Human Origins
Midterm Exam
Course Introduction
Human Origins explores the biological and cultural evolution of the human species, tracing our lineage from early primate ancestors through to modern Homo sapiens. The course examines key fossil discoveries, archaeological evidence, and genetic studies to unravel the complex processes of human adaptation, migration, and diversification. Students will engage with topics such as natural selection, bipedalism, tool use, the development of language, and the emergence of social structures, providing a comprehensive understanding of what makes us uniquely human within the context of evolutionary theory.
Recommended Textbook
Physical Anthropology and Archaeology 4th Canadian Edition by Carol R. Ember
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14 Chapters
447 Verified Questions
447 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: What Is Anthropology?
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29 Verified Questions
29 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Early Canadian anthropologists focussed their research on
A) Acadian communities in the Maritimes.
B) Metis communities on the prairies.
C) recent immigrants who had settled in the prairie provinces.
D) Native cultures of the Arctic and Northwest Coast.
E) agricultural communities in rural Ontario.
Answer: D
Q2) If the p-value for a given statistical test is 0.06, this means
A) the result is statistically significant.
B) there is a 6% chance that the hypothesis can be accepted.
C) there is less than a 6% chance that the relationship observed is purely accidental.
D) there is a 6% chance that the relationship observed is purely accidental.
E) there is a 94% chance that the relationship observed is purely accidental.
Answer: D
Q3) How human populations have adapted physically to their environmental conditions, is the focus of archaeologists.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Page 3
Chapter 2: Uncovering the Past: Tools and Techniques
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30 Verified Questions
30 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Microscopic granules of silicon dioxide in plant cells are called ________.
A) ecofacts
B) phytoliths
C) features
D) datums
E) isotopes
Answer: B
Q2) phytoliths (microscopic granules of silicon dioxide found in a plants cells) are formed when plants are harvested using stone tools.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) Coffins provide a different burial environment for bodies than does burial directly in the soil.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 3: Reconstructing the Past: Analysis and Interpretation
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32 Verified Questions
32 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following human skeletal traits is not commonly used to assess sex of adults?
A) Greater sciatic notch width.
B) Jaw angle.
C) Presence of an occipital protuberance.
D) Post-orbital depth.
E) Chin shape.
Answer: D
Q2) Because of ________, archaeologists now know that butchering an animal leads to different microscopic wear patterns or polishes on the edge of tools
A) experimental archaeology
B) ethnology
C) ethnoarchaeology
D) molecular archaeology
E) paleoethnobotany
Answer: A
Q3) Why might infant skeletons have high ¹ N levels compared to the skeletons of older children?
Answer: breast feeding enriches babies' tissues with ¹ N.
Page 5
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Chapter 4: Historical Development of Evolutionary Theory
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32 Verified Questions
32 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Humans were classified in the order Primates, along with monkeys and apes, by A) Linnaeus.
B) Lamarck.
C) Darwin.
D) Aristotle.
E) Plato.
Q2) The development of a new species may occur if a subgroup of a species finds itself in a radically new environment; the process known as A) fossilization.
B) diagenesis.
C) speciation.
D) migration.
E) inheritance.
Q3) The increased prevalence of drug resistant forms of diseases is a result of A) natural selection.
B) acquired inheritance.
C) poor medical condition.
D) migration.
E) increased medical costs.
Q4) What is one adaptations to terrestrial life exhibited by reptiles?
Page 6
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Chapter 5: Modern Evolutionary Theory
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37 Verified Questions
37 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) New variation in a species can occur only through A) mutation.
B) natural selection.
C) segregation.
D) acquired inheritance.
E) mitosis.
Q2) Gene flow between populations tends to decrease genetic variation between populations.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Chromosomes are built of DNA.
A)True
B)False
Q4) A ribonucleic acid that is used to copy DNA code for the use in protein synthesis is called
A) ribosome.
B) messenger RNA.
C) meiosis.
D) lysine.
E) sugar-phosphate.
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Chapter 6: Human Variation
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Sample Questions
Q1) The biological relationship between melanin levels and climate across mammals and birds, where populations living in warmer climates have darker skin, fur or feathers than do populations of the same species living in cooler areas, is called
A) Allen's rule.
B) Gloger's rule.
C) Bergmann's rule.
D) the bioclimatic law.
E) Riesenfeld's rule.
Q2) In research conducted since the 1950s, it has been shown that human populations tend to conform to Bergmann's rule, but not Allen's rule.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Current research on humans living in high-altitude environments indicates these people possess biological adaptations that are purely genetic.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Provide an argument against applying racial classifications to humans.
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Chapter 7: The Living Primates
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34 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) The primate tendency toward omnivory is reflected in their teeth. Which of the following does not apply to omnivorous primate species?
A) The premolars are unspecialized chewing teeth.
B) The canines have been lost in the course of primate evolution.
C) The incisors are specialized.
D) The canines are very specialized, especially in prosimian primates.
E) The molars are very unspecialized, especially when compared to other mammal groups.
Q2) Loris-like prosimian primates are found
A) only in southeast Asia.
B) in Central and South America.
C) in southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
D) only on the island of Madagascar.
E) only in sub-Saharan Africa.
Q3) Non-human primate communication is a closed system because
A) different calls are combined often to produce new meanings.
B) different calls are not combined to produce new meanings.
C) individual utterances can not have multiple meanings.
D) multiple utterances can have the same meaning.
E) utterances are combined with body language to produce meaning.
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Chapter 8: Primate Evolution: From Early Primates to Hominoids
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32 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Miocene genus Proconsul is generally regarded as being
A) the common ancestor of all living anthropoids.
B) a catarrhine primate with highly specialized locomotion.
C) the common ancestor of all Old World monkeys.
D) an early hominoid with highly specialized dentition.
E) similar in appearance to the common ancestor of apes and humans.
Q2) In the early Cretaceous, Gondwanaland included
A) Africa, South America, India, Australia, and Antarctica.
B) North America and Eurasia.
C) Eurasia, India, and Africa.
D) North America, South America, and Antarctica.
E) Australia and Laurasia.
Q3) Oreopithiecus was adapted to life in thickly forested marshlands.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Having three premolars in each quarter of the upper and lower jaws is a trait shared by the Oligocene propliopithecids and living New World monkeys.
A)True
B)False
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Early Hominins
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Sample Questions
Q1) Some East African hominids that are younger than about 2.5 million years old are classified as
A) Australopithecus afarensis.
B) Ardipithecus ramidus.
C) Neanderthals.
D) as members of our own genus, Homo.
E) Kenyapithecus.
Q2) The Taung Child, described by Raymond Dart, was one of the most important fossil finds of the 20th century; it was the first australopithecine to be discovered and the first specimen of ________ to be described.
A) Australopithecus afarensis
B) Australopithecus robustus
C) Australopithecus africanus
D) Australopithecus boisei
E) Australopithecus anamensis
Q3) Based on current evidence, it appears that hominids began manufacturing stone tools at least one million years after the emergence of bipedalism.
A)True
B)False
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Page 11
Chapter 10: Homo Erectus and Archaic Homo Sapiens
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32 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Olorgesailie site in Kenya shows possible evidence of A) warfare.
B) control of fire by Australopithecines.
C) Oldowan stone tool production.
D) co-operative hunting by Homo erectus.
E) ritual by Homo erectus.
Q2) In eastern Africa, Homo erectus co-existed with at least one other species of hominid.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Stone tools and other cultural artifacts dating from 1.8 million years ago to about 200,000 years ago are assumed to have been produced by
A) Homo habilis.
B) Homo erectus.
C) Neanderthals.
D) Homo heidelbergensis.
E) Archaic Homo sapiens.
Q4) The structure of the brain of H. floresiensis is similar to that of H. erectus.
A)True
B)False
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Modern Homo Sapiens
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Sample Questions
Q1) ________ tools were one of the innovations of Archaic peoples in the New World.
A) Ground stone woodworking
B) Acheulian
C) Clovis
D) Bifacial flaked
E) Levallois
Q2) In addition to the use of stone tools, the Upper paleolithic also saw large numbers of tools made from bone, antler and ivory.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The name given to the land connection that linked eastern Siberia with Alaska during the last Ice Age is
A) the Bering Strait.
B) Beringia.
C) the Siberia-Alaska land bridge.
D) the New World connection.
E) the Clovis corridor.
Q4) Upper Paleolithic art was confined to cave paintings.
A)True
B)False
Page 13
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Chapter 12: Origins of Food Production and Settled Life
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Sample Questions
Q1) Tools recovered in the archaeological record suggest that Natufians harvested wild grain intensively.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Most early cultivation in mainland southeast Asia seems to have occurred in the plains and low terraces around rivers.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Maize (corn) was apparently first domesticated in
A) the Near East.
B) Peru.
C) West Africa.
D) the eastern United States.
E) Mexico.
Q4) Horticultural societies
A) began to build large temples and other monumental architecture.
B) established long-distance trade routes to export their surplus produce.
C) are typically led by elected political officials.
D) show the beginnings of social differentiation.
E) tend to be egalitarian, like food-collecting societies.
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Origins of Cities and States
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the area of modern Peru, state societies emerged after about
A) 200 B.C.
B) 1200 B.C.
C) A.D. 200.
D) A.D. 800.
E) 2200 B.C.
Q2) During the early Uruk period (approximately 3,500 B.C.), in what is today southwestern Iran, ________ appears to have been the administrative centre of the region and the "capital" of the state.
A) Uruk
B) Ur
C) Babylon
D) Sumer
E) Susa
Q3) Most ancient civilizations arose in ________ around ________.
A) China; 2500 BC
B) East Asia; 2500 BC
C) the Near East; 3500 BC
D) Europe; 10,000 BC
E) Mesoamerica; 3000 BC
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Chapter 14: Applied Anthropology: Physical Anthropology and Archaeology
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30 Verified Questions
30 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Only socio-cultural anthropologists can work in applied anthropology.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Many diseases, including infectious diseases like AIDS or chronic diseases like diabetes, are often viewed as "Western" diseases.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The examination of Aboriginal welfare or the impact of large developments on Aboriginal communities is called
A) urban anthropology.
B) medical anthropology.
C) applied anthropology.
D) experimental anthropology.
E) biocultural anthropology.
Q4) Which of the following is considered a culture-bound syndrome?
A) AIDS.
B) Malnutrition.
C) Morning sickness.
D) Anorexia.
E) Influenza.
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