Deck 1: Becoming Human

Question 1

Which of the following is true of hominins such as Australopithecus africanus?

A) Hominins were only found in southern Africa.
B) Hominins were the only animal species to adapt to changing environments.
C) Hominins emerged between 6 and 7 million years ago.
D) Hominins developed into different species.

Answer 1

Hominins developed into different species.

Question 2

Which of the following skills was developed most recently by hominins?

A) tool making
B) bipedalism
C) complex language
D) use of fire

Answer 2

complex language

Question 3

What did early Homo sapiens hunter-gatherers do?

A) They spent nearly every hour of the day foraging for food.
B) They formed small bands that were relatively egalitarian.
C) They avoided social behaviors such as friendly competitions.
D) They were male-dominated societies, as men provided most of the food.

Answer 3

They formed small bands that were relatively egalitarian.

Question 4

Who were the Cro-Magnons?

A) Neanderthals who survived in isolated locations into the twentieth century
B) Homo sapiens who replaced the Neanderthals in Europe
C) descendants of Homo habilis who taught tool-making skills to the Neanderthals
D) the last Neanderthal clan, which became extinct around 30,000 BCE in Spain

Question 5

Which of the following was a consequence of Homo sapiens migration out of Africa between 50,000 and 12,000 BCE?

A) Homo sapiens developed distinct regional cultures in response to different environments.
B) Some Homo sapiens encountered hostile Homo habilis bands in Europe.
C) Homo sapiens did not move into central Asia because there were no large game animals.
D) Homo sapiens sailed from island to island in the Pacific until they arrived in South America around 30,000 BCE.

Question 6

When did significant cultural differences emerge among humans?

A) They developed while they were hunter-gatherers.
B) They developed when hominins moved out of Africa.
C) They developed with the advent of settled agriculture.
D) They developed when humans began to produce art.

Question 7

What best distinguishes Homo habilis from earlier hominins?

A) Homo habilis intentionally fashioned tools to butcher animals.
B) Homo habilis built shelters from wood for protection.
C) Homo habilis developed an elaborate creation narrative.
D) Homo habilis migrated to the Americas.

Question 8

The discovery of which of the following led scientists to believe that early humans had developed a mythology?

A) runes or simple symbolic notation
B) decorated bronze tools
C) statuettes of enormously fat and pregnant females
D) statuettes of muscular men

Question 9

Why was the mastery of fire by early hominins significant?

A) Fire repelled hominin predators.
B) Fire increased hominin capability to hunt for large game.
C) Fire allowed hominins to create bronze tools.
D) Fire served as a gathering point for small hominin communities.

Question 10

Which of the following allowed hominins to create and use tools?

A) opposable thumbs
B) the development of language
C) creation myths
D) increased powers of observation

Question 11

Which of the following best describes Homo erectus children?

A) They had a larger brain capacity than earlier hominins because their mothers had wider pelvises.
B) They were ignored by clan members until they could hunt and contribute to the food supply.
C) They depended on their mothers for food and care for many years.
D) Older females, not including their mothers, often tried to kill Homo erectus children.

Question 12

What was the single trait that marks the most successful early hominins, compared to those hominins that died out?

A) large brain capacity
B) the ability to produce fire
C) the ability to adapt to changing physical environments
D) continuous fertility

Question 13

Which of the following characteristics may have indicated that early Homo sapiens defined themselves as separate from the other parts of nature?

A) tool-making techniques such as chipping and flaking
B) artworks such as cave paintings and small statuettes
C) communicating by gestures and simple sounds
D) strong gender roles

Question 14

What was a major consequence of the large-scale ecological changes in Africa around 60,000 and 10,000 years ago?

A) Spreading ice sheets led to the death of many animals hunted by early hominins.
B) Australopithecus africanus survived by building structures to store water and grain.
C) Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons fought wars to control game herds.
D) Bigger-brained hominins such as Homo sapiens survived because they adapted to changing environments.

Question 15

Which of the following best describes hominins in eastern Africa between 3 and 4 million years ago?

A) A number of hominin species coexisted, most of whom would continue to survive to the present day.
B) A number of hominin species coexisted, most of whom would provide the genetic base of modern humans.
C) A number of hominin species coexisted, but most would not survive to the present day.
D) All the hominin species would eventually die out, setting the stage for modern humans to evolve independently.

Question 16

Which of the following is an accurate depiction of creation narratives?

A) Creation narratives demonstrate that the world has existed for 13.75 billion years.
B) Creation narratives exist for all societies.
C) Creation narratives place the origins of humans in Africa.
D) Creation narratives do not conceive that humans were ever related to apes.

Question 17

Why was Australopithecus africanus unique, compared to other animals of its time?

A) It possessed a brain capacity equal to that of modern humans.
B) It was bigger than other predators.
C) It was faster than other predators.
D) It walked on two legs.

Question 18

Which of the following is an important physical distinction between hominins and other animals?

A) hunting prowess
B) language
C) opposable thumbs
D) bipedalism

Question 19

What early hominin capability fostered the abilities to create tools and to migrate away from hostile environments?

A) refined cognitive abilities
B) language use
C) artistic expression
D) control of fire

Question 20

Which of the following accurately describes the social patterns of early hominins?

A) They lived in nuclear family units.
B) They communicated primarily through gestures.
C) They coordinated several family units to hunt large predators.
D) They created elaborate stories around campfires.

Question 21

Around 12,000 years ago, increasing populations and changing climate conditions were two of the major reasons that humans did what?

A) They learned to domesticate plants and animals.
B) They discovered fire.
C) They created music and art.
D) They migrated out of Africa to Afro-Eurasia.

Question 22

Which crops formed the basis of village agriculture in China?

A) millet and sorghum
B) yams and rice
C) maize and potatoes
D) rice and millet

Question 23

Which of the following accurately describes the first plant cultivation?

A) It began around 50,000 years ago.
B) Cultivation originated independently in several different locations.
C) Overpopulation caused by the effectiveness of new tools for hunting large game animals led to the need for new food sources.
D) Cultivation originated in one region and spread to adjacent regions over time.

Question 24

Why did people migrate away from the Sahel around 4,000 years ago?

A) Slash and burn agriculture had depleted the soil.
B) Large game animals moved away from the region.
C) The Sahara Desert was expanding.
D) Invaders from the Fertile Crescent forced them out of their homes.

Question 25

Which of the following statements about human language is correct?

A) It expanded into nineteen separate language families as humans moved out of Africa.
B) It is composed of distinctive sounds called phonemes that many animals can produce with greater range and diversity than humans.
C) It has a limited number of phonemes in its vocal register, which limits the range of subtle and complex ideas humans can express.
D) It differs only marginally from the language systems of other apes.

Question 26

What was the key development that allowed Homo sapiens to engage dynamically with their environment?

A) the mastery of fire
B) the crafting of tools
C) the development of complex language
D) the domestication of plants

Question 27

What happened to early humans in the Americas?

A) They domesticated pigs, sheep, and cattle.
B) They experienced rapid population growth as they abandoned hunting and gathering in favor of settled agriculture.
C) They developed extensive traditions of watercraft on the coast of Peru to promote trade along the coast.
D) They adapted to different ecological niches and created new subsistence strategies.

Question 28

The first humans in North America pursued which survival strategy?

A) They hunted large mammals using chipped blades and pointed spears.
B) They hunted large mammals using domesticated horses and bow technology.
C) They relied on pastoralism, especially domesticated sheep and goats.
D) They relied on agriculture, especially domesticated maize, squash, and beans.

Question 29

Which of the following was an advantage of pastoralism?

A) Pastoralists were more numerous than agriculturalists because their diets consisted of more protein.
B) Pastoralists could exist in isolation from the turmoil of settled village and urban life.
C) Pastoralists developed rich and numerous material possessions.
D) Pastoralists domesticated horses, giving them decisive advantages in transportation and warfare.

Question 30

Which of the following is a social consequence of the first agricultural revolution?

A) the development of religious rituals
B) the creation of egalitarian gender roles
C) the decline and elimination of warfare
D) the rise of specialization and stratification

Question 31

How did the people of the Americas compare with Afro-Eurasians?

A) People of the Americas were more scattered and isolated from each other.
B) People of the Americas were unable to adapt to local ecozones.
C) People of the Americas did not develop refined agricultural techniques.
D) People of the Americas more frequently domesticated animals as a food source.

Question 32

To what does the "Fertile Crescent" refer?

A) It refers to the Rift Valley region, in which many early hominin bones have been discovered.
B) It refers to a region of Southwest Asia with rich soils and regular rainfall in which the agricultural revolution first appeared.
C) It refers to the regions of southern France and northern Spain, where many cave paintings have been discovered.
D) It refers to the region of Southeast Asia, where scholars found evidence of rice cultivation.

Question 33

Which of the following crops formed the basis of agricultural villages in West Africa?

A) rice
B) yams
C) maize
D) wheat

Question 34

Which of the following both integrated communities for survival and allowed knowledge to be transmitted across space and time?

A) use of fire
B) more complex tools
C) bipedalism
D) complex language

Question 35

When did the first agricultural revolution occur?

A) It occurred in southern China as rice cultivation developed.
B) It occurred as cooling temperatures across the globe forced hunters and gatherers to innovate with agriculture in order to survive.
C) It occurred around 9000 BCE as settled villages began to cultivate domesticated cereals and herd animals.
D) It occurred when migratory populations carried seeds to new regions where they grew abundantly.

Question 36

Which of the following is true of the domestication of animals?

A) It probably first occurred in central America, where wild dogs attached themselves to small human clans to obtain discarded animal carcasses.
B) It was more difficult and less reliable than hunting game to obtain protein.
C) It led some communities to move to grassy steppe lands and develop pastoralism to provide sufficient food supplies for their herds.
D) It tended to disrupt relationships within communities, as pastoralists and agriculturalists competed for the same land.

Question 37

What was the effect on women of settled agriculture?

A) Women had more grueling agricultural labor than men.
B) Women could concentrate on domestic chores and child-rearing while men labored in the fields.
C) There was a drastic decline in birthrates.
D) Women were dominant in the household but men were dominant in the political realm.

Question 38

What circumstances led to the spread of agriculture and village life to inland Europe?

A) Traders arrived in Europe from northern Africa.
B) Domesticated crops and animals were found that could grow or be herded in colder climates.
C) Temperatures decreased, requiring greater cooperation for survival.
D) Neanderthals merged with Homo sapiens populations, pooling their knowledge.

Question 39

Why were nomadic pastoralists important to settled agriculturalists?

A) They provided a vast library of historical records.
B) They left important records that influenced agricultural innovation.
C) They had so little interaction with agricultural communities that farmers came to think of them as powerful mythological beings.
D) They transmitted ideas, products, and peoples across long distances, linking them with a wider world.

Question 40

Which statement best characterizes gender relations among early agricultural villages?

A) Gender roles remained unchanged from that of hunter-gatherer societies.
B) Homo sapiens lived in bands that were usually controlled by a strong alpha female.
C) As human communities turned to settled agriculture, they adopted practices of gender equality that valued women's contributions to work.
D) As cultural aspects of human life developed, culture became a potent force with biology in defining relations between males and females.

Question 41

Analyze the relationship between specific environmental changes and successful hominin adaptations.

Question 42

As agricultural communities became larger and more stratified, the rough gender egalitarianism of hunting and gathering societies eroded.

Question 43

How did the development of art give advantages to Homo sapiens over other species and express developing values in Homo sapiens's society?

Question 44

Early hominins survived because their large brains allowed them to resist changes to their environment and to maintain the traditional activities that had preserved them.

Question 45

Hunting and gathering societies, such as the San people in southern Africa, still persist in isolated locations.

Question 46

Compare the creation narratives identified in this chapter with the narrative of hominin evolution. Does the fossil record support or contradict these narratives?

Question 47

Homo habilis carried usable rocks over long distances to places where tools were fashioned.

Question 48

Compare how pastoralist and agriculturalist societies emerged. What factors led to the emergence of each, and how did these forms of production affect the communities that developed around these activities?

Question 49

How did the agricultural revolution affect gender roles?

Question 50

Early pastoralists were closely associated with agricultural villages.