Final Exam Terms & Concepts

Question 1

Paleoanthropology

Answer 1

Branch of anthropology concerned with the origins and development of early humans

Question 2

Bidepalism

Answer 2

Walking on two legs

Question 3

Australopithecus

Answer 3

Group of extinct primates closely related to, if not actually ancestors of, modern human beings and known from a series of fossils found at numerous sites in eastern, north-central, and southern Africa

Question 4

Homo erectus

Answer 4

Extinct species of the human genus (Homo), perhaps an ancestor of modern humans (Homo sapiens) most likely originated in Africa

Question 5

Homo neanderthalensis

Answer 5

Member of a group of archaic humans who emerged at least 200,000 years ago during the Pleistocene Epoch (about 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago) and were replaced or assimilated by early modern human populations (Homo sapiens)

Question 6

Homo sapiens

Answer 6

The species to which all modern human beings belong

Question 7

Civilization

Answer 7

The stage of human social and cultural development and organization that is considered most advanced.

Question 8

Chiefdom

Answer 8

A notional form of sociopolitical organization in which political and economic power is exercised by a single person (or group of persons) over many communities

Question 9

Domestication vs. Cultivation

Answer 9

Domestication: a process in which humans place artificial selective pressure on plants and animals resulting in genetic and morphological changes

Cultivation: The human manipulation or fostering of a plant species (often wild) to enhance or ensure production.

Question 10

3 S’s of complex societies

Answer 10

1. Increased Size
2. Increased Surplus
3. Increased Social Stratification

Question 11

Hassuna and Halaf/Samarra/Ubaid/Uruk/Early dynastic Mesopotamia

Answer 11

Mesopotamian villages; Samarra = irrigation beginnings

Question 12

Cuneiform

Answer 12

System of writing used in the ancient Middle East (Sumer/Mesopotamia)

Question 13

Temple-based society

Answer 13

Temple collects, controls, and redistributes surplus; Temple controls long-distance trade; Introduction of ruling class/state organization

Question 14

Ziggurat

Answer 14

Mesopotamian pyramid with stepped levels

Question 15

Queen shub-ad/Puabi

Answer 15

Buried in royal cemetery of Ur; 59 sacrificed ladies in

waiting, soldiers, oxen grooms

Question 16

Indus Valley

Answer 16

Equitable distribution of wealth, anonymous rulers, surplus invested in public works, little evidence of warfare, evidence of trade present

Question 17

Great Bath

Answer 17

Large public bath in Mohenjo Daro for public bathing rituals (Indus Valley)

Question 18

Classic vs. Postclassic Maya

Answer 18

Classic: Mass production, urban cities, Teotihuacan
Postclassic: Labeled collapse (~900 A.D.), actually just change; Smaller populations, new trade networks and different political system

Question 19

Pyramids of Giza

Answer 19

Pharoah’s place of burial; first one built by Djoser; Giza = largest pyramids, Great pyramid built by Khufu (demonstrate ability of pharoah’s to mobilize labor froces; larger pyramids = more power and authority)

Question 20

Nile River

Answer 20

Annual floods deposit alluvial soil; predictable; very fertile + temps ideal for crops

Question 21

Oldowan/Acheulean/Mousterian tools

Answer 21

Oldowan: Pebble tools ~2mya, percussion flaking (used by australopithecines, maybe H. erectus)

Acheulean: First biface tools, ~1mya, handaxes etc. (used by homo erectus)

Mousterian: Flake tools, neanderthal usage w/ diverse toolkit

Question 22

Predynastic Egypt/Early Dynastic/Old Kingdom & Narmer

Answer 22

Predynastic: Divided into upper and lower Egypt; different ceramics and practices (warfare)

Old Kingdom + Narmer: Narmer unites Egypt and rules as first dynastic divine ruler

Question 23

King Tut/Howard Carter

Answer 23

King Tut’s tomb

Question 24

Liangzhu/Longshan/Xia/Shang/Zhou/Qin/Han

Answer 24

Liangzhu: Mound residences w/ elaborate burials

Longshan: Late Neolithic, increased political complexity, wheel thrown ceramics, towns

Xia: Transition between Neolithic and Shang; little known; Scapulimancy; Yu the Great

Shang: 2nd dynasty, dynastic rule, warfare key to rule, complex bronzeworking, scapulimancy w/ writing for politics, military, rituals (highly stratified)

Zhou: Defeat Shang, new capital at Hao, ban human sacrifice & use tax over labor draft; irrigation agriculture + trade flourish

Question 25

Scapulimancy

Answer 25

Predicting future events/answering questions through warming turtle or shoulder bones to crack; interpreting the cracks (Chinese, i.e. oracle bones)

Question 26

Great Wall

Answer 26

Wall constructed under rule of Qin Shi Huangdi; kept people in and invaders out (700,000 workers required)

Question 27

Terracotta Warriors

Answer 27

First emperor Qin Shi Huangdi's tomb buried with 8,000 plus military members, (600,000 workers, Mount Li)

Question 28

Low density urbanism

Answer 28

i.e. Egypt, low density cities

Question 29

Direct vs. indirect empires

Answer 29

Direct: Control over land directly Indirect: Control over land based off threat of invasion

Question 30

Tampu

Answer 30

Inca roadside lodging/storage alongside long road network

Question 31

Sedentism

Answer 31

Living in permanent, year-round contexts such as villages

Question 32

Neolithic Package

Answer 32

Domestication, population increase, storage, sedentism, ceramics, groundstone tools, communal social institutions

Question 33

Agriculture vs. Foraging vs. Horticulture

Answer 33

Agriculture: an economic system in which humans depend on domesticates for their subsistence (high labor demand, sedentism + large pop, less diverse diet) Foraging: Dependence on wild food sources (more movement) Horticulture: uses simple tools, simple technologies, and fallowing for plant cultivation (slash + burn, periodic movement, diverse diets)

Question 34

Agricultural lifestyles vs. Foraging lifestyles

Answer 34

Agricultural: Little leisure time, unhealthy/shorter, more children + high infant mort Hunter gatherer: More leisure time, healthier/taller, fewer children + low infant mort

Question 35

Dynastic Mesopotamia

Answer 35

Expanded trade; began keeping records i.e. Epic of Gilgamesh (largely related to kings/record keeping)

Question 36

Hypotheses for origin of agriculture

Answer 36

Independent invention of domestication due to environmental pressure/need to survive in many places across the world

Question 37

Inca

Answer 37

Largest empire in world at its height, spoke quechua, Cuzco = capital (1200-1532)

Question 38

Maya

Answer 38

(200-900) Mesoamerican civilization, Tikal + Teotihuacan

Question 39

Laetoli, Tanzania

Answer 39

Afarensis footprints

Question 40

Shanidar Cave, Iraq

Answer 40

Flower burial neanderthal

Question 41

Lake Mungo

Answer 41

Oldest H. Sapien remains in aus

Question 42

Ain Mallaha, Israel

Answer 42

Natufian settlements

Question 43

Abu Hereyra, Syria

Answer 43

Early domestication in fertile crescent

Question 44

Tehuacan Caves, Mexico

Answer 44

Trade

Question 45

Guila Naquitz Cave, Mexico

Answer 45

Evidence of early domestication

Question 46

Eridu

Answer 46

Earliest city in southern mesopot; divine kingdom

Question 47

Royal cemetery of Ur

Answer 47

Queen puabi, evidence of intense stratification

Question 48

Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro

Answer 48

Infrastructure for sanitiation in MD, farming and irrigation + plow culture in harappa

Question 49

Hierakonpolis

Answer 49

First use of mummification

Question 50

Giza

Answer 50

Pyramids of Khufu Khafre and Menkaure

Question 51

Chichen Itza

Answer 51

Smaller coastal city of the Maya, 25k pop

Question 52

Anyang

Answer 52

Shang capital

Question 53

Xianyang/Mount Li

Answer 53

Qin capital/Shi Huangdi burial w/ terracotta army

Question 54

Tikal

Answer 54

Mayan pyramids and ruins in Guatamala rainforest

Question 55

Teotihuacan, Mexico

Answer 55

Water redirection/pyramid of the sun

Question 56

Cahokia, USA

Answer 56

Mounds/forgotten city of Native Americans

Question 57

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Answer 57

Resevoir w/ central temple and residences surrounding