ANT203H5 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Palaios, Paleontology, Paleoanthropology
Document Summary
The study of human evolution comprising both hominin biology and culture: basically, the study of humans. Etymology: greek palaios old, ancient", anthropos man, human", and logia study of". Skeletal and archaeological remains (offer the most important clues: bones, tools, footprints, fire pits or hearths, cut marks on bones. This course focuses on the bones and the biological traces of hominins, preserve in the form of fossils. Physical remains or traces of an animal"s behaviour preserved in rock. The only direct evidence of past life. Fossilization is rare (only 1 bone in a billion is fossilized) Taphonomy: the study of the processes affecting an organism after death that may result in its fossilization. Trace fossils: records of an organism"s behaviour while they were alive, biologically generated sedimentary structures, footprints, trackways, burrows, feeding marks, coprolites, nests. Body fossils: physical remains of an organism, usually only organisms with hard parts can be preserved, sometimes perfect conditions allow for soft tissue preservation.
