The Emergence of Homo

Question 1

Homo habilis: Oldowan industry used which set of tools?

Answer 1

Cores (choppers, scrapers)
-useful for chopping, scraping

Flakes
-sharp, effective

Hammerstones
-used to crack open bones and remove flakes from cores

Hard-hammer or percussion flaking technique

Question 1

How did early Hominins get their meat?

Answer 1

1) hunting
2) confrontational scavaging
3) passive scavenging

Question 2

What lead to early tool use?

Answer 2

• adaptation to late pliocene enviroment
• easier exploitation of animal resources
• tools probably carried along, not remade continually

Question 3

Where was evidence of controlled fire use found? and what did we find there?

Answer 3

Zhoukoudian

• burned animal bones
• burned stone tools
• burned plants
• charcoal and ash
• ostrich egg shells
• seeds

Question 4

What types of tools are in the Acheulean complex?

Answer 4

• handaxes
• choppers
• scrapers
• flakes

Question 5

Homo Erectus: Why the Acheulean Complex?

Answer 5

• more sophisticated than Oldowan complex
• wider variety of raw materials used
• greater range of tool types & function
• more complex, more control

Question 6

How did a reliance on tools affect H. erectus’ biology?

Answer 6

• Smaller face & jaw

- Smaller teeth

Question 7

List 4 contextual behaviours that led to the evolution of Homo sapiens?

Answer 7

• hunting
• dispersal across large territory
• adaptive success
• culture as a means of survival