Archaeology and Humanity’s Story:

A Brief Introduction to World Prehistory

Chapter 3 Test Bank—Becoming Human

Multiple-Choice Questions (30)

1. Anatomically modern humans are members of the species ___________________________.

A) Homo erectus

B) Homo heidelbergensis

C) Homo naledi

D) Homo sapiens

2. According to current evidence, ____________________ was the first hominin to leave the African continent.

A) Ardipithecus ramidus

B) Homo erectus

C) Sahelanthropus tchadensis

D) Neandertal man

3. Which of these archaeological regions is located in southern England?

A) Boxgrove

B) Atapuerca

C) Herto

D) Chaco Canyon

4. The ____________________ geological epoch began approximately 2.6 million years ago.

A) Miocene

B) Pliocene

C) Pleistocene

D) Holocene

5. Oxygen isotope analysis measures changes in ancient _____________________.

A) acidity

B) brain size

C) technology

D) temperature

6. Which of these hominins has a notable protruding chin?

A) Homo floresiensis

B) Homo sapiens

C) Neandertals

D) Homo erectus

7. The ___________________ site in the Republic of Georgia contained fossils from early Homo erectus.

A) St. Acheul

B) Dmanisi

C) Cro-Magnon

D) Grotte du Renne

8. Homo erectus fossils are found on each of the following continents except______________.

A) Africa

B) Asia

C) Australia

D) Europe

9. The Schöningen site in Germany is best known for _____________________________.

A) Homo floresiensis

B) Oldowan choppers

C) Pan troglodytes

D) wooden spears

10. Engraved red ochre was discovered at Blombos Cave, ______________________.

A) Chad

B) Kenya

C) South Africa

D) Tanzania

11. Homo erectus and Homo sapiens are most anatomically similar______________________.

A) during the Holocene epoch

B) from the neck down

C) in the features of their skulls

D) on the Movius Line

12. Homo erectus appears in Africa about __________________________.

A) 3.75 billion years ago

B) 95,000 years ago

C) 4.4 million years ago

D) 1.9 million years ago

13. Which of these sites covered in Chapter 3 is not located in Africa?

A) Diepkloof Rock Shelter

B) Herto

C) Omo Kibish

D) ‘Ubeidiya

14. Which of these sites covered in Chapter 3 is located in Africa?

A) Liang Bua

B) Blombos Cave

C) Zhoukoudian

D) Dmanisi

15. The famous “Nariokotome Boy” is a member of which hominin species?

A) Homo erectus

B) Homo floresiensis

C) Homo neanderthalensis

D) Homo sapiens

16. What is the signature artifact of the Acheulian tool tradition?

A) Sidescraper

B) Leaf-shaped arrow point

C) Wooden spear

D) Bifacial handaxe

17. Members of ____________________ were about 3.5 feet tall.

A) Homo neanderthalensis

B) Gigantopithecus blacki

C) Homo floresiensis

D) All of the above

18. Which of these paleoanthropological sites is located in North America?

A) Pinnacle Point 13B

B) Sangiran

C) Denisova Cave

D) None of the above

19. Homo heidelbergensis appears in Africa about _____________________.

A) 2 million years ago

B) 900,000 years ago

C) 40,000 years ago

D) 20,000 years ago

20. ________________ is a special way of knapping a core so that it is shaped in a way that allows the removal of a thin, well-shaped flake.

A) FOXP2

B) Neolithic

C) Levallois

D) Gran Dolina

21. ______________________ refers to an archaeological period recognized in Western Eurasia (and sometimes northern Africa)

A) Middle Paleolithic

B) Denali

C) Formative

D) Desert Archaic

22. The Olorgesailie Basin is located in ________________, East Africa.

A) China

B) Kenya

C) Indonesia

D) Morocco

23. Gran Dolina at Atapuerca featured surprising evidence of ________________________.

A) cannibalism

B) farming

C) tool use

D) bipedalism

24. Some archaeologists have speculated that __________________ was used to make tools east of the Movius Line.

A) bamboo

B) diamond

C) red ochre

D) human bone

25. The recent single origin model hypothesizes that modern Homo sapiens evolved once in _____________________.

A) Africa

B) Asia

C) Middle East

D) Zhoukoudian

26. According to the recent single origin model, modern Homo sapiens evolved about ___________________ years ago.

A) 4.6 billion

B) 2 million

C) 1.9 million

D) 200,000

27. __________________ DNA is passed exclusively from mothers to their children and represents maternal lineages.

A) Junk

B) Mitochondrial

C) Mutant

D) Nuclear

28. The __________________ site in Ethiopia yielded fossils of early Homo sapiens.

A) Olduvai Gorge

B) Grotte du Renne

C) Omo Kibish

D) Diepkloof Rockshelter

29. Humans have a ________________ pharynx region than common chimpanzees.

A) softer

B) simpler

C) shorter

D) larger

30. A red pigment called ________________________ may reflect personal ornamentation among Neandertals.

A) ochre

B) Chatelperronian

C) Nassarius

D) Levallois

/Questions (8)

1. Recent interpretations of archaeological evidence often incorporate DNA evidence. (

2. On average, Neandertal brains are slightly larger than those of modern humans. (

3. Genetic analysis of a finger bone from Blombos cave revealed a previously unknown hominin. (

4. 16O and 18O represent types of Ochre. (

5. FOXP2 is a gene that is associated with language. (

6. Homo floresiensis fossils were found at the Liang Bua site in Indonesia. (

7. Basal ganglia are part of the larynx associated with language. (

8. In 2010 a draft sequence of the Neandertal genome was published.

1. Did Neandertals and modern humans ever interbreed? How do we know?

2. Briefly describe the climate of the Pleistocene. How did this affect hominin migrations?

3. What are foraminifera? Why are they relevant to archaeology and paleoanthropology?

4. What significant find was made at Denisova Cave in Russia?

5. What was unique about the Schöningen spears? How might this find affect archaeological interpretations of stone tools?

6. Should we classify Neandertals as Homo sapiens neanderthalensis or Homo neanderthalensis? What evidence supports your choice?

7. What was the behavioral significance of the engraved red ochre found at Blombos Cave?

8. What are some differences between the chimpanzee and human vocal tracts? How do these differences facilitate human speech?

9. What role does FOXP2 play in our linguistic ability? What does it tell us about Neandertal language?

10. Why are Homo erectus and Homo heidelbergensis classified as separate species?

1. Describe the assimilation model for the development of modern Homo sapiens. How does this differ from the older multiregional model?

2. Describe two explanations for the small stature of Homo floresiensis. What evidence supports these interpretations?

3. How would you define “modern” human behavior? What material evidence of those behaviors could we seek in the archaeological record?

4. Chapter 3 is titled “Becoming Human,” implying a process, not an event. Why is it so difficult to mark a moment in time when we “became human”? How are we a result of cultural mosaic evolution?

5. As detailed in Chapter 3 (box Peopling the Past: Genetics, Neandertals, and Modern Humans, page 77), our understanding of Neandertals is a good example of the scientific method in action. How has science added to, and improved upon, our knowledge of Neandertals—from the earliest fossils found to modern genetics?