FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN CULTURE EXAM QUESTIONS FROM MONDAY 16TH JUNE 1997
There are FIFTEEN questions. Candidates should answer FOUR questions.
1. Discuss the 'molecular clock' and its significance to our view of
human evolution.
2. What is the relation between the development of agriculture, pottery
and metallurgy?
3. 'Civilisation is an improvement on savagery'. Discuss.
4. What are the four forces of evolutionary change? Construct an
example for each of the four to illustrate how each force can alter gene
frequencies in a population.
5. Why is humanity so diverse?
6. Discuss the genetic and behavioural similarities between chimpanzees
and humans.
7. What are the main characteristics of those fossil hominids called
Australopithecus? Why are they significant for studies of human
origins?
8. Why is physiological plasticity important? Give examples of both
short-term and development plasticity.
9. Outline the main features of a hunter-gatherer way of life. Do
ethnographic studies of contemporary hunter-gatherers provide evidence for
early human forms of organisation.
10. Drawing on the different themes of the course discuss how culture
can interact with genetic evolution.
11. What are the distinctive features of human language? What is the
evidence for their evolution?
12. Compare the development of civilisation in the Middle East and
Mesoamerica.
13. What is the secular trend? Include AT LEAST TWO examples attributed
to the secular trend in your answer.
14. What does the archaeological record up to 10,000 BP tell us about
the evolution of the human mind?
15. EITHER Is swidden cultivation sustainable? Discuss
FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN
CULTURE EXAM QUESTIONS FROM MONDAY 13TH JUNE 1995
There are FIFTEEN questions. Candidates should answer FOUR questions.
1. What is the significance of human social and cultural diversity?
2. What was new about Darwin's theory of evolution?
3. How have anthropologists defined culture and how do their definitions
influence our interpretation of hominid evolution?
4. What evidence do we have for the social organization of
Australopithecus?
5. What are the evolutionary relationships between Homo habilis, Homo
erectus and the Neanderthals?
6. How does the molecular 'clock' relate to the 'Eve Hypothesis'?
7. What are the main ecological and social characteristics of a
hunter-gatherer way of life?
8. What do we understand by 'co-evolution' in studies of human
interaction with plants and animals? Please refer to specific
examples.
9. How does dependence on low-energy agriculture affect human ecology
and patterns of settlement?
10. Why did states develop?
11. Can a society without cities be civilised?
12. Discuss some of the causes of biological variation between human
groups.
13. Is race a useful term to describe differences between human groups?
14. What is the relationship between sex and gender?
15. Why are human societies unstable?
OR Why did humans begin to domesticate plants, and what
were its consequences?