Chapter 1
1. Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example
provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; some may not be
used at all.
Terms
a. Neanderthals
b. animism
c. pastoralism
d. Agricultural Revolution
e. patriarchy
f. Neolithic era
g. domesticated
h. megafaunal extinction
i. horticulture
j. social hierarchies
k. hominids
l. foraging
m. shamans
n. division of labor
o. Paleolithic era
Reference: Ref 1-1
Die-off of large animals in many parts of the world about 15,000–10,000 B.C.E., caused by climate
change and perhaps human hunting.
Answer: h. megafaunal extinction
2. Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example
provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; some may not be
used at all.
Terms
a. Neanderthals
b. animism
c. pastoralism
d. Agricultural Revolution
e. patriarchy
f. Neolithic era
g. domesticated
h. megafaunal extinction
i. horticulture
j. social hierarchies
k. hominids
l. foraging
m. shamans
n. division of labor
o. Paleolithic era
Reference: Ref 1-1
Dramatic transformation in human history resulting from the change from foraging to raising crops
and animals.
Answer: d. Agricultural Revolution
3. Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example
provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; some may not be
used at all.
Terms
a. Neanderthals
b. animism
c. pastoralism
d. Agricultural Revolution
e. patriarchy
f. Neolithic era
g. domesticated
h. megafaunal extinction
i. horticulture
j. social hierarchies
k. hominids
l. foraging
m. shamans
n. division of labor
o. Paleolithic era
Reference: Ref 1-1
Group of Homo erectus with brains as large as those of modern humans that flourished in Europe
and western Asia between 150,000 and 30,000 years ago.
Answer: a. Neanderthals
4. Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example
provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; some may not be
used at all.
Terms
a. Neanderthals
b. animism
c. pastoralism
d. Agricultural Revolution
e. patriarchy
f. Neolithic era
g. domesticated
h. megafaunal extinction
i. horticulture
j. social hierarchies
k. hominids
l. foraging
m. shamans
n. division of labor
o. Paleolithic era
Reference: Ref 1-1
Spiritually adept men and women who communicated with the unseen world.
Answer: m. shamans
5. Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example
provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; some may not be
used at all.
Terms
a. Neanderthals
b. animism
c. pastoralism
d. Agricultural Revolution
e. patriarchy
f. Neolithic era
g. domesticated
h. megafaunal extinction
i. horticulture
j. social hierarchies
k. hominids
l. foraging
m. shamans
n. division of labor
o. Paleolithic era
Reference: Ref 1-1
A style of life in which people gain food by gathering plant products, trapping or catching small
animals and birds, and hunting larger prey.
Answer: l. foraging
6. Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example
provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; some may not be
used at all.
Terms
a. Neanderthals
b. animism
c. pastoralism
d. Agricultural Revolution
e. patriarchy
f. Neolithic era
g. domesticated
h. megafaunal extinction
i. horticulture
j. social hierarchies
k. hominids
l. foraging
m. shamans
n. division of labor
o. Paleolithic era
Reference: Ref 1-1
Crop-raising done with hand tools and human power.
Answer: i. horticulture
7. Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example
provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; some may not be
used at all.
Terms
a. Neanderthals
b. animism
c. pastoralism
d. Agricultural Revolution
e. patriarchy
f. Neolithic era
g. domesticated
h. megafaunal extinction
i. horticulture
j. social hierarchies
k. hominids
l. foraging
m. shamans
n. division of labor
o. Paleolithic era
Reference: Ref 1-1
Divisions between rich and poor, elites and common people, that have been a central feature of
human society since the Neolithic era.
Answer: j. social hierarchies
8. Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example
provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; some may not be
used at all.
Terms
a. Neanderthals
b. animism
c. pastoralism
d. Agricultural Revolution
e. patriarchy
f. Neolithic era
g. domesticated
h. megafaunal extinction
i. horticulture
j. social hierarchies
k. hominids
l. foraging
m. shamans
n. division of labor
o. Paleolithic era
Reference: Ref 1-1
Period beginning in 9000 B.C.E. during which humans obtained food by raising crops and animals
and continued to use tools primarily of stone, bone, and wood.
Answer: f. Neolithic era
9. Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example
provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; some may not be
used at all.
Terms
a. Neanderthals
b. animism
c. pastoralism
d. Agricultural Revolution
e. patriarchy
f. Neolithic era
g. domesticated
h. megafaunal extinction
i. horticulture
j. social hierarchies
k. hominids
l. foraging
m. shamans
n. division of labor
o. Paleolithic era
Reference: Ref 1-1
Period during which humans used tools of stone, bone, and wood and obtained food by gathering
and hunting. Roughly 250,000–9000 B.C.E.
Answer: o. Paleolithic era
10. Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example
provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; some may not be
used at all.
Terms
a. Neanderthals
b. animism
c. pastoralism
d. Agricultural Revolution
e. patriarchy
f. Neolithic era
g. domesticated
h. megafaunal extinction
i. horticulture
j. social hierarchies
k. hominids
l. foraging
m. shamans
n. division of labor
o. Paleolithic era
Reference: Ref 1-1
Plants and animals modified by selective breeding so as to serve human needs; animals will
behave in specific ways and breed in captivity.
Answer: g. domesticated
11. Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example
provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; some may not be
used at all.
Terms
a. Neanderthals
b. animism
c. pastoralism
d. Agricultural Revolution
e. patriarchy
f. Neolithic era
g. domesticated
h. megafaunal extinction
i. horticulture
j. social hierarchies
k. hominids
l. foraging
m. shamans
n. division of labor
o. Paleolithic era
Reference: Ref 1-1
Members of the family Hominidae that contains humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans.
Answer: k. hominids
12. Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example
provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; some may not be
used at all.
Terms
a. Neanderthals
b. animism
c. pastoralism
d. Agricultural Revolution
e. patriarchy
f. Neolithic era
g. domesticated
h. megafaunal extinction
i. horticulture
j. social hierarchies
k. hominids
l. foraging
m. shamans
n. division of labor
o. Paleolithic era
Reference: Ref 1-1
Idea that animals, plants, natural occurrences, and other parts of the physical world have spirits.
Answer: b. animism
13. Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example
provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; some may not be
used at all.
Terms
a. Neanderthals
b. animism
c. pastoralism
d. Agricultural Revolution
e. patriarchy
f. Neolithic era
g. domesticated
h. megafaunal extinction
i. horticulture
j. social hierarchies
k. hominids
l. foraging
m. shamans
n. division of labor
o. Paleolithic era
Reference: Ref 1-1
Social system in which men have more power and access to resources than women and some
men are dominant over other men.
Answer: e. patriarchy
14. Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example
provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; some may not be
used at all.
Terms
a. Neanderthals
b. animism
c. pastoralism
d. Agricultural Revolution
e. patriarchy
f. Neolithic era
g. domesticated
h. megafaunal extinction
i. horticulture
j. social hierarchies
k. hominids
l. foraging
m. shamans
n. division of labor
o. Paleolithic era
Reference: Ref 1-1
An economic system based on herding flocks of goats, sheep, cattle, or other animals.
Answer: c. pastoralism
15. Select the word or phrase from the Terms section that best matches the definition or example
provided in the Definitions section. Some terms may be used more than once; some may not be
used at all.
Terms
a. Neanderthals
b. animism
c. pastoralism
d. Agricultural Revolution
e. patriarchy
f. Neolithic era
g. domesticated
h. megafaunal extinction
i. horticulture
j. social hierarchies
k. hominids
l. foraging
m. shamans
n. division of labor
o. Paleolithic era
Reference: Ref 1-1
Differentiation of tasks by gender, age, training, status, or other social distinction.
Answer: n. division of labor
16. What are some of the problems in using evidence from contemporary gatherer societies to study
early humans?
HTML Editor
Answer: Because the earliest humans did not leave behind written evidence, scientists have studied
more recent societies that lived by similar gathering means. However, most evidence about recent
gatherer societies was written by external sources, and thus includes their biases and expectations,
such as the inferiority of foraging as a lifestyle. Furthermore, few modern foragers or gatherers are
truly isolated from the influence of other agricultural or industrial cultures. Also, this approach assumes
that gatherer societies are somehow static and remain unchanged over many centuries, which ignores
the evidence of how adaptable such societies really are. See section Evolution and Migration.
17. Describe how early Homo erectus spread out of East Africa to other parts of the world. Where did
Homo erectus spread and how early had they reached those places?
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Answer: The spread of Homo erectus began within the continent of Africa. Homo erectus migrated out
of East Africa into central Africa, and then into northern Africa. This migration took place 2 million years
ago. As early as 1.8 million years ago Homo erectus had spread to Asia, reaching China and Java by
1.5 million years ago. These migrations took place over land and following coastlines. Because the sea
levels were lower then, Homo erectus could cross from the mainland of China to Java by walking. Homo
erectus also moved northward from Africa into Spain 800,000 years ago, and into Germany 500,000
years ago. See section Evolution and Migration.
18. How do the Paleolithic and typical modern western diet compare? What are the implications for
both diets in terms of human life spans?
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Answer: The Paleolithic diet was varied and nutritious, low in fat and salt but high in fiber, vitamins,
and minerals. Because Paleolithic peoples had to forage for their diet, they expended energy and in
general avoided heart disease and diabetes, which are common in the modern world. However, life
spans were kept in check by accidents, injuries, and infections. The modern western diet is high in
sugar, fat, salt, and highly processed foods. Modern life spans are longer because of better medical
care to deal with infections and injuries, but modern humans are more susceptible to certain diseases,
like heart disease and diabetes. See section Paleolithic Society, 250,000–9000 B.C.E.
19. What are some of the theories about gender relationships in Paleolithic societies? What changed in
those relationships in the Neolithic period? What kinds of evidence are used in supporting or
arguing against these theories?
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Answer: Studies of more recent foraging societies suggest that women were valued for their labor,
which was recognized as equal to the work of men. Both men and women foraged for food, and both
men and women participated in hunting. Other scholars theorize that even in Paleolithic society one
person may have emerged as a leader, perhaps based on personal skill, and that this person was
almost always a man. It is more certain that by the Neolithic period, after the invention of agriculture,
society became more hierarchical and men took on more of a public, elite status. Women were limited
to the home or enclosed spaces, and land inheritance favored men over women. Evidence for gender
roles in the Neolithic period comes from later written traditions. See sections Paleolithic Society,
250,000–9000 B.C.E. and Neolithic Society.
20. What is the relationship between pastoralism, disease, and humans?
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Answer: Pastoralism is the herding and raising of livestock. It required humans to live in close contact
with their herd animals, thus exposing humans to the various diseases that animals carry, such as
common colds, influenza, bubonic plague, and smallpox. Initially, exposure to diseases may have
caused higher mortality rates in pastoralist societies, but over time humans would have developed
some resistance to them. Foragers were not exposed to these diseases, and thus did not develop any
resistance to them. When a pastoralist society encountered a forager society, this might have led the
former to expose the latter to deadly pathogens. See section The Development of Agriculture in the
Neolithic Era, ca. 9000 B.C.E.
21. How did material goods create, define, and perpetuate social hierarchies in Neolithic societies?
HTML Editor
Answer: The possession of material goods, such as plows, livestock, buildings, pots, and carts,
indicated that some individuals had control over more labor. Labor was used to acquire material goods.
The more material goods one had, the more labor one controlled. This indicated status; to control labor
was to have a higher status than others. Having material goods gave one the ability to acquire yet
more material goods and to continue to acquire status. Material goods, along with land, could also
constitute an inheritance, and thus perpetuate status into another generation. See section Neolithic
Society.
22. How is the term "species" generally defined?
A. A group of organisms that can communicate with one another
B. A group of organisms that will share food with one another
C. A group of organisms that can mate and produce fertile offspring of both sexes
D. A group of organisms that originate from a different ancestor
E. A group of organisms that physically resemble one another
Answer: C
23. Chimpanzees and humans share a common ancestor that probably lived
A. 3 million years ago.
B. 5–7 million years ago.
C. 10–12 million years ago.
D. 15 million years ago.
E. 10 million years ago.
Answer: B
24. The Carbon-14 isotope is used for
A. locating the origin of an object.
B. identifying the original purpose of an object.
C. identifying the chemical makeup of remains.
D. dating the remains of once living objects.
E. locating similar objects in other places.
Answer: D
25. The first labels that scientists gave to periods of human history were based on
A. the material used for tools.
B. the height of the human form.
C. language ability and skill level.
D. the location of human settlements.
E. types of social organization.
Answer: A
26. Although the date varies by place, the shift to agriculture first happened about
A. 3000 B.C.E.
B. 15,000 B.C.E.
C. 9000 B.C.E.
D. 1000 B.C.E.
E. 7000 B.C.E.
Answer: C
27. One of the features that distinguishes Ardipithecus from earlier hominids was
A. a skeletal structure supporting fully bipedal walking motion.
B. larger brain size and evidence of language development.
C. a more pronounced size difference between male and female skeletons.
D. limb structure that indicates it moved on all four limbs on the ground.
E. canine teeth that were equal in size for both genders.
Answer: E
28. The first fully bipedal hominid known to paleontologists is
A. Ardipithecus.
B. Homo habilis.
C. Australopithecus.
D. Homo sapiens.
E. Homo erectus.
Answer: C
29. Most skeletal remains of the Australopithecus have been found in
A. the Sahara desert.
B. the Great Rift Valley.
C. Jericho Valley.
D. the Island of Java.
E. the Gobi desert.
Answer: B
30. How did Homo erectus differ from modern humans?
A. Homo erectus had a slightly smaller brain size than modern humans.
B. Homo erectus had a larynx that allowed for speech while modern humans did not.
C. Homo erectus lived in larger groups than modern humans.
D. Homo erectus shared food preparations and gathering.
E. Homo erectus shaped specialized tools out of stone.
Answer: A
31. Homo erectus settled on Java about 1.5 million years ago by crossing from China by
A. weaving grass boats.
B. walking over land.
C. floating on planks.
D. building pontoon boats.
E. swimming along coasts.
Answer: B
32. According to theories based on mitochondrial DNA evidence, Homo sapiens evolved first in
A. the Black Sea region.
B. the Nile valley.
C. China.
D. East Africa.
E. the Middle East.
Answer: D
33. Evolving better social skills might have been especially important for early human females who
needed particular help with
A. food gathering.
B. home building.
C. attracting a mate.
D. migration.
E. child rearing.
Answer: E
34. By 25,000 years ago, Homo sapiens were
A. weaving cloth.
B. making stone tools.
C. settling in Europe.
D. using fire for warmth.
E. living in groups.
Answer: A
35. Which of the following is evidence that Neanderthals had an understanding of the symbolic
meaning of death?
A. They drew pictures of the dead on walls.
B. They buried the dead with symbolic objects.
C. They wrote stories about the meaning of death.
D. They built large funerary monuments.
E. They mummified the dead and kept them around.
Answer: B
36. Neanderthals of Europe were a branch of what hominid group?
A. Homo sapiens
B. Homo habilis
C. Australopithecus
D. Homo erectus
E. Homo florencies
Answer: D
37. Between 1 and 4 percent of the DNA in modern humans is shared with what early hominid?
A. Homo sapiens
B. Homo florencies
C. Neanderthals
D. Ardipithecus
E. Homo habilis
Answer: C
38. Archaeologists have discovered a distinct separate branch of the Homo erectus line in
A. Germany.
B. Flores.
C. Java.
D. Egypt.
E. Kenya.
Answer: B
39. Homo sapiens migrated to Australia and New Guinea by
A. simple rafts.
B. land bridges.
C. large boats.
D. swimming.
E. woven bridges.
Answer: A
40. One of the results of endogamy was
A. imperceptible physical differences of skin color.
B. a lack of diversity of languages.
C. Homo sapiens became unable to mate with one another.
D. Homo sapiens as a species stopped evolving.
E. differences in physical features and spoken language.
Answer: E
41. Blumenbach gave the name “Caucasian” to light-skinned Europeans because
A. “Caucasian” means pale-skinned in German.
B. Russia was where most light-skinned people lived.
C. he believed that the Caucasus Mountains were their original home.
D. “Caucasian” was the latest evolutionary development of the species.
E. “Caucasian” meant “most evolved” in German.
Answer: C
42. Johann Blumenbach based his theory about the Caucasian race, and the relationship between the
races, on
A. folk tradition from legend.
B. study of a skull collection.
C. scientific study of his own family.
D. a theory first stated by Darwin.
E. Biblical tradition and faith.
Answer: B
43. The term “forager” is now used by historians instead of the traditional term
A. hunter-gatherer.
B. stone-age man.
C. caveman.
D. first people.
E. gatherer-fishers.
Answer: A
44. Most of the food that Paleolithic foragers ate was
A. trapped animals.
B. fish.
C. hunted animals.
D. insects.
E. plants.
Answer: E
45. In modern, or recent, foraging societies, who in a community might be most responsible for
hunting?
A. Women
B. Groups of children
C. Men
D. Elderly
E. Men and women
Answer: C
46. In early foraging societies, it is probable that how many hours were needed weekly to find food?
A. One to three hours
B. Forty hours
C. Fifty hours or more
D. Ten to twenty hours
E. Five to ten hours
Answer: D
47. Paleolithic humans may have encouraged the growth of new plants by
A. planting seeds.
B. hunting large game.
C. harvesting crops.
D. settling in new areas.
E. setting fires.
Answer: E
48. Paleolithic humans tended to find mating partners from
A. outside their kinship bonds.
B. within their kinship group.
C. a distant tribal group.
D. their immediate kin.
E. hunting competitors of other tribes.
Answer: A
49. Paleolithic infants relied on what food for survival?
A. Berries
B. Grain
C. Breast milk
D. Meat
E. Fish
Answer: C
50. Kinship relationships between Paleolithic groups might have been developed by the exchange of
A. warriors.
B. children.
C. food.
D. tools.
E. jewelry.
Answer: B
51. Paleolithic burial sites indicate that Paleolithic humans held the belief that all things and natural
occurrences had
A. meaning.
B. economic value.
C. danger.
D. spirits.
E. beauty.
Answer: D
52. Paleolithic peoples believed that dead members of their kin were
A. gone forever.
B. still with them.
C. new gods.
D. going to return one day.
E. the source of trouble.
Answer: B
53. A specialist within the Paleolithic society who regularly received messages from the spirit world
was the
A. chief.
B. midwife.
C. king.
D. warrior.
E. shaman.
Answer: E
54. One of the duties of the shaman was
A. healer.
B. war band leader.
C. harvester.
D. builder.
E. artist.
Answer: A
55. What discovery marks the transition from Paleolithic to Neolithic?
A. Stone tools
B. Religion
C. Burial
D. Agriculture
E. Music
Answer: D
56. What major climate change occurred about 15,000 years ago?
A. Temperatures warmed and glaciers melted
B. Monsoon patterns began
C. Temperatures became slightly colder
D. El Nino wind patterns first developed
E. A little ice age began
Answer: A
57. When a crop has been modified by selective breeding, it has been
A. trained.
B. marketed.
C. domesticated.
D. developed.
E. husbanded.
Answer: C
58. Horticulture refers to the growing of plants using
A. clubs.
B. plows.
C. threshers.
D. sickles.
E. digging sticks.
Answer: E
59. Beginning about 9000 B.C.E., people in the Fertile Crescent began to domesticate
A. yams.
B. wheat.
C. squash.
D. taro.
E. rice.
Answer: B
60. What was one of the repercussions on Neolithic populations from the domestication of plants?
A. Life spans continued to shorten.
B. The span between pregnancies lengthened.
C. Use of crops as food led to higher infant mortality.
D. The contraceptive effect of breast feeding was lost.
E. People's average height decreased.
Answer: D
61. In terms of labor, horticulture required
A. less time and labor than foraging.
B. more time and labor than foraging.
C. the same amount of labor as foraging.
D. more time, but only during harvesting season.
E. less time except during planting season.
Answer: B
62. By 4000 B.C.E., horticulture had spread north of the Fertile Crescent to
A. Britain.
B. Scandinavia.
C. Ethiopia.
D. Russia.
E. the Americas.
Answer: A
63. Potatoes and squash were domesticated by 3000 B.C.E. in what region?
A. Indus Valley
B. Western United States
C. Andes Mountains
D. Fertile Crescent
E. Papua New Guinea
Answer: C
64. About 15,000 years ago, humans had domesticated what species of animal?
A. Sheep
B. Dogs
C. Goats
D. Horses
E. Cattle
Answer: B
65. The story of Jacob in the Book of Genesis in the Bible provides an early example of
A. dog domestication.
B. horticulture.
C. creating hybrid crops.
D. migration with animals.
E. selective breeding.
Answer: E
66. Animal domestication changed human evolution by making humans able to digest
A. milk.
B. meat.
C. grain.
D. minerals.
E. fiber.
Answer: A
67. Pastoralism, a new way of life in which humans raised livestock, developed as a result of the
natural herding instinct of
A. pigs.
B. yaks.
C. humans.
D. sheep.
E. bears.
Answer: D
68. Why is it difficult to get llamas and alpacas in South America to pull heavy loads?
A. They refuse to do so.
B. Their backs cannot carry the weight.
C. The steep terrain of the Andes makes pulling loads difficult.
D. They can only pull when walking backward.
E. Their necks will not hold a rein or rope.
Answer: C
69. Beginning in the sixth millennium B.C.E. people attached wooden sticks to frames and pack
animals to use as a simple version of
A. a weapon.
B. boundary markers.
C. a harvester.
D. a plow.
E. a thresher.
Answer: D
70. The advantage of the moldboard plow is that it
A. turns over soil.
B. plants seeds.
C. harvests crops.
D. makes straighter furrows.
E. shells seeds.
Answer: A
71. As Neolithic religious structures became more hierarchical, what was the purpose of the most
important religious practice?
A. Military success
B. Ensuring long life
C. To grant a special skill
D. Foretelling the future
E. Ensuring fertility
Answer: E
72. In most Neolithic communities, which group of people were the first to work out a law code?
A. Craftsmen
B. Priests
C. Warriors
D. Farmers
E. Women
Answer: B
73. Every society that has left a written record was
A. patriarchal.
B. agricultural.
C. pastoralist.
D. militaristic.
E. matrilineal.
Answer: A
74. The earliest Egyptian hieroglyph for weaving shows
A. children weaving.
B. a loom.
C. sheep being sheared.
D. a woman with a shuttle.
E. a pile of wool.
Answer: D
75. Residents of Çatal Hüyük lived in houses that were
A. without roofs.
B. round, with two doors.
C. made of mud brick.
D. spaced far apart.
E. dark and filled with refuse.
Answer: C
76. Neolithic peoples used obsidian to make
A. plows.
B. knives.
C. crowns.
D. wheels.
E. storage jars.
Answer: B
77. What alloy is created by mixing copper with another metal such as arsenic?
A. Iron
B. Steel
C. Tin
D. Bronze
E. Platinum
Answer: D
78. Neolithic peoples built circular structures to predict
A. the future.
B. the movements of the stars.
C. where to migrate to next.
D. the size of the harvest.
E. which animal to herd.
Answer: B
79. How did humans evolve, and where did they migrate?
HTML Editor
Answer: Scholars studying the natural world and the place of humans in it have devised various ways
of classifying living creatures and organizing time. Through studying the physical remains of the past,
sometimes with very new high-tech procedures such as DNA analysis, they have examined human
evolution from earlier hominids in eastern Africa. Evolution involved a combination of factors, including
bipedalism, larger brain size, spoken symbolic language, and longer periods of infancy. All these
together led humans to invent ever more complex tools that allowed them to shape the world around
them. They migrated out of Africa in several waves, adapting to many different environments and
developing diverse cultures.
80. What were the key features of Paleolithic society?
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Answer: In the Paleolithic period, people lived in small groups of related individuals, moving through
the landscape in the search for food. They obtained food by foraging: gathering plants, seeds, nuts,
and insects; trapping fish and small animals; and sometimes hunting large game. Most had few
material possessions, and social and gender hierarchies were probably much less pronounced than they
would become later. Beginning around 50,000 B.C.E. people in many parts of the world began to
decorate their surroundings and the objects they made, often with vivid representations of animals and
people, and sometimes with symbols. These, and careful burials of the dead, suggest that people had
developed ideas about supernatural or spiritual forces beyond the visible material world.
81. How did plant and animal domestication develop, and what effects did it have on human society?
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Answer: Beginning about 9000 B.C.E. people living in the Near East, and then elsewhere, began to
plant seeds as well as gather wild crops, raise certain animals instead of hunt them, and selectively
breed both plants and animals to make them more useful to humans. This domestication of plants and
animals, called the Agricultural Revolution, was the most important change in human history.
Crop-raising began as horticulture, in which people—often women—used hand tools to plant and
harvest. Animal domestication began with sheep and goats, which were often herded from place to
place so that they could eat the available vegetation, an economic system called pastoralism. The
domestication of large animals such as cattle and water buffalo led to plow agriculture, through which
humans could raise much more food. Agriculture required more labor than did foraging, but it allowed
the human population to grow far more quickly.
82. How did growing social and gender hierarchies and expanding networks of trade increase the
complexity of human society in the Neolithic period?
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Answer: The division of labor that plow agriculture required led to growing social hierarchies between
those who could afford the new tools and products and those who could not. These were reinforced
over generations as children inherited goods and status from their parents, and as social norms and
laws were developed that led members of the elite to marry one another. Plow agriculture also
strengthened differentiation based on gender, and men became more associated with the world beyond
the household and women with the domestic realm. Neolithic agricultural communities developed
technologies to meet their needs, including pottery, cloth-weaving, and wheeled vehicles, and they
often traded with one another for products that they could not obtain locally. In some parts of the
world, production and trade included copper and bronze, although most tools continued to be made of
stone, bone, and wood. Religious ideas came to reflect the new agricultural society, with fertility as the
most important goal and the gods, like humans, arranged in a hierarchy.
83. What evidence and characteristics do scientists use to place animals, such as humans, in a
particular classification, such as kingdom, order, family, etc.?
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Answer: In order to classify an animal, scientists originally used evidence from externally visible
characteristics, such as body elements, how they are used, and what other animals that animal
resembles. Recently scientists have added evidence from DNA and other genetic evidence. See section
Evolution and Migration.
84. How did climate affect the development of human cultures during the Pleistocene epoch?
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Answer: The Pleistocene epoch, which began about 2.5 million years ago and ended 12,000 years ago,
was the last major Ice Age. Glaciers covered much of the earth, as did ice-sheets. Sea levels lowered,
and what are now oceans were land masses that humans and other animals were able to cross,
although they could not cross the ice sheets themselves. Being able to cross from one continent to
another allowed for humans to migrate into new environments, which in turn shaped their physical and
cultural developments. See section Evolution and Migration.
85. What are the advantages to Homo sapiens in having a larger forebrain? What are the
disadvantages?
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Answer: Having a larger forebrain gave Homo sapiens more ability for conscious thought, the ability to
think reflectively and to create a symbolic language, greater intelligence overall, and the ability to
manipulate the world around them. Homo sapiens could understand and explain the world around them
and to organize socially. The disadvantages are that larger brains take more energy and, thus, Homo
sapiens had to eat more than other animals. Large brains also make childbirth more difficult for bipedal
mammals. See section Evolution and Migration.
86. Historians used to call Paleolithic societies “hunter-gatherers” but now prefer to call them
“foragers.” What does the shift in terms indicate about what the daily life of Paleolithic peoples
was like?
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Answer: “Hunter-gatherer” implies that the majority of food came from hunting, and that the majority
of time was spent hunting. In fact, most of the diet of Paleolithic peoples may have depended more on
gathered foods than hunted meat. This would indicate that more time was spent gathering than
hunting. Foraging goes a step further and indicates how flexible and adaptable Paleolithic peoples were
in searching for food. Foragers gathered plants, scavenged, and hunted. See section Paleolithic Society,
250,000–9000 B.C.E.
87. What kinds of animals were lost in the megafaunal extinctions at the end of the last Ice Age, and
what role did humans play in those extinctions?
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Answer: Most of the animals that were lost in the megafuanal extinction were large mammals: wooly
mammoths, mastodons, wooly rhinos, camels, horses, sloths, giant kangaroos, and wombats. Some
animals became completely extinct, but others only became extinct in certain areas. Humans may have
played a role in their extinction by hunting them, although a warming trend also contributed. See
section Paleolithic Society, 250,000–9000 B.C.E.
88. What effect did the domestication of plants have on human population growth?
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Answer: The domestication of plants increased human population growth by providing an alternative
food source for infants (soft cereal crops that infants could eat, rather than relying just on breast milk).
Not having to breast feed for as long allowed women to have more pregnancies as they lost the birth
control effect of breast feeding. More food meant less child mortality and longer life spans in general,
increasing periods of fertility and leading to higher population growths. See section The Development of
Agriculture in the Neolithic Era, ca. 9000 B.C.E.
89. What advantages did dogs and humans each get out of the domestication of dogs?
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Answer: Dogs gained new food sources by sharing food with humans, and safer surroundings as they
came under the protection of humans. Humans gained assistance with hunting from the dogs' abilities
to smell and track prey, and extra body warmth from the dogs. Both dogs and humans also gained
companionship. See section The Development of Agriculture in the Neolithic Era, ca. 9000 B.C.E.
90. What did humans learn about the selective breeding from the domestication of sheep around 9000
B.C.E.?
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Answer: From observation and experimentation, humans learned that particular traits, such as size,
temperament, strength, production of milk, and coat quality could be manipulated by breeding those
animals that had the desired characteristics. Humans learned that such characteristics were inheritable,
and passed down from one generation of animals to another. See section The Development of
Agriculture in the Neolithic Era, ca. 9000 B.C.E.
91. What kinds of goods were created and traded at Çatal Hüyük? What do these goods indicate about
Neolithic culture?
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Answer: The people at Çatal Hüyük made textiles, pots, figurines, baskets, carpets, beads, and other
decorative goods. Çatal Hüyük traded obsidian, which was used for knives, blades, and mirrors, with
other towns for sea shells and flint. They also traded copper, which was used for jewelry and tools. All
of these goods, plus the diversity of agricultural goods, indicate that Neolithic culture was sophisticated
and not that different from modern culture. People made tools and objects of practical purpose (such
as pots), but also purely decorative objects such as beads. See section Neolithic Society.
92. What kinds of religious rituals did Neolithic people develop? Who performed them?
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Answer: Neolithic societies had religious specialists, priests or shamans, who performed the rituals.
Many of these involved giving the gods goods that were produced by the community, whether they
were agricultural, pastoral, or manufactured goods. In exchange for the goods, the gods were asked for
favors, particularly the fertility of the community. Sometimes the gods were given sacrifices. See
section Neolithic Society.