copyright © 2013 pearson education, inc. all rights reserved. chapter 12 archaic homo sapiens and...

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Chapter 12Archaic Homo sapiens and

Neandertals


Hominin Evolution in the Mid- to Late Pleistocene

• Defining Anatomically Modern Homo sapiens– Large and gracile skull– Rounded cranium– Large, pyramidal mastoid process– Smaller face– Canine fossa– Chin– Long lower limbs


Archaic Homo sapiens• European Archaic Homo sapiens

500,000 - 600,000 years ago– Boxgrove– Sierra de Atapuerca

• African Archaic Homo sapiens– 600,000 years ago– Bodo– Ndutu

• Asian Archaic Homo sapiens– 130,000-200,000 years ago– Jinniushan– Narmada


Behavior of Archaic Homo sapiens

• Stone Tools–Middle Paleolithic (Middle Stone Age)• Levallois Technique

• Biodegradable Tools– Stone-wood composite tools


Behavior of Archaic Homo sapiens (cont’d)

• Big Game Hunting– Schöningen– Boxgrove

• Fire, Campsites, and Home Sites– No proper hearths– Terra Amata


The Neandertals

• Geographic and Temporal Distribution– 27,000-150,000 years ago– Europe, Near and Middle East, Western Asia– Subspecies of Homo sapiens?

• History of Neandertal Discovery– First discovered in 1830 at Engis cave, Belgium– 1856: limestone quarry in the Neander Valley

(Neanderthal)


The Neandertals (cont’d)

• Neandertal Anatomy and DNA: Built for the Cold– Cranial• Double-arched brow ridges• No canine fossa• No chin• Long and low vault• Midfacial projection• Large juxtamastoid eminence• 1600cc cranial capacity (male) • 1300cc cranial capacity (female)



Neandertal Anatomy and DNA: Built for the Cold (cont’d)

– Teeth• worn anterior teeth

• upper incisors have thick enamel on lingual surface

• taurodontism




– Postcranial• massive build• short stature• barrel chest• short limbs• heavy muscle markings on bones• gracile superior pubic ramus




– DNA• 1997: DNA from original Neandertal remains have been

extracted, amplified, and sequenced• Mezmaiskaya: the DNA of this subadult specimen and a

number of other individuals have been successfully analyzed• 2010: nuclear DNA was analyzed and a draft of the

Neandertal genome published



Children may have developed

faster than human children

In general, Neandertal may

have developed at a similar

pace to modern humans

Growing Up Neandertal



• Health and Disease– Evidence of traumatic injury: Neandertals lived

hard lives; most skeletal remains show injury–Why so many skeletal injuries?• too close to prey while hunting?• fractures may vary by geographic region according to

the ruggedness of terrain


Neandertal Behavior

• Material Culture– Anterior dentition as tool– Mousterian tradition– Association with Chatelperronian tradition– Wooden spears?

Coping with Cold– Migration– Fire– Hides– Structures


Neandertal Behavior (cont’d)

• Hunting and Subsistence– Heavy meat reliance– Kebara site

– Cannibalism• as subsistence

• Burials– Spy Cave– La Ferrassie– No grave goods


Neandertal Behavior (cont’d)

• Ritual and Symbolic Behavior– Very little in the Neandertal archaeological

record to indicate symbolic behavior–Mousterian sites: some incised bones

recovered– Pierced animal teeth may have been items of

personal adornment (Arcy-sur-Cure, France)– An incised plate of a mammoth tooth, from the

site of Tata


Phylogenetic and Taxonomic Issues: An Overview

Lumpers

Splitters

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