- Study Questions for exams
- (available one week before exams)
Stone Age Man:
Some non-human species which have qualities we used to think of as exclusively human:
Chimpanzees hunt using spears:
 | Science Daily article |
| BBC report |
| National Geographic video of activity |
Koko the gorilla using sign language:
Alex the Talking Grey Parrot
Dolphins and other cetaceans:
Dolphins' Names:
| Dolphins name themselves with signature whistles |
| National Geographic article about above observation |
| Another response |
Dolphins and Mirrors:
| Dolphins recognize themselves in mirrors |
| Dolphin self-awareness mirrors our own |
Dolphin and Cetacean Culture:
Evolution and Early Hominids
Man as tool-maker (not just tool-user)
Spend some time in at least one of the first four sites below:
| Smithsonian Institute exhibit of early humans: Well laid out, good skull photos from primates to modern humans, includes a timeline. |
|
Various
theories of Creationism includes
Fossil Hominids
a good summary of the fossil evidence, with a discussion of the Creationists' arguments and links to images of the specific fossils at issue. |
| Overview of Human origins |
| "Becoming Human" an interactive on-line documentary from from the Institute of Human Origins and Arizona State University |
Early
hominids may have been more "human" than previously thought.
A Tour of the Hominid
Fossil Record The focus is on the physical remains, primarily skulls,
and the associated tools. Well illustrated.
Australian skeleton raises questions about the "Out of Africa" theory
Primate
social organization
Understanding Primate Sociality and Reproductive Patterns
Hominid
tools this includes tools used by homo habilis as well as homo sapiens
Stone
age tools this site goes into great detail and is well
illustrated.
the "hobbits" Homo floresiensis, a new species of very small hominids.
Homo sapiens Neanderthalensis (Neanderthal Man, who emerged about 200,000 years ago)
Neanderthal Culture
Discovery of a Neanderthal Flute
| Finding of the Flute |
| Some controversy over whether it is really a flute |
The Neanderthal as a species
- More evidence they are not same species
-
Morphometric skull analysis says Neanderthals are not our
ancestor
A possible human/Neanderthal hybrid? -
Another story about above
ABC News story about interbreeding -
Some Neandeerthals may have been redheads
Attempt to reconstruct the genome of Neanderthals
What Happened to the Neanderthals?
Climate Change may have killed off Neanderthals
Were
Neanderthals wiped out by free trade?
The replacement of
Neanderthal by modern humans in the Levant
Homo sapiens sapiens (Cro-Magnon, or "anatomically modern" man, who emerged around 90,000 years ago)
- Hunter-gatherers and their predecessors
- Cro-Magnon Tools
- Cro-Magnon art:
- Paleolithic Cave Painting, Vallon-Pont d'Arc, France (18,000 - 15,000 BC) (be sure to scroll down the page)
- The Combe d'Arc prehistoric cave paintings (32,000 - 30,000 BC) were discovered in December 1994 in the Ardèche region of France, were put on-line on January 24, 1995 by the French Ministry of Culture! The web page displays photographs taken in the caves and includes a text describing the site. (Click on "Visit the Cave")
- Paleolithic art
- Speculations about the reasons for making art
"Venus figures":
| The Venus of Willendorf |
| The Venus of Lespugue |
| The Venus of Savignano |
Neolithic Man and the Neolithic Revolution (around 10,000 BC in Mesopotamia, a little later in parts of Europe)
- The effect of Climate Change on Stone Age Man
- A food quiz: could you survive as a hunter gatherer?
- The hunter gatherer way of life
- Reading the signs of domestication of animals
- A hunter gatherer debate: are modern foragers the same as ancient? (if they were not the same, many of our assumptions about ancient hunter-gatherers may be wrong)
- Observations of contemporary hunter-gatherers after the Tsunami
- Two articles who call into question the standard, simplified view of the Neolithic Revolution:
The slow birth of agriculture Why settle down? Neolithic art Stone Age hut in Israel gives world's oldest evidence of bedding The Agricultural Revolution A module of an excellent course from Washington State University, clearly written, well illustrated. A Theory that the domestication of grains might have been for the purpose of brewing beer, not baking bread "Brewing an Ancient Beer" the 3,800 year old recipe for beer found on a Mesopotamian clay tablet
- The Anchor Brewing company worked with scholars to try to brew a beer from the ancient recipe.
The Neolithic Diaspora in Europe The Influence of Neolithic Man on his Environment (specifically, in Malta.) Study of remains gives us evidence of what animals were domesticated, what crops were planted, and what trees were used for building.
Is there a link between agriculture and the beginning of Patriarchy?
- Summary of theory that creation of patriarchy is linked to the Neolithic revolution:
- Summary of view that patriarchy is inevitable:
- Myth of matriarchal prehistory includes some links to related arguments.
- Myth of universal patriarchy: a response to the previous link
"Ötzi", AKA the "Iceman," a Neolithic man trapped in a glacier discovered in the Alps in 1991
- BBC account of death of the iceman with links to more information on the discovery, and photographs of the mummified body and the clothing and tools found with it.
- Iceman died from an arrow
- Iceman died from "whack on head"