Question 1

Unlike the Mousterian technology, which had many different kinds of stone tools, the tool traditions of the Upper Paleolithic included only a few different types of implements.

Accepted Answer

The Upper Paleolithic tool traditions included a variety of different types of implements.

Question 2

The evidence from the Mount Carmel caves in Israel indicates that anatomically modern humans may have inhabited the Middle East before the Neandertals did.

Accepted Answer

The findings from the Mount Carmel caves suggest that Homo sapiens were present in the Middle East around 120,000 years ago, whereas the Neandertals arrived later, around 70,000 years ago. Therefore, anatomically modern humans may have inhabited the area before the Neandertals did.

Question 3

With an estimated date of 195,000 B.P., the Omo Kibish remains appear to be the earliest anatomically modern human fossils yet found in Asia.

Accepted Answer

The Omo Kibish remains were actually found in Ethiopia, not Asia. They are still considered some of the earliest anatomically modern human fossils, but their estimated date is around 195,000 years old, not 195,000 B.P.

Question 4

The dry land that connected Australia and Tasmania is known as Beringia.

Accepted Answer

Beringia is actually the land bridge that connected Siberia and Alaska during the last Ice Age. The land that connected Australia and Tasmania is known as the Bassian Bridge.

Question 5

Although scientists agree on the nature of behavioral modernity, they disagree on how and where it originated.

Accepted Answer

Scientists do not agree on the nature of behavioral modernity, as there is significant debate regarding its defining characteristics, how it developed, and where it originated. This disagreement extends to whether behavioral modernity occurred suddenly or gradually and whether it was a global or regional development.

Question 6

Recent genetic research comparing Neandertal DNA and modern human DNA supports the theory that Neandertals evolved into the European populations of anatomically modern humans.

Accepted Answer

Recent genetic research shows that Neandertals and anatomically modern humans interbred, but Neandertals did not evolve into modern European populations. Instead, both groups coexisted and contributed genetically to present-day humans outside of Africa.

Question 7

Some authors attribute the rise of modern human behavior more to increasing social competition than to population increase or a mutation that led to reconfigurations of the brain.

Accepted Answer

Some authors argue that modern human behavior developed as a result of increasing social competition, rather than solely as a result of population increase or a brain mutation.

Question 8

The stone-tool traditions of the Upper Paleolithic were based primarily on blade tools that, compared to those of the Mousterian, are made more quickly and are better at maximizing the amount of cutting edge from the same amount of stone.

Accepted Answer

Upper Paleolithic stone-tool traditions focused on producing blade tools, which were more efficient in terms of production time and maximizing cutting edge per stone volume compared to the flake-based tools of the Mousterian tradition.

Question 9

With the end of the Würm glacial period, human groups shifted their subsistence strategies to a broader spectrum of species that they exploited.

Accepted Answer

This is true. As the climate warmed and glaciers receded, humans were able to access a wider variety of plant and animal resources, leading to a shift in their subsistence strategies.

Quiz 7: The Genus Homo