Question

2. Describe the story of Piltdown man. What have we learned from this case? (2 pts)

3. Why did hominids emerge? Summarize Darwin’s hunting hypothesis, Rodman and McHenry’s patchy forest hypothesis, and Lovejoy’s provisioning hypothesis. Which do you think is the most persuasive and why? (2 pts)

Answer 1

Answer:

2) Piltdown man is fraudulent fossil which was made up of human cranium and an ape jaw. It was presented in 1912 as a genuine hominid but later shown to be hoax in 1953.

The learning from this case is, it shows the danger of drawing conclusions based on limited information. It also shows that, without access to the evidence, its hard to get to the truth.

3) There are 3 Hypothesis to show how hominids emerged. They are: Darwin's Hunting Hypothesis,Rodman and McHenry's Patchy forest Hypothesis and Lovejoy's Provisioning Hypothesis.

a) Darwin's Hunting Hypothesis:

- Hominids were Bipedals as it freed their hands to carry weapons.

- Tool production for protection from predators.

b) Rodman and McHenry's Patchy forest Hypothesis:

- Bipedalism arised in areas of fragmented forests. Food resources also became scattered.

- Due to forest fragmentation, bipedalism freed the hands to pick food.

c) Lovejoy's Provisioning Hypothesis:

- Bipedalism arose because of monogamous males provisioning females with food and protection from the predators.

I feel that, Rodman and McHenry's theory seem to be more persuasive because, Darwin's Hunting hypothesis is disapproved by new evidences and also Lovejoy's hypothesis makes the argument for manogamous father's.