lec 15-21

Question 1

why is the general public so gullible to pseudoarchaeology?

Answer 1

-because the general public is not well informed or educated
-many scientific papers assume expert level reading capabilities
-many scientists are not good at communicating with people who lack this expertise

Question 2

what is the publics perception of science?

Answer 2

-support science endeavors but not interested
-growing distrust in scientests due to thinking they are elitists

Question 3

what is a public misconception of archaeology?

Answer 3

-most people dont know what it is
-they think it is studying ancient mysteries or studying dinosaurs rather than people
-they think they tomb raid, or study rocks

Question 4

why is pseudoarchaeology so appealing?

Answer 4

-because people love mystery and conspiracy, want entertainment

Question 5

how did the Nazis use archaeology to manipulate people for their own gain? do governments still do this?

Answer 5

-used archaeology to try and prove the history and superiority of the aryan race
-hired people to destroy sites in africa to deny people to believe that the race originated in africa
-governments still do this

Question 6

was archaeology used to support religion?

Answer 6

yes

Question 7

are neanderthals referred to as archaic homo sapiens? do some think they are a sub species to homo sapiens?

Answer 7

yes to both

Question 8

when did neanderthals appear and disappear? what does DNA suggest?

Answer 8

-first remains appear roughly 130,000 years ago
-disappear 40,000 years ago
-DNA suggests origin at least 600,000 to 800,000 years ago

Question 9

what was the first hominin fossil ever discovered? when was it found? what did people say about it

Answer 9

-neanderthal I
-shortly before the origin of species, in 1856
-that it was a pathological idiot, was dismissed, but some considered it an early form of human

Question 10

what are the 2 forms of neanderthals?

Answer 10

-the classic european form and the near eastern form

Question 11

was the classic neanderthals brain larger than the humans? were they more robust?

Answer 11

yes to both

Question 12

why do people see neanderthals in an ape like manner?

Answer 12

-because it was first reconstructed in ape-like fashion, resulting in the brute view

Question 13

are neanderthals primarily from europe, but also migrated to some parts of asia?

Answer 13

yes

Question 14

what were the characteristics of the La Chapelle complete neanderthal skeleton found in france?

Answer 14

-lost most teeth
-had arthritis
-needed someone to feed it to survive (neanderthal altruism)

Question 15

what did the Saint-Cesaire site in france yield?

Answer 15

-a neanderthal skeleton and a modern tool made by humans (shows coexistence of both species in europe)

Question 16

how many specimens were found in shanidar cave?

Answer 16

-7 adults and 2 infants, some of which were intentionally buried

Question 17

what was shanidar 1?

Answer 17

-a male skeleton
-30 to 45 years of age (very old for a prehistoric human)
-had injuries making it impossible to do normal activities, must have gained help

Question 18

what was shanidar II? what evidence was found?

Answer 18

-an adult male
-killed by a rock fall within the cave
-a small pile of stones were constructed nea rbody
-could be evidence of a burial site as a fire was found near it

Question 19

what happened to shanidar III? why is it believed to have been killed by AMHs?

Answer 19

-was buried near shanidar I and II
-suffered from arthritis and a joint disease
-believed it was killed by AMHs due to having fractures on ribs, similar to projectile heads which neanderthals lacked (they only have spears, not arrows)

Question 20

why is shanidar IV the most famous prehistoric burial in the world? what was its identity

Answer 20

-because pollen was found in association with the burial suggesting entire flowers were put there, the flowers are known for curative powers
-could’ve been a shaman, hence the curative flowers

Question 21

why is shanidar IV not considered a burial?

Answer 21

because a gerbil like animal called the Persian Jird near the site is known to store seeds and flowers in its burrow

Question 22

how are both neanderthal and early human burials similar and different?

Answer 22

-both have funeral practices
-neanderthals include rocks and modified limestone pieces, while early humans included symbolic items

Question 23

how was classic neanderthal genetic diversity tested? what did it show?

Answer 23

-by comparing the genetic diversity of semicircular canals between two different neanderthal sites
-low genetic diversity compared to pre-neanderthals and early neanderthals

Question 24

did classic neanderthals lose genetic diversity due to a bottleneck event? when did it occur?

Answer 24

-yes
-ocurred 110,000 before present

Question 25

were neanderthals capable of speech? how do they know?

Answer 25

-yes , due to an intact hyoid bone attached to vocal cords found in Kebara Cave

Question 26

could neanderthals perceive sound in the same frequencies as humans? what does this reflect?

Answer 26

yes, a possible need to hear human speech patterns but doesnt mean the ability to use language

Question 27

did neanderthal ear bones evolve to hear speech in addition to other sounds?

Answer 27

yes

Question 28

how did the neanderthal brain differ from humans apart from size?

Answer 28

-had a larger occipital lobe which meant their brain was more devoted to visual processing and less towards other tasks like language -had a small cerebellum which is responsible for language processing and fluent speaking

Question 29

how did the the human brain work better or differently than the neanderthal brain?

Answer 29

-the human brain stores the concepts associated with words into clusters

Question 30

what are iconic sounds? what do they act as?

Answer 30

-sounds that provide a sensory impression of something -act as a bridge between the ape-like calls used by early ancestors and the first spoken words

Question 31

did the passing of iconic sounds between generations lead to the use of arbitrary words in AMH and Neanderthals?

Answer 31

yes

Question 32

what is an example of how neanderthals had abstract thinking?

Answer 32

-a discovery in spain shows how neanderthals were collecting shells for their aesthetic value rather than for purpose -they also collected animal antlers and horns as trophies

Question 33

what technique of flaking stone for tools did the neanderthals invent? what did it require?

Answer 33

-the levallois technique -requires the person making the tool to prepare the core by removing flakes from the core to make the desired tool shape

Question 34

was the levallois technique orally taught due to it being highly sophisticated? what did this mean for neanderthals?

Answer 34

-yes -capable for abstract thought

Question 35

what is another technique that the neanderthals used which showed up later? how do the tools differ than the levallois tools?

Answer 35

-the mousterian technique -the mousterian tools are smaller in size

Question 36

what is the most common type of mousterian tool? why is there a wide variety of variations of it?

Answer 36

-the scraper -used for scraping hide off of bones, butchering game etc. resulting in a wide variety of variations

Question 37

were neanderthal tools found in east asia? what tools?

Answer 37

-yes -quina tools

Question 38

were neanderthals capable of producing sticky adhesives? how did they do it?

Answer 38

-yes -by burning sap from trees to make a sticky substance

Question 39

what is the most surprising fact about making a sticky adhesive from bitumen and ochre?

Answer 39

-the ratio has to be 50/50 for success, too little ochre results in too much stick and too little bitumen results in drying out of substance

Question 40

was it originally thought that bone tools were only made by AMH, not neanderthals?

Answer 40

yes

Question 41

did neanderthals from both europe and eurasia know how to make bone tools?

Answer 41

yes

Question 42

was the oldest bone spear tip made by neanderthals found in europe before human migration?

Answer 42

yes

Question 43

were wooden tools made up of certain types of wood that neanderthals preferred? what woods?

Answer 43

-yes -coniferous woods

Question 44

what were wooden tools and items used for?

Answer 44

-hunting -pins for hair and clothes -extracting insects from bark -fishing

Question 45

were neanderthals primarily meat eaters? what percentage?

Answer 45

-yes -97%

Question 46

it is bad for omnivores like humans to have a diet so rich in protein similar to apex predators which can cause protein poisoning, how is the neanderthal diet re-evaluated to explain the 97% meat statistic?

Answer 46

-they ate maggots which have a high N-15 value, which is seen similarly in apex predators -maggots are rich in fat which helped their diet but made it seem like they ate a lot of meat

Question 47

could neanderthals have intentionally let food rot so they can eat maggots alongside the food?

Answer 47

-yes, as seen in the indigenous letting food rot on purpose as it was seen more desirable