Anthropology ch. 8

Paleontology

The study of fossils is called:

William Smith

The english surveyor who developed the technique of stratigraphic correlation between regions was?

Taphonomy

The study of what happens to an organism’s remains after death is:

divisions in geologic time divided into periods and epochs

Eras are:

Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic

The three eras that make up earth history are:

A chronological sequence

To reconstruct and interpret evolutionary changes, it is crucial to place each fossil in time. This is called:

4.6 billion years

The earth’s age is:

Pangea

The original continent that existed about 200 may, from which the modern continents ultimately emerged is called:

radiopotassium dating

Igneous rock can be dated with which of the following methods?

superposition

If fossil species A is consistently recovered from geological deposits beneath layers containing fossil species B, then A is considered older than B. This relative dating technique is based on the principle of?

biostratigraphy

A layer of stratigraphy in one location overwhelmingly represents one species, while the same species is discovered in a similar stratigraphic layer fifty miles away. What method is used to provide an estimate of age for this layer and this species?

Cenozoic

Which period saw the proliferation of mammals?

The use of an actual number of years

What is the basic difference between relative and absolute dating?

The law of superposition

In the 1600’s Nicolaus Steno proposed:

ceramics

Cultural dating can be used to date:

Dendrochronology

A wooden tomb is discovered with a well-preserved mummy inside. What method could be used to date the tomb?

Carbon 14

A mummy is discovered whose tomb includes cloth, food, and other organic remains. What dating method might be used to date the tomb?

bones and teeth

Chemical analysis of the _____ in the tomb above can provide information on diets and habitats.

carbon 13 and carbon 12

Scientists can determine the type of plant (C3 or C4 grasses, particularly) were consumed based on:

the earliest hominids lived in wooded settings.

Paleosoils and fauna in the Middle Awash Valley of Ethiopia show that:

Amino acid method

A heart is discovered with bone fragments in it. What method might be used to date the bone?

Chemical, relative

Fluorine dating is an example of what type of dating method?

Electron spin Reonance
Thermoluminescence
BOTH A and B

For dating hominid fossils that go back 4 million years, what dating methods might be used?

A species accumulates genetic differences over time at a constant rate

The molecular clock has been useful to determine the phylogenetic relationships of species based on the assumption that:

Woodland

Paleontologists find a fossil ape with long arms and long, curved finger bones. What type of of environment can they infer it inhabited?

6-8 mya

Based on the molecular clock, geneticists believe the split between chimps and hominids occurred :

potassium- argon dating

Which dating method would be most appropriate for establishing the age of a volcanic ash layer from an early hominid site in eastern Africa?

dry and seasonal

Coinciding with the appearance of early hominids about 5-10 may, the climate was:

Igneous rock

Fission track dating can provide dates when used on which type of material?

sediment, stone, and ceramics

Thermoluminescence dating can provide dates when used on which types of materials?

teeth

Electron spin resonance dating can provide dates when used on which types of material?

Massive glaciation, then warm interglacials

During crucial periods of human evolution, the Pleistocene was characterized by:

temperatures have fluctuated, sometimes greatly, over time.

Studies of temperature during the Cenozoic era suggest that:

half- life

The time it takes for 50% of an unstable isotope to decay to a stable form is called the:

cultural dating, since the pot must be specific to a known culture and time period.

At a site in the American Southwest, you find only a single ceramic pot in association with an individual within a burial. You can use the pot to date the burial based on: