Early Homo Tool Industries, Anatomy, Diet, and Brain Evolution

All flashcards

Tool industry

A classification or assemblage of tools sharing characteristics such as form or manufacture.

Hard hammer percussion

A technique in which one hard stone is struck against another to detach flakes.

Sexual dimorphism

Differences in average body size or form between males and females of a species.

Expensive tissue hypothesis

The proposal that energy-dense foods and digestive changes helped meet the brain's high energy demands.

Brain lateralization

Specialization of the brain's hemispheres, which may be reflected in consistent hand preference.

Quiz questions

1. Which hominins are possible makers of Oldowan tools, given that multiple hominins lived in Africa during that period?Answer: Homo habilis, Paranthropus boisei, or both.
2. What distinguishes many Acheulean bifaces from Oldowan tools?Answer: They were worked on both sides and often had a symmetrical form.
3. Which materials could serve as soft hammers for shaping Acheulean tools?Answer: Bone or wood used to strike hard stone.
4. What does the expensive tissue hypothesis propose about brain growth in early Homo?Answer: Energy-dense foods and digestive changes may have helped meet the brain's high energy needs.
5. Why do researchers disagree about whether Homo ergaster and Homo erectus are separate species?Answer: They interpret fossil differences and geographic patterns differently when classifying populations.