Rubric: For the essay questions, please respond thoroughly to both questions. Assume that you are writing for an audience/reader who does not already know the answers to the question prompts, and who has not already taken this course. In other words, you should explain the concepts so that they are completely comprehensible to a non-expert. To do so, define your terms and clearly explain how the ideas you describe are connected.

Responses are NOT graded based on their length or word count, but on how clear, logical, and thorough they are in explaining concepts using course materials.

question 1) How do the “multiregional” and “out-of-Africa” hypotheses of human origins differ? How does existing archaeological evidence support or refute these ideas?

question 2) Discuss the ways that new diets focusing on meat-eating may have impacted the evolution of the stomach and brain in the genus Homo. Be sure to discuss the timing and archaeological evidence for changes in diet and for related changes in the bodies of our ancestors. How did these dietary and physical changes affect parent-child interactions within the genus Homo and the development of cooperation in groups of Homo Erectus?