Archaeology and Humanity’s Story:

A Brief Introduction to World Prehistory

Chapter 2 Test Bank—Humanity’s Roots

Multiple-Choice Questions (30)

1. Modern humans are members of the genus __________________.

A) Australopithecus

B) Ardipithecus

C) Homo

D) Paranthropus

2. Ardipithecus ramidus is approximately how old?

A) 100,000 years

B) 1.5 million years

C) 4.4 million years

D) 3.6 billion years

3. _____________________: a classification system that divides animal and plant groups into categories based on their evolutionary relationships.

A) Morphology

B) Primatology

C) Taphonomy

D) Taxonomy

4. Which of these species is farthest removed from us in time?

A) Ardipithecus ramidus

B) Australopithecus afarensis

C) Homo habilis

D) Sahelanthropus tchadensis

5. Which of these hominin species was probably the most arboreal?

A) Paranthropus boisei

B) Ardipithecus ramidus

C) Homo habilis

D) Australopithecus africanus

6. Which of these species has the largest average brain size (measured in cubic centimeters)?

A) Homo sapiens

B) Homo habilis

C) Pan troglodytes

D) Sahelanthropus tchadensis

7. Which genus is associated with “robust” features like a sagittal crest and large molars?

A) Ardipithecus

B) Microtus

C) Homo

D) Paranthropus

8. Which primate has been observed “termite fishing” in the wild?

A) Chimpanzees

B) Gibbons

C) Gorillas

D) Orangutans

9. Ancient hominins most likely made tools from:

A) bone.

B) stone.

C) wood.

D) all of the above

10. Prior to recent finds in Ethiopia and Kenya, ____________________ was the oldest known stone tool industry.

A) Acheulian

B) Mousterian

C) Oldowan

D) Solutrean

11. Chapter 2 discusses the ____________________ site at Olduvai Gorge.

A) FLK 22

B) Lomekwi 3

C) Apollo 11 Cave

D) Liang Bua

12. The famous “Lucy” was a member of which species?

A) Australopithecus afarensis

B) Paranthropus robustus

C) Sahelanthropus tchadensis

D) Zea mays

13. Chapter 2 focuses primarily on which hominin characteristic?

A) Absolutism

B) Bipedalism

C) Prognathism

D) Sexual dimorphism

14. To which taxonomic subfamily do you belong?

A) Gorillinae

B) Homininae

C) Pongidae

D) None of the above

15. Modern humans are generally ____________________ the earliest hominins.

A) shorter than

B) taller than

C) the same size as

D) less intelligent than

16. What Tanzanian site included a trail of fossilized Australopithecus afarensis footprints?

A) Laetoli

B) La Venta

C) Lascaux

D) Liang Bua

17. The generic term australopith refers to members of what genus (genera)?

A) Ardipithecus

B) Australopithecus

C) Paranthropus

D) All of the above

18. Which of these hominin species was first discovered in East Asia?

A) Ardipithecus ramidus

B) Australopithecus sediba

C) Homo habilis

D) None of the above

19. Which of these has not been proposed as a mode of subsistence at FLK 22?

A) Active scavenging

B) Farming

C) Hunting

D) Passive scavenging

20. Which of these hominin species was first discovered in Europe?

A) Ardipithecus ramidus

B) Australopithecus afarensis

C) Homo habilis

D) None of the above

21. Oldowan choppers would have been particularly useful for _________________________.

A) breaking open bones for marrow

B) throwing at fast-moving prey

C) scraping hair off of hides

D) scaring away carnivores

22. _____________________ occurs when individuals from two different groups within the same species mate and produce offspring.

A) Gene flow

B) Genetic drift

C) Mutation

D) Natural selection

23. ______________________ is when a change occurs in a gene or when other types of errors occur in chromosomes (long strands of genes).

A) Gene flow

B) Genetic drift

C) Mutation

D) Natural selection

24. ______________________ is most easily seen when populations become isolated from one another. For example, if a small group moves to a new area, the genes present in that group represent only a sample of the total genes present in their original population.

A) Gene flow

B) Genetic drift

C) Mutation

D) Natural selection

25. During the late Miocene, much of Africa became ______________ and ________________.

A) drier; less forested

B) drier; more forested

C) wetter; less forested

D) wetter; more forested

26. According to one model, the LCA species split into small groups, which remained _________________, and large groups, which became _______________________.

A) bipedal; quadrupedal

B) carnivorous; herbivorous

C) quadrupedal; bipedal

D) terrestrial; arboreal

27. Where is the sagittal crest located?

A) Ethiopia

B) Finger bones

C) Pelvis

D) Skull

28. Chapter 2 describes members of the genus Paranthropus as our evolutionary____________.

A) ancestors

B) children

C) cousins

D) siblings

29. A site in the Dikika area of Ethiopia featured animal bones with cut marks dating to ____________________ years ago.

A) 6000

B) 40,000

C) 2.18 million

D) 3.39 million

30. Hominin fossils have been found in each of these regions except ___________________.

A) Central Africa

B) East Africa

C) South Africa

D) West Africa

/Questions (10)

1. The foramen magnum is located in the pelvis. (

2. The last common ancestor (LCA) of panins and hominins lived about 6.3 – 5.4 million years ago. (

3. The first fossils of Australopithecus africanus were found at the Taung site in South Africa. (

4. The oldest hominin fossils are found in Asia. (

5. One of the ancestors of Homo sapiens is Pan paniscus. (

6. The LCA lived during the miocene. (

7. Tribe Panini includes all of the following: bonobos, common chimpanzee, and orangutans. (

8. The most remarkable part of “Ardi’s” skeletal structure was a grasping big toe. (

9. The Oldowan tool industry includes arrowheads. (

10. Natural selection is based on the principle that certain features are selected for, selected against, or are neutral. (

1. What archaeological evidence supports pre-Homo tool use?

2. Describe the concept of mosaic evolution using examples from the text.

3. What do we know about the diet of the genus Paranthropus? What evidence are these interpretations based on?

4. What kinds of tool use have been observed among modern primates (humans excluded)?

5. What do Oldowan tools reveal about the cognitive capacity of Homo habilis?

6. Can you briefly explain why we are not descended from chimpanzees?

7. We often describe hominin skulls in terms of how “ape-like” or “human-like” they are. What are some ape-like features of early hominin skulls?

8. How might bipedalism aided in the thermoregulation of early hominins?

9. Describe the evolutionary process of genetic drift.

10. What is the purpose of taxonomy?

1. Chapter 2 discusses several possible explanations for the origin of bipedalism. What do you think was the most significant advantage bipedalism provided for our ancestors? What evidence supports your choice?

2. Natural selection is a relatively simple, but often misunderstood, evolutionary process. How would you explain it, simply yet accurately, to someone who has no previous experience with biology?

3. Bones may be transported and modified by many natural and cultural processes. What are some ways that archaeologists can discern natural patterning from cultural patterning?

4. Imagine that modern humans had all of the attributes that we actually have, but were fully quadrupedal. Would life as we know it be possible? How would the world be a different place?

5. The paleoanthropological record is dominated by stone. Do you think our ideas about early hominin culture would change if we had perfect preservation of all materials? How so?