ASSIGNMENT
Answer these questions:
Discuss the anatomical changes that occurred in the bipedal hominin and how they reflect certain habitat adaptations, and then discuss the hypotheses that propose why the change occurred.
Discuss the two models of modern human origins—Out-of-Africa and Multiregional Continuity. Now very briefly describe their main tenets and discuss how the more recent assimilation model differs from each.
Which species was the first to migrate out of Africa and what biological and cultural traits allowed them to be the first? Now contrast this with the environmental pressures that contributed to the dispersal of modern Homo sapiens around the world. How do this relate to the diversity we see in human populations today?
How are early modern humans and Neandertals similar and different? Include details on the anatomy, behavior, and culture.
What “symbolic” behavior is evident in the archaeological record and associated with Neandertals and anatomically modern humans in Europe beginning around 35,000 yBP (during the Upper Paleolithic)?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of agriculture from a cultural perspective? Now, discuss the evidence from the skeletons and teeth of early agriculturalists. Then describe the negative consequences of a shift from food foraging to the domestication of food in terms of pathologic evidence.
