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56 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
morphology
the form of fossils
phylogeny
the genealogy of species; morphology used to study this.
4 most important depositional sites for fossils
caves, volcanic areas, fluvic areas (flowing water), and deltaic areas (river deltas)
amount of radioactivity measured by..
number of atoms breaking apart (number of nuclei decaying at any time.
half-life
length of time it takes for half of the original atom to remain
archaeological comparison
stone tools and debris
faunal comparison
animal remains
racemization
regular changes taking place in amino acids after death; useful only for fossils in ocean or river floor, or caves.
epemerization
changing protein isoleucine from a left to a mixture of a left-and-right-handed form; isoleucine is found in ostrich eggs (found in graves)
molecular clock
estimation of how long ago the last common ancestor of living species existed using the DNA between the species.
stratigraphic position
location fossil was buried relative to other buried layers or features.
tuff
ash from volcanic eruptions
loess sequence
a series of wind-deposited materials
archaeological sequence
dating can depend on appearance of new tool types, changes in tool-making technologies, or changes frequencies of tools.
biostratigraphy
(sequence of animal evolution); built from changes in animal species or appearance of new species.
microfaunas
species of very small animals like moles or mice; used in dating fossils
paleomagnetic reversal
when direction of Earth's magnetic field changes or reverses
chrons
subdivisions of time in which the polarity of Earth is pretty much the same.
paleomagnetic stratigraphy
sequence of past pole reversals and normals
glaciations
ice ages of recent past (Pleistocene glaciations used to determine fossil ages)
5 main Alpine glaciations (in Pleistocene era)
Wurm, Riss, Mindel, Gunz, Donau
pluvials
continent-wide series of wet and dry periods in Africa
archaeology
study of past through material remains, with aim of describing events of past and interpreting meaning
prehistoric archaeology
study of past before written record.
artifact
portable object thats been made, used, altered by humans; ex: bone/stone tools
feature
non-portable artificats; can't be removed from site; ex: hearths, roads, burials
site
spatial clustering of archaeological data w/artificats and features in any combo.
provenience
3-d locaiton of arch. data when discovered.
Law of Superposition
sequence of observable strata from bottom to top represents earliest to latest.
absolute dating (3 main ways)
1)radiocarbon (C-14); 2)AMS (accelerator mass spectrometry)-has better precision; 3)Potassium/Argon (for older than 100,000 yrs).
form
late 1800s-1930s; typology and trait lists; cultural history of groups in time and space.
function
in response to form; early 1930s-1960s; examine relationships btwn types of data or comparison of cultural system; to determine their functions and reconstruct behavior. (Louis Benford)
process
late 1940s-present; delineate changes in cultural systems through use of descriptive and explanatoyr models; need more anthro; positivism; laws; Michael Shanks (no room to talk about individuals)
shovel test
every 100 meters, dirt put through shaker screen if artificats found, the test's positive.
paleoanthropology
stuyd of human evolution, focuses on prehistory; fossils studied, tells stories of our species how we changed, why we changed; overlaps w/archaeology and biol. anth.; study of primates; relations btwn humans and primates, variation, evolution, etc.
heritability coefficient
a numeric estimate of amount of additive genetic variation underlying the phenotypic variation in a given trait for a certain population.
Orrorin tugenensis
From Kenya, found set of twelve fossils; derived from Lukeino Formation, which dates to 6mya;

proximal femora with relatively large heads and thick-enameled molar teeth are more humanlike than Australopithecus but not definitive bipedal apomorphies or definitively closer to Homo.
Sahelanthropus tchadensis
Age range between 6 and 7 mya, found in Chad. Facial features are somewhat Homo-like; - Status as hominin depends on whether or not it was an early biped; Mandibular fragment from Lothagam and Tabarin have serrate root patterns that is suggestive of hominin affinities. However, not possible to say they were bipedal.
Serrate root pattern: mesial (front) roots are longer than the distal (back) roots; characteristic of later hominins and suggest adaptation for strong bit forces.

short, wide face and thick browridge, dentition with no canine diastema (gaps between teeth). However small cranial capacity. Insufficient evidence to say that this was a bipedal animal.
Ardipithecus ramidus
from Ethiopian site of Aramis. Forward positioned foramen magnum from a fragment of cranial base suggests bipedalism; 5.2-5.8 mya.

have older and younger deposits. Molars have not yet undergone expansion that characterizes later australopithecines. Older deposits yielded canine that is very primitive and chimp-like. However, canines are less projecting and molar root patterns are serrate (strong bite forces).
Australopithecus anamensis
confirmed bipedalism; 4.2 mya from Kenya. Fossils include tibia that clearly shows these forms walked on two legs. Earliest of the known australopithecines.

undoubtedly bipedal hominin; shares a number of traits with later Australopithecus afarensis; flattening at the top of the tibia is characteristics of all bipeds. Fossil teeth are a sign too: thickening of the enamel.
Australopithecus afarensis
Found in Ethiopia and Tanzania; the “Lucy” skeleton; 3.9 mya – 2.9 mya. Preserved hominin footprints (most unusual). Had large geographic range and was an established species for maybe 1 millions years.

was an animal like A. africanus, small-brained bipedal anima with face characterized by mix of apelike and humanlike features. Morphological overlap of A. afarensis and A. africanus suggest that East African finds were geographical variants of the South African australopithecines.
Australopithecus africanus
3.2 – 2.5 mya; Taung.

They were clearly bipedal animals; had enlarged molars and premolars; fairly prognathic face, canine teeth a bit projecting. Arms are proportionally longer than those of modern humans; have slightly larger cranial capacity.
squarely on the line leading to genus Homo. But fossils so variable that it might suggest that it may contain more than one Australopithecus species. Distinguishably large cranial capacity, bipedal, upper limbs fit for climbing, more modern teeth and jaws, canines reduced, face strongly built.
Australopithecus bahrelgazali
found in Chad. 3.5-3.0 mya. Found 2,500 km west of East African Rift Valley.
Kenyanthropus platyops
flat-faced australopithecine-like creature from Lomekwi. 3.0 and 3.5 mya.

flat-faced species that’s small-brained, thick-enameled biped. Significance is that it’s similar to Homo rudolfensis.
Australopithecus garhi
In Ethiopia, 2.5 mya or later, brink of the arrival of Homo. Have increased size of premolars and molars; use stone tools.

probable descendent of A. afarensis; defined on basis of craniodental remains; still retains a canine diastema. May be dead-end branch of A. afarensis lineage.
Makapansgat
the northernmost dolomitic caves and contains perhaps oldest hominin deposits in South Africa.
Note
caves were not habitation or occupation areas for Australopithecus but merely site of deposition.
Sterkfontein
is Africa’s richest single site for early hominin remains, yielded over 500 fossils.
Taung
unusual not only in its greatest latitude from the equator of any Australopithecus site, but also the type of caves (accretions of tufa makes small caves) in which animal bones were deposited.
Intelligence A
genotypic; genetic endowment for intelligence.
Intelligence B
phenotypic; observable, behavioral manifestation of intelligence; includes both genetic intelligence + cultural/environmental effect; can change overtime.
Intelligence C
IQ test scores; measured intelligence.
cultural amplifiers
activities/tasks in an ecocultural niche that require/enhance intellectual skills.
cultural transmitters
societal institutions responsible for transmitting pre-existing adaptive skills to children. ex: family, schools
panhuman genotype
ability to acquire intellectual skills used in the IQ tests.
The Bell Curve written by..
Hernstein and Murray (1994)