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36 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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B.C.E
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Measurement of time that means “before Common Era’ Christ”
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B.C.E. has replaced BC as a way of measuring time.
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C.E.
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Measurement of time that means “in the common era.”
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C.E. has replaced AD as a way of measuring time.
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Prehistory
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The era or time period before the invention of writing (3000-4000 B.C.E.)
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Most historians define history as beginning with the invention of writing. Therefore, anything older than those dates is considered prehistoric.
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Prehistory
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The era or time period before the invention of writing (3000-4000 B.C.E.)
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Most historians define history as beginning with the invention of writing. Therefore, anything older than those dates is considered prehistoric
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Artifact
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Any man-made object from the past.
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Artifacts are the “litter” of the past. They represent a primary source from the prehistoric era.
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Paleoanthropologist |
An anthropologist whose main focus is on the early stone age, or Paleolithic era.
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Using “evidence” that includes fossils, bones & artifacts, they provide, a “window” into the Prehistoric era
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Primary Source (Prehistory) |
Materials or information from the time period being studied.
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Usually the most reliable type of source.
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Carbon Dating |
Scientific method used to determine the age of an object.
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Paleontologists use this to determine the age of prehistoric remains.
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Hominid |
Name given to the earliest species of humans.
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The only surviving hominids are homo sapiens sapiens (“wise wise man”)
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Bi-pedalism
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Biological evolutionary trait common to all hominids that involved walking on two feet.
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Advantages of bi-pedalism included allowing hominids to walk faster and farther, it freed up the use of their arms, and allowed them to spot prey and danger quicker.
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“Lucy” (Australopithecus afarensis)
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One of the oldest and most complete hominid skeleton’s ever found.
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‘Discovered in the 1970s by the famous anthropologist Donald Johanson, he named it after the Beatles song, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” which was popular at the time.
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Ardepithecus ramidus (“Ardi”)
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Name given to the oldest and most complete hominid skeleton ever found.
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Discovered after “Lucy,” it is an example of how the prehistorical record is always changing as new discoveries are made.
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Homo sapiens
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Name given to the only hominids that survived into the present.
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Referred to “wise man,” they outlived all other hominids mainly because of a larger brain and the ability to communicate.
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Paleolithic Era
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Name given to the earliest period of the Prehistoric Era.
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Also called the “old Stone Age.”
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Hunter-Gatherer (Forager)
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A person or groups whose primary source of food comes from hunting and gathering.
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Hunting and gathering was the economy of the people of the Paleolithic era.
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Neolithic Revolution
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Name given to the discovery of farming and the domestication of animals c. 8000 BCE.
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Considered a revolution because it completely changed prehistoric culture.
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Domestication
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The taming or controlling of something.
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Plants and animals were domesticated during the Neolithic EraPlants and animals were domesticated during the Neolithic Era.
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Horticulture (farming)
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Small scale type of farming common in the early stages of the Neolithic era.
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Only hand tools and human labor are used to produce only enough for the family or group.
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Agriculture (farming)
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Large scale farming involving the use of animal labor and plows.
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Agriculture resulted in a more reliable source of food that allowed for the growth of towns, villages and technology.
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Independent invention
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An invention that occurs without any outside influence. No cultural diffusion involved.
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Agriculture emerged independently in several regions of the world beginning ~8000 BCE.
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Specialization
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The development of skills in a certain kind of work
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Allowed prehistoric people to focus on skills other than farming. Also called division of labor.
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polytheism
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A belief in many gods
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Popular among early Neolithic communities, this belief resulted in the creation of various god-like figures (statues), the emergence of priests, and the construction of ziggurats for religious ceremonies (sacrifice
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Jericho |
Agricultural “city” that emerged in the Middle East (Jordan river) around 7000 BCE. |
Heavily fortified (walls and moats), Jericho and Catal Hayuk (Turkey) foreshadowed the development of great cities and civilizations to come (4000 BCE)
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Catal Hayuk
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Agricultural “city” that emerged in southern Turkey around 7000 BCE.
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Heavily fortified (doors on roofs), Catal Hayuk and Jericho (Middle East) foreshadowed the development of great cities and civilizations to come (4000 BCE).
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myth |
A story that can’t be proven scientifically |
Creation story mythology is considered useful because they provide answers as to how the world was created and man’s position in it.
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teleology |
The philosophical study of final causes or purposes |
It relates to how certain creation stories (myths) explained how things happened, but also why they occurred. |
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Charles Darwin
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19th Century scientist credited with the modern theory of the biological evolution of species. |
Based on his work with finches (birds) he theorized that modern humans had evolved from an earlier species |
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Natural selection
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The idea, put forth by Charles Darwin that certain species survive, and others perish based on their ability to adapt to their environment. |
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paradigm
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A model of reality representing one viewpoint. |
New developments in science or history often force an existing paradigm to be changed or revised. |
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Louis & Mary Leakey
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Famous husband and wife team of Paleoanthropologists. |
Responsible for many important finds including footprints that inferred bipedalism, and the conclusion that the earliest humans (hominids) emerged in Africa. |
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Great Rift Valley
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Region in eastern Africa (Ethiopia) that was the site of many important archeological discoveries. |
Findings here confirmed that the first humans emerged here.
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hominid
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Name given to the earliest species of human beings
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Homo erectus
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Early species of hominid that was the most similar to modern humans.
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They were the first to migrate from Africa into Europe and Asia
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Homo habilis
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Early form of hominid first discovered in Africa by the Leakey’s.
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Habilis means tool, and they were named after their tool-making ability.
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Subsistence farming
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Style of farming in which small group uses hand tools and human labor to produce only enough for themselves
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Often referred to as horticulture, this was popular at the outset of the Neolithic Revolution.
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pastoralism
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A person or group that domesticates animals as their primary source of food and income
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Pastoralists were semi-nomadic, remained so even after the invention of farming if their environment (geography) was not conducive to farming
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