Educational Pathway Anthropology Essay

1. Write 700 words about what you hope to achieve in the next five years in terms of your educational and/or career goals and how your current educational pathway supports or fits into those goals. (I am in junior college now and will like to study nursing)

2. For this assignment, write 400 words about how your personal definition of anthropology has changed since you defined it in the Introductions forum in the first week of class. Make sure to cite at least six class assignments that have informed your definition to receive maximum credit.

Anthro 111
Lab 10 Exercise
Early Homo Virtual Lab Worksheet
In the table below, each species’ name contains links to 3D scans of fossils from Sketchfab. If
possible, you are encouraged to open two or more of these links at the same time (in different
windows) to allow you to look at them at the same time and compare them. You can record your
observations using comparative terms such as “largest”, “smallest”, “most prognathic”, in
addition to specific descriptive terms like “parabolic” or “U-shaped” that were presented in the
chapter.
1: Trends of the Genus Homo
Au. africanus H. habilis
skull
Au. africanus
mandible
Cranial capacity
Early H.
erectus
skull
H. erectus
mandible
H. sapiens
skull
H. sapiens
mandible
400-500 cc
510-775 cc
650-1100 cc
Avg. 1350 cc
South Africa
South and
East Africa
Africa and Asia
All over the
world
Size and shape of brow
ridges
Extent of prognathism
(jutting out of lower
face)
Size of molar and
premolar chewing
surface
Shape of dental arcade
Geographic location
Based on your observations, what are two major trends that continue across the genus Homo?
2: Lumping and Splitting: Homo habilis v. Homo rudolfensis
The genus Homo suggests reliance on tools as well as dietary and behavioral flexibility. The
earliest fossils that belong to this genus appear between 2.8 and 2.5 mya, and they extend to
about 1.7 mya. This fossil collection, however, does vary significantly in facial and cranial size,
suggesting to some they should be “split” into two separate species. Other paleontologists
prefer to “lump” similar fossils explaining the diversity as natural variation or differences
between the sexes.
Compare the type specimens for Homo habilis and (possible) Homo rudolfensis. What
differences do you observe? Given what you saw for species differences in previous fossil
comparisons, do you think there are enough differences to consider them two different
species?
Cranial capacity
KNM-ER
1813
Homo habilis
KNM-ER 1470
Possible Homo
rudolfensis
510 cc
775 cc
Longer
(primitive)
Shorter (more derived)
Size and shape of brow ridges
Face size
Size of molar and premolar chewing
surface
Posterior (back) view of the braincase
Upper limbs
Consider other features: what similarities do you see between the two fossils?
Based on your observations, do you think that H. habilis should be one species or split into
two? Why or why not?
3: Homo erectus Over Space and Time
Homo erectus was the first hominin that we know left Africa. It quickly spread across Asia,
reaching the island of Java by ~1.6 or 1.7 mya. The spreading population existed for over one
million years, diversifying over time and space. Complete the table below comparing specific
fossil examples of Homo erectus.
H. erectus
Lake
Turkana
Basin, 1.8
mya
H. erectus
Dmanisi,
Georgia,
1.7
mya
H. erectus
Java, 1.6
mya
(skullcap)
H. erectus
Zhoukoudian,
China, 780 – 400
kya
Cranial capacity
880 cc
546-775 cc
Est. 900 cc
~1000 – 1225 cc
Cranial bones
Thinner
Thinner
Thick
Thick
Brow ridges
One large
single brow,
pronounced
Braincase shape
Long and low
Other traitsPlease note at
least two
observations
NA
Map illustrating the distribution of Homo erectus (from Explorations Chapter 10).
4: Changing Postcrania
While both Australopithecines and early Homo were obligate bipeds, there are some
modifications that occured over the past four million years. Compare and contrast Au. afarensis,
H. habilis, H. erectus, and H. sapiens. In each cell of the table below, note any unique or
changing characteristics that you observe. Note: The fossils for this comparison are from the
efossils and eskeletons website.
Au. afarensis H. habilis H. erectus H. sapiens
Femur
Os Coxa (Pelvis)
NA
Overall, what is one of the major trends in hominin postcrania that occurs across the genus
Homo?
5: Developing Tools
Follow the links below to view 3D models of Lomekwian, Oldowan, and Acheulean tools. In the
table below, describe what you observe about each tool type.
Lomekwian Tool Oldowan Tool
Example
Example
(3.3 mya)
(2.5 – 1.6
mya)
Acheulean
Tool Example
(~1.5 mya to
200 kya)
Describe key distinguishing
features of the three tools
Identify what these tools
could have been used for
The genus/species it is
most often associated with
Australopithecus
Homo habilis
Homo erectus