Question 1

Which of the following traits does NOT characterize a Neandertal skull?

Accepted Answer

A)  huge front teeth 
B)  a broad face 
C)  an average cranial capacity larger than that of modern humans 
D)  huge molars 
E)  a large brow ridge

Question 2

The fossil finds near Beijing, China (including the Zhoukoudian cave) yielded the remains of more than 40 specimens of

Accepted Answer

A)  H. habilis. 
B)  Neandertals. 
C)  H. naledi. 
D)  anatomically modern humans. 
E)  H. erectus.

Question 3

The Paleolithic tool tradition associated with H. erectus is the Acheulean.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 4

What species is associated with the cave paintings in Western Europe?

Accepted Answer

A)  anatomically modern humans 
B)  H. erectus 
C)  Au. afarensis 
D)  H. habilis 
E)  Neandertals

Question 5

Which of the following cold-weather adaptations predates the appearance of Neandertals?

Accepted Answer

A)  the use of fire 
B)  a stocky anatomy 
C)  a facial projection 
D)  wearing clothes 
E)  massive nasal cavities and brow ridges

Question 6

Anatomically modern humans (AMHs) evolved from an archaic Homo sapiens African ancestor. Eventually, AMHs spread to other areas, including Western Europe, where they replaced or interbred with the Neandertals, whose robust traits eventually disappeared.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 7

According to mtDNA analyses, when did the first modern humans leave Africa?

Accepted Answer

A)  2 m.y.a. 
B)  1 m.y.a. 
C)  over 735,000 years ago 
D)  535,000 years ago 
E)  no more than 135,000 years ago

Question 8

Compared to Neandertal skulls, anatomically modern specimens found at the Skhūl and Qafzeh sites in Israel have a modern shape. Their brain cases

Accepted Answer

A)  are thicker, the result of an adaptation to increased interspecies violence. 
B)  are the largest of all hominins, even beyond modern dimensions. 
C)  have heavier brows, smaller chins, and wider and flatter faces. 
D)  are rounder and heavier, with a less marked chin. 
E)  are larger and longer, with marked brows.

Question 9

Several different kinds of hominin lived in Africa before and after the advent of Homo.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 10

Recent genetic research comparing Neandertal DNA and modern human DNA supports the theory that Neandertals evolved into the European populations of anatomically modern humans.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 11

Which of the following statements about the appearance of H. habilis is true?

Accepted Answer

A)  H. habilis shows evidence of a shift from an arboreal to an open-grassland environment. 
B)  H. habilis was relatively small in stature compared to H. erectus. 
C)  H. habilis represents a gradual shift away from predation to vegetarianism. 
D)  H. habilis demonstrates the adaptive advantage of sedentism. 
E)  H. habilis evolved from Paranthropus boisei, the hyperrobust australopith.

Question 12

The earliest (1.76 m.y.a.) Acheulean tools associated with H. erectus come from a site near Lake Turkana in Kenya. What are the characteristics of these tools?

Accepted Answer

A)  symmetry, uniformity, and planning 
B)  a high degree of variance in shape, indicating styles were not uniform 
C)  symbolic etchings that indicate ritual behavior 
D)  less sophistication than Oldowan tools 
E)  a low degree of functional differentiation

Question 13

Which of the following characterize(s) Upper Paleolithic traditions?

Accepted Answer

A)  metallurgy 
B)  hand axes 
C)  plant domestication 
D)  pebble tools 
E)  blade tools

Question 14

The recent hominin fossil finds from Ileret, Kenya, negate the conventional view held since 1960 that H. habilis and H. erectus evolved one after the other. Instead, they lived side by side in eastern Africa for perhaps half a million years.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 15

H. erectus is generally associated with which of the following technologies?

Accepted Answer

A)  Mousterian 
B)  Acheulean 
C)  Neolithic 
D)  Upper Paleolithic 
E)  Oldowan

Question 16

The Acheulean tradition is characterized by core choppers that were made by removing flakes from one end of a core.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 17

How was the blade-core method, which characterizes the tools of Upper Paleolithic traditions, superior to Mousterian technology?

Accepted Answer

A)  The Upper Paleolithic blade-core method was faster, more efficient, and more productive than previous stone tool making. 
B)  The Upper Paleolithic blade-core method produced sharper and longer cores than was typical of the Mousterian method. 
C)  The Upper Paleolithic blade-core method was faster but also more difficult to achieve, resulting in many tries that yielded no results. 
D)  There was no difference between the two methods-only a greater diversity of tool uses among Upper Paleolithic traditions. 
E)  The Upper Paleolithic blade-core method used naturally occurring metal ores to strike blades off cores.

Question 18

One of the most surprising aspects of the recent discovery of H. floresiensis, a species of tiny people who lived, gathered, and hunted on the Indonesian island of Flores from about 95,000 B.P. until at least 13,000 B.P., is the specimens' very large skulls; yet they lacked behaviors associated with anatomically modern humans.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 19

One of the most surprising aspects of the recent discovery of H. floresiensis is the

Accepted Answer

A)  suggestion that this species had developed capacities for language despite their small brains, as is evidenced in their cave art. 
B)  suggestion that anatomically modern humans may have reached the Americas much earlier than expected. 
C)  archaeological evidence of sophisticated astronomical knowledge. 
D)  their disproportionate feet. 
E)  evidence that this new species may have replaced Neandertals in the Middle East later than expected.

Question 20

Although the debate over the origin of behavioral modernity continues, archaeological work in many world areas

Accepted Answer

A)  shows that examples of behavioral modernity are obvious among material remains once they are found. 
B)  provides undisputed evidence that human anatomical modernity was achieved in Asia. 
C)  suggests strongly that neither anatomical modernity nor behavioral modernity was a European invention. 
D)  illustrates how archaeological evidence is often more reliable than fossil evidence. 
E)  continues to prove that anatomical modernity preceded behavioral modernity.

Exam 7: The Genus Homo

Which of the following traits does NOT characterize a Neandertal skull?

The fossil finds near Beijing, China (including the Zhoukoudian cave) yielded the remains of more than 40 specimens of

The Paleolithic tool tradition associated with H. erectus is the Acheulean.

What species is associated with the cave paintings in Western Europe?

Which of the following cold-weather adaptations predates the appearance of Neandertals?

Anatomically modern humans (AMHs) evolved from an archaic Homo sapiens African ancestor. Eventually, AMHs spread to other areas, including Western Europe, where they replaced or interbred with the Neandertals, whose robust traits eventually disappeared.

According to mtDNA analyses, when did the first modern humans leave Africa?

Compared to Neandertal skulls, anatomically modern specimens found at the Skhūl and Qafzeh sites in Israel have a modern shape. Their brain cases

Several different kinds of hominin lived in Africa before and after the advent of Homo.

Recent genetic research comparing Neandertal DNA and modern human DNA supports the theory that Neandertals evolved into the European populations of anatomically modern humans.

Which of the following statements about the appearance of H. habilis is true?

The earliest (1.76 m.y.a.) Acheulean tools associated with H. erectus come from a site near Lake Turkana in Kenya. What are the characteristics of these tools?

Which of the following characterize(s) Upper Paleolithic traditions?

The recent hominin fossil finds from Ileret, Kenya, negate the conventional view held since 1960 that H. habilis and H. erectus evolved one after the other. Instead, they lived side by side in eastern Africa for perhaps half a million years.

H. erectus is generally associated with which of the following technologies?

The Acheulean tradition is characterized by core choppers that were made by removing flakes from one end of a core.

How was the blade-core method, which characterizes the tools of Upper Paleolithic traditions, superior to Mousterian technology?

One of the most surprising aspects of the recent discovery of H. floresiensis is the

Although the debate over the origin of behavioral modernity continues, archaeological work in many world areas