AN1_Quiz9_Sp09_Answers - ANTHRO 1-SPRING 2009-QUIZ 9 1...

ANTHRO 1—SPRING 2009—QUIZ 9
1. Describe two traits (skeletal or archeological) associated with Neanderthals that could be used to
argue that we were members of the same species.
Brain size in the modern human range. Both Hs and Hn used Mousterian tools. At at least one
site and maybe more Neanderthals produced decorative artifacts.
Describe two traits (skeletal or archeological) associated with Neanderthals that could be used to
argue that they are a separate species from us.
Much more robust, protruding face and jaw, long low cranium with bunning at back and
prominent brow ridges. No evidence of representational artifacts (e.g painting, carving).
2. What was the first hominid species to reach Australia? How did these individuals travel there?
Homo sapiens. They must have floated on rafts or boats.
3. Roughly (within 200,000 years) when did the lineages leading to Neanderthals and anatomically
modern humans diverge from a common ancestor?
Typical estimate: 350,000 years, though probably no more recent than 300,000 and no earlier
than 500,000 years.
4. What explains our ability to recover DNA from Neanderthals but not from other extinct hominid
species?
The deposits are much younger and have not yet fossilized (e.g. have not had bone tissue replaced
with minerals; i.e. not fossilized).
5. What was the fist hominid species to reach the western hemisphere? When did they arrive?
Homo sapiens. Most estimates are in the range of 12,000 – 15,000 years BP, but a few
researchers argue as much as 18,000 - 20,000. None argue more than 30,000.
6. Did Y-chromosome Adam and mitochondrial Eve come from the same continent? What feature
of the genetic evidence supports this claim?