Anthropology Exam 2

Hominins

• Australopithecus africanus (ca. 3–2 million years ago) – Found in South Africa; significant for bipedal locomotion and gracile features.

• Australopithecus afarensis (ca. 3.9–2.9 million years ago) – Found in East Africa; famous specimen: "Lucy"; evidence of habitual bipedalism.

• Homo erectus (ca. 1.9 million–110,000 years ago) – Africa, Asia, Europe; first to use fire and Acheulean tools, possibly had language.

• Homo floresiensis (The Hobbits) (ca. 100,000–50,000 years ago) – Found on Flores Island, Indonesia; small stature, possibly due to island dwarfism.

• Homo sapiens sapiens (ca. 300,000 years ago–present) – Anatomically modern humans; advanced tool use, symbolic thought, global dispersal.

• Denisovans (ca. 200,000–50,000 years ago) – Known from DNA evidence in Siberia; interbred with Neanderthals and modern humans.

• Neanderthals (ca. 400,000–40,000 years ago) – Europe and Asia; adapted to cold climates, sophisticated tools, burial practices.

Relationships Between Neanderthals, Denisovans, and Anatomically Modern Humans

• Genetic evidence suggests interbreeding among these groups.

• Neanderthal DNA persists in modern non-African populations (~1-2%).

• Denisovan DNA found in some Asian and Oceanian populations.

Upper Paleolithic

• Marked by advances in tool technology (blades, composite tools).

• Venus Figurines: Symbolic art, often depicting exaggerated female forms.

• Dolní Věstonice: Early ceramic technology; evidence of human occupation (~30,000 BP).

• Blade technology: Longer, thinner flakes; more efficient than Mousterian tools.

• Upper Paleolithic structures: Semi-permanent dwellings (e.g., mammoth bone huts).

• Mobile vs. Permanent Art: Portable objects (e.g., figurines) vs. cave paintings (e.g., Lascaux).

Colonization of North America

• Genetic Evidence: Supports migration from Siberia via Beringia.

• Migration Routes:

  • Ice-Free Corridor Hypothesis

  • Kelp Highway Hypothesis (coastal migration)

• Clovis First vs. Pre-Clovis: Debate on the first settlers; evidence at Monte Verde predates Clovis culture.

• Megafauna: Extinctions linked to human hunting and climate change.

• Clovis Points: Distinct fluted stone tools.

• Hunter-Gatherers: Varied subsistence strategies; egalitarian social structures.

Holocene Hunter-Gatherers

• Younger-Dryas Climatic Episode: Brief return to glacial conditions (~12,900–11,700 BP).

• Mesolithic/Archaic: Transition to more sedentary lifestyles.

• Plains Hunters and Bison Jumps: Communal hunting strategies.

• Stable Isotopes and Diet: Reveal subsistence patterns.

• Social & Technological Intensification: Increased reliance on diverse resources.

• Complex Hunter-Gatherers: Evidence of hierarchy, storage, trade.

• Shell Middens & Aquatic Resources: Coastal adaptations.

• Regional Developments:

  • SE US: Early pottery, soapstone exchange.

  • Poverty Point: Mound A; monumental architecture (~3,700 years ago).

Neolithic Revolution

• Gordon Childe’s Model: Shift from foraging to farming.

• Origins of Farming:

  • Domestication as a Process: Foraging → Cultivation → Agriculture.

  • Natufian Sickles: Early harvesting tools (~12,500 BP).

  • Paleoethnobotany: Study of ancient plant use.

• Domesticated Plants & Animals: Morphological changes (e.g., smaller seeds, reduced aggression in animals).

• Regional Farming Variations:

  • East Asia: Rice vs. millet farming.

  • Mexico: Teosinte → Maize domestication.

  • Eastern North America: Eastern Agricultural Complex.

  • SW Asia: Rye domesticated during the Younger-Dryas.

• Neolithic Societies:

  • Tell Sites: Early settlements (e.g., Çatalhöyük).

  • Household Organization & Ritual: Social cohesion through shared spaces.

  • Obsidian Exchange: Trade networks.

  • European Neolithic: Monumental structures (e.g., Stonehenge).

  • Ötzi the Iceman: Well-preserved Neolithic individual (~5,300 years ago).

Archaeological Cultures & Sites

• Plains Middle Archaic: Hunter-gatherer societies, bison exploitation.

• Stallings Island: Early pottery in SE US (~4,500 BP).

• Poverty Point: Large earthworks; evidence of trade and ceremonial activity.

• Natufian: Pre-agricultural sedentism in the Levant (~12,500 BP).

• Pre-Pottery Neolithic: Early farming communities.

• Dolní Věstonice: Upper Paleolithic ceramics (~30,000 BP).

• Lascaux: Cave paintings (~17,000 BP).

• Monte Verde: Pre-Clovis occupation (~14,500 BP); challenges "Clovis First."

• Gault/Friedkin Site: Early North American occupation (>16,000 BP).

• Head-Smashed-In: Bison jump site, communal hunting.

• Göbekli Tepe: Ritual complex (~11,500 BP), predates agriculture.

• Abu Hureya: Transition from foraging to farming (~13,000–7,000 BP).

• Çatalhöyük: Dense settlement, wall paintings (~9,000 BP).

• Stonehenge: Constructed in phases (~5,000–3,500 BP); astronomical alignment.