Deck 12: The Neanderthals and Their Contemporaries

Question 1

The tools of Homo heidelbergensis are

A) more similar to those of modern humans than to those of Homo erectus.
B) more similar to those of Homo erectus than to those of modern humans.
C) in between those of Homo erectus and modern humans.
D) Oldowan (Mode 1).

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The first Neanderthal findings were initially thought to be

A) diseased modern humans.
B) an extinct prehuman animal.
C) an undiscovered living race of people.
D) evidence of H. erectus in Europe.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following statements about the interglacial periods of the early Middle Pleistocene is true?

A) The world was drier than during glacials.
B) Temperatures were cooler than during glacials.
C) Glaciers covered Europe and North America.
D) Animals moved from Africa to Eurasia.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Homo heidelbergensis lived in

A) Africa only.
B) Africa and Europe.
C) Eurasia only.
D) every continent of the world except Antarctica.

Question 5

Evidence suggests that Homo heidelbergensis

A) hunted large game such as woolly rhinoceros.
B) did not hunt large game.
C) scavenged only small prey.
D) was vegetarian.

Question 6

For most of the last 130,000 years, the global climate has almost always been

A) hotter than at present.
B) colder than at present.
C) about the same as at present.
D) sometimes much hotter and sometimes about the same as present.

Question 7

The current estimate for the first appearance of Homo heidelbergensis is between

A) 2 and 1 Ma.
B) 1 Ma and 10,000 years ago.
C) 1 Ma and 500,000 years ago.
D) 400,000 and 10,000 years ago.

Question 8

Derived features of Homo heidelbergensis include a

A) larger brain.
B) prominent occipital bun.
C) flat back of the skull.
D) chin.

Question 9

The typical brain size of Homo heidelbergensis was between

A) 700 and 900 cc.
B) 1,300 and 1,400 cc.
C) 1,200 and 1,300 cc.
D) 1,400 and 1,600 cc.

Question 10

Neanderthals lived in

A) Europe only.
B) Europe and western Asia.
C) Asia only.
D) Africa and eastern Asia.

Question 11

Which of the following is true of the vertebral canal of Homo erectus?

A) It is smaller than in modern humans.
B) It is larger than in modern humans.
C) It is the same size as in modern humans.
D) It is sometimes larger and sometimes smaller than in modern humans.

Question 12

Primitive features of Homo heidelbergensis include a

A) higher forehead.
B) flat face with a projecting chin.
C) skull with more vertical sides.
D) large, prognathic face, lacking a projecting chin.

Question 13

Derived features of Homo heidelbergensis include

A) thin cranial bones.
B) small browridges.
C) a higher forehead.
D) a sagittal keel.

Question 14

About 300,000 years ago in Europe, some features of H. heidelbergensis included double-arched browridges, average cranial capacity of 1,390 cc, and a face that bulges out, or is prognathic, about midway. These features are shared with

A) H. ergaster.
B) H. erectus.
C) Neanderthals.
D) modern H. sapiens.

Question 15

Neanderthal remains date to about ________ years ago.

A) 1 million to 10,000
B) 500,000 to 100,000
C) 127,000 to 30,000
D) 30,000 to 10,000

Question 16

Primitive features of Homo heidelbergensis include

A) a higher, vertical forehead.
B) a skull that is narrow behind the eyes like Homo erectus.
C) thick cranial bones.
D) a sagittal crest like some Australopithecines.

Question 17

Which of these is the MOST widely supported explanation for the small body size and mixture of primitive and derived traits of Homo floresiensis?

A) H. floresiensis is a result of evolutionary dwarfism.
B) H. floresiensis had microcephaly.
C) H. floresiensis had an ancestor older than Homo erectus.
D) H. floresiensis is a hoax.

Question 18

The hominin H. heidelbergensis represents

A) a sister group of H. habilis.
B) a species found only in Asia.
C) archaic H. sapiens of the early Middle Pleistocene.
D) a hominin believed to have become extinct about 10,000 years ago.

Question 19

The projecting nose of Neanderthals may have

A) increased their olfactory ability.
B) decreased the amount of oxygen available in each inhalation.
C) helped to prevent moisture loss.
D) altered the sound of their voices while using language.

Question 20

Which of the following correctly describes prepared core tools?

A) They are classified as Mode 2 technology.
B) They include those made by the Acheulean technique.
C) They include a variety of different kinds of tools made by modifying the shape of the original core.
D) They are associated with all Homo species.

Question 21

Studies of Neanderthal postcrania indicate that Neanderthals

A) were robust and heavily muscled.
B) used technology instead of their bodies to deal with the environment.
C) were adapted for interglacial periods.
D) did not have a hunter-gatherer lifestyle.

Question 22

What does genetic data from fossils found at Denisova Cave indicate?

A) Neanderthals and other hominins of the time were genetically isolated.
B) Denisovans, a population that predates 50,000 years, share a common ancestor with Neanderthals postdating the Neanderthal-human split.
C) A very small-bodied form of Homo ergaster or erectus evolved in Europe.
D) The Denisovans are a form of Neanderthal.

Question 23

Which of the following statements correctly describes Neanderthals?

A) They had relatively short life spans of no more than 45 years and often had injuries such as bone fractures.
B) They had relatively short life spans of no more than 45 years and were very healthy, with almost no evidence of injury or disease as shown by their bones.
C) They were often killed by large predators, as most of their bones are found in predator lairs and show gnaw marks.
D) They are represented by very few bones that tell us very little about their lifeways.

Question 24

Homo naledi

A) dates to about 2 million years ago, and the remains were likely accumulated by carnivores.
B) is the best candidate for an intermediary between H. erectus and H. sapiens, given the large brain size.
C) is the most widely ranging Pleistocene hominin, found across Africa, Asia, and parts of Europe.
D) dates to about 250,000 years ago, and the excavator proposes the remains are those of dead intentionally buried or deposited there.

Question 25

________ is used as evidence that Neanderthals did not have modern language.

A) The simplicity of Mode 3 technology
B) The fact that their larynx was positioned too low in relation to the back of the mouth
C) The fact that their larynx was positioned too high in relation to the back of the mouth
D) There is no evidence of writing from this period.

Question 26

Derived features of the Neanderthals include

A) thin limbs.
B) low, flat crania.
C) gracile faces.
D) large brains.

Question 27

During the height of the last glacial period (around 30 ka), which of the following occurred?

A) Huge continental glaciers covered much of Southern Europe and North Africa.
B) Sea levels rose.
C) Eurasia teemed with animals like woolly mammoths, woolly rhinoceros, reindeer, aurochs, musk oxen, and horses.
D) Forests expanded in Africa.

Question 28

The investigation of Rising Star Cave in South Africa presented a very difficult challenge, which was solved by

A) using a mix of backhoes and hand excavation techniques.
B) blasting the fossils out of the nearly inaccessible caves.
C) hiring tiny but well-trained excavators.
D) imaging the site with X-rays and leaving the fossils in place.

Question 29

Which of the following statements can be seen as support for the idea that Homo floresiensis is descended from Homo erectus?

A) The skulls of H. floresiensis share a number of derived characters with H. erectus.
B) A rich fossil record documents a long occupation of nearby mainland areas by H. erectus.
C) Mode 2 tools have been found on Flores and are dated to 500,000 years ago.
D) Adult H. floresiensis look like H. erectus children.

Question 30

The rapidly fluctuating climates of the Pleistocene may have caused some populations of hominins to

A) migrate to Africa.
B) become fully isolated and even more specialized.
C) rely on plant foods more.
D) build permanent shelters.

Question 31

What is the evidence that Neanderthals took care of the sick and buried their dead?

Question 32

Derived features of the Neanderthals include

A) slim bodies and very tall stature.
B) large front teeth.
C) large faces with enlarged air spaces in the bones.
D) gracile skeletons.

Question 33

Which of the following statements is true of hominins living in Africa during the later Middle Pleistocene?

A) They had large cranial volumes ranging from 1,370 to 1,510 cc.
B) They had specialized features diagnostic of European Neanderthals.
C) They were less like modern hominins than earlier African hominins.
D) They date prior to 400 ka.

Question 34

The lifeways of Neanderthals probably included

A) burial of the dead and hunting large game.
B) primarily scavenging for meat, and very little use of plant foods.
C) permanent settlements.
D) limited planting of crops.

Question 35

Why do anatomists think that Homo erectus did not have spoken language?

Question 36

The average Neanderthal braincase was between about

A) 1,000 and 1,275 cc.
B) 1,275 and 1,740 cc.
C) 700 and 1,200 cc.
D) 1,100 and 1,250 cc.

Question 37

Neanderthals are known to have used

A) only Oldowan tools.
B) mostly Acheulean tools.
C) a wide range of Mousterian tools.
D) only wood and bamboo tools.

Question 38

Describe the lifeways of the Neanderthals, comparing them with what is known about contemporary human foragers. Specifically address their behavioral ecology, their diet, and what is known about their culture.

Question 39

Which of the following is a characterization of change in technology and hominin species suggested by Foley and Lahr?

A) Technological change happened slowly and was mainly genetically controlled, while new species arose quickly.
B) Most happened outside of Europe, with new technologies and hominins arriving in Europe long after they arose mainly in Africa.
C) The various hominins seen in Europe evolved slowly over time within Europe, while technologies arrived abruptly during glacial maxima, mainly from Asia.
D) Europe was the source of most change in both technology and morphology, with these changes spreading first to Asia and then later to Africa.

Question 40

Which of the following statements about Neanderthals is true?

A) They had short limbs relative to their body size, probably as an adaptation to cold climates.
B) They had long limbs relative to body size, probably as an adaptation to warm climates.
C) They were the first hominin adapted to virtually all climates in which humans later lived.
D) They were very small, owing to their evolution on small islands.

Question 41

Discuss the differences between Mode 1, 2, and 3 stone tool technologies.

Question 42

What processes may have caused the changes in hominin morphology and technology during the Pleistocene?