Physical Anthropology Exam 3 a
mosaic evolution - correct answer ✔✔a pattern of evolution in which the rate of evo in one functional
system varies from that in other systems. (like how in hominin evo, the dental system, locomotor system,
and neurological system all evolved at different rates)
artifacts - correct answer ✔✔objects or materials made or modified for use by hominins. the earliest of
these are usually tools made of stone or occasionally bone.
taphonomy - correct answer ✔✔the study of how bones and other materials came to be buried in the
earth and preserved as fossils. Scientists who study this study the processes of sedimentation, the action
of streams, preservation properties of bone, and carnivore disturbance factors.
thermoluminiscence (TL) - correct answer ✔✔a technique for dating certain archaeological materials
(such as stone tools) that were heated in the past and that, upon reheating, release the stored energy of
radioactive decay as light.
paleomagnetism - correct answer ✔✔a dating method based on the earth's shifting magnetic pole
lithic - correct answer ✔✔refers to stone tools
knappers - correct answer ✔✔people (frequently archaeologists) who make stone tools
blanks - correct answer ✔✔in archaeology, stones suitably sized and shaped to be further worked into
tools
core - correct answer ✔✔a stone reduced by flake removal. it may or may not itself be used as a tool
biostratigraphy - correct answer ✔✔a relative dating technique that uses fossils of animals with known
dates of when it was alive to figure out the age of the unknown; faunal correlation
, chronometric dating - correct answer ✔✔a dating technique that gives an estimate in actual numbers of
years (also called absolute dating)
flake (flake tools) - correct answer ✔✔a thin-edged fragment removed from a core
direct percussion - correct answer ✔✔striking a core or flake with a hammerstone
microliths - correct answer ✔✔small stone tools usually produced from narrow blades punched from a
core; found especially in Africa during the latter part of the Peistocene
pressure flaking - correct answer ✔✔a method of removing flakes from a core by pressing a pointed
implement (like bone or antler) against the stone
microwear - correct answer ✔✔polishes, striations, and other diagnostic microscopic changes on the
edges of stone tools
principle of superposition - correct answer ✔✔in a stratigraphic sequence, the lower layers were
deposited before the upper layers, so the stuff on top was put there last and is the newest
stratigraphy - correct answer ✔✔the study of the sequential layering of deposits
australopiths - correct answer ✔✔a colloquial name referring to a diverse group of Plio-Pleistocene
African hominins. They are the most abundant and widely distributed of all early hominins
sectorial - correct answer ✔✔adapted for cutting or shearing; among primates, tis term refers to the
compressed first lower premolar, which functions as a shearing surface with the upper canine
sagittal crest - correct answer ✔✔a ridge of bone that runs down the middle of the cranium and serves
as the attachment for the large temporal muscles, indicating strong chewing
endocast - correct answer ✔✔a solid impression of the inside of the skull vault, often preserving details
relating to the size and surface features of the brain
mosaic evolution - correct answer ✔✔a pattern of evolution in which the rate of evo in one functional
system varies from that in other systems. (like how in hominin evo, the dental system, locomotor system,
and neurological system all evolved at different rates)
artifacts - correct answer ✔✔objects or materials made or modified for use by hominins. the earliest of
these are usually tools made of stone or occasionally bone.
taphonomy - correct answer ✔✔the study of how bones and other materials came to be buried in the
earth and preserved as fossils. Scientists who study this study the processes of sedimentation, the action
of streams, preservation properties of bone, and carnivore disturbance factors.
thermoluminiscence (TL) - correct answer ✔✔a technique for dating certain archaeological materials
(such as stone tools) that were heated in the past and that, upon reheating, release the stored energy of
radioactive decay as light.
paleomagnetism - correct answer ✔✔a dating method based on the earth's shifting magnetic pole
lithic - correct answer ✔✔refers to stone tools
knappers - correct answer ✔✔people (frequently archaeologists) who make stone tools
blanks - correct answer ✔✔in archaeology, stones suitably sized and shaped to be further worked into
tools
core - correct answer ✔✔a stone reduced by flake removal. it may or may not itself be used as a tool
biostratigraphy - correct answer ✔✔a relative dating technique that uses fossils of animals with known
dates of when it was alive to figure out the age of the unknown; faunal correlation
, chronometric dating - correct answer ✔✔a dating technique that gives an estimate in actual numbers of
years (also called absolute dating)
flake (flake tools) - correct answer ✔✔a thin-edged fragment removed from a core
direct percussion - correct answer ✔✔striking a core or flake with a hammerstone
microliths - correct answer ✔✔small stone tools usually produced from narrow blades punched from a
core; found especially in Africa during the latter part of the Peistocene
pressure flaking - correct answer ✔✔a method of removing flakes from a core by pressing a pointed
implement (like bone or antler) against the stone
microwear - correct answer ✔✔polishes, striations, and other diagnostic microscopic changes on the
edges of stone tools
principle of superposition - correct answer ✔✔in a stratigraphic sequence, the lower layers were
deposited before the upper layers, so the stuff on top was put there last and is the newest
stratigraphy - correct answer ✔✔the study of the sequential layering of deposits
australopiths - correct answer ✔✔a colloquial name referring to a diverse group of Plio-Pleistocene
African hominins. They are the most abundant and widely distributed of all early hominins
sectorial - correct answer ✔✔adapted for cutting or shearing; among primates, tis term refers to the
compressed first lower premolar, which functions as a shearing surface with the upper canine
sagittal crest - correct answer ✔✔a ridge of bone that runs down the middle of the cranium and serves
as the attachment for the large temporal muscles, indicating strong chewing
endocast - correct answer ✔✔a solid impression of the inside of the skull vault, often preserving details
relating to the size and surface features of the brain
