Deck 2: The First Humans

Question 1

The oldest known stone artifacts are

A) 3 to 5 million years old.
B) 2 to 2.9 million years old.
C) less than 1.5 million years old.
D) from southern Chile.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The Hadar region is located

A) in South Africa.
B) in the Near East.
C) in West Africa.
D) in Ethiopia.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The dryopithecines were

A) Pleistocene ape ancestors.
B) ancestors of apes and humans.
C) found only in North and South America.
D) one of the earliest mammal forms.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The first person to recognize and name an australopithecine was

A) Donald Johansen.
B) Louis Leakey.
C) Mary Leakey.
D) Raymond Dart.

Question 5

The _________ is not a division of the Cenozoic.

A) Mesozoic
B) Pliocene
C) Pleistocene
D) Recent

Question 6

The footprints at Lætoli indicate that

A) very early hominins walked on four legs.
B) very early hominins walked on two legs.
C) very early hominins hopped on one leg.
D) very early hominins used stone tools.

Question 7

The footprints at Lætoli are

A) 1 million years old.
B) from hominin ancestors that walked on four legs.
C) Pleistocene in age.
D) 3.5 million years old.

Question 8

The most common technique for making stone tools at Olduvai was

A) percussion.
B) pressure.
C) nucleation.
D) addition.

Question 9

The following term does not belong with Swartkrans

A) australopithecine.
B) Taung.
C) C.K. Brain.
D) breccia.

Question 10

C.K. Brain has argued that __________ were responsible for the deposits of human fossils in the caves of South Africa

A) leopards
B) elephants
C) australopithecines
D) geological forces

Question 11

The footprints at Lætoli were dated using

A) radiopotassium dates on bone.
B) radiocarbon dates on bone.
C) radiopotassium dates on volcanic ash.
D) radiocarbon dates on volcanic ash.

Question 12

Humans do not belong in the following category in the animal kingdom:

A) primate
B) hominoidea
C) equus
D) sapiens

Question 13

The Potassium/Argon (K/Ar or radiopotassium) method is used

A) to measure the contribution of meat to the diet.
B) to date items between 50,000 BP and the present.
C) only on items from Olduvai Gorge.
D) to date items more than 500,000 years old.

Question 14

Oldowan artifacts include all of the following types except:

A) pebble tools.
B) flakes.
C) manuports.
D) spearthrowers

Question 15

The age of the earth is approximately

A) 15 billion years.
B) 4.5 billion years.
C) 1 billion years.
D) 4,400 years.

Question 16

Stone tools include all of the following characteristics except:

A) intricate carvings.
B) striking platform.
C) sharp edges.
D) bulbar surface.

Question 17

Fossils from the Hadar region include all of the following except:

A) some of the earliest known human fossils.
B) the remains of "Lucy."
C) a group of individuals who apparently died at the same time.
D) a boy buried next to an elephant.

Question 18

Paleoanthropology refers to

A) the older generation of anthropologists.
B) the study of human artifacts.
C) the study of human evolution.
D) manufacture of stone tools.

Question 19

Primary characteristics of humanness include all of the following except:

A) large brains.
B) tool use.
C) use of fire.
D) bipedal locomotion.

Question 20

The earliest clear evidence of hominins outside of Africa

A) occurs around about 6 million years ago.
B) occurs around about 4 million years ago.
C) occurs around 2 million years ago.
D) occurs around 120,000 years ago.

Question 21

What is the importance of the discoveries at Laetoli in terms of our understanding of human evolution?

Question 22

The first Australopithecine fossil discovered in Africa was

A) discovered in sedimentary deposits along ancient lakeshores.
B) blasted out of ancient cave deposits using dynamite.
C) never properly placed in an evolutionary scheme.
D) eventually found to be a fraud.

Question 23

The discoveries at Olduvai are important because

A) they documented the early presence of hominins in Africa.
B) they provided the first finds of Homo sapiens.
C) they gave the age of the first hominins as around 500,000 years ago.
D) they shifted attention to East Asia as the cradle of human evolution.

Question 24

Sexual dimorphism refers to

A) gendered handedness.
B) tool use by males.
C) difference in body size between the sexes.
D) difference in typical social roles.

Question 25

Oldowan tools were made by the _____ method.

A) hard hammer percussion
B) soft hammer percussion
C) pressure flaking
D) indirect percussion

Question 26

Where do the first stone tools appear and when? What do these tools represent in terms of human evolution? Were the earliest tools made of stone?

Question 27

Which of the following is considered to be the first major development in hominin evolution?

A) increased brain capacity
B) tool making
C) bipedalism
D) sexual dimorphism

Question 28

Cutmarks on animal bones at early human sites indicate

A) sexual dimorphism.
B) use of stone tools.
C) construction of shelter.
D) violent intertribal conflict

Question 29

What are some of the major characteristics that first document the distinction between apes and humans?

Question 30

Footprints preserved in 3.6 million-year-old volcanic ash at Laetoli, Tanzania, indicate that

A) some of our early ancestors may have worn crude sandals.
B) A. africanus was on his/her way out of Africa.
C) A. boisei and A. africanus both lived about 3.6 million years ago.
D) A. afarensis was quadripedal.
E) bipedalism definitely preceded marked brain expansion in human evolution.

Question 31

Discuss some of the various theories relating to the emergence of the three major characteristics of humanness. Be sure to list these characteristics as well.

Question 32

In a series of papers, Raymond Dart proposed which of the following as a bloodthirsty predator?

A) A. boisei
B) A. robustus
C) H. habilis
D) A. africanus

Question 33

The site of Laetoli is important for all of the following reasons except

A) evidence of bipedalism is preserved there in the form of footprints preserved in volcanic ash.
B) evidence that Australopithecus afarensis was bipedal by 3.5 million years ago.
C) evidence of a very brief moment in time is recorded here, atypical of the nature of most other hominin and archaeological sites.
D) evidence of violent conflict among rival regional tribes

Question 34

"Lucy" is the nearly 40% complete skeleton of what hominin species?

A) Australopithecus boisei
B) Australopithecus africanus
C) Homo habilis
D) Homo erectus
E) Australopithecus afarensis

Question 35

Discuss the differences between biological and cultural evolution.

Question 36

Olduvai Gorge is all of the following except

A) almost two million years old.
B) home to a trove of garnet and onyx jewelry
C) located in East Africa.
D) a rich deposit of early hominin bones and stone tools.

Question 37

Discuss the basic principles of radiometric dating, including some description of both radiocarbon and radiopotassium methods.

Question 38

Which of the following pairs is incorrectly matched?

A) Olduvai Gorge and pebble tools
B) Taung and A.africanus
C) A. afarensis and Laetoli
D) K/Ar and bone

Question 39

The Leakeys have worked at Olduvai Gorge for more than 40 years. Discuss the finds from Olduvai and their significance in terms of our understanding of human evolution.

Question 40

The earliest known fossil human ancestor is called

A) Australopithecus.
B) Paranthropus.
C) Orrorin.
D) Homo.

Question 41

Discuss various theories on the origins of language. Why is it so difficult to evaluate these theories?

Question 42

Compare the Plio/Pleistocene discoveries of human bone and artifacts from South and East Africa. Be sure to discuss the evidence from specific sites.

Question 43

Describe the four major divisions of the Paleolithic period in terms of age and characteristics.

Question 44

One of the major questions about human behavior in the time of Homo erectus is whether these people were large game hunters. What evidence can you use to argue that they were or were not?

Question 45

Describe and discuss the Acheulean handaxe.

Question 46

Outline the current debate regarding the classification of early human fossils. Be sure to indicate the two major schools of thought and their positions.

Question 47

Discuss the evidence for the earliest human occupation of Europe, including at least three important sites.

Question 48

What are the three most important discoveries at Atapuerca?

Question 49

The differences in artifact assemblages in the Lower Paleolithic are intriguing. Describe these differences and discuss what they represent.

Question 50

Many of the sites from the Lower Paleolithic in Europe are "kill" sites, where animals were hunted and butchered. Describe the sites of Torralba and Ambrona in this context.