ANT203Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Thermoluminescence, Serengeti, Piltdown Man
Document Summary
Lecture 14 - reconstructing early hominid behaviour and ecology. Paleoanthropology: what is it, olduvai gorge, dating methods. Members of the evolutionary group that includes modern humans and now extinct bipedal relatives. Features: tooth and jaw dimensions, bipedal locomotion, large brain size, tool-making. Mosaic evolution: different patterns of evolution evolving at different rates (e. g. locomotion, brain, dentition, tool-making behaviour) Culture: non-body adaptations to the environment, including systematic learned behaviours that can be communicated to others. Human culture (no other primate is as reliant as cultural context as humans: material culture e. g. tool-making. Multi-disciplinary: physical sciences, biological sciences, social sciences. Surveys to locate potential sites: aerial or satellite imagery, surface techniques. Walking through a particular area to see what is there, to find artifacts, signs/signals, irregularities, anything indicating a presence of ancient community etc. Fossils are only found within regions with the right circumstances for.
