Anthr. Ch. 12

NEANDERTALS TALKED

Because early anthropologists believed that Neandertals lacked the ability to speak, they argued that Neandertals were not related to modern people in an evolutionary sense (this idea continues to the present) American linguist Philip Lieberman and the American anatomist Edmund Crelin, for example, have reconstructed the Neandertal vocal tract. Because their reconstruction resembles a modern newborn infant's vocal tract, Lieberman and Crelin conclude that, like human babies, Neandertals could not express the full range of sounds necessary for articulate speech. Based on skulls alone, it necessarily lacks the anatomical parts (soft tissues) important for determining whether Neandertals had speech. One compelling line of evidence suggests that Neandertals were able to speak. - Kebara Neandertal skeleton includes the hyoid bone, a part of the neck that can survive from ancient settings. - Various muscles and ligaments attach it to the skull, mandible, tongue, larynx, and pharynx, collectively producing speech *The morphology of the Kebara Neandertal's hyoid is identical to that of a living human's. The Kebara people talked*

Genetic evidence also supports the notion that Neandertals spoke.

German geneticist Johannes Krause and his team successfully identified the FOXP2 gene—a gene strongly implicated in the production of speech—from Neandertal bone samples from the El Sidrón site. Although it is not the gene for speech, it is part of a complex of genetic variation found in modern humans. Its presence in these late archaic H. sapiens indicates that Neandertals talked.

EARLY ARCHAIC HOMO SAPIENS' DIETARY ADAPTATIONS

H. sapiens used much more diverse tools to acquire and process food. the face, jaws, and back teeth (premolars and molars) show a general reduction in size. American physical anthropologist C. Loring Brace hypothesizes that selection for large back teeth lessened as tools became more important for processing food. (with reduced selection, the teeth became smaller) Alternatively, as technological innovation changed the way teeth were used, the teeth may have been under greater selection for reduced size. no one knows for sure, but cultural innovation and increased dependence on material culture likely played a role in this fundamental biological change *the same time that the importance of the back teeth diminished, the use of the front teeth increased* (incisors and canines underwent heavy wear) (tells us that these hominins used their front teeth as a tool, perhaps as a kind of third hand for gripping materials) European archaic H. sapiens, the front teeth show a size increase (link between heavy use of the front teeth and increase in size of these teeth suggests the likelihood of selection for large front teeth)

Modern Homo sapiens: Single Origin and Global Dispersal or Regional Continuity?

H. sapiens' evolution begins with the emergence of archaic forms, some 350,000- 500,000 yBP. These early H. sapiens provide the context for modern H. sapiens' evolutionary development, which took place at different times in different places. first modern H. sapiens appeared earliest in Africa, by 160,000 yBP, and latest in Europe *transition to fully modern H. sapiens was completed globally by about 25,000 yBP*

microcephaly

A condition in which the cranium is abnormally small and the brain is underdeveloped.

occipital bun

A cranial feature of Neandertals in which the occipital bone projects substantially from the skull's posterior.

archaic Homo sapiens in Africa (350,000-200,000 YBP)

One of several individuals found in the Kabwe (Broken Hill) lead mine in Zambia has enormous browridges, but the facial bones and the muscle attachment areas on the back of the skull for the neck muscles are quite small compared with those of H. erectus in Africa cranial capacity: 1300 cc skull is similar in appearance to those of early archaic hominins from Europe. Both the Zambian and the European skulls have erectuslike characteristics: - large face - large brow ridges - thick cranial bones however, H. erectus skulls like their Asian counterparts, are higher, reflecting a brain expansion

immediate ancestors of modern people—archaic H. sapiens—differ from modern H. sapiens.

archaic H. sapiens: -have a longer and lower skull -larger browridge -bigger and more projecting face -a taller and wider nasal aperture (opening for the nose), -a more projecting occipital bone (sometimes called an "occipital bun" when referring to Neanderthals) -larger teeth (especially the front teeth) -no chin *(the post cranial bones of archaic H. sapiens are THICKER than modern people's)* Some hominin skeletons dating to the Upper Pleistocene have a mixture of archaic and modern features. ex. Skhul 5 skeleton, from Israel: - somewhat forward projecting face - pronounced brow ridges -distinctive chin (modern feature) - no occipital bun (modern feature) Herto skulls from Ethiopia have a combo of archaic and modern features (though the modern features dominate) *Skhul & Herto hominins were on the verge of modernity or were very early modern H. sapiens and maybe the earliest in western Asia and Africa*

early archaic Homo sapiens

earliest forms of H. sapiens emerged around 350,000 yBP. have been found in Asia, Africa, and Europe their evolution is clearly out of the earlier H. erectus populations Anthropologists have documented this evolutionary transition in the three continental settings, noting, for example, the similarly massive browridges in archaic H. sapiens and in earlier H. erectus. Although quite primitive in key respects, all the fossils representing archaic H. sapiens and earlier H. erectus show continued reduction in skeletal robusticity, smaller tooth size, expansion in brain size, and increasing cultural complexity.

Multiregional Continuity model

emphasizes the importance of gene flow across population boundaries—separate species of humanity never arose owing to the constant interbreeding of human groups throughout human evolution.

comparisons of earlier with later early modern H. sapiens in Europe indicate a trend toward gracilization

faces, jaws, and teeth became smaller and the faces became less projecting. comparison of early and late Upper Paleolithic heights reconstructed from the long bones shows that the later early modern people were shorter. The decrease in the height of early modern people may have been caused, at the very end of the Pleistocene (last 20,000 years), by both a decrease in the quality of nutrition and resource stress. An outcome of this change was a global increase in the range of foods eaten. (b/c human population size was growing placing increased pressure on food resources) Archaeological evidence shows that the later early modern humans hunted and collected smaller and less desirable (because not as protein-​rich) foods, such as small vertebrates, fish, shellfish, and plants. The morphological shift indicates an adaptation to cold during the late Upper Paleolithic, a highly dynamic period of human adaptation and evolution.

Feldhofer Cave Neandertal

first fossil hominin to receive serious attention from scientists. accidentally discovered it in 1856 Feldhofer Cave is located in Neander Valley (in German, Neander Tal), near Düsseldorf, Germany. Workers happened upon the skeleton while removing clay deposits from the cave as part of a limestone quarrying operation. (taken to a school teacher who then took it to an anthropologist *Hermann Schaafhausen* who reported his findings to German Natural History Society) published in leading German scientific journal the skull was long and low, different from modern people's but with some similarities, such as in brain size skeletal remains of extinct Pleistocene animals also found in the cave indicated that this human had lived at the same time as these animals. At the time these breathtaking announcements were made, many authorities believed that humans had appeared very recently in the history of life, certainly postdating extinct animals associated with the great Pleistocene Ice Age

breakthrough study led by Swedish geneticist Svante Pääbo

new technology applied to the analysis of three female Neandertal bones from Vindija Cave at last has provided the sequence of 4 billion base pairs representing the Neandertal genome. Pääbo and his team used highthroughput DNA sequencing, a technology through which much of a genome can be sequenced from a compilation of various genome fragments recovered from fossil bones. results are breathtaking: Eurasians and Neandertals share between 1% and 4% of their nuclear DNA, an indication of a small but significant admixture. Given that Africans share no nuclear DNA with Neandertals, the admixture occurred between early modern Europeans and Neandertals after early modern people left Africa. *People living today outside of Africa have DNA that likely originated from Neandertals. In that sense, the Neandertals are still with us* But early modern H. sapiens may not have interbred with just Neandertals.

Analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), the DNA inherited only via the mother

offers potential clues about modern people's origins Comparisons of mtDNA from more than a dozen Neandertal skeletons—with that of early modern humans and living humans shows similarity among Neandertals and dissimilarity between Neandertals and modern humans German molecular geneticist Matthias Krings and his associates found, for example, that 27 mtDNA base pairs of a sequence of 378 base pairs from the Feldhofer Cave Neandertal differ completely from living Europeans' In contrast, living human populations have an average of just eight differences among them. These genetic differences seem to support the hypothesis that no gene flow occurred between Neandertals and modern humans during the later Pleistocene and, importantly, that Neandertals contributed none of their genetic material to the modern human gene pool. *Neandertals underwent extinction, pure and simple* (this hypothesis may not be the best one) ->mtDNA is just a tiny part of the human genome and reflects only a small fraction of the genetic code. failure of one part of the genome to survive to the present does not mean that the entire genome became extinct. it is possible that mtDNA lineages have been lost owing to genetic drift. *(much more of the genome is needed to have a more complete picture)*

2010, analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA recovered from a hominin hand bone, foot bone, and a few teeth dating to 40,000 yBP from Denisova Cave, in southern Siberia,

revealed a hominin genome that is neither Neandertal nor modern human. The only similarity they could find with living people is from populations living in Melanesia (New Guinea and Bougainville Islands) and China. *findings suggest that genetic diversity in late Pleistocene Europe is more complex than previously thought* Namely, the genome came to include contributions from some widespread populations that modern humans encountered as they migrated throughout Europe (the Neandertals) and from some very isolated people (the Denisovans).

latest archaic H. sapiens (Neandertals)

survived until at least 32,000 yBP or so at Vindija (Croatia). The overlap in dates between Neandertals and early modern humans indicates that the two groups coexisted in eastern Europe for at least several thousand years. argues against the Multiregional Continuity model, which sees archaic H. sapiens as having evolved locally into modern H. sapiens. (That the earliest modern H. sapiens had clear Neandertal features (such as the occipital bun) indicates interbreeding between Neandertals and early modern people) argues against the Out-​of-​Africa model, which sees no gene flow between Neandertals and early modern humans.

One way to measure hunting success is

to determine how much meat Neandertals ate. Butchered animals' bones are abundant in Neandertal habitation sites, indicating that Neandertals hunted the animals and processed the carcasses for food. Suggestive though this evidence is, the mere presence of animal remains does not reveal how important animals were in the people's diet. To find out how important meat was in Neandertals' diets, anthropologists have applied the powerful tools of bone chemistry and stable isotope analysis. Measurement of stable isotopes of both nitrogen and carbon in the bones of Neandertals—from Scladina Cave (Belgium), Vindija Cave, and Marillac (France)—indicates that *Neandertals ate lots of meat, at or nearly at the level of carnivores living at the same time and place* *it shows that Neandertals were successful hunters* not to say that Neandertals depended wholly on animals as sources of food. Analysis of plant residues found in Neandertal tooth calculus shows that Neandertals ate a diversity of plants, some of which were cooked (might have consumed some of these plants for medicinal purposes) British archaeologist Karen Hardy and her associates have documented in calculus from El Sidrón the presence of bitter-​tasting chemicals that are well-​known appetite suppressants. presence of residues of plants that lack nutritional value indicates that Neandertals might have self-​medicated, but we can never know for sure if they did. *Another indicator of their effective adaptation is the measurement of stress levels* American physical anthropologist Debbie Guatelli-​Steinberg and her associates found that hypoplasias, the stress markers in teeth that reflect growth disruption due to poor diets or poor health, are present in Neandertals but at a frequency no different from that of modern humans. *(suggests that Neandertals dealt successfully with their environments)*

Two main hypotheses have emerged to explain modern people's origins

*Out-of-Africa hypothesis*: modern H. sapiens first evolved in Africa and then spread to Asia and Europe, replacing the indigenous archaic H. sapiens populations living on these two continents. *Multiregional Continuity hypothesis*: regards the transition to modernity as having taken place regionally and without involving replacement. (African archaic H. sapiens gave rise to African modern H. sapiens, Asian archaic H. sapiens gave rise to Asian modern H. sapiens, and European archaic H. sapiens gave rise to European modern H. sapiens) Both models seek to explain why today human beings consist of just one genus and why that genus consists of just one species. The models differ, though, in accounting for that genus and species.

Pleistocene megafauna

mammoth, steppe bison, and reindeer/caribou, became extinct by the early Holocene, and some evidence suggests that in the Americas and Australia humans hunted these large animals to extinction. It seems unlikely, however, that small numbers of humans could have killed so many animals in such a short time. *These extinctions were more likely due to climate change at the end of the Pleistocene and the changes in habitats frequented by large mammals* human hunting played a very minor part in the extinction of these animals General term for the large game animals hunted by pre-Holocene and early Holocene humans

shovel-shaped incisors

A dental trait, commonly found among Native Americans and Asians, in which the incisors' posterior aspect has varying degrees of concavity.

The Denisovans

Denisovans are likely archaic H. sapiens sharing a common origin with Neandertals. because paleoanthropologists have found only a few bones and teeth, we do not know what the Denisovans looked like. The genetic evidence strongly suggests that modern humans migrated from Africa and interbred with hominin species beyond just Neandertals. the European continent appears to have been inhabited by various isolated peoples

Homo floresiensis

Nicknamed "Hobbit" for its diminutive size, a possible new species of Homo found in Liang Bua Cave, on the Indonesian island of Flores.

Schaafhausen and the Neandertal skeleton caught the attention of the leaders of science in Germany and around the world.

One of these leaders was the top German anthropologist of the time, Rudolf Virchow

Middle Paleolithic

The middle part of the Old Stone Age, associated with Mousterian tools, which Neandertals produced using the Levallois technique.

Neandertals likely were not weird humanlike primates, less adaptable and less intelligent than modern humans

The size and robusticity of their long bones show that Neandertals were highly physically active, more so than living humans. Such cultural and biological features reflect Neandertals' success in adapting to environmental circumstances of the Upper Pleistocene, not evolutionary failure. The empirical evidence disproves arguments that Neandertals were less than human.

Mousterian

The stone tool culture in which Neandertals produced tools using the Levallois technique The use of such tools would have replaced the use of front teeth as tools, reducing the amount of anterior tooth wear in some later Neandertals.

Out of Africa model

explains the single species of living humans by emphasizing a single origin of modern people and eventual replacement of archaic H. sapiens throughout Africa, Asia, and Europe.

THE AUSTRALIAN AND PACIFIC MIGRATIONS

late Pleistocene, sea levels were considerably lower than they are today, by as much as 90 m (300 ft), exposing land surfaces now submerged by water and making them available for human occupation and movement between landmasses. Australia, New Guinea, and Tasmania constituted a single landmass, which we call Greater Australia islands of Sulawesi, Borneo, and Java were connected to mainland Asia. Even at the peak of the late Pleistocene's coldest period, when sea levels were at their lowest, a considerable distance of open water separated Greater Australia from Asia. *To traverse open water from southeastern Asia to Australia, late Pleistocene humans would have needed sophisticated boating technology and equally sophisticated navigational skills* (no evidence of such technology and skills has been found)

Paleoindians

well known from stone artifacts, especially large spear points associated with pre-​Clovis, Clovis, and later Folsom cultures hunted various animals, but they are best known for hunting megafauna, the large Pleistocene game such as the mammoth, steppe bison, and reindeer/caribou, and processing the meat from these animals for food The earliest hominin inhabitants of the Americas; they likely migrated from Asia and are associated with the Clovis and Folsom stone tool cultures in North America and comparable tools in South America. "Folsom Point" -> extraordinary amount of skill was nec. to make this tool *differed anatomically from recent Native Americans* skulls were relatively long and narrow, and their faces were robust, with large attachment areas for the mastication muscles. In contrast, many late prehistoric and living Native Americans have short, round skulls with gracile faces. ex. the Paleoindian skull from Kennewick, Washington, dating to 8,400 yBP, is long and narrow; the face and jaws are robust (indicates that Paleoindians are not the living Native Americans ancestors OR that they are except cranial morphology has changed due to evolution and other processes over the last 10,000 yrs in the Americas) -> latter idea is made more likely by Eske Willerslev in 2015

Neandertal Hunting

French paleoanthropologists of the 1800s and early 1900s questioned Neandertals' humanness. suggested that Neandertals were unintelligent, could not speak, and had a simplistic culture; inefficient hunters and not esp. well adapted to their environments *A growing body of archaeological and biological evidence demonstrates, however, that Neandertals were not clumsy mental deficients* *Neandertals were associated with the culture known as Mousterian or Middle Paleolithic* Contrary to the opinions of early anthropologists, this Neandertal technology was complex and required considerable hand-eye coordination.

EARLY ARCHAIC HOMO SAPIENS IN ASIA (350,000-130,000 YBP)

*best-​known fossils representing early archaic H. sapiens are from the Ngandong site, on the island of Java* skulls are represented by the braincases only—the faces are missing. Ngandong 11 has a brain size of about 1,100 cc, well within the range for early archaic H. sapiens. The skull is long and low, but compared with its H. erectus ancestor, the skull is somewhat higher, reflecting its larger brain. browridge is massive, certainly on the order of many H. erectus examples. Ngandong skulls share a number of features with other Asian early archaic H. sapiens, especially with Narmada (Madhya Pradesh, India) and Dali (Shaanxi Province, People's Republic of China) skulls - brow ridges are large, though not as large as in H. erectus

EARLY ARCHAIC HOMO SAPIENS IN EUROPE (500,000-130,000 YBP)

*one of the most significant fossils for early archaic H. sapiens, and for all of human evolution, is from the Sima de los Huesos cave site, in the Sierra de Atapuerca, near Burgos, Spain* Among the 28 or so individuals from the cave is a wonderfully preserved skeleton of an adult male, Atapuerca 5. (cranial capacity = 1125 cc); large brow ridge; pronounced facial projection; tall and wide nasal aperture other well known early archaic H. sapiens fossils from Europe are the skull and other remains from Arago, France; the skull from Petralona, Greece; the skull from Steiheim, Germany (avg. cranial capacity= 1200 cc) These early archaic H. sapiens illustrate the larger brain and rounder, more gracile skulls compared with H. erectus.

Two explanations exist for Africa's greater genetic diversity

1. a population or group of populations that has been around a long time will have accumulated more mutations—hence, greater genetic variation—than a population or group of populations that has been around a short time Therefore, Africa's greater genetic diversity may mean that modern people have existed longer there than in Asia or Europe. 2. alternative explanation for Africa's greater genetic diversity lies in its population structure compared with other continents'. American anthropological geneticist John Relethford observes that population size tremendously influences genetic diversity. The smaller population will be less variable, whereas its parent population will be more variable. Relethford argues that because in the remote past Africa had a significantly larger breeding population size than other continents did, Africa now has greater genetic diversity.

Levallois

A distinctive method of stone tool production used during the Middle Paleolithic, in which the core was prepared and flakes removed from the surface before the final tool was detached from the core. involves preparing a stone core and then flaking the raw materials for tools from this core *indicates an advanced cognitive ability*

ARRIVAL IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE: THE FIRST AMERICANS

American physical anthropologist Aleö Hrdlička first noted the remarkable similarity in the shapes of the upper incisors of eastern Asian and Native American peoples, past and present. He observed that Asians and Native Americans have shovel-​shaped incisors these incisors and many other dental features, the American anthropologists Albert Dahlberg and Christy Turner have identified a common ancestry for eastern Asians and Native Americans. Common ancestry is supported by the fact that most Native Americans today have exclusively blood type O. For 95% of living Native Americans throughout North America and South America, mtDNA falls into any one of four haplogroups—A, B, C, or D. the same pattern of four main haplogroups has been found in mtDNA recovered from ancient Native American skeletons. Native Americans share haplogroups with northeastern Asians (via one migration) This northeastern Asian origin indicates that, in contrast to Australia's founding populations, who were adapted to tropical, wet climates, the Americas' founding populations were adapted to cold, dry climates. migrations to the Americas occurred via a land route or along the deglaciated Pacific coastline. (likely across the Bering land bridge (which we call Beringea), connecting Siberia and Alaska) genetic dating based on mutation rates of mtDNA & Y chromosomes & single nucleotide polymorphisms = migration from Asia to the Americas likely took place ca. 15,000 yBP uniform distribution of haplotypes across the Americas indicates that the migration was a rapid process and not a slow diffusion. Two other smaller and much later migrations from Asia yielded the founding populations of Na-​Dené speakers of northwestern North America and the Navajo and Apache of the southwestern United States and speakers of Eskimo-​Aleut languages.

modern behavioral and cultural transitions

Anthropologists are learning that various behavioral and cultural practices developed at different places and different times in the later Pleistocene, culminating in full modernity in H. sapiens globally. the fossil record and the cultural record show that modern behaviors and practices began, biologically and culturally, in Africa. For example, fishing and the use of aquatic resources as an important part of diet are first documented at Katanda, in Congo, where early modern H. sapiens were exploiting huge catfish by at least 75,000 yBP. more specialized kinds of hunting, wider employment of raw materials (such as bone) for making tools, advanced blade technology, and trade symbolic behavior and cognitive advancement were also present in Europe, albeit later than in Africa. *Neandertals were fundamentally no different from modern H. sapiens, especially in regard to a number of behaviors—burial of the dead, speech, and symbolism—that remain with us today*

NEANDERTALS USED SYMBOLS

Burial of the dead is only one of the countless contexts in which modern humans use symbolism. Decorative items such as perforated shells, some stained with pigments of various colors, have been well documented in the earlier Paleolithic in Africa and the Middle East, dating to 70,000-120,000 yBP. A number of anthropologists have suggested that Neandertals differed from modern H. sapiens in that they lacked symbolic behavior. This lack, in turn, is seen as a feature of Neandertals' purported cognitive inferiority to H. sapiens. However, the Spanish archaeologist João Zilhão and his colleagues have recently discovered clear evidence of symbolic behavior at two sites in Spain that date to 50,000 yBP. At Cueva de los Aviones and Cueva Antón, perforated marine shells similar to those in Africa and the Middle East had been painted with naturally occurring pigments, especially red, yellow, and orange. (These shells were likely strung around an individual's neck; These body ornaments are evidence that Neandertals used symbolism at least 10,000 years before the appearance of modern H. sapiens in Europe) the use of red ochre—a pigment derived from the mineral hematite—was used by hominins at least by 250,000 yBP in a range of European hominin contexts. Neandertals used symbols to communicate ideas and expressions.

2003, scientists found a skeleton with highly unusual characteristics in a cave on the Indonesian island of Flores

Dubbed the "hobbit" by the popular press, this hominin had an extremely tiny brain (400 cc) and stood only slightly above 1 m (about 3.5 ft). Australian anthropologists Peter Brown and Michael Morwood and colleagues regard the skeleton as evidence for the long-​term presence of an archaic species of hominin, distinctive from modern people. they consider it a newfound species of Homo, which they have called *Homo floresiensis* In their interpretation of this species' existence, a group of primitive humans became isolated early in human evolution, and their isolation led to a unique pattern of biological variation. Indonesian paleoanthropologist Teuku Jacob and colleagues argue that this hominin was not part of a different species but a modern human who suffered from microcephaly or some other genetic or developmental abnormality. They point out that numerous cranial features of H. floresiensis are within the modern range of variation seen in living populations from the larger region. In addition, some of the creature's anatomical characteristics (such as a small or absent chin and rotated premolars) resemble those of populations now living in the immediate region. Without the fossils of evolutionary precursor species and more fossils from H. floresiensis, it is difficult to say whether this skeleton and other fragments recovered from the cave represent a dwarfed human species or a person with a developmental/genetic disorder. *like those surrounding Pithecanthropus and Neandertals, will remain unresolved until scientists discover and analyze more evidence*

Clovis

Earliest Native American ("Paleoindian") culture of North America; technology known for large, fluted, bifacial stone projectile points used as spear points for big-game hunting.

Folsom

Early Native American (immediately following Clovis) culture of North America; technology known for large, fluted, bifacial projectile points used as spear points for big-game hunting.

Neandertals spoke cont.

Even more convincing evidence that Neandertals spoke are findings from the study of microscopic wear patterns on the surfaces of incisors and canines, especially of the study of the relationship with brain laterality. human brain is distinctive in its laterality: the clearly defined left and right sides are an anatomical marker for the ability to speak. In right-​handed humans, the left side of the brain is dominant (left brain also controls speech and language production) In left-​handed people, these connections are reversed (The right side of the brain is dominant, controls left-​side body movements, and controls areas critical for speech and language) Hand preference—right or left—can be determined by looking at the scratches on the front teeth of fossil hominins.

NEANDERTALS BURIED THEIR DEAD

In many Neandertal sites, the remains have been found scattered about, commingled and concurrent with living areas. the Krapina Neandertal fossils are fragmentary and were scattered throughout the site (the deceased were treated no differently from food remains or anything else being discarded) In contrast, a significant number of skeletons have been found in pits. That is, excavation of some Neandertal sites in Europe and western Asia has shown that pits had been dug, corpses had been placed in the pits, and the pits had been filled in. Ex. Neandertal skeletons from Spy, Belgium were found in burial pits Most of the intentionally buried skeletons were in flexed (fetal-​oriented) postures (hands and arms were carefully positioned, and the bodies were typically on their sides or backs) This vigilant treatment indicates that care was taken to place the bodies in the prepared pits. The skeletons' postures suggest, therefore, that these burials were not just disposals. They represented purposeful symbolic behavior linking those who died and those who were living.

Modern Humans' Other Migrations: Colonization of Australia, the Pacific, and the Americas

In the first wave out of Africa, H. erectus spread rapidly throughout Asia and Europe. second wave out of Africa, early modern H. sapiens assimilated and eventually replaced the descendants of H. erectus in Asia and Europe. last 50,000 years of the Pleistocene saw fully modern people spread not only into Asia and Europe but also to continents that had previously not been occupied by people. *Prior to 50,000 yBP, humans occupied only three of the six inhabitable continents: Africa, Asia, and Europe* After 50,000 yBP, populations migrated from the southeastern fringes of Asia to Australia, eventually fanning out from west to east across the hundreds of islands that dot the Pacific Ocean. last few millennia of the Pleistocene, humans spread to the Americas *four are most important: population increase, disappearance of food resources, increased competition with neighbors for remaining resources, and climate deterioration (why they migrated)* *As Relethford has shown through genetic studies, African populations expanded rapidly during the late Pleistocene* as populations outgrew their carrying capacities, were the prime force stimulating anatomically modern people to move into Asia and Europe. Similarly, as population size expanded in Asia and Europe, humans continued to move and began to occupy vast regions of the globe.

THE NEANDERTAL BODY PLAN

La Chapelle-​aux-​Saints skeleton is also one of the most complete Neandertals. first described in great detail by the eminent French paleoanthropologist Marcellin Boule (1861-1942) in the early 1900s. (writings tremendously influenced contemporary and later scientists' interpretations of Neandertal phylogeny, behavior, and place in human evolution generally, basically continuing the earlier opinions expressed by Virchow) *Boule* argued that the Neandertal cranial and postcranial traits were simply too primitive and too different from modern people's to have provided the ancestral basis for later human evolution concluded that the La Chapelle individual must have walked with a bent-​kneed gait—as in chimpanzees that walk bipedally—and could not have been able to speak in his mind, Neandertals represented some side branch of human evolution—they were too primitive, too stupid, and too aberrant to have evolved into modern humans (led to the prevailing view at the time (still held by some authorities) that Neandertals were evolutionary dead ends, replaced by the emerging modern humans and representing distant cousins of humanity that were not able to survive)

early modern Homo Sapiens

Modern H. sapiens from the Upper Pleistocene are represented in the fossil record throughout Africa, Asia, and Europe. During this time, hominins moved into other areas of the world. Later in this period, they spread into regions with extreme environments, such as the arctic tundra of Siberia in northern Asia. (w/ significant increases in population size, increased ability through cultural means of adapting to new and difficult landscapes, and the development of new technologies and subsistence strategies) This period of human evolution also includes the universal appearance of the modern anatomical characteristics: -reduced face -small teeth -vertical forehead -more rounded skull -gracile post cranial bones *Modern humans' evolution started much earlier in Africa than in Europe and Asia*

far western Asia (the Middle East) and Europe, a new pattern of morphology emerges, reflecting both regional variation and adaptation to the cold *(defines the Neandertals)*

Neandertal features: -wide and tall nasal apertures -projecting face -occipital bun -long and low skull -large front teeth (some w/ heavy wear) -wide stocky body and short limbs

In rejecting this view, we should take a closer look at some topics Boule addressed in his study of the La Chapelle skeleton

One very distinctive feature of Neandertal faces is the enormous nasal aperture great size of the nasal aperture in many Neandertal fossils indicates that these people had huge noses, in both width and projection. *massive noses were one of the cranial characteristics that led Boule to believe that Neandertals were not related to later humans in an evolutionary sense* However, nasal features are more likely part of an adaptive complex reflecting life in cold climates during the Upper Pleistocene. shape and size of any nose is an excellent example of the human face's highly adaptable nature, especially in relation to climate (One of the nose's important functions is to transform ambient air—the air breathed in from the atmosphere—into warm, humid air) large noses have more internal surface area = improved means of warming & moistening the cold dry air that Neandertals breathed regularly (the projecting nose typical of Neandertals placed more distance b/w the cold external environment and the brain which is temperature sensitive) Alternatively, the large noses of Neandertals may simply be due to the fact that their faces are so large other features are consistent w/ cold adaptations: - infraorbital foramina (small holes in the facial bones located beneath the eye orbits - are larger in European Neandertals than in modern people) foramina's increased size is due to the blood vessels that tracked through them having been quite large larger blood vessels may have allowed greater blood flow to the face, preventing exposed facial surfaces from freezing

calculus

Refers to hardened plaque on teeth; the condition is caused by the minerals from saliva being continuously deposited on tooth surfaces.

Upper Paleolithic

Refers to the most recent part of the Old Stone Age, associated with early modern H. sapiens and characterized by finely crafted stone and other types of tools with various functions. late Neandertals participated fully the earliest cultures associated mostly with early modern H. sapiens in Europe, producing stone tools that were modern in many respects and certainly as complex as those produced by early modern humans. Moreover, the size, shape, and articulations of the Neandertal hand reflect the kind of precise manual dexterity crucial for the fine-​crafting of tools

EARLY MODERN HOMO SAPIENS IN AFRICA (200,000-6,000 YBP)

The African record for early H. sapiens is especially important because it includes the earliest evidence of modern people's anatomical characteristics. important fossil hominins from this time come from the Herto, Aduma, and Bouri sites, in Ethiopia's Middle Awash River Valley, and from Omo, in southern Ethiopia. remains from Herto—partial skulls of two adults and of a child, dating to 160,000-154,000 yBP—show a cranial capacity of about 1,450 cc, close to the average for modern humans. many of the characteristics are essentially modern, including a relatively tall cranium, a vertical forehead, smaller browridges, and a nonprojecting face. Among the *archaic features* are significant browridges (though the trend is toward smaller) and a relatively long face. These remains may be from the earliest modern people in Africa or at least close to the earliest. German paleoanthropologist Günter Bräuer argues that modernization in Africa first took place in East Africa. *The remains' overall appearance indicates that modern people emerged in Africa long before their arrival in Europe and western Asia* remains from Omo may be as old as 195,000 yBP. If so, they are the oldest evidence of anatomically modern humans (dating is uncertain b/c the fossils were not positioned in the geological context as clearly as the Herto fossils were) Belonging to later contexts are the partial skulls from Aduma and Bouri, dating to about 105,000-80,000 yBP. (Like the Herto skulls, these skulls have both premodern and modern characteristics. However, the most complete Aduma skull is modern in nearly every characteristic) Throughout the Pleistocene and well into the early Holocene, African hominins, although modern, retained some robusticity (ex. wide noses) (At Wadi Kubbaniya and Wadi Halfa, both in the Nile Valley, populations have some very robust characteristics, such as flaring cheekbones and well-​ developed brow ridges) -> Contrast sharply w/ gracile facial features in the Holocene and in living people Similarly, early Holocene skulls (ca. 9,000 yBP) found at Gobero, in Niger, are long, low, and robust compared with later Holocene skulls from the same place

EARLY MODERN HOMO SAPIENS IN EUROPE (35,000-15,000 YBP)

The earliest modern H. sapiens in Europe is from Peştera cu Oase, Romania, and dates to 35,000 yBP. The Oase 2 skull from that site is distinctively modern, contrasting with Neandertals that lived during the same time. (Oase 2 has very reduced browridges and a generally gracile appearance) Almost as old are remains from Mladeč, Předmostí, and Dolní Věstonice, all in the Czech Republic, dating to 35,000-26,000 yBP. half-​dozen Mladeč skulls (35,000 yBP) show remarkable variability, including a mix of Neandertal characteristics in some (occipital bun, low skull, large browridges, large front teeth, and thick bone) and modern characteristics in others (nonprojecting face, narrow nasal opening). Předmostí and Dolní Věstonice skulls retain a few Neandertal characteristics, but they are clearly more modern in appearance than the Mladeč people Some Neandertal features persist well into recent times in eastern Europe, especially in the facial region Western Europe has virtually no fossil record for the earliest modern people, those contemporary with the populations represented by the Mladeč and Předmostí fossils. best-​known western European representatives of early modern people are the remains of a half-​dozen individuals from Cro-​Magnon, in Dordogne, France, and remains from the Grimaldi Caves, in the Italian Riviera region, all of these dating to about 30,000-25,000 yBP. Cro-​Magnon remains are often presented as the archetypical example of the earliest modern people, but in fact people varied considerably during this time. Collectively, though, both ensembles of skeletons from western Europe have distinctively modern features: vertical forehead, narrow nasal aperture, and small browridges In addition, unlike Neandertals', their tibias are long and their body trunks are narrow. Like Neandertals, these people lived in cold climates of the late Pleistocene, but their very different body morphology suggests adaptation to warmer climates.

Some of the most interesting Neandertals are from the Shanidar site, in northern Iraq's Kurdistan region.

These Neandertals—seven adults and three young children—have provided important insight into the lives, lifestyles, and cultural practices of late archaic H. sapiens. Shanidar 1, an older adult male dating to at least 45,000 yBP, is one of the most complete skeletons from the site (face is that of typical Neandertal esp. wide in its nasal aperture and forward projection) Shanidar 1's upper incisors are severely worn, probably from his use of the front teeth as a tool for grasping and holding objects in the same or a similar way as the much earlier hominin from Atapuerca. This extramasticatory wear on the front teeth is determined by culture—*Neandertals used their front teeth as a part of their "tool kit."* Use of the front teeth as a tool has remained a hallmark of human behavior into recent times in a wide variety of cultures, ranging from Eskimos, who chew hides for clothing and other material culture, to Native Americans, who chew plant material to prepare it for basketry. excavated by the American archaeologist Ralph Solecki in the late 1950s, his lower right arm was missing The loss of the use of the arm meant that Shanidar 1 had to use his teeth to perform some simple functions, such as eating or making tools. His survival likely depended on the use of his front teeth.

Southeast Asia is also the point of origin for populations that eventually dispersed throughout the Pacific Ocean.

Unlike Australia, which was settled by 40,000 yBP, most of the Pacific islands extending from east of New Guinea to Easter Island were not settled until well after 5,000 yBP. east of the Solomon Islands, settlement across the vast Pacific did not begin until after about 1500 BC, ending with humans' arrival on Easter Island around AD 600.

LATE ARCHAIC HOMO SAPIENS IN EUROPE (130,000-30,000 YBP)

are some of the best known, most studied fossil hominins in the world *The Neandertal record begins in eastern Europe, at the Krapina site in Croatia, dating to 130,000 yBP* (record ends with fossils from Vindija, Croatia, dating to 32,000 yBP or somewhat later) excavator of the Krapina site—the Croatian paleontologist Dragutin Gorjanović-Kramberger—was extraordinarily meticulous in his recording of the excavation (kept detailed notes about where his workers found fossils and stone tools and the stratigraphic locations of the several hundred bones and teeth found at the site) The Krapina remains were recovered from a series of strata inside a rockshelter (not quite a cave—a rock overhang provides protection from the elements). most complete cranium, Krapina 3, has the typical Neandertal features: round eye orbits, wide space between the eye orbits, wide nasal aperture, and protruding mid facial region (largest front teeth of any known fossil hominin) - (tooth size comparisons with earlier and later humans in Europe indicate that in these Neandertals the front teeth had increased and the back teeth had decreased) Krapina bones are mostly in fragments The American anthropologist Tim White has found that some of these fragments display a series of distinctive cutmarks in places where ligaments (the tissue that connects muscle to bone) were severed with stone tools. location and pattern of cutmarks on the Krapina Neandertal bones are identical to those on animal bones found at the site (indicates that these people ate animal AND human tissue) Krapina Neandertals were not the only ones to practice cannibalism (Moula-​Guercy cave, in southeastern France, six individuals dating to about 100,000 yBP display cutmark patterns very similar to those on the animal remains at the site) Scientists cannot explain why cannibalism was practiced, but perhaps Neandertals ate human flesh to survive severe food shortages during their occupation of Ice Age Europe

Most distinctive about the cold adaptation complex in Neandertals

are the shape of the body trunk and the length of the arms and legs. Compared with modern humans, European Neandertals were stocky—the body was short, wide, and deep Neandertals' limbs were shorter than earlier or later humans'. combination—stocky trunk and short limbs—is predicted by Bergmann's and Allen's rules animals that live in cold climates are larger than animals that live in hot climates (Bergmann's rule). (larger body trunk reduces the amount of surface area relative to the body size. This helps promote heat retention) animals that live in cold climates have shorter limbs than animals that live in hot climates (Allen's rule). This, too, promotes heat retention in cold settings

what does "modern" mean according to anthropologists?

based on a series of distinctive anatomical characteristics that contrast with archaic characteristics found in earlier hominins. Modern people—people who essentially look like us—tend to have a high and vertical forehead, a round and tall skull, small browridges, a small face, small teeth, and a projecting chin (anthropologists call the latter a "mental eminence"). Below the neck, modern humans have relatively more gracile, narrower bones than their predecessors. *Fossil humans having these cranial and postcranial characteristics are considered MODERN H. sapiens*

EARLY MODERN HOMO SAPIENS IN ASIA (90,000-18,000 YBP)

best represented by fossils from western Asia, in fact from the same region as the Amud and Kebara Neandertals in Israel. The 90,000-year-​old remains from Skhul have distinctively modern characteristics, suggesting that the people living there were modern H. sapiens. most prominent remains from the site are several male skulls, of which Skhul 5 is the most complete. Skhul 5 dates to before the Amud fossils indicates that modern humans lived in the region before Neandertals Remains of the earliest modern people from eastern Asia are very scarce. At Zhiren Cave in south China, two molars and a partial mandible dating to at least 100,000 yBP show a combination of archaic and modern features. -mandible is thick (like archaic H. sapiens) -chin like modern H. sapiens (certainly a hominin that shows transitional characteristics leading to anatomical modernity) earliest most complete fossil remains are a mandible and partial skeleton, dating to about 41,000 yBP, from Tianyuan Cave, China, and about 46,000 yBP from Tam Pa Ling Cave, Laos. Like the Zhiren Cave remains, these fossils have both archaic and modern features. Tam Pa Ling skull lacks a prominent supraorbital torus, a feature that is quite modern. Better known are three skulls from the Upper Cave at Zhoukoudian, China, dating to 29,000-24,000 yBP: skulls are robust compared with living Asians', but the facial flatness is characteristic of native eastern Asians today. the early modern people from Minatogawa (Okinawa), dating to about 18,000 yBP, are gracile but retain thick cranial bones and large browridges, especially compared with those of the later Holocene populations in eastern Asia.

modern characteristics of East African skeletons from the Upper Pleistocene (for example, Herto) provide compelling evidence that modern variation originated in Africa.

fossil record and the genetic record indicate, however, that neither the Out-​of-​Africa model nor the Multiregional Continuity model adequately explains modern humans' origins. Out-​of-​Africa model correctly accounts for the origin of modern human variation, but it incorrectly asserts that no gene flow occurred between Neandertals and modern H. sapiens. Multiregional Continuity model is not correct about modern H. sapiens' regional development. (However, it is correct about gene flow and the notion that Neandertals have contributed to modern H. sapiens' gene pool) elements of both models explain the emergence and evolution of fully modern people worldwide in the Upper Pleistocene. That is, sometime within 200,000-100,000 yBP, a population of modern heat-​adapted H. sapiens migrated from Africa to Europe and Asia. Once arriving in Europe, this population encountered members of their species—the Neandertals—who were as behaviorally and technologically complex as they. Neandertals, cold-​adapted people, had evolved from earlier H. sapiens populations in Europe—the early archaic H. sapiens—and they interbred with the newly arrived modern H. sapiens. *Therefore, Neandertals' disappearance after 30,000 yBP or so likely resulted not from their extinction but from their assimilation by much larger, more genetically diverse populations of modern humans migrating into Europe from Africa during the late Pleistocene*

American geneticist and molecular biologist Rebecca Cann and her collaborators

found that sub-​Saharan African populations are more genetically diverse than populations from any other region of the world. genes of people living south of the Sahara Desert today are more variable in frequency than are genes of people living in Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Australia This pattern is also present in the phenotypic variation of anatomical characteristics (e.g., cranial measurements). Based on their assessment of mutation rates, Cann's group came up with a figure of 200,000 yBP for the first early modern H. sapiens' appearance, and this date is consistent with the earliest record of modern H. sapiens in Africa. Calculations based on other sources of genetic material, such as from the Y chromosome, provide broadly similar results.

earliest archaeological evidence of humans in Australia

from Lake Mungo, in western New South Wales, dating to about 40,000 yBP two skulls from Lake Mungo, from an adult male and an adult female, have modern characteristics: the skulls are high and have rounded foreheads with small browridges. the skulls resemble ones from Kow Swamp, in Victoria's Murray River Valley, which date to 13,000-9,000 yBP However, the Kow Swamp skulls are more robust, with larger browridges, larger and more robust faces, and lower foreheads than the Lake Mungo skulls. (share features with H. erectus and later Indonesian hominins, especially in the facial skeleton, such as in the eye orbits' shape -> anatomical similarities suggest a common genetic origin, thereby indicating regional continuity of human populations and their biological evolution. early Australians also bear a strong similarity to native people who inhabit the continent today; (indicates an ancestral descendent relationship) However, mtDNA from the Lake Mungo and Kow Swamp skeletons differs substantially from living native Australians'. a more likely explanation for the disparity between ancient and modern genes in Australia is that the mtDNA sequence in ancient anatomically modern people has not survived to the present. This Australian evidence is an important example of the very different evolutionary pathways that mtDNA and anatomical evolution can take. The fossil remains show continuity with modern native people of Australia, but the mtDNA lineage went extinct at some point after 40,000 yBP.

American physical anthropologist Christopher Ruff

has refined these concepts in interpreting human body shape morphology. discovered that adaptation to heat or cold is not related to a person's height—some heat-​adapted populations are quite tall, and some are quite short. Much more important is the width of the body trunk (usually measured at the hips), because the ratio of surface area to body mass is maintained regardless of height This finding is borne out by a wide range of populations around the world today: populations living in the same climate all have body trunks of the same width, no matter how their heights vary. Populations living in cold climates always have wide bodies; populations living in warm climates always have narrow bodies. These dimensions are always constant in adaptation to heat or cold. also, the ratio of tibia (lower leg) length to femur (upper leg) length differs between people who live in hot climates and people who live in cold climates. Heat-​adapted populations have long tibias relative to their femurs (their legs are long), but cold-​adapted populations have short tibias relative to their femurs (their legs are short). *Neandertals fit the predictions for cold adaptation: their body trunks are wide, and their tibias are short*

The geographic biological diversity in the world

likely well in place by the end of the Pleistocene. Modern humans' emergence and subsequent dispersal around the globe marks a remarkable period of population expansion and behavioral and biological diversification. rapid expansion of human population size resulted in increased types of foods eaten. adoption and increased use of fish and aquatic life in general during the late Pleistocene likely reflects humans' need for alternative foods as population size expanded. dietary expansion set the stage for one of the most dramatic adaptive shifts in human evolution, the shift from eating plants that were gathered and animals that were hunted to eating plants and animals that were both domesticated.

American physical anthropologist David Frayer and his associates

have detected microscopic parallel scratches on the surfaces of upper incisors and canines of many fossil hominins, including Neandertals from Europe. It has long been thought that Neandertals (and lots of other hominins, including modern humans) used a *"stuff-​and-​cut" method* of meat processing before chewing the meat. method consists of cutting a piece of meat by biting one end of it and holding the other end with the left hand, then holding a stone tool with the right hand to cut the meat. Often, cutting meat in this fashion inadvertently scratches the front teeth. When this happens, the scratches on the teeth have a highly distinctive pattern: they are parallel to each other, and they angle downward. When the stuff-​and-​cut method is performed experimentally, right-​handed people end up with tooth scratches that angle downward to the right and left-​handed people end up with scratches that angle downward to the left. found that all but two of the Neandertals had scratch patterns consistent with right-​handedness (2 exceptions had consistence with left-handedness) Similarly, in the early archaic H. sapiens from Sima de los Huesos dating to 500,000 yBP, all 12 individuals studied had the scratch pattern associated with handedness. *most Neandertals and their predecessors had left-​dominant brains and were right-​handed = had brain laterality= they talked*

Late archaic Homo sapiens

hominins from this period show a continuation of trends begun with early Homo, especially increased brain size, reduced tooth size, and decreased skeletal robusticity However, in far western Asia (the Middle East) and Europe, a new pattern of morphology emerges, reflecting both regional variation and adaptation to the cold *(defines the Neandertals)*

LATE ARCHAIC HOMO SAPIENS IN ASIA (60,000-40,000 YBP)

the record is fullest from sites at the far western end of the continent Fossils from Israel form the core of discussions among anthropologists about modern people's emergence in western Asia. (this record pertains to Neandertals from Amud, Kebara, and Tabun Amud Neandertals date to about 55,000-40,000 yBP and are best known from the complete skeleton of an adult male. (had an enormous brain, measuring some 1,740 cc, larger than earlier humans' and the largest for any fossil hominin) Kebara Neandertals date to about 60,000 yBP and are represented by a complete mandible and body skeleton; the legs and cranium are missing A nearly complete female Neandertal skeleton from Tabun was long thought to date to about the same time, but new thermoluminescence dating indicates that the skeleton may be as old as 170,000 yBP (she had a large brain like the Amud male) Amud and Tabun skulls have a number of anatomical characteristics that are strongly similar to those of contemporary populations of late archaic H. sapiens in Europe (ex.'s eye orbits are small & round, nasal openings are tall & wide, and their faces project forward) -> both the skulls also share modern characteristics: lacks the occipital bun and the presence of relatively small teeth

Rudolf Virchow

was a leading authority on evolutionary theory, archaeology, and cultural anthropology, Virchow started the discipline of cell pathology (diseases of cells). First researcher to recognize leukemia (cancer of the blood and bone marrow) helped found several national scientific organizations and periodicals. medical activist, a political leader known across Germany, and the teacher of others who would become leaders in science and medicine. his pronouncements about the Feldhofer Cave skeleton would be taken very seriously by scientists. After looking carefully at the remains, he summarily dismissed any notion that they belonged to an ancestor of living humans. He argued that their characteristics—a long, low skull and bowed, thick limb bones—were those of some modern human afflicted with rickets and arthritis. (others disagreed) -> Thomas Henry Huxley argued that this was a primitive, potentially ancestral human. but MANY were convinced by Virchow but eventually rejected debate centered around the role of the Feldhofer Cave skeleton and others like it—a group of hominins we call "Neandertals"—in later human evolution.