CARTA Glossary

A subsistence strategy that relies on domestication of species instead of hunting and gathering wild animals and plants.

A branch of “old world” primates characterized by the lack of a tail due to a mutation of the TBXT gene. Apes consist of the families, Hylobatidae (“lesser apes”: gibbons and siamangs) and Hominidae (“great apes”: orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and humans).

A form of intelligence in which a machine system is able to make rational decisions based on perception of its environment.

A notation for the Gregorian calendar. BCE 1 precedes immediately before 1 CE with no intervening year zero.

A notation for the Gregorian calendar. 1 CE follows immediately after BCE 1 with no intervening year zero.

The process of artificial selection by humans for desired traits of plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms. This implies the complete control of the reproduction of those species.

The EvoDevo approach stresses that evolution yields biological mechanisms for both development and adult function of members of a species. The EvoDevoSocio framework adds that development is shaped not only by the genome but also by the physical and (especially in humans) the social environment in which the individual develops. To close the loop, humans in turn shape the environment and so cultural evolution has played a crucial role in changing the social, physical and increasingly symbolic and technological environments in which most humans now develop.

An archeological site in Southeastern Turkey. Göbekli Tepe is a settlement dating to c. 9,500-8,000 BCE and is famous for its “monumental architecture” of large circular structures containing stone pillars (megaliths) decorated with reliefs. The structures were built by hunter-gatherers during the pre-pottery Neolithic and represent one of the first examples of monumental architecture.

The early Holocene Sea Rise period (or EHSLR) is when the Earth underwent warming and meltwater release during the period between 11,650 and 7000 years ago, and consequently the volume of sea water increased. The sea levels rose from some 125 meters below the contemporary level to 2 meter above it, and then dropped to the present level. The coastlines moved inland and most contemporary islands, both large and small, were isolated off their mainlands.

An important archaeological site in Africa with a sequence of human activity over 250,000 years. Kalambo Falls is located in northeastern Zambia, along the border with Tanzania.

Meaning “new stone age,” it is an archaeological period representing the final division of the Stone Age in Europe, Asia, Mesopotamia, and Africa. The Neolithic dates between 10,000 and 2,000 BCE and encompasses the “neolithic revolution” in which farming, domestication, and permanent settlement began.

A broad prehistoric period during which stone was used to make tools and weapons and is synonymous with Stone Age. During the paleolithic, hunting and gathering (foraging) was the primary subsistence method. The period ended with a flourishing of culture, not only in the manufacture of new stone (and bone tools) and other innovations (such spear thrower, bow and arrow, eyed needle, fishing implements), but also the development of splendid cave art paintings and engravings. Subdivisions:

• Lower Paleolithic: ~3.4 million years ago (mya) - 300 thousand years ago (kya).
• Middle Paleolithic: Consists of use of prepared cores (i.e. Levallois Technique) and hafted tools and weapons. ~300 - 30 kya.
• Upper Paleolithic: Coincides with behavioral modernity and predates the advent of agriculture. Artifacts include finely crafted stone blades and bone and antler tools, such as harpoons and needles. ~50 - 10 kya.

During the Pleistocene Epoch, when the sea level was as much as 150m lower than today, the land masses of Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea were all part of a broader continental area, which is called the Sahul Shelf by contemporary geologists.

During the Pleistocene Epoch, when the sea level was as much as 150 meters lower than today, the land masses of Thailand, Malaya, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and the Philippines were all part of a broader land shelf which is called Sunda by contemporary geologists, being the old continental Southeast Asia.