Transcript Physical Anthropology Chapter 13

PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
CHAPTER 13
PROFESSOR SOLIS
Pre-Modern Humans
 Pre-Modern Humans
 Refers to those hominids that
are behaviorally and
physiologically like Homo
sapiens –
 Still significant differences
 Still can refer to them as
“human” but distinguish them
from “modern humans” –
“Pre – Modern Humans”
 Pre-Modern Humans include
Neanderthals and other
Homo species
Pre-Modern Humans
 Pre-Modern Humans and the Ice Age
 Most pre-modern humans lived during the Middle Pleistocene
(780,000 to 125,000 kya)
 Some, like Neanderthal, lived into the Late Pleistocene (125,000 to
20,000 kya)
 The Pleistocene is called the Ice Age because of dramatic drops in
temperature, major advances in continental glaciers, ice
accumulation and increase in snow fall.
 During the Pleistocene there were interglacial periods – warmer
periods
 During the Ice Age the glaciations were mostly confined to Europe,
Asia, N. America, and Antarctica – the northern latitudes
Pre-Modern Humans
Homo heidelbergensis
 Dating from 850,000 to
200,000
 Named after a fossil found
in Germany in 1907
 This is believed to be a
transitional species
between Homo erectus
and modern humans and
probably an ancestor to
Neanderthals as well
 Has been found in Africa,
Europe, and possibly
Asia (though some argue
these specimens are
variants of Homo erectus)
Middle Pleistocene Evolution
Pre-Modern finds from Africa and
Europe resemble each other
more than they do hominids from
Asia –
The African and European finds
are referred to as Homo
heidelbergensis.
It is hypothesized that in Africa,
H. heidelbergensis evolved into
H. sapiens; in Europe H.
Heidelbergensis may have
evolved into Neanderthals, and in
Asia – there is no consensus- all
pre-modern forms might have
met with extinction or continued
to evolve into modern humans, or
where they replaced by an
African population?
Middle Pleistocene Tool Technology

New Tool Technology

Levallois Technique

Co-existed with Acheulian
technology

Less hand axes and more
worked flakes

Continued living in caves
and open air sites, but
possible increase use of
caves

Controlled use of fire

Evidence of temporary
structures

Exploitation of various
resources

Advanced hunting
technology – spears found
in 1995 in Schoningen,
Germany
Middle Pleistocene Tool Technology
 Eight wooden javelins found at
Schoningen
 400,000 to 380,000
 Measure 6 ft long
 Finely crafted – spruce, well
balanced
 Found with remains of horses
Neanderthals/Neandertals
 Neandertals were originally
found over a century ago
 Originally thought to be the
ancestor of Homo sapiens
 Some anthropologists still
classify them as a “sub
species” to humans
 Other scientists disagree – see
Neandertals as a separate
species Homo
neanderthalensis
 Lived from about 750,000 to
20,000 +/- during the last major
glaciation
 Most specimens have been
found in Europe – we have
some from western Asia
•Early evidence of cannibalism
•9 individuals found in Spain
•Scientists have discovered the gene for red hair
and fair skin
Neandertal Characteristics
 Neandertals had a large brain – larger than H. sapiens
today
 Average brain size for humans is 1300 to 1400 cm3
 Neandertal brain size was around 1520 cm3
Neandertal sites
 La Chapelle-aux-Saints -1908 –
burial of a 40 year old Neandertal
male – purposely buried – grave
goods in association (tools and
offerings) buried in a flexed position
 This individual suffered from
osteoarthritis of the spine
 Very large brain 1620cm3
 Moula-Guercy Cave – clear
evidence of cannibalism. Tool cut
marks on possibly 6+ individuals, cut
marks to extract marrow and the
brain. Other animal bones in
association processed in the same
way (evidence of hammer on anvil
tools)
Neanderthal Sites
 St. Cesaire and Vindija sites:
33,000 to 32,000 ya.
 Have anatomically modern
humans living in close
proximity
 Borrowed tool technology
from modern humans
 New technology:
Chatelperronian
 Upper Paleolithic tool industry found in
France and Spain – mostly blade
tools.
Neanderthal Sites
 Israel
 Tabun – Excavated in the 1930’s
 Female skeleton
 Dated by thermoluminescence (TL)
120,000-110,000 ya
 Contemporaries with H. sapiens
found in nearby caves
Neanderthal Sites
 Kebara Cave
 Partial skeleton, dated to 60,000 ya
 Complete Neanderthal thorax and
pelvis and a hyoid bone – first ever
found
 Reconstruction of language
capabilities among Neanderthals
Tool Technology
 Mousterian Tools– associated with
Neandertals and some modern H.
sapien groups – more flake like tools
 Shows up during the Middle Paleolithic
 Mousterian culture spread across
Europe, N. Africa, former Soviet Union,
Israel, Iran, Uzbekistan and possibly
China
 Specialized tools for skinning and
preparing meat, hunting, and wood
working.
 Neandertals subject to head and neck
trauma – similar to modern rodeo
performers (trampling by ungulates)
 Hunting in close contact
Speech and Symbolic Behavior
When did full human language
emerge?
Debated by scientists for decades
Did Neandertals have the capacity
for speech?
Some believe that speech played a
role in H. sapiens dominating and
eradicating Neandertals?
A new find indicates that
Neandertals and humans share the
same version of a gene, FOXP2,
which contributes to advanced
language. The finding suggests that
Neandertals might have talked like
modern humans.
Illustration courtesy U.S. Department of Energy
Genome Programs
Lingering Questions
mtDNA extracted from Neandertal
specimens indicate that they are
genetically different from modern H.
sapien populations
Suggested divergence with modern
H. sapien ancestors around
690,000 to 550,000 ya.
See DNA patterns that are different
from modern humans
Though considered a separate
species, some argue that they were
not a completely separate biological
species and had the capacity to
interbreed with modern humans
Was this likely- given high degree
of geographic isolation?
Lingering Questions…
 2010 Sequencing of European
Neanderthal Genome
 Conclusion: that some
interbreeding with H. sapiens did
occur (80,000-50,000 ya)
Conclusion
 Middle Pleistocene (780,000 to
125,000)
 Period of great transition in
human evolution
 Transitional hominids that are
closer in relationship to modern
humans than earlier forms –
Pre-Modern Humans
 Homo heidelbergensis
 Neandertals
 Neandertals exist well into the Late
Pleistocene (20,000 ya)
 Most scientists consider
Neandertals a side branch of
human evolution