I. Path to modern humansa. Prehistory begins 2.5 MYA1. Because that is the early discovery of hominid remnantsi. Stone toolsb. Paleoanthropology1. Study skeletal remains and materials of early humans and their ancestorsi. Draws from physical anthropology, archeology, paleontology, and geologyc. The human evolution debate1. We didn’t evolve from apes- we share a common ancestori. Common ancestor was more ape like but not like our living apesd. What is a primate1. 2 divisionsi. anthropoidsA. humans, apes, monkeysii. prosimiansA. lemans, pre-monkeys2. Hands and feet are dexterous and able to grasp with opposable thumbs3. Replacement of claws with fingernails4. Reduced emphasis on olfaction used color vision5. Locomotion that placed emphasis on use of hind limbs and adopt an erect trunk6. Tendency for the evolutionary development of a larger braine. Anthropoids1. Homininsi. Modern humans and our earlier ancestors2. Pongidsi. Closest living nonhuman primate relativesf. Cenozoic era1. Paleocene epoch 65-50 mya after dinosaur extinctioni. Extinction of dinosaursii. Mammals occupying these empty niches2. Eocene epoch 50-36 myai. Global warming- tropical environment spreadingii. Primates diversifiedA. Show evolution of the nail, some grasping hands and feet, improvement of vision over olfaction3. Oligocene epochi. Global cooling commencesii. Distinct anthropoids begin to leave prominent traces in the fossil record4. Miocene epoch 24-5 myai. Cooling stillii. Emergence of distinct lineages of old world monkeys and apesiii. Ape species begin to dwindle due to cooling environmentsiv. Increasing open environmentsA. Environment restrictionsv. Miocene apes early human ancestorsvi. Coming down from the treesA. Occurred roughly 10 myaB. Adapted to bipedal motionC. Large hominids made home bases where they sheltered from predators and weatherD. High quality plant foods abundant in forests were widely dispersed in the savannahs, therefore our ancestors expanded their food range to include more meat, during times of plant scarcity5. Pliocene epoch 5 MYAi. Bipedal posture adoptedii. Australopithecus came aboutiii. Stable environment6. Pliestocene spoch 1.6 MYAi. Very drastic changes in climateii. Robust australopithecineII. Earliest hominida. Sahelanthropus tchandensis1. Toumai2. Found in Chadi. Central AFrica3. Lived 7-6 MYAi. Around the same time as our common ancestor split with apes4. Ancestra( primitive traits that appear in older species of same lineage but are retained to meet some evolutionary needs)l:i. braincase5. derived(more human like traits that changed from an ancestral state to meet some biological evolutionary needs):i. facial structure, tooth layout, anterior foramen magnumb. Ardipithecus ramidus (Ardi)1. Ethiopia2. 4.5 MYA3. ancestrali. skull shapeii. dentation4. thought to be close to divergence from African apesc. Australopithecus afarensis1. gracilei. Hadar, Ethiopia, Laetoli, Tanzania, Koto Toro Chadii. 4-3 MYAiii. Example : LucyA. Hadar- afar triangle, EthiopiaB. Don JohansonC. 60% completeD. dated to about 3.18 MYAE. K/Ar Dating (potassium argon dating)Measures decomposure of K-40 to Argon gas (Ar-40)Use potassium argon dating to estimate the ages of our closest human ancestors40K half life of 1.3 billion yearspotassium is found in lava and ash from volcanoes calleddeposits of lava and ash are called tuffsiv. Bipedalism at LaetoliA. TanzaniaB. Mary Leaky 1970’sC. 3.75-3.59 MYAd. Australopithecus africanus1. gracilei. South Africaii. 3-2.5 MYAiii. example: Taung ChildA. earliest australopithecine fossil foundfound in a caveaged 6 yrs oldhuman like teethjuvenile cranium and mandiblee. Australopithecus boisei1. Robust2. Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Malawi3. 3-1.5 MYA4. contemporaneous with oldest forms of tools but not in association to the tools5. lots of muscle around the mandible6. has a sagittal crestf. Australopithecus robustus1. Robust2. South Africai. Transvaal region3. 3.1 MYA4. contemporary with Oldowan siteg. Australopithecus garhi1. robust2. Awash Desert, Ethiopia3. 2.5 MYA4. earliest evidence of butchering5. large molarsIII. Appearance of homoa. traits1. More efficient bipedal motion2. Smaller teeth and jaws3. Greater cranial capacity and ration of brain size to bodyweight4. Toolsb. Homo Habilis1. Tanzania, Kenya, and south Africa2. 2-1.5 MYA3. associated with Oldowan artifactsi. found in Olduvai Gorgeii. located in Tanzaniaiii. diagnostic tool is pebble choppersiv. 25 tool types have been identified4. mainly derived traitsc. Homo Ergaster1. Kenya, Eritrea, Ethiopia, South Africa2. 1.9 MYA3. example Turkana Boy4. Acheulean Tool Technologyi. Hand axe traditionA. BifaceB. Africa, Europe, Southwest Asiad. Homo Erectus1. Indonesia and chinai. Asian variant2. 1.8 MYA-300,000 YA3. example: Trinil skeletoni. Southeast Asian Discoveryii. Eugene Duboisiii. 1891iv. Trinil, JavaIV. stone toolsa. hertizian cone1. conchoidal fracture: production of smooth convexities when siliceous materials are fracturedb. Flake1. Pieces of lithic material the exhibit evidence of intentional removal from a parent massc. Core1. Nucleus or mass of rock that shows signe of being remove (parent material)d. Blades:1. a flake with parallel lateral margins and displays a dorsal ridge; usually twice as long as they are widee. uniface1. a tool that has been flaked on one sidef. Biface1. a tool that has been worked on both sidesV. hunter or scavengera. earliest evidence of hominid animal butchery 2.5 MYA by Australopithecus garhib. various animal parts brought back home base1. removal of meat and marrowc. cutmarks over carnivore tooth markingsd. ethnographic analogyVI. African Exodusa. Homo orgastor/ erectus1. First to leaveb. Homo sapiens1. Most widely spreadc. Reason1. Climate fluctuation from warm to cold following the changing of Earth’s magnetic field to normal polarity2. Climate conditions of the Ice Age both periodically brought populations together and then separated them, ensuring gene flow and genetic drift and preventing speciation3. Quick response to changes in resource distribution by moving into new areas4. Opportunistic v. deliberated. First evidence of controlled fire1. Swartkrans cave, south Africa2. 1.5 MYA3. burned animal bonesVII. Female provisioning: GrandmotheringMaterial culture trendsa. Aren’t uniform in all of Europeb. There are regional specialtiesc. Artd. Incorporation of organic materials bone, antlerse. Use of storageII. UPPER PALENOLITHIC SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONa.