Introduction to Biological Anthropology Discussion 4
1.) Conventional wisdom has been that A. habilis was the first maker of stone tools and that this accomplishment merits its inclusion in the genus Homo.
Does the conventional wisdom fit the current evidence? Is it likely that australopithecines were the first tool users?
What mental qualities are needed to make tools? How does understanding the making of tools help us understand the lives of the people who originally made them?
2.) What evidence suggests that Neandertals deliberately buried their dead?
Do you think the fact that they buried their dead is important? Why?
How would you interpret this behavior ( remem-bering that Neandertals were not identical to us)?