Transcript Chapter ten ppt…

Human Evolution
and PREHISTORY
Chapter Ten:
HOMO SAPIENS AND THE UPPER
PALEOLITHIC
Link to the Canadian Association for Physical Anthropology
Chapter Preview
When Did Anatomically Modern Forms Of Homo
sapiens Appear?
What Was The Culture Of Upper Paleolithic Peoples
Like?
What Were The Consequences Of The New Upper
Paleolithic Technologies?
CRO-MAGNON
European modern Homo sapiens
after 36,000 years ago are
referred to as Cro-Magnons,
after the first fossil forms
discovered in Cro-Magnon rock
shelter at Les Eyzies, France in
1868
© David Brill
UPPER PALEOLITHIC PEOPLES: THE FIRST
MODERN HUMANS
Cro-Magnons and Upper Paleolithic people from
Africa and Asia are now referred to as anatomically
modern
Brain size has reduced by 10% from archaic H. sapiens
but with a reduction in body size – we now have the
modern brain/body size ratio
Technological improvements meant less selective
pressure on massive teeth and bodies
Homo floresiensis
Flores Island, Indonesia,
about 18,000 ya
Archaeological evidence to
95,000 ya
Cranial capacity 380 cc, 1 m.
tall
Flake tools, use of fire,
hunters
Homo floresiensis
One explanation for this unique member of the genus Homo:
They evolved from larger hominins, in isolation on the
island; size reduction is a trend found in other island
species of animals
A second explanation:
They were modern humans who suffered from microcephaly,
and early populations were never isolated
Upper Paleolithic Tools – Innovations in
Techniques
1.
Blade technique of
core preparation to
produce long,
parallel-sided flint
flakes, twice as long as
they were wide
Upper Paleolithic Tools – Innovations in
Techniques
2.
Pressure flaking technique to make small
flakes by pressing with a bone, antler or
wooden tool, which allows for greater
control than by striking
3.
Blade-core technique for producing small
tools efficiently (Northeast Asia)
Upper Paleolithic Tools -- Innovations
1. Microliths, tiny blades used to make bone and
stone composite tools; widespread in
northern regions during last glaciation
2. Burins, with chisel-like edges for working with
bone, horn, antler, and ivory
3. Spear thrower, for increasing the velocity of
the spear when thrown
4. Knotted nets, for net hunting of hare, fox, e.g.
5.
Bow and arrow
Upper Paleolithic Tools
Changes in hunting and
weaponry resulted in people
becoming weaker and less
robust, with reduced
nutritional requirements
Wide variety of food
resources were exploited,
e.g. plants, fish, birds
Upper Paleolithic Art
Precursors found in the Middle
Paleolithic, e.g. use of ochre, carving,
possible musical instrument
In southwest Asia, figure of volcanic
tuff, (type of rock consisting of consolidated
volcanic ash ejected from vents during a
volcanic eruption) :250,000 years old
Earliest evidence of figurative pictures
goes back to 32,000 ya in Europe and
likely equally as old in Africa
Humans and animals in association
with geometric and other abstract
motifs
Lascaux Cave
Art and Shamanism
Scenes with visions seen in a state
of trance
Distortions of figures represent
sensations felt during a trance
Geometric designs depict entoptic
phenomena, pulsating designs seen
as one enters the trance
Animals in this art are most often
not eaten, but are powerful beasts
in the surrounding habitat
Rock Art
Goes back at least 45,000 years ago
in Australia, entirely entoptic
In Europe, the earliest art took the
form of sculpture and engravings of
animals such as reindeer, horses,
bears, and also of humans
Venus figures, emphasizing female
traits, have been found from Europe
to as far east as Siberia
Cave Paintings
On the walls of caves in southern
France and northern Spain,
dating from about 32,000 years
ago
Accurate portrayals of Ice Age
mammals
Humans and scenes of events are
not common
Often in hard-to-get-at places
where lamps were needed
ORIGINAL STUDY
Paleolithic Paint Job
The “spitting” technique of rock
painting is used today by the
aboriginal peoples of Australia
Michel Lorblanchet sees
evidence for this technique in
the Upper Paleolithic cave of
Pech Merle, 18,400 ya
He uses charcoal ground with
limestone (wet with his saliva)
and red ochre
Hypotheses Accounting for Cave Art
Art for art’s sake
Ceremonial purposes
Success in the hunt
To promote fertility in the herd
Initiation rites for youngsters
Depictions of trance experiences, painted after the
fact
Ornamentation
Necklaces of animal teeth, shells,
bone beads, etc.
Rings, bracelets, anklets
Clothing adorned with beads
Probably much art was executed
in perishable materials, e.g. wood
carvings, bark paintings
Courtesy of Mesa Community College, Anthropology
OTHER ASPECTS OF UPPER PALEOLITHIC
CULTURE
Construction of huts with
floors
Tailored clothing
Long-distance trade, e.g.
seashells traded several
hundred kilometres from the
source
THE SPREAD OF UPPER PALEOLITHIC
PEOPLES
Expansion into previously uninhabited regions of the world
Siberia by 42,000 years ago
Australia and New Guinea, by 60,000 years ago, which involved a
90-kilometre sea voyage
Australia
Earliest sophisticated rock art
Ritualistic burial of the dead, 40,000 to 60,000 years
ago
Tools that are very similar to those of the Eurasian
Middle Paleolithic
Medicinal use of ochre for healing and cleansing
The Americas – First Peoples
Archaeological evidence suggests that the roots of
aboriginal populations are in northeast Asia, but
the biological affiliations are unclear
The few preserved crania older than 8,000 years do
not resemble recent aboriginal populations
First Peoples – Physical Evidence
Before 10,000 years ago people migrating from East
Africa would have been of the generalized Asian
type (Sundadont), who lived in Southeast Asia
during the Paleolithic
After 10,000 years ago, the specialized, modern
Asian type (Sinadont) arose in Northeast Asia, and
migrating populations would have been of this type
First Peoples – Molecular Evidence
1.
mtDNA analysis indicates five haplotypes (a set of closely
linked genes inherited as a unit) in all populations of
First Nations ancestry
2.
Several migrations with considerable mixing of
populations? OR, only migration?
3.
Analysis of mtDNA mutations indicates the initial
emergence of modern First Nations ancestral lines to be
between 14,000 and 11,000 years ago (assuming a
constant mutation rate)
First Peoples – Archaeological and
Linguistic Evidence
People were settled in south Chile
(Monte Verde) by 12,500 years ago,
and in Pennsylvania (Meadowcroft) as
early as 20,000 years ago
Based on the time it takes for
languages to spread from their
homelands, it has been suggested that
the first people arrived in North
America by 20,000 years ago
First Peoples – Technology
It has long been thought that
people travelled over the Bering
Strait land bridge (Beringia) from
Northeast Asia into Alaska
A blade-making tradition dating to
40,000 years ago in Northeast Asia is
historically related to the
Northwest Microblade Tradition in
North America, dating from 11,000
to 6,000 years ago
Fluted Point Tradition
The Clovis Tradition was
used by the Paleoindians for
hunting big game such as
mammoth, caribou and
extinct forms of bison,
about 13,500 years ago
throughout North and
Central America
Route into the Americas
Glaciers blocked movement
southward in North
America until 13,000 years
ago
People were living on
Beringia (Siberia, Alaska,
Yukon Territory) by 15,000
years ago, as evidenced by
the discovery of Bluefish
Caves, Yukon
However, people were
already living south of the
glaciers by this time
Other Routes into the Americas
If people were living in Monte Verde by 12,500 years ago,
could they have arrived by boat from Japan and down the
coast of the Americas?
The fluted point was made nowhere else in the world, but
bears similarities to the technology of the Upper Paleolithic
of France and Spain
It has been hypothesized that Upper Paleolithic people
could have made it to the Grand Banks, due to lowered sea
levels, and migrated westward
Clovis Sites
Debert site, Nova Scotia,
was occupied about 10,200
years ago to take advantage
of migrating caribou
It appears that these Clovis
peoples migrated from the
south, e.g. Vail site in Maine
Other Early Sites
Kilgii Gwaay, Ellen Island, British
Columbia, 9,500 to 9,400 years ago
Coastal food resources (no salmon)
Stone flakes and bone tools
Charlie Lake Cave, B.C., 10,500 to 9,500
years ago
Earliest tools were based on
fluted point tradition
Later tools were microblades
Courtesy of Dr. Jon Driver
Early occupation of PEI…
 Greenwich, the Jones site, dating to 9000 B.C. Paleoindian
occupations…
THE AMERICAS
The current picture is that through a
combination of many migrations over
time and gene flow, we see the
characteristics of the First Nations
peoples of today
Kennewick Man – who owns him?
 9,300-year-old skeletal remains found in
Washington state
 Conflict between the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation, a group of scientists
(including anthropologists), and the
U.S. government
 In 2002, courts ruled in favour of the
scientists who wished to study him in
order to learn such information as the
biological linkages to modern First
Nations peoples
WHERE DID UPPER PALEOLITHIC PEOPLE COME
FROM
Transition from archaic to anatomically
modern H. sapiens took place in one
specific population
OR
Several populations living in Africa, Asia
and even Europe 100,000 to 40,000 ya
evolved together
Mix of features in Upper Paleolithic
populations does not fit with complete
extinction of the older population
Old World
Since Homo erectus cultural adaptation had become
the means of handling environmental stress and,
thus the major thrust in the evolution of Homo has
been toward improved cognitive capacity, or “brain
power”
Gene flow was occurring from east to west, and
vice-versa, and has contributed to the low level of
genetic differentiation among modern humans
MAJOR PALEOLITHIC TRENDS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
More sophisticated, varied and specialized tool kits
Population growth and spread, enabled by technology
Loss of heavy physical features
Development of conceptual thought
Amount of sexual dimorphism greatly reduced
Importance of and proficiency in hunting
Marked regionalism
And you are done!