The essay is almost done, all I need is to answer the required questions of 3 cases that are listed, the files i uploaded including the pictures in the museum. Try to fit in the answer in the essay smoothly, make some changes is totally fine. and two lectures that may help with the essay.
PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW:
PART II (55 points): Essay. This exhibit includes three dioramas, built in 1993, each containing lifesized models of two or three hominids. They are intended to depict how early hominids might have
looked during life. As shown in display no. 3, some things can be determined with certainty from the
bones (such as the shape of the chin and forehead), while other things can only be approximated (such as
the shape of lips, ears, and noses), and still other things are entirely speculative (such as skin color and
body hair). To build these exhibits, they also had to guess at behaviors, since they wanted to show the
hominids doing things, not just standing around. In order to build these exhibits, they had to make some
basic assumptions about the social behavior of each type of early hominid.
Go back and look again at each of the following three dioramas: case no. 14 (early Homo
erectus in Africa), no. 27 (Homo neanderthalensis in France), and no. 32 (Homo sapiens sapiens in
Ukraine). For each of these three exhibits, describe how many individuals are shown, what their ages
(child, young adult, or elderly) and genders (male or female) are, and what each of them is doing. Are
there any other individuals shown in the background painting? Based on this information, try to figure
out what assumptions were made in each diorama about the social groups of these early hominids (are
they portrayed as solitary nuclear families, or in some other type of larger group?) and their sex roles (is
gender-based division of labor shown? are males shown as dominating females?). Describe at least one
way that each of the three dioramas could be posed differently, if you wanted to portray a different
family structure or different gender roles.
There is only one essay, but discuss each of the THREE dioramas separately, in separate paragraphs. I
suggest that you should write at least two paragraphs on EACH diorama – at least one paragraph
describing what is SHOWN in each diorama, and what is suggested about family groups and gender
roles. Another short paragraph describing specific changes that could be made that would suggest
different family groups and gender roles.
Be specific in your descriiptions of the dioramas. State the sex and age (child, adult, or elderly), as far as
you can judge, of each person. And SPECIFICALLY, what EACH person is shown doing – what are
they holding, how are they posed, where are they in the scene.)
You may find it useful to look again at Lecture 7 (Australopithecus), where I briefly mention a similar
issue about the old diorama that showed Lucy and her friend walking through volcanic ash that looks
like snow. Also perhaps Lecture 10 (Homo erectus) that mentions the second diorama, and Lecture 13
(Upper Paleolithic) that provides some more information about Mezhirich, perhaps useful for the third
diorama. It’s OK to refer to the textbook and the other lectures, but it shouldn’t be necessary nor relevant
– you won’t find the answers to the questions that I’m asking. Rather, you need to form your own
opinions by looking at the dioramas. The question is not what the exhibits SHOULD show, or whether
or not they are right. Rather, the assignment is to try to figure out what choices the Museum made in
building this exhibit, what they CHOSE to show – and what different choices you COULD make (not
necessary should, just could) in order to show different behaviors.
