Human Evolution Human Evolution andand PREHISTORYPREHISTORY
Chapter Nine:Chapter Nine:
HOMO HOMO HEIDELBERGENSISHEIDELBERGENSIS, ,
NEANDERTAL AND THE NEANDERTAL AND THE MIDDLE PALEOLITHICMIDDLE PALEOLITHICLink to the Canadian Association for Physical Anthropology
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Who Were the Descendants of Who Were the Descendants of Homo Homo erectus/ergastererectus/ergaster??
What Was The Culture Of What Was The Culture Of Homo Homo heidelbergensisheidelbergensis and Neandertals and Neandertals
Like?Like?
What Became Of The Neandertals?What Became Of The Neandertals?
ARCHAIC ARCHAIC Homo sapiensHomo sapiens or other or other species?species?
Middle Pleistocene, 800,000 to 120,000 ya Fossils with mix of erectus/ergaster and sapiens cranial traitsClear increase in brain size
ARCHAIC ARCHAIC Homo sapiensHomo sapiens or other or other species?species?
Some anthropologists lump these fossils into archaic H. sapiens because of the similarity to moderns; the variation is only at the subspecies level, e.g. H. sapiens neandertalensis
others feel that the variations represent a different species (increasingly the majority view)E.g. early Middle Pleistocene, Europe and
AfricaHomo heidelbergensis
** the text supports the latter view
Middle Pleistocene fossilsMiddle Pleistocene fossilsAn important site is Sima de
Los Huesos, Spain, close to Gran Dolina where H. antecessor was found which dated to 800,000 ya (chapter 8)
Dates to 325,000 – 205,000 ya, with significant variation in the 32 individuals
Mix of morphological features between erectus/ergaster and sapiens
Sima de Los Heusos site in the Atapuerca Mountains in Spain...
Middle Pleistocene fossilsMiddle Pleistocene fossilsAfrica and EuropePeriod between 400,000 and 200,000 yaRemains classified sometimes as H. sapiens
and sometimes as H. erectus/ergasterYet all have cranial capacities within range
of Sima de los Huesos, and all display the mosaic of features seen in H. heidelbergensis
East Asiasame mix of traits – either H.
heidelbergensis or a new hominin species
Steinheimensis…
Dated to approx. 325 kya
Location: Germany
Transitional Sapiens
Info...
Levalloisian TechniqueLevalloisian Technique
A method of flake manufacture from a specially prepared core
Found in Africa, Europe, Middle East, China
TechnologyTechnology Composite tools made by
hafting bifaces and flakes in wood handles
Regional styles and variation of tools are clearly evident
Proportion of raw materials from distant sources increases
In Africa, increased use of yellow and red iron oxide (rise in ritual activity?); common by 130,000 ya
Red Ochre...
Hafting...
The NeandertalsThe Neandertals
125,000 to 29,000 ya in Europe and west Asia
Homo neandertalensis
Maternal DNA virtually absent from modern humans
Neandertals and modern humans began to diverge around 500,000 ya
Characteristics of Neandertals - CraniaCharacteristics of Neandertals - Crania
Modern-sized brains (higher average cranial capacity than moderns)Huge front teeth, used for tasks other than chewingLarge noses, to warm and moisten glacial airProtruding eye sockets, with prominent brow ridgesOccipital bun, to counteract the heavy face
Characteristics of Neandertals – Postcranial Characteristics of Neandertals – Postcranial SkeletonSkeleton
Extremely muscular, with robust and dense limb bonesShort limbs relative to body massPowerful arms with remarkably strong gripMassive foot and leg bonesDimensions of the pelvic outlet are fully consistent with those of a modern woman of the same size
African, Chinese and Javanese African, Chinese and Javanese PopulationsPopulations
Same time period as European Neandertals
These fossils simply lack the extreme mid-face projection and massive muscle attachments, e.g. Solo River
Look like robust versions of earlier populations in the same region
Fully modern-sized brains
THE CULTURE OF ARCHAIC THE CULTURE OF ARCHAIC HOMO HOMO SAPIENSSAPIENS
Middle Paleolithic Traditions
Best known are the Mousterian and Mousterian-like traditions of Europe, Western Asia, North Africa
166,000 to 40,000 years ago Comparable traditions are found as
far east as China and Japan where they arose independently from local predecessors
The Mousterian TraditionThe Mousterian Tradition
Characterized by Acheulean handaxes and flake tools made by new Levalloisian techniques
Great variety of tool types, e.g. notched flakes, gravers, borers, scrapers
Composite tools with hafting in bone and wood
The Mousterian TraditionThe Mousterian TraditionPopulation increase pushed people into colder climates in Europe
In adaptation to the cold people increased their intake of meat (animal fats)
As hunters Neandertals were opportunistic predators as well as focusing on a particular species
Neandertals were capable of hunting large game animals, utilizing local faunal diversity….and they scavenged
The Mousterian TraditionThe Mousterian Tradition
Increase in complexity of tool kit for hunting and processing
People became less mobile as seen in the long occupations of caves and rock shelters
People began to care for the physically disabled and the elderly, e.g. Shanidar Cave
Culture was now more than what was needed to survive
The Symbolic Life of NeandertalsThe Symbolic Life of Neandertals
Deliberate burial of the dead
Europe, South Africa, Southwest Asia
The Symbolic Life of NeandertalsThe Symbolic Life of Neandertals
Use of pigments, e.g. manganese dioxide and red ochre to apply colour to things
Carving and engravingPossible use of
musical instruments, e.g. flute from a site in Slovenia
Cave bear flute
Neandertals and Spoken LanguageNeandertals and Spoken Language
Shape and position of hyoid bone was adequate for speech
The necessary neural development had occurred
Size of hypoglossal canal is like that of modern humans
Thoracic vertebral canal is expanded (increased breath control for speech)
MODERN HUMAN ORIGINSMODERN HUMAN ORIGINS“The Great Debate”“The Great Debate”Did populations of archaic Homo sapiens
simultaneously evolve from H. erectus into modern H. sapiens (multiregional hypothesis)?
ORAre all contemporary people derived from
one single population of archaic Homo sapiens (“Eve” or “Out-of-Africa” hypothesis)?
The Multiregional HypothesisThe Multiregional HypothesisIn Africa, China and Southeast Asia,
the fossil evidence strongly supports genetic continuity from Homo erectus through to modern Homo sapiens
Gene flow among populations keeps the human species unified throughout the Pleistocene; there were no speciation events, e.g. Neandertals
The Multiregional HypothesisThe Multiregional HypothesisFor Europe, there is some resistance to the
idea that Neandertals were involved in the ancestry to modern humans because of the Aurignacian toolmaking tradition, a new blade technology, appearing in Europe by 36,500 years ago
Anatomically modern humans are generally considered the makers of these tools
The Multiregional HypothesisThe Multiregional HypothesisNeandertal sites are known from western Europe dating to 35,000 to 30,000 years ago, indicating coexistence between modern and archaic forms of sapiens
Considering the anatomical differences, some form of population replacement, rather than simple evolution, may have occurred
The Multiregional HypothesisThe Multiregional HypothesisAn alternate to the explanation is the idea of the “varied population”, rather than ideal types
In the western Europe population between 40,000 and 30,000 years ago, some individuals retained stronger Neandertal heritage and in others modern traits are more prominent
The “Eve” or “Out-of-Africa” The “Eve” or “Out-of-Africa” HypothesisHypothesis
Anatomically modern humans are descended from one specific population of Homo sapiens, replacing populations as they spread out from their original homeland
This hypothesis comes from the use of mitochondrial DNA to reconstruct family trees (maternal lineages)
Preliminary results suggested that the ancestor of modern humans lived in Africa 200,000 years ago
Y-chromosome analysis (paternal lineages) supports the DNA conclusions
Fossil Evidence for the “Out-of-Fossil Evidence for the “Out-of-Africa” HypothesisAfrica” Hypothesis
1. Homo sapiens idaltu (Ehtiopia), 160,000 to 154,000 years ago
2. Modern traits, e.g. domed forehead, narrow nasal bones
3. Acheulean and Middle Stone Age tools
4. Omo river (Ethiopia) fossils, recently dated to 190,000 ya, anatomically modern humans
Cultural Evidence for the “Out-Cultural Evidence for the “Out-of-Africa” Hypothesisof-Africa” Hypothesis
1. oldest substantial behavioural evidence linked to moderns is from Africa
2. at Klasies River and Blombos Cave, South Africa, both land and sea resources are exploited, 70,00-80,000 ya
3. use of blade technology
Problems with the “Out-of-Africa” Problems with the “Out-of-Africa” HypothesisHypothesis
There is no evidence for replacement in southwest Asia and east Asia, and strong evidence for continuity in both the archaeological and fossil record in East Asia
ORIGINAL STUDY
African Origin or Ancient Population Size African Origin or Ancient Population Size Differences?Differences?
The “Eve” theory is based on the idea that the greater genetic variability observed in Africans was a measure of a large number of mutations accumulating over a long period of time; therefore, humans must have evolved longer in Africa
An alternative explanation is that ancient population sizes expanded first, and are larger, in Africa than in other regions, thereby creating greater African variation
Larger populations lose fewer mtDNA lineages and therefore retain more variation
Therefore, the last common ancestor will be farther in the past, and this could be the explanation for the origin of modern humans being in Africa
Problems With the mtDNA AnalysisProblems With the mtDNA Analysis
1. Assumption that mutation rate is steady
2. Assumption that mtDNA is not subject to selection
3. Assumption that DNA traveled exclusively from Africa, and that there was no two-way exchange
Homo sapiensHomo sapiens and the and the Upper PaleolithicUpper Paleolithic