Anthropology

In Anthro 101 write a 500+ word short story about a day in the life of a specific hominin. Choose a specific species on which to focus and write a short story about a day in their life. You may recount the whole day or focus on a part of it.

The purpose of this exercise is to help you think like a paleoanthropologist: how can you link together the known anatomy of the species with what we know from primates and modern hunter-gatherers to create an idea of what the lives of these hominins were like?

Assignment requirements:

You must use at least 10 specific references to the anatomy and/or behavior of your species.

Each reference must be footnoted, with an explanation and a reference. You can use any reference which you trust, including the book and the Modules.

I recommend choosing species which we know more about, like Au. afarensis, H. erectus, or Neandertals, but you are welcome to choose any species.

Be creative! See the rubric for more information on grading.

 

Start of a truly well-written and extremely creative example:

The sun was coming up, the birds were singing, and Sally the Sahelanthropus stretched in her nest in the tree.1 Using her prehensile hallux,2 she climbed down the tree.

Footnotes:

1The earliest hominins had upper body adaptations for using the trees, and scientists think that they probably made nightly nests like modern-day chimps. (Module 6.5 & 6.6)

2Although we don’t have post-cranial remains for Sahelanthropus, because both apes and later hominins (Ardipithecus) have prehensile halluxes, it seems reasonable to suppose that Sahelanthropus did as well. (Module 6.5)

This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome

Story quality

Story is 500+ words, focuses on a specific hominin species, and includes at least 10 specific details about the hominin

BOOK PDF

https://explorations.americananthro.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Explorations-An-OpenInvitationToBiologicalAnthropology-Complete-2.pdf

GRADING 

Story quality

Story is 500+ words, focuses on a specific hominin species, and includes at least 10 specific details about the hominin(10PTS)

Footnotes

10 details are footnoted with explanatory details and a reference(10 PTS)

Creativity!

Story adds something a little extra or unexpected, or story considers a detail in an imaginative way, or story tackles detail we haven’t discussed in class/modules(5 PTS)

This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeWriting quality

Story is understandable, clear, and has been proofread. Grammar and punctuation are solid.(5 PTS)

TOTAL; 30 PTS