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Prehistoric Human Quiz Questions and Answers
1. What is called the ‘Ice Age?’
Answer: Huge sheets of ice moved down from the north and covered the earth’s surface.
Ice age in the context of this discussion refers to the great ice sheet that covered almost all of Canada, Europe, and Russia. This massive layer of ice was formed during the Pleistocene epochs (2.6 million-11 thousand years ago). Many scientists believe that it changed climate drastically, causing the extinction of many life forms as well as changing plant and animal habitats. The great ice age ended about 11,000 years ago.
2. By what name the sub men were known?
Answer: Hominoids.
The order of the Hominoidae comprises all the great apes: gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans and humans.
All the great apes (which also include gibbons) are intelligent, have a long period of infant dependency and a long lifespan. The earliest known fossils of the hominoids date from as recently as 20 mya (million years ago). The term hominoid is in reference to their similarity to humans.
The term “hominoid” is generally used for any primate closely related to humans, but some sources may use it only to refer to members of Hominidae or only to members of Pongidae.
3. The history of man is divided in to two broad divisions. What are they?
Answer: Prehistoric period and historic period.
The stone age, the bronze age and the iron age in different periods on the basis of archaeological research, they represent the prehistoric period of human history. The historic period begins from Xia Dynasty to now.
4. What is the Prehistoric period?
Answer: The prehistoric period refers to the period of human history before written records until now. Archaeological research shows that the earliest human activity occurred in Africa and Asia.
5. What is a historic period?
Answer: The historic period refers to the period of human history after writing and the beginning of the existence of nation. According to the historical records, China was already a highly developed society at the time of Xia Dynasty.
6. When was the Prehistoric period comes to an end?
Answer: Nearly by 3000 B.C.
The prehistoric period comes to an end when the first civilization, Mesopotamians and Egyptians rose. The earliest known civilizations were built with the help of the ancient Sumerians, who are credited for bringing about the rise of a number of cities in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Both these civilizations arose around 3000 BC, they were the first to create writing systems, which is believed to have kickstarted civilization all over the world. The Mesopotamian people lived in or near areas we know as present-day Iraq. They worshiped gods that they believed controlled everything under the sun.
7. Where does the word Paleolithic derived from?
Answer: The term “Paleolithic” comes from Greek: ; paleo: , “old”; lithos: , “stone”; and -logia: . It was first introduced by archaeologist John Lubbock in 1865 as a refinement of the three-age system. It is not synonymous with Lower Paleolithic; that stage was called the Lower Paleolithic by older texts.
8. By which name the Neolithic age is known?
Answer: New stone age.
The Neolithic, named for the new and distinctive style of pottery–called “Neolithic” or “New Stone Age”. After the final prehistoric extinction of Pleistocene-age mammals, various species including elephants, mammoths, and horses were hunted and transported by humans across continents for use as food.
9. How did the Paleolithic men use stone as their implements?
Answer: Chipping stones.
Background information: Paleolithic men use stone as their tool. This method of using stone tools is called the Oldowan Stone Tool industry
10. How early man made his first stone tools
Answer: The three main steps are
a) selecting a candidate for a tool,
b) shaping the stone to the chosen form and
c) inflicting deliberate damage to detach blade-like flakes (knapped).
This method of using stone tools is called the Oldowan Stone Tool Industry which was discovered in Tanzania in 1960 by a scientist called Louis Leakey. The time period of this article is 30,000 years ago
11. Where did Paleolithic men live in the beginning?
Answer: On river banks in the open air.
This is because Paleolithic men like to fish and hunt.
12. In the later Paleolithic period, what improvements did they make for their dwelling?
Answer: Lived in caves.
They also live in caves. The cave that they live in is a natural cave. This is because the cave has holes in it that are made by animals. Many of the animals that they hunt are large like buffalos and mammoths. Some of the fish that they catch are salmon, sturgeon, and codfish.
The tools that they use to do their hunting and fishing are hand-made. The main tool used for fishing is the harpoon which was made out of wood or bone from a large animal.
13. How did the Paleolithic people clad?
Answer: Tree barks and animal skin. But often naked.
For the first half of the Paleolithic era, man’s means of protection from the weather ranged from clothing made of tree bark to skins threaded together with twine to pelts stitched together with thorns or bone needles.
14. How did the Paleolithic men disposed of their dead?
Answer: Left outside.
Paleolithic men disposed of their dead left outside the cave and did not use any burial sites, a recent study showed. The study discovered that the bodies of the people who lived in the Paleolithic Age from about 300,000 to 10,000 years ago.
Prehistoric Human Quiz Questions Part 2
15. What was the tool used by these early Paleolithic men?
Answer: Stone Tools
They used stone tools. There were 3 types of stone tools made by these early Paleolithic men; choppers, cleavers and hand axes.
Choppers were flat and sharp on one side to be used to cut meat from a bone. They were made by hitting a hard rock onto a softer rock such as flint or quartz. This is similar to how it is still done today.
Cleavers were used for cutting meat from a bone. They were made in the same way as choppers but the end of the tool was sharpened and they were shaped like a chip. This also shows early tool development, by first making tools by hitting one rock onto another rock, then making tools by chipping away at stones on an anvil stone.
Hand axes were most likely used for both cutting meat from a bone and even some wood cutting. They were also made in the same way as choppers and cleavers but once again a stone was hit onto a hard rock until it became sharp. Early Paleolithic men wanted smaller stones for their tools so they could have more tools, which is why they hit rocks together to create smaller rocks. Later on in the Paleolithic era, early man began using slate as an anvil stone.
16. Who was the best-known man during the Paleolithic age?
Answer: Neanderthal man.
Neanderthal man is a term used for any of the various extinct species of humans in the genus HomoSapiens, who inhabited much of Europe and western Asia. Neanderthals can be defined as HomoSapiens neanderthalensis, ‘Man, true man, in the Neander Valley’, named after an excavation site near Düsseldorf (German: Neandertal).
17. Where did the skeletons of Neanderthal man find out?
Answer: From Neander valley in Germany.
The Neander valley is a river valley in Germany. In the valley are several caves with archaeological findings. These findings help us to know more about life in the prehistoric era.
In 1856 German farmers found some stone tools while they were digging in the soil. The excavations that followed showed that there was a cave system inside the mountain which contained more tools and other remains of a man from this early period, named Oldowan. In 1908 another cave site was discovered by Otto Schoetensack. Inside this location were many bones, which later turned out to be fossils of Robust women and men with very large skulls and strong teeth known as Neanderthals. The findings were given the name HomoNeanderthalensis.
18. What was the important discovery made by the Neanderthal man?
Answer: The use of fire.
The fire was an important discovery made by the Neanderthal man. The use of fire is considered as one of the most archaeal inventions of all times. The mastery of fire in his daily life contributed a lot to improve the living conditions.
19. What kinds of tools were used by the Neanderthal man?
Answer: Knives, Spearheads, and throwing stones.
Tools found at the site of 2 pit shelters in Germany. These stone tools found at the site have been dated to be about 50,000 years old. Neanderthals made these tools by banging one stone against another to make a sharp edge. They also made spears with a sharpened point to spear their prey. They would use throwing stones as a weapon to kill their prey or protect themselves from hunting predators. All these tools were made of flint rock that could be easily found in Europe and western Asia and the objects they used these tools for therefore were also made out of flint rock.
20. How did they dispose of the dead?
Answer: They buried the dead.
Neanderthals are known to be the first hominids to bury their dead (Bahn and Vertut, 1996). They were also one of the first to migrate into Europe. Within five centuries after their arrival, Neanderthals had taken over most of Europe and Asia from HomoErectus. The Neanderthals were a species that is not well understood by us today. A lot is still being researched about this specific species in order to understand just who they were as a people.
21. When did the Neanderthal man live?
Answer: Probably lived between about 130,000 and 40,000 years ago.
The first evidence comes from the discovery of four skeletons of Neanderthal man in 1856 near Dusseldorf Germany by workers who were digging for limestone for building. It was learned that the evidence came from a cave in Germany. One of the skeletons was just like a modern man except for being brutish. The other three skeletons were also very large, one skeleton was about five feet six inches (1.65 meters) tall and very bulky in proportion to the others. In 1848 some bones including a skull cap were found in Neanderthal Valley, near Dusseldorf Germany. In 1886 three skeletons were discovered in Krapina, Croatia.
22. What were all the qualities that the Neanderthal man did not have?
Answer: They cannot stand erect nor hold their heads straight and incapable of speech.
Neanderthals were ape-like human beings who never developed language, culture and could never stand erect. In other words they did not walk upright like humans. This fact has been well documented in the book The Wisdom of the Bones by Alan Walker and Pat Shipman. Neanderthals had rounded heads that touched each other; therefore they were incapable of speech or communication. They also had weak muscle structure: one arm was shorter than the other, curved spines and hips; in addition to which they had a slouched posture.
23. From where did the Cro-Magnons come to Europe?
Answer: They might have come from North Africa or South Asia.
THE controversial theory that Cro-Magnons, the earliest Europeans, may have come not from near the Black Sea in what is now Ukraine but from North Africa or even South Asia has gained strength from a new study of a recently discovered skeleton.
Cro-Magnons were true Europeans; they lived in the last ice age and are generally believed to be ancestors of today’s Europeans. They had bones similar to those of modern humans, rather than Neanderthals. The first Cro-Magnon skull was found on an island in France about 120 years ago.
24. The Cro-Magnons were superior to Neanderthals. What were the superior qualities they have?
Answer: They were more so near to modern man in shape. They were tall and erect and more civilized.
Cro-Magnons was more so near to modern man in shape. They were tall and erect and more civilized compare to their predecessors. Their brains were about as large as of the average modern man. Cro-Magnons had a highly developed sense of art. They had the ability to make complex tools and works of art.
25. The Cro-Magnons were more artistic. What was the proof for their artistic taste?
Answer: Pictures with many colors are still seen in the caves.
Most famous among the Cro-Magnons works are cave paintings and figurines made from clay, stone and bone. A lot of these Cro-Magnons cave paintings still exists today, they show people with the spear in hunting and battle scenes, as well as the animals that they hunted (bison, deer)
26. How did the Cro-Magnons dispose of the dead?
Answer: They buried the dead in strongly built caves.
Mike Salisbury, who has been studying the Cro-Magnon site of La Chapelle aux Saints for 30 years.
A burial site known as the “Chapelle” in France was the focus of attention of a special team who excavated some 2,000 skeletons from what is believed to be the largest burial ground ever discovered in Western Europe. The investigation team, led by Mike Salisbury of the Kent University in England, includes specialists in archaeology, genetics, paleopathology and physical anthropology.
27. Could the Cro-Magnons be able to speak?
Answer: They could speak.
There is evidence that Cro-Magnons at the sites of Cro-Magnon 1 and Abri Pataud were able to produce speech more than 40,000 years before modern humans in Africa. This paper describes the first of two necessary prerequisites for symbolic language: a complete vocal tract capable of producing sounds capable of distinguishing one word from another.
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