attention

being able to share focus with someone on something else. non human primates have social learning but NOT this

Prosociality

behaviors that promote positive social interactions (patience, emotional control, empathy, etc)

Fire

multipurpose, cooking, heat/light, protection

Koobi Fora

first site of fire

Wonderwerk Cave

geochemical evidence for fire at 1.0 Ma

Gesher Benot Ya’Acov

Fire and cooking evidence by thermoluminescence

Distributed cognition

knowledge shared across a community

Schoningen

hunting with wood

Homo heidelbergensis

bigger brain that H. erectus, derived/ancestral traits, massive mandible, no chin, reduced prognathism, broad upper face, postcr robust