Deck 12: The Origins, Evolution, and Dispersal of Modern People

Question 1

Broken Hill, Dali, and Atapuerca are sites where specimens of _________ have been discovered.

A) Homo erectus
B) modern Homo sapiens
C) archaic Homo sapiens
D) Neandertals

Answer 1

archaic Homo sapiens

Question 2

Analyses of modern human genetic variation indicate that Homo sapiens may have evolved approximately:

A) 50,000 yBP.
B) 200,000 yBP.
C) 750,000 yBP.
D) 1,000,000 yBP.

Answer 2

200,000 yBP.

Question 3

The Middle Paleolithic prepared-core stone tools that are associated with Neandertals are called:

A) Mousterian.
B) Gravettian.
C) Solutrean.
D) Acheulean.

Answer 3

Mousterian.

Question 4

Anatomically modern human fossils were discovered in the European Upper Paleolithic site of:

A) Atapuerca, Spain.
B) Mauer, Germany.
C) Petralona, Greece.
D) Cro-Magnon, France.

Question 5

Archaic Homo sapiens:

A) occurs only in Europe and Asia.
B) shows a mixture of Homo erectus and Homo sapiens traits.
C) is dated to the late Pliocene.
D) is often found with Oldowan stone tools.

Question 6

Traits of anatomically modern humans include:

A) a robust build of the postcranial skeleton.
B) large browridges.
C) an average cranial capacity of 750 cc.
D) a "globular" brain case.

Question 7

The oldest Neandertal site dates to __________, at __________.

A) 130,000 yBP; Krapina, Croatia
B) 32,000 yBP; Krapina, Croatia
C) 130,000 yBP; La Chapelle-aux-Saints, France
D) 25,000 yBP; La Chapelle-aux-Saints, France

Question 8

The Multiregional Continuity hypothesis supposes that:

A) modern Homo sapiens first evolved in Africa and then spread to Asia and Europe, replacing archaic Homo sapiens populations.
B) the transition to modernity took place regionally and without involving replacement.
C) Homo erectus populations migrated out of Africa to replace archaic Homo sapiens.
D) archaic Homo sapiens migrated out of Africa to replace Neandertals in Europe.

Question 9

Neandertals' cold-adapted traits include:

A) a narrow nasal aperture.
B) short limbs.
C) a wide torso.
D) a projecting midface.

Question 10

The Upper Paleolithic is associated with the_________ method of stone tool production:

A) Mousterin
B) Acheulean
C) Levallois
D) Solutrean

Question 11

The Denisova fossils likely:

A) interbred with Homo erectus.
B) share a common ancestor with Neandertals.
C) were isolated to the point of extinction.
D) looked very much like Neandertals.

Question 12

The Middle Paleolithic is associated with _________ tools which Neandertals produced.

A) blade
B) Acheulean
C) flake
D) Mousterian

Question 13

The European archeological period that is marked by a great increase in technology and various kinds of art starting about 35,000 yBP is called the:

A) later Stone Age.
B) Upper Paleolithic period.
C) Neolithic period.
D) Eurocentric period.

Question 14

The last Neandertals date to:

A) 250,000 yBP.
B) 100,000 yBP.
C) 75,000 yBP.
D) 32,000 yBP.

Question 15

Modern humans have:

A) traits like large browridges, large nasal sinuses, and a large masticatory complex.
B) a high vertical forehead, a round and tall skull, and small browridges.
C) a small face, small teeth, and a projecting chin.
D) both b. and c.

Question 16

The best fossil evidence to suggest that Neandertals could produce a language like that of modern humans comes from which bone(s) collected at Kebara, Israel?

A) the cervical (neck) vertebrae
B) the mandible
C) the ribs
D) the hyoid

Question 17

Scientists define modern in terms of:

A) a series of distinctive anatomical traits that contrast with archaic traits from earlier hominins.
B) a designated timeframe between the Upper and Lower Paleolithic.
C) a series of anatomical traits that distinguish Cro-Magnon features from Neandertals.
D) traits like large browridges, large nasal sinuses, and a large masticatory complex.

Question 18

Painted perforated shells are evidence that Neandertals:

A) traded with modern humans.
B) used body ornaments.
C) used symbolism.
D) both b. and c.

Question 19

To date, the majority of Neandertal fossils have been found in:

A) India.
B) Europe.
C) northern Africa.
D) southeast Asia.

Question 20

In Atapeura 5, early archaic Homo sapiens and Neandertal specimens show heavy wear on the incisors and canines, indicating:

A) the use of the front teeth for gripping materials.
B) the purposeful modification of teeth to demonstrate social rank, as with the Aztecs.
C) their use for shaping the cutting edges of stone blades.
D) the chewing of massive amounts of fibrous materials.

Question 21

The Neandertals' disappearance after 30,000 yBP likely resulted from:

A) their assimilation.
B) their isolation.
C) their extinction.
D) their migration out of Africa.

Question 22

While on an archaeological dig in Europe, you find a stone tool that is rounded on one side and has had flakes removed from the other side, giving it the appearance of a tortoise shell. This is likely to be:

A) a prepared core typical of prehistoric modern humans that inhabited this region.
B) an example of the Levallois technique of Homo erectus.
C) a completed tool that is similar to those you have seen from the Solutrean toolkit.
D) none of the above

Question 23

A distinctive trait of people from East Asia and the Americas is:

A) shovel-shaped incisors.
B) large nose.
C) thick, long bones.
D) extra muscles on the scapula.

Question 24

Human beings first arrived in the Americas approximately:

A) 50,000 yBP.
B) 25,000 yBP.
C) 15,000 yBP.
D) 5,000 yBP.

Question 25

Allen's and Bergmann's rules are perfect examples of natural selection working to bring about anatomical adaptations to environments in mammals. These include:

A) the limb and trunk proportions of Neandertals.
B) the limb and trunk proportions of modern human populations.
C) the limb and trunk proportions of most mammals.
D) all of the above

Question 26

The fossils called Homo floresiensis were dated to:

A) 12,000 yBP.
B) 18,000 yBP.
C) 40,000 yBP.
D) 25,000 yBP.

Question 27

The discovery of modern/archaic hybrid fossils supports which model of modern human origins?

A) out-of-Africa
B) multiregional continuity
C) assimilation
D) None of these models supports such a discovery.

Question 28

The most distinctive traits about the cold adaptation complex of Neandertals are:

A) the suprainiac fossa and globular shape of the skull.
B) thick bones and extra muscles.
C) the body and the length of the arms and legs.
D) the retromolar space and heavy wearing on the teeth.

Question 29

The out-of-Africa model explains:

A) a single origin of modern people and eventual replacement of archaic Homo sapiens throughout Africa, Asia, and Europe.
B) the importance of gene flow across population boundaries.
C) migrations of australopithecines out of Africa.
D) migrations of Homo habilis out of Africa.

Question 30

Early Native Americans used which distinctive fluted spear points to hunt large-bodied Ice Age mammals?

A) Mousterian points
B) Solutrean blades
C) Levallois flakes
D) Folsom points

Question 31

The Homo floresiensis specimen:

A) had a small brain due to a pathology.
B) lived about 20,000 yBP.
C) is the result of genetic drift.
D) fits Allen's rule in body proportions.

Question 32

The morphology of the Paleoindian skull from Kennewick indicates that it:

A) was recovered from an elaborate burial.
B) represents an early Eskimo population.
C) looks quite different from modern Native Americans' skulls.
D) is about 3,000 years old.

Question 33

Sub-Saharan Africans show the largest genetic diversity of any human population. This is likely to have resulted from:

A) the accumulation of genetic mutations over the last ten years.
B) the group's small breeding population, maintaining genetic diversity.
C) the accumulations of genetic mutations over time.
D) random chance.

Question 34

Discuss which anatomical traits are used to contrast modern humans' physical appearance with that of similar hominids. Which are derived and which are ancestral? Are these traits biological adaptation, as in the case of Neandertals?

Question 35

Discuss the origin of the Neandertals in terms of biological adaptation and other forces of evolution.

Question 36

Discuss the two models of modern human origins-out-of-Africa and multiregional continuity. Briefly describe their main tenets and discuss how the more recent assimilation model differs from each.

Question 37

The Herto skulls from Ethiopia:

A) are distinctly modern.
B) have a combination of archaic and modern features.
C) are distinctly archaic.
D) are considered Homo habilis.

Question 38

The transition to fully modern Homo sapiens was completed globally by about:

A) 40,000 yBP.
B) 1.6 mya.
C) 160,00 yBP.
D) 25,000 yBP.

Question 39

The earliest archaeological evidence of humans in Australia is from _________, dating to _________.

A) Kow Swamp; 13,000 yBP
B) Lake Mungo; 40,000 yBP
C) Melbourne; 25,000 yBP
D) Tasmania; 35,000 yBP

Question 40

A hominid fossil that has a long, low skull, projecting face and occipital bone, and large nasal aperture is likely:

A) to be classified as having modern characteristics.
B) to be classified as having australopithecine characteristics.
C) to be classified as having archaic characteristics.
D) to be classified as having apelike characteristics.

Question 41

What "symbolic" behavior is evident in the archeological record and associated with Neandertals and anatomically modern humans in Europe beginning around 35,000 yBP (during the Upper Paleolithic)?

Question 42

What kinds of environmental pressures contributed to the dispersal of modern Homo sapiens around the world? What do the migrations of modern humans into Australia tell us about the range of human variation and adaptability in the past compared to the diversity we see in human populations today?