Define culture according to anthropologists
• Culture is anything that is learnt rather than inherited biologically.
• It includes activities such as making stone tools, hunting techniques, food preparation, using language, and creating art.
Explain what is meant by cultural evolution and describe its importance to hominins.
• Cultural evolution is the gradual change and improvement in human culture over time.
• It includes tool-making, food acquisition, language, art, and social organisation.
• Cultural evolution allowed hominins to overcome environmental challenges (e.g. find food more efficiently, build shelter, use fire).
• It gave hominins increasing independence from the environment and improved their chances of survival.
Describe the tools used by Australopithecus and explain their significance.
• Australopithecines used simple pebble tools such as choppers, scrapers, flakes, and chisels.
• These tools are called Oldowan tools, named after the Olduvai Gorge site where they were discovered.
• Tools ranged from tennis ball-sized (choppers) to marble-sized (scrapers/flakes).
• They required a precision grip, showing early development of fine motor control.
• The tools were not reshaped but were used as found in the environment.
• Significance: allowed them to exploit more resources (e.g. cutting, scraping, processing food) and marked the start of humans actively interacting with their environment.
Explain how tool use by Australopithecus contributed to their ability to colonise new areas.
• Tool use allowed them to process a wider variety of foods and survive in a range of habitats.
• This increased flexibility in diet meant they could live in more environments.
• As a result, Australopithecines were able to leave Africa and spread to new continents.
Describe the tools and lifestyle of Homo habilis.
• Continued to use Oldowan tools, but some were sharpened or shaped by striking stones together.
• Tools were used for skinning animals, chopping meat, breaking bones, crushing plants, and digging roots.
• Lifestyle: hunter-gatherers living in grasslands.
• Diet: mostly plant material, with some meat from scavenging or hunting.
• Meat provided essential fats for brain growth, explaining their increasing cranial capacity.
• Social organisation: worked in groups, shared food at a home base, division of labour likely.
• Communication would have been important, possibly early development of spoken language (evidence of brain bulge in speech area).
Describe the evidence that Homo habilis was both a scavenger and a hunter.
• Fossil sites show animal bones with cut marks made by stone tools.
• Under magnification, cut marks from tools can be distinguished from tooth marks left by carnivores.
• Evidence shows Homo habilis sometimes scavenged kills made by carnivores and sometimes hunted and butchered animals themselves.
Describe the Acheulian tools made by Homo erectus and their uses.
• Acheulian tools were made by flaking stone on both sides until teardrop-shaped hand axes were formed.
• Tools were sharper and more symmetrical than Oldowan tools.
• Uses included butchering animals, digging, and working wood.
• These tools show planning and skill in manufacture.
Explain the cultural advances made by Homo erectus.
• Fire use: kept predators away, provided light/warmth, enabled cooking (improving digestibility and safety of food).
• Shelter building: evidence of huts and designated habitation sites (e.g. Terra Amata).
• Organised hunting: e.g. driving animals into swamps, carrying tools long distances to plan hunts.
• Tool-making: Acheulian tools, showing forethought and skill.
• These advances allowed them to become less reliant on the environment and more able to manipulate it to suit their needs.
Discuss the significance of fire in Homo erectus society.
• Provided warmth during cold climates and ice ages, allowing migration to Europe/Asia.
• Extended day length by providing light at night.
• Allowed cooking, which made more foods safe, improved flavour, and reduced parasites.
• May have been used to hunt (stampede animals into traps).
• Fire use strengthened social bonds as groups likely gathered around fires, improving cooperation and possibly encouraging more complex communication.
Describe the tool-making techniques and cultural advances of Homo neanderthalensis.
• Used Mousterian tools made by the Levallois technique (producing flat flakes with sharp edges).
• Tools could be hafted onto spears or handles, increasing effectiveness.
• Required planning, foresight, and advanced cognitive ability.
• Cultural advances included:
• Burial of the dead (possibly indicating belief in afterlife).
• Care of sick and disabled members of the group.
• Clothing made from hides using scrapers.
• Sharing of resources, showing organised social systems.
Describe the tools and cultural developments of Homo sapiens (Cro-Magnon people).
• Made fine blades and projectile weapons.
• Developed clothing, sewn shelters, and survived in colder climates better than Neanderthals.
• Associated with tool cultures:
• Aurignacian: long, flat stone blades.
• Solutrean: willow-leaf/laurel-leaf points, highly decorative.
• Magdalenian: tools made of bone/antler, and art such as carvings and cave paintings.
• Developed tools (like burins) to make other tools, showing advanced planning and creativity.
• Lived in organised hunting groups, hunted herd animals, used bones, fat, and ivory for tools and lamps
Outline general trends in tool development through human evolution.
• Greater manipulation and shaping of raw materials.
• Increased complexity and specialisation of tools.
• Improved workmanship and manufacturing techniques.
• Wider variety of materials used (stone, bone, antler, ivory).
• Tools used for a broader range of purposes (hunting, sewing, building, art).
• These trends show increasing intelligence, planning ability, and social cooperation.
Describe Oldowan tools
• Oldowan tools are the earliest known stone tools (about 2.6 to 1.7 million years ago)
• Made by striking pebbles with another stone to produce flakes
• Consist mainly of simple choppers, scrapers, and flakes
• Used for cutting meat, cracking bones for marrow, and processing plant material
Name the species known to use Oldowan tools
• Homo habilis is most strongly associated with Oldowan tools
• Early Homo erectus may have also used them in some regions
Which species was the first to use fire? List four different ways that fire could have been used
• Homo erectus was the first species known to control fire
• Fire could have been used for:
• Cooking food (making it easier to chew and digest)
• Providing warmth in cooler climates
• Protection from predators at night
• Social gatherings and communication (increasing cooperation within groups)
What tool culture did Neanderthals use?
• Neanderthals used the Mousterian tool culture
• Tools were flake-based, with more precision and specialisation than Acheulean tools
• Included scrapers, points, and hand axes designed for hunting and hide preparation
Name and describe the tools used by Cro-Magnon (early Homo sapiens)
• Cro-Magnons used Aurignacian tools (and later Solutrean and Magdalenian cultures)
• Tools were finely crafted and included:
• Blades (long, thin stone flakes sharper and more efficient than earlier tools)
• Bone, antler, and ivory tools (needles, spear throwers, fish hooks)
• Decorative objects and figurines (evidence of symbolic thought)
• Composite tools (hafted tools, combining stone and wood)
Explain how the use of tools from the following cultures are related to the changes in cranial capacity of hominins
• Early stone tools (Oldowan, Acheulean) required some planning but limited precision → associated with smaller brain sizes (Homo habilis, early Homo erectus)
• More advanced tools (Mousterian, Aurignacian) required complex thinking, teaching, and communication → associated with larger cranial capacity (Neanderthals and Homo sapiens)
• The development of more sophisticated tools reflects increasing brain size, problem-solving skills, and social cooperation
Explain how Mousterian tools differ from Acheulean tools
• Mousterian tools are flake-based, whereas Acheulean tools are mainly large hand axes and cleavers
• Mousterian tools show greater specialisation (scrapers, spear points, knives)
• Produced with the Levallois technique (preparing the core to remove flakes of a predictable size and shape)
• More efficient and versatile than Acheulean tools
Relate this statement: “The environment influenced Homo habilis, but Homo sapiens influenced the environment” to the tools used by the two species
• Homo habilis:
• Responded to their environment by using simple tools (Oldowan) to scavenge, cut meat, and crack bones
• They adapted to what the environment provided, rather than changing the environment
• Homo sapiens:
• Used advanced tools (Aurignacian, Magdalenian) to actively shape the environment (hunting large game, building shelters, making clothing)
• Agricultural tools later allowed them to control food production and permanently alter ecosystems
State the common name, scientific name, approximate age range (years BP), type and location, and cultural period of Australopithecus Homo habilis.
• Common name: Handyman
• Scientific name: Homo habilis
• Approximate age range: 2.6–1.7 million years ago
• Type and location: Olduvai, Africa
• Cultural period: Oldowan tools
State the common name, scientific name, approximate age range (years BP), type and location, and cultural period of Homo erectus.
• Common name: Homo erectus
• Scientific name: Homo erectus
• Approximate age range: 1.7 million–200,000 years ago
• Type and location: St Acheul, France
• Cultural period: Acheulian tools
State the common name, scientific name, approximate age range (years BP), type and location, and cultural period of Homo neanderthalensis.
• Common name: Neanderthal
• Scientific name: Homo neanderthalensis
• Approximate age range: 200,000–40,000 years ago
• Type and location: Le Moustier, France
• Cultural period: Mousterian (manufacturer of flake tools)
State the common name, scientific name, approximate age range (years BP), type and location, and cultural period of Homo sapiens (Aurignacian cultural period).
• Common name: Cro-Magnon
• Scientific name: Homo sapiens
• Approximate age range: 43,000–26,000 years ago
• Type and location: Aurignac, France
• Cultural period: Aurignacian (manufacturer of blade tools)
-
Chapter 9.1 Mutations92
-
Chapter 9.2 Migration6
-
Chapter 9.3 Natural Selection0
-
Chapter 10.1 Processing DNA ✓39
-
Chapter 10.2 DNA Provides Evidence of Evolution ✓44
-
Chapter 10.3 Other Biochemical Evidence ✓32
-
Human biology Mutations and Gene pool Extended Response Research32
-
Chapter 9 Powerpoint flashcards20
-
Chapter 10 PP flashcards15
-
11.1 Fossils✓14
-
Chapter 11.2 Dating Fossils✓47
-
Carbon and Potassium dating5
-
Chapter 11.3 Comparative anatomy✓13
-
Chapter 11.4 Phylogenetic Trees✓7
-
Chapter 12.1 Humans as Primates ✔9
-
Chapter 12.2 Variation Within the Family Hominidae✓75
-
Chapter 13.1 Evolutionary Trends in Hominins✓18
-
Chapter 13.2 Comparison of Hominin Species✓36
-
Chapter 13.3 Cultural Evolution✓32
