LEARNING OUTCOME #5
identify, list, describe, and compare cultural and biological changes that resulted from or define the major culture/social/political/economic/morphological transitions of humankind
Bipedalism
Walking on two legs
- energy efficient
- thermoregulation
- visual benefits
- efficiency
Positive skeletal changes with becoming bipedal:
- repositioning of the foramen magnum (front)
- changes to vertebral column
- changes to the pelvis (wider)
- lengthening of the femur
- modification of the knee
- angling of femur inward
- changes in the foot (more arched)
Negative skeletal changes with becoming bipedal:
- muscoskeletal problems
- circulatory issues
- mobility
- efficiency
Lecture 3 p. 82-87
Hominin Dentition
&
Cranial Features
- reduction of canines
- blunting of canine tips
- size of molar
- U - shaped dentition pattern
- reduced chin size & flatter face
- larger cranium
- flat face
- high forehead & no brow ridge
- zygomatic arch
Changes in Hominin dentition and cranial features due to changes in activities, as well as food that they were consuming
Lecture 3 p. 77
Agriculture
& Domestication
Agriculture: the raising of domestic plants and animals
Domestication: new plant or animal varieties or species created from existing wild species through incidental or active selection by humans
Some of the longer-term impacts of the agricultural revolution involve continental-scale changes in:
Demography
- agriculturalists out-compete hunter-gatherers in productive environments
- Hunter gatherers live approximately 0.1/km2, rice agriculturalists in Java live at 1,000/km2
Language
- Major existing language groups are so widely dispersed because they spread with farming
- The language of colonist's farmers replaces those of hunter-gatherers at a global scale
Social Organisation
- Agriculture is the precursor for origins of social stratification, state-level societies, market. economies and industrial production
- Notions of private property, inequality, and human relationships tot nature
Human Health and Biology
- Agriculture drives bicultural evolution in humans
- Emergence of adult lactose tolerance
- Better metabolism of carbohydrates
- Alcohol metabolism
- Development of sickle cell anemia
- Resistance of crowd diseases
- Reduction of enamel thickness/mandible robusticity
Lecture 7 p.133
Archaeobotony
the study of plant remains from archaeological sites
The Domestication Syndrome
Six major changes:
1. Elimination/reduction of natural seed dispersal
2. Reduction in seed dispersal aids
3. Trends towards increasing seed/fruit size
4. Loss of germination inhibition
5. Synchronous taillering and ripening
6. More compact growth habits
Lecture 7 p.139
Zooarchaeology
the study of animal bones from archaeological sites
General Behavioural Changes Includes
- Less aggressive
- Greater gregariousness
- More playfulness
- Earlier onset of sexual maturity
General Physical Changes Includes
- Smaller brain size
- Shortening of snout
- Smaller bodies
- Defence mechanisms reduced
- Lessening of sexual dimorphism's
Lecture 7 p.139