Ch 9
Homo erectus had a brain capacity of about _______ percent of modern humans.
70
The tool tradition identified with Homo erectus is the
Acheulian.
Homo ergaster is a name given by some archaeologists to what others consider to be Homo erectus found in
Africa.
The first hominid species to be widely distributed in the Old World was
Homo erectus.
Davidson Black found a Homo erectus he termed
Peking Man.
Sexual dimorphism in Homo erectus is
about the same as in Homo sapiens.
When Homo erectus hunted they may have used fire. How would this be an advantage?
animals were driven out of their hiding places into hunters positioned downwind
One early tool of the Acheulian tradition is known as the hand-axe. We think the hand-axe was mostly used for
butchering large animals.
One of the biggest differences between culture and other forms of animal behavior is that in culture, it is learned and shared. Why is this so?
cultural behavior is not innate and it has to be learned
Culture probably evolved over time because
early Homo had home bases and families which might have encouraged learned and shared behaviors.
What characterizes early Homo so that we begin to see the start of new trends in hominid evolution
expansion of the brain, modification of female pelvis, and general reduction in the size of teeth
Early Olduvai hominids
exploited a wide range of animals.
The creation of home bases or home ranges among early Homo groups may have increased the likelihood of
food sharing.
Richard Potts suggests that caches of stone tools and stones for tool making were left at various sites in East Africa
for home bases, to facilitate recurrent food collecting and processing, and accidentally.
Generally, the greater the sexual dimorphism, the _________ the social dominance of males over females.
greater
Among the cultural adaptations Homo erectus may have made
is use of fire, use of clothing, and better organization for scavenging, hunting, and defense against predators.
The widening of the female pelvis is related to
larger brained babies.
The fundamental difference between culture and most other forms of animal behavior is that culture is
learned and shared.
Why does the presence of tools means culture existed?
making tools is a pattern of behavior shared by a group of individuals
Full bipedalism may have made possible
the development of more efficient tool making and consequently more efficient
According to Theodosius Dobzhansky, socialization and learning processes on which the transmission of culture wholly depends are tied to
the length of the dependency period of human infants.
Why is there no consensus on how to characterize the Olduvai sites which contain concentrations of stone tools and animal bones?
there are several ideas, each of which is believed by certain anthropologists, the areas might or might not represent a home base, and the areas may or may not be sites to process food only
Archaeologists have experimented with the Oldowan tools. They did this because
they wanted to know what the tools were used for.
About 1.8 million years ago a remarkable hominid species existed (Homo erectus). What made them remarkable?
they were the first hominid species to be widely distributed in the Old World
We cannot accurately determine the lifestyle of early hominids from early tool sites because
very little else was found with the tools that were dug up.
Acheulian sites were usually located close to
water sources, lush vegetation, and large stocks of herbivorous animals.
The earliest identifiable stone tools from East Africa date from about ________million years ago
2.5
Homo erectus dates from ________ million years ago.
1.8
The average size of the brain of Homo sapiens is _________ cc.
1300
Anthropologists speculate that early stone tools found in East Africa were made by
Early Homo.
Homo erectus fossils were first discovered by
Eugene Dubois.
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of culture?
It is not important to modern humans