ARC 101 - Human Origins and Prehistory

1. Discuss principles of modern evolutionary theory.
2. Describe and explain modern human genetic variation.
3. Compare characteristics of living members of the primates.
4. Identify key hominin species.
5. Identify artifacts, skeletal materials, and fossil casts through hands-on experience and associate each with the relevant phases of hominin evolution.

1. List and compare the four subfields of anthropology.
2. Discuss the development of modern evolutionary theory.
3. Describe and explain modern human genetic variation.
4. List and compare characteristics and living members of the order primates, discuss modern primate behavior, and identify major events in primate evolution.
5. Describe the techniques of modern paleoanthropology and archaeology.
6. Identify australopith species, their distributions, and anatomical and behavioral characteristics.
7. Discuss characteristics of early members of the genus Homo.
8. Explain the geographic, anatomical, and behavioral changes seen in Homo erectus.
9. Describe the origins, distribution, and behavior of Homo heidelbergensis and Neandertals.
10. Compare and contrast models for the origins of Homo sapiens and discuss modern human cultural development worldwide.
11. Identify, through hands-on experience with artifacts, skeletal materials, and fossil casts, such materials and associate each with the relevant phases of hominin evolution.

1. Anthropology and its Subfields
   1. Cultural Anthropology
   2. Linguistic Anthropology
   3. Archaeology
   4. Biological (Physical) Anthropology
2. The Development of Evolutionary Theory
   1. Pre-Darwinian Explanations
   2. Darwin, Wallace, and Evolution by Natural Selection
   3. Genetics and Classical and Molecular Genetics
   4. Evolutionary Processes
   5. Biocultural Evolution
3. Modern Human Variation
   1. Modern Human Genetic Variation and Adaptation
   2. The Concept of Race
4. Primates
   1. Primate Characteristics and Living Primate Taxonomy
   2. Living Primate Behavior
   3. Primate Evolution and Fossil Primates
5. Paleoanthropology and Archaeology
   1. Dating Methods
   2. Fossil and Archaeological Remains
   3. Paleoanthropological and Archaeological Methods and Concepts
6. Australopiths
   1. Origins and Distribution
   2. Key species
   3. Anatomical and Behavioral Characteristics
7. Early Homo
   1. Origins and Distribution
   2. Anatomical and Behavioral Characteristics, Oldowan Culture
8. Homo erectus
   1. Origins and Dispersal
   2. Anatomical and Behavioral Characteristics, Acheulean Culture
9. Homo heidelbergensis and Neandertals
   1. Origins and Distribution
   2. Anatomical and Behavioral Characteristics, Mousterian Culture
10. Homo sapiens
    1. Competing Models for Origins and Spread
    2. Anatomical and Behavioral Characteristics,  Upper Paleolithic Cultures
    3. Later Modern Human Dispersals and Cultural Developments