YEARS 1997 & 1995 PAST EXAM PAPER FOR FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN CULTURE MODULE
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
OR Why did humans begin to domesticate plants, and what were its consequences?
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?
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