Deck 2: Human Origins

Question 1

About how many million years ago (mya) did the first member of the human genus, Homo, emerge in tropical Africa?

A) 0.1 mya.
B) 2.5 mya.
C) 3.2 mya.
D) 5.1 mya.

Answer 1

2.5 mya.

Question 2

During the Ice Age, when did the last period when glacial ice covered large parts of the Northern Hemisphere?

A) 5,000 years ago.
B) 15,000 years ago.
C) 50,000 years ago.
D) 1 million years ago.

Answer 2

15,000 years ago.

Question 3

With the appearance of the first humans during the Great Ice Age, this period is also known as what?

A) The Age of Society.
B) The Era of Ice.
C) The Age of Humanity.
D) The Time of Displacement.

Answer 3

The Age of Humanity.

Question 4

Bipedalism favors endurance and the covering of long distances, which made it important for which of the following?

A) Balancing and climbing.
B) Knuckle walking and grasping.
C) Running and jumping.
D) Hunting, gathering, and toolmaking.

Question 5

When hominins came down from trees, home bases most critically provided protection from the sun and what else?

A) Proximity to rivers and lakes.
B) Proximity to vegetation.
C) Protection from predators.
D) Protection from floods.

Question 6

What is the genus, with some ape-like and human-like features, is the oldest-known hominin?

A) Sahelanthropolus tchadensis (Toumai).
B) Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy).
C) Homo habilis.
D) Ardipithecus ramidis.

Question 7

Which method of dating allows the dating of volcanic rocks between 2 billion and 100,000 years old?

A) Potassium argon dating.
B) Radiocarbon dating.
C) Calcium deposit dating.
D) X-ray tomography.

Question 8

Hominins that displayed tree-climbing characteristics such as long curved arms and fingers are considered to be …

A) knuckle walkers.
B) bipedal.
C) arboreal.
D) All of these.

Question 9

The genus Australopithecines lived between 4.2 mya and …

A) 4.0 mya.
B) 2.5 mya.
C) 1.8 mya.
D) 1.5 mya.

Question 10

Although still subject to debate, many anthropologists considered which hominin to be the first human toolmaker?

A) Australopithecus garhi.
B) Australopithecus africanus.
C) Australopithecus afarensis.
D) Homo habilis.

Question 11

For membership in the genus Homo, what cranial capacity do anthropologists consider to be the minimum?

A) 500 cubic centimeters.
B) 600 cubic centimeters.
C) 800 cubic centimeters.
D) More than 1000 cubic centimeters.

Question 12

When we say that the human genus is monophyletic, what does that mean?

A) All members descend from a common ancestor.
B) All genus branches merge into the current genus.
C) All members have different genus ancestors.
D) All of these.

Question 13

About how many years ago did Homo erectus first appear in the fossil record?

A) 1 mya.
B) 1.9 mya.
C) 2.7 mya.
D) 1.5 mya.

Question 14

Cladistic analysis divides hominins into two groups: the more ape-like groups comprising the australopithecines and a later group Homo ergaster and Homo …

A) erectus.
B) rudolfensis.
C) sapiens.
D) heidelbergensis.

Question 15

What were the earliest human tools probably made out of?

A) Stone.
B) Bone.
C) Bamboo.
D) Wood.

Question 16

The oldest-known stone tool industry is the …

A) Olduvian.
B) Mousterian.
C) Oldowan.
D) Acheulean.

Question 17

The making of stone tools requires what kind of mental ability?

A) The skill to shape one tool by using another.
B) Good hand-eye coordination.
C) The ability to recognize acute angles in stone.
D) All of these.

Question 18

The brilliant technological, artistic, and expressive skills of humankind may well be a consequence of the fact that our early ancestors had to be more and more …

A) technologically skilled.
B) socially adept.
C) mentally advanced.
D) artistically inclined.

Question 19

What physiological feature that other animals lack allows humans to produce sounds for language?

A) The larynx is situated lower in the throat.
B) The larynx is situated higher in the throat.
C) The vocal cords are larger.
D) The pharynx is longer.

Question 20

Dsiscuss the environmental and climate changes brought about by the Great Ice Age. How did these changes affect the early human ancestors?

Question 21

List and discuss two essential developments in early hominins once they "came down from the trees" that gave rise to behavioral differences between hominins and apes.

Question 22

The quantities of carnivore bones found in bone piles at both Koobi Fora and Olduvai are somewhat higher than in the natural environment. Discuss the conclusions that can be drawn from this. What evidence supports your response?

Question 23

Describe the earliest uses of technical and social intelligence among humans, how they are revealed in the archaeological record, and what distinguishes these from the cognitive skills of other hominoids?

Question 24

Explain the physiological and social changes that contributed to the evolution of human language.