4/30/2014 1 Today • Middle Pleistocene Homo • Anatomy • Behavior • Homo neaderthalensis • Anatomy • Behavior The “Muddle in the Middle”! (the Middle Pleistocene 600 – 125 ka) 24/30/2014 2 Ardipithecus (?) Modern human Australopithecus anamensis Australopithecus afarensis Australopithecus africanus Paranthropus boisei Paranthropus robustus Paranthropus aethiopicus 3 Archaic Homo sapiens Homo habilis Homo erectus Hominin Family Tree Hominin Sites (1.8 Ma – 250 ka) 44/30/2014 3 Hominin Sites (250 ka – 50 ka) 5 Middle Pleistocene • Technically, 780 – 126 ka • Global climate is colder and increasingly variable • Glacial periods = dry, cold – Massive desert separates Africa and Eurasia • Interglacial periods = wet, warm – Evidence for migration of animals between Africa and Eurasia 64/30/2014 4 Archaic Homo sapiens (aka Homo heidelbergensis) • Catch-all for Middle Pleistocene hominins • Roughly 600-200 kya • Mosaic of Homo sapiens and Homo erectus features • Increased brain size: up to 1400 cc • Still not modern human life history pattern: body grows slightly faster than us • Low life expectancy compared to modern humans • Evidence for hard life 7 Compare archaic H. sapiens (right) with H. erectus and modern H. sapiens (left) 84/30/2014 5 Archaic Homo sapiens • Robustness of Homo erectus but larger brain capacity like Homo sapiens • Taller, less angular cranial vaults than Homo erectus • Robust arching brow ridges • Larger face than Homo sapiens 9 Archaic H. sapiens (~ 600-200 ka) • Europe – Mauer (Germany); 400-500 kya; Steinheim (Germany); 250-300 kya – Arago (France); 300-600 kya – Petralona (Greece); 150-300 kya – Boxgrove (England); 500 kya – Sima de los Huesos (Spain); 500-600 kya • Africa – Bodo (Ethiopia); 600 kya – Kabwe (Zambia); 400 kya – Ndutu (Tanzania); 200-400 kya – Sale (Morocco); 200-250 kya • Asia – Dali, Maba, Jinniushan (China); 130-200 kya – Narmada Valley (India); 125-150 kya 104/30/2014 6 Mauer jaw (type specimen for Homo heidelbergensis) ~ 400 ka 11 Sima de los Huesos, Spain (600 – 500 ka) “The Bone Pit” • > 28 individuals from 4–35 yrs old • Cranial features: anticipate Neanderthals (double-arched browridges, midfacial prognathism, wide nasal aperture) • Postcranial features: robust, strong muscle markings, thick cortical bone (= high levels of activity) 124/30/2014 7 Sima de los Huesos Large number of individuals allows statistical tests of body size sexual dimorphism: first evidence for reduced sexual dimorphism similar to modern humans 13 Archaic Homo sapiens in Europe shares features with Neanderthals (possible Neanderthal ancestor) 14 Double-arched supraorbital torus; midfacial prognathism4/30/2014 8 African H. heidelbergensis, Bodo, Ethiopia (600 ka) • Robust supraorbital torus • Occipital torus • 1280-1300 cc brain • Signs of defleshing with stone tools 15 Archaic H. sapiens behavior • Stone tools: – Bifaces (Acheulean tools = handaxes) – Flake tools (retouched flakes) – They straddle the transition between Lower Paleolithic (Acheulean) and Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian points); prepared core technologies including Levallois • Evidence for woodworking (but rare) • Evidence for large-game hunting • Evidence for fire (only ash deposits & charred bone, no hearths) 164/30/2014 9 Prepared Core Lithics Levallois • Increased predictability of flake size and shape • Suggest increase in forethought, abstract thinking, and transfer of knowledge 17 Boxgrove, England, 500 ka 184/30/2014 10 Behaviors at Boxgrove 19 Behaviors at Boxgrove 204/30/2014 11 Behaviors at Boxgrove: increased technological complexity Soft hammer percussion: bone & antler (??) 21 Schöningen (Germany) javelins in situ with horse bones at 400 ka 224/30/2014 12 Schöningen javelin 23 Clacton-on-Sea (England) wooden spear, 300 ka 244/30/2014 13 Summary of Archaic Homo sapiens (aka Homo heidelbergensis) • Display mosaic of features intermediate between H. erectus and modern H. sapiens • Postcranially, evidence of high levels of muscular activity • Behaviorally somewhat advanced over Homo erectus (more sophisticated tool-making; wooden tools; big-game hunting) 25 Neanderthals 264/30/2014 14 History of discovery • 1830: Engis cave (Belgium) child • 1848: Forbes’ Quarry (Gibraltar) • 1856: Feldhofer Cave (Neander Valley, Germany) 27 La Chapelle-aux-Saints, discovered in 1908 284/30/2014 15 How do you view Neanderthals? 29 Marcellin Boule (1911) Carleton Coon (1930s) Some current images of Neanderthals… 304/30/2014 16 Origin of the Neanderthals: Neanderthal features appear by 300 ka(but independently, not as one complex) Classic Neanderthals: 150 – 27 ka 31 Classic Neanderthal Features 324/30/2014 17 La Ferrassie 33 Krapina C 344/30/2014 18 Kebara Cave 35 Tabun Cave Distribution of sites with Classical Neandertal fossils (150 – 30 ka) 36 (from Serangeli & Bolus 2008)4/30/2014 19 What are these “classic” features? 37 Neanderthal cranial features • Double-arched brow ridges • No chin • Long and low vault • Midfacial projection • 1600cc brain size • Occipital bun • Unique dentition • Inner ear different from Homo sapiens 384/30/2014 20 39 40 Neanderthal features: labial wear and retromolar gap4/30/2014 21 Neanderthal features: taurodont teeth (expanded pulp cavity, fused roots) 41 Postcrania What differences do you seen between the Neanderthal (left) and the modern human (right)? 424/30/2014 22 43 Neanderthal Injuries 44 Berger & Trinkaus 19954/30/2014 23 Any Questions? 45 Homo neanderthalensis 464/30/2014 24 Topics • Homo neanderthalensis – Behavioral adaptations • […if we get there]Homo sapiens – Anatomically modern Homo sapiens – Dispersal out of Africa 47 What makes us human? • Pair-bonded • Clothing • Religion, politics • Cognitive abilities • Global travel, transport, migration • Language • Complex technologies • Art, expression, music • Value history, tradition, socialization • Values, morals, rules, emotions, empathy • Record, document, write • Built shelters, structures • Burial of the dead 484/30/2014 25 Do Neanderthals have these features? (Part I) Feature: Evidence: Result: Pair-bonded Complex technologies Built structures/shelters Social interaction/culture Clothing Migration/travel 49 Do Neanderthals have these features? (Part II) Feature: Evidence: Result: Music
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