ANTH 2200 HUMAN ORIGINS FINAL-ASSIGNMENT
ANTH 2200 HUMAN ORIGINS FINAL-ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
Write the name of your choice below in bold at the top of your assignment.
1 SELF-DOMESTICATION (HOMO ERECTUS)
Henrich argues in Secret of Our Success that we essentially domesticated ourselves. Through
culture we repeatedly adapted to a changing environment by modifying our behavior and
aspects of the environment in a direction that gave us innovation and diversity of solutions. A
key period in our development is the Middle Paleolithic where Homo erectus, ergaster, and
heidelbergensis moved away from simple stone tools and began to create a complex culture.
Explore one aspect of this cultural change which drove selection for different traits in humanity,
e.g., control of fire, language, Acheulean handaxe, or cannibalism. Find a scientific article related
to a fossil discovery in this period and review more detailed evidence on this cultural trait and its
significance.
HOW TO DO THE ASSIGNMENT
- Select a scientific article about Homo erectus, Homo ergaster, Homo heidelbergensis, or
“archaic Homo sapiens”. Library reference can help you. The article must at least partially relate
to evidence or speculation about a cultural trait as mentioned above. Give the full reference of
the article. - Summarize the main points of the article in your own words in one or two paragraphs. Don’t
just copy an abstract if one is provided. Show that you read the article and understood its main
points. Focus on the cultural trait discussed. - Provide a reaction and analysis in the second half of your paper. How does this evidence or
argument change your view of human evolution? What questions or criticism do you have?
What direction for further research? Does this connect with any other themes in the course?
2 PUZZLING ANCESTORS
While linear thinking (past/present/future, high/middle/low, good/ok/bad, child/adult/senior) is
structured and clear, nature does not follow “the line.” Rivers wander and streams interwind,
come together, separate again, etc. Broccoli branches out in fractal sections, and churches form,
split apart, rejoin, go extinct, etc.
This is relevant to the challenge that anthropologists and the public feel when we discover a
new fossil that doesn’t seem to “fit” our current schema. Should we wait for more evidence or
fossil samples or is it time to shift the paradigm or model of human evolution? How does this
fossil or cultural evidence relate to what we know already?
In this assignment, you will choose ONE puzzling ancestor we reviewed, including Neanderthals,
and present some aspect of that ancestor in more depth.
HOW TO DO THE ASSIGNMENT
- Find a scientific article, website, or at least 45 minutes documentary about one of the
ancestors. Give the exact citation for the article or video. - Summarize the article or video in a half-page single spaced. What are the main points,
interpretations, or criticisms? - Provide a half-page or so of your analysis and reaction. What is so significant about this find?
What does it tell us about the many paths of our development or the effects of social isolation?
Can human ancestors have very different features but still be “human”? Should they be separate
species or grouped together?
3 THRESHOLD
In the last chapters of Secret of our Success, Henrich tries to summarize his arguments and mark
the threshold of becoming human using mostly cultural achievements and benchmarks. Review
these boundaries and review, yourself, the journey we have taken in this course. When we take
course material together, where would we place this threshold of becoming human? With the
early bipeds? With fire or language? With representational culture?
In this option, you will focus on when YOU think we crossed the threshold to being human.
HOW TO DO THE ASSIGNMENT
- Choose a scientific article or at least 45 minute video on human evolution that focuses on
representing our evolution in stages. It can cover any period but must relate to Henrich’s
argument. Give exact reference. - Summarize the article or video in a half-page single spaced. Where does that article place the
threshold for traits that are not modern but seem human enough to claim? - Provide a half-page or so of your analysis and reaction. What hominin model for our origins
does it offer? Is there any evidence of thinking that builds on ape capacities? If apes have so
much of our cultural foundation, what key changes did our species undergo? Finally, what is
YOUR takeaway from this course? How did it amplify or change your view of human evolution?
Answer
ANTH 2200 HUMAN ORIGINS FINAL-ASSIGNMENT
By: Essayicons.com
According to the article, during the Middle Paleolithic Era, Hominines lived in small groups known as bands and flourished on gathering crops, foraging, and slaughtering wild animals. The Paleolithic Period is recognized by using fossilized bone stone axes, although humans also used wooden and tools made of bones throughout this era. Archeological and comparable ethnographic evidence suggests that Middle Paleolithic humans settled in tiny, band societies comparable to Upper Paleolithic cultures and certain current gatherers groups. During the Middle Paleolithic, both Neanderthals and contemporary human civilizations cared for their old members. According to Christopher Boehm (1999), egalitarianism may have emerged in Middle Paleolithic civilizations due to a necessity to share necessities such as food and meat equally to prevent hunger and secure a steady food supply.
Approximately 200,000 BP, the Middle Paleolithic Stones weapon process, known as the prepared-core method, was much more sophisticated than preceding Acheulean procedures. Fire and complex tools were used for the first time by Homo erectus. Unlike previous hominines, who created primitive choppers and flakes, Homo erectus constructed sophisticated stone tools, sharpened stone hatchets, and thumb chisels to slice off manageable bits of flesh.
According to the article, Stone tools are maybe the earliest cultural relics that archaeologists use to recreate the worlds of Paleolithic inhabitants. Tools made of stones were so significant throughout the Paleolithic era that the titles of the Paleolithic eras are centered on the advancement of tools and weapons. Stone tools also provide information on the evolution of culture. Paleolithic humans, according to anthropologists, fished, gardened, and used a communal system for distributing work and resources. Archaeologists deduced it by making comparisons with current hunter-gatherer cultures and analyzing cave paintings depicting collective hunting. The weapons and stone tools were particularly significant in the development of civilization throughout this middle Paleolithic Stone Age. They were employed in chopping wood from a trunk, slicing animal corpses, and peeling and removing skins as needed.
The language was possibly the most significant invention of the Paleolithic period. Researchers may deduce the earliest use of language because some people traveled vast swathes of territory, founded towns, made tools, traded, and formed social hierarchies and civilizations. These things would very certainly have been unattainable without the use of language. Investigations of ancient Homo sapiens’ craniums reveal larger brains with protrusions, suggesting the growth of brain regions related to speaking. It is unclear how humans got the ability to communicate in the first place. On the other hand, the historical evidence reveals that language enabled more sophisticated social institutions, with increased ability for debate, ethics, spirituality, and significance.
Cutting markings on human skeletons, comparable to any of those seen on slaughtered animals using Homo erectus weapons, have been discovered in locations spanning from South Africa to Croatian. Some researchers estimate that cannibalism has been a component of the Homo species’ behaviors for millennia. “They regarded their fellow people the same way they valued other wildlife,” one expert told National Geographic. Today’s Genetic research reveals genes that make pathogens, which are proteins that may be carried on by humans who consume other afflicted individuals. This suggests that cannibalism was formerly frequent amongst hominines.
Article summarization
The article discusses the relevance of cultural change in driving selection for various qualities in humanity, such as fire control, language, Acheulean hand ax, or cannibalism. Archeological and comparable ethnographic research shows that Middle Paleolithic people lived in local, egalitarian groups comparable to Upper Paleolithic cultures and certain current hunter-gatherer groups. During the Middle Paleolithic, both Neanderthals and contemporary human civilizations cared for their old members.
During the middle Paleolithic period, the sociocultural developments were as follows: Invention of tools, Homo erectus invented and produced stone tools that were extremely significant in his life since he utilized the implements for hunting wild creatures and cutting wood from trees. The Stone implements also provide insight into the evolution of civilization. Language development was another key cultural transition in the middle Paleolithic period. During this time, Homo sapiens acquired fundamental speech.
The paper’s reaction and analysis
The research goes into depth on how cultural change throughout this period resulted in diverse features in humans. For example, Homo erectus devised fire control in the middle Paleolithic era to drive away wild animals and prepare food, and it is being used today. This innovation was very important to humanity. The data alters my perspective on evolution since it demonstrates that evolution was a slow process that mirrored organisms’ adaptability to changing circumstances.
Finally, my Disagreements regarding evaluating evolutionary history theories, intellectual assumptions such as large diversity, uncertainty stemming from assumptions about the environment being the key to evolutionary development, and the relevance of non-genetic and non-adaptive interpretations are among the objections. I would have to conduct an additional study on human evolution by reading more articles about it. This research will be significant because it will link to other issues in the course.