Fagan Ancient Lives - Chapter 9 Terms

Front 1

Quaternary

Back 1

the geological epoch also known as the Pleistocene

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Pleistocene

Back 2

the last geological epoch, sometimes called the Ice Age or Quarternary epoch. 2.5 mil to 15,000 years ago

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Cenozoic Era

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age of mammals

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Matayuma-Brunhes boundary

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moment of reversal of the earth's magnetic field, c. 780,000 years ago. marks the beginning of constant climatic change for the remainder of the Ice Age.

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Nariokotome, Kenya

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site on the west shore of Lake Turkana, which yielded earliest known H.erectus remains in the world, 1.9 mya. (young boy)

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Homo ergaster

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powerfully built human with large brow ridges, large face, and long low skull to accommodate larger brain. lived 1.8mya to 600,000 years ago. may have been first human to run fast, caused by changing climate (from trees to open savanna)

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Homo erectus

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c 1.9 mya to 200,000 ya. evolved out of H.ergaster in central Africa. spread out of Africa and adapted to a wide range of climates. first to use fire, fashion complex tools, leave Africa. had better vision and reasoning skills.

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Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Israel

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800,000 year old site that has yielded first evidence for controlled use of fire

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Dmanisi, Georgia

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site dating to c1.7mya that has yielded crania of H.erectus-like people, the earliest known in Europe and Eurasia.

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Zhoukoudian, China

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cave site famous for H.erectus fossils dating to as early as 500,000 years ago

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Swanscombe, England

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Thames valley site that yielded Acheulian hand axes and a skull of an archaic hominin, c.230,000 years old

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Kalambo Falls, Zambia

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Lake bed site where Acheulian occupation levels over 200,000 years old were found

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language

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said to have appeared at least 250,000 years ago as a way to handle complex social info

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archaic homo sapiens

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(c.400,000 to 130,000 years ago)

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Kabwe (Broken Hill), Zambia

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site in Central Africa where a robust form of early Homo sapiens was discovered, exact age unknown

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Homo heidelbergensis

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c. 400,000ya in Europe, had larger brains and more modern anatomy features, displayed more advanced stone tool techniques. expert big-game hunters.

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Ambrona, Spain

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Acheulian butchering site dating to between 200,000ya and 400,000ya. large numbers of elephants killed by H.heidelbergensis

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Torralba, Spain

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Acheulian butchering site dating to between 200,000ya and 400,000 ya. similar to Ambrona, where large elephants were killed with hand axes by H.heidelbergensis

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Boxgrove, England

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hunting site in southern England used by H.erectus some 500,000 years ago.

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Shoningen, Germany

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400,000year old hunting site where wooden spears were found

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Atapuerca, Spain

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cave system that yielded fossils of 200,000 year old humans, probably ancestors of the Neanderthals

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mitochondrial DNA

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DNA inherited through female line, used to trace the origins of modern humans and major population movements in prehistory

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Mousterian tools

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name applied to stone tool tech associated w/ Neanderthal people of Europe, Eurasia, and the Near East after about 100,000 years ago, based on carefully prepared disk cores; named after French village Le Moustier

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composite tools

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artifacts with more than one component, such as stone spear point and wooden shaft

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La Ferrassie, France

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rock shelter near Les Eyzies, Dordogne, where evidence of Neanderthal burials was found. earliest signs of religious belief/preoccupation with death/afterlife

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Windover, Florida

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archaic hunter-gatherer site of c.3000BC, remarkable for the preservation of remains

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Herto, Ethiopia

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site of three 160,000 year old H.sapiens skulls, the earliest in the world

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Langebaan Lagoon, South Africa

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site where 117,000 year old footprints of an anatomically modern human are preserved in a fossilized sand dune

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Blombos Cave, South Africa

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cave site where evidence of art and homo sapiens style artifacts dating to as early as 75,000 years ago