Homo ergaster Homo erectus and the Acheulean continued Homo ergaster o Distinctive skull morphology Thick heavy cranial bone Massive brow ridges supra orbital torus Occipital torus at back of skull raised ridge v ish shape Long low cranial vault football shaped Cranium wider near base than at top Distinctive dentition Smaller molars shovel shaped incisors KNM ER 3733 Found in 1976 in Kenya by Richard Leakey 1 7 mya 848cc brain size At 1 6 mya it is the most complete skeleton known for the o An early H ergaster from E Africa o The Nariokotome boy next 1 4 million years o WT 1500 yields many surprises Linear build long legs immature individual but originally thought to be quire BIG fairly large brain size 5 6 6 as adult similar to humans in Ramus and zygomatic arch different in chin occipital torus and sagittal crest Homo erectus o Date 1 8 mya 300 000 ya o Location China and SE Asia o Cranial Capacity o Trinil 2 Range 750 1250cc Average 1000cc Discovered in 1891 by Eugene Dubois in Java Indonesia Found a skull cap Cranial morphology shows Sagittal Keel Thick cranial bones Prominent brow ridge o Peking Man 500 00 250 000 years ago associated with weak evidence of fire found in Zhoukoudian China New Tool Technology the Acheulean o The Acheulean Technology 1 6 million 300 000 years ago retains all of the basic tool forms from the Oldowan but adds new tool forms and new methods of manufacture o Found rarely in Asia o New tool type s appear in Acheulean tools Bifacial handaxes and cleavers More extensively worked and shaped than Oldowan Form of tool imposed by toolmaker Handaxes could have been used for a range of tasks Experiments show they are good for butchery and o Acheulean bifacial handaxes woodworking Were they Paleolithic swiss army knives Not actual handaxes o Acheulean flake tools o Greater tool transport Some Acheulean tools were deposited 50 km or more from where they were made Shows that hominins were thinking ahead at least a few days and keeping tools with them Was tool use more regular more important than in Oldowan Maybe hominins moving further or that they are keeping tools with them for long periods of time Ten times greater than the Oldowan Acheulean development Importance of stone tools to have o Over time Acheulean handaxes seem to become better made Improved dexterity thinner more symmetrical Does this imply More investment in finished product Earliest handaxes 1 6 my Later handaxes are more symmetrical Symmetrical bifacial handaxes may indicate an improved cognitive ability to coordinate actions in 3 dimensions o Acheulean artifacts are not as common outside of Africa Cognitive differences Differences in raw material Early Acheulean sites are not very different from Oldowan sites Open air scatters of bone and stone tools Usually located near ancient water sources Sites may be larger and denser during the Still no sign of structures huts The mysterious catwalk site at Olorgesaile Oldowan Kenya o Controlled use of fire Possible evidence at Koobi For a 15 mya but this likely Burnt bones found in Swartkrans Cave S Africa in to be traces of natural fires levels that also contain H ergaster fossils and Oldowan tools dating to 1 5 1 0 mya o Out of Africa The association between fire and hominins is unclear Soon after 1 8 mya hominins had expanded out of Africa Dmanisi Hominins lived from 7 1 8 mya o Charting the course out of Africa Two important non African fossil finds 1 million years old Dmanisi Located in Georgia in Caucasus Mountains H ergaster fossils with animal bones and thousands of Oldowan tools Lava beneath deposits dates to 1 8 mya and the archaeological layers formed soon after but how soon Three H ergaster crania from Dmansi o A skull of an individual with no teeth o Someone keeping the person alive by Postcranial evidence from early Homo from at 1 777 mya helping them eat Dmansi Georgia Nature 2007 Neandertal vs Neanderthal Middle Pleistocene Hominin Diversity Neandertal vs modern human Middle Pleistocene hominin diversity o Neandertals the hominin we love to hate o Middle Pleistocene 800 000 125 000 BP hominin populations were often isolated from each other and exposed to different selective regimes o Homo heidelbergensis 800 150 kya Found in Africa Europe Asia Descendants of regional H ergaster H erectus populations Larger brains 1100 1400cc Slightly higher foreheads rounded occipital Thick cranial bone brow ridges no chin Found in Zambia Germany France Greece One specific example robust postcranial bones Ethiopia China 300 kya Sima de los Huesos Atapuerca Spain contains remains from at least 24 individuals Share this ancestral group with Neandertals our Wooden spear and horse remains at Schoningen cousins 400 kya 300 000 30 000 ya o Neandertals Lived in Europe and SW Asia Descendants of European H Heidelbergensis Eventually outcompeted by an invasive population ours Incorrectly portrayed as backwards dumb or brutal cavemen Morphology Cranium conundrum Bronc bustin bodies Neanderthal cranium looks archaic o Long vault low forehead o Large brow ridges o Occipital bun in rear of skull o No chin But brain size is equal to or greater than Extreme wear on the outer side of the front that of modern human populations teeth Neandertal skeletons fall within the range displayed by modern humans but usually at one extreme o Hyper muscular with robust bones An early study found that frequency of healed fractures is similar to rodeo cowboys o Shortened limb segments cold adapted Neandertal vs modern human o Wider shoulders than modern humans o Shorter wider humorous more muscular and powerful upper arms o Radial lateral curvature indicates heavy loading of the o Femoral neck is less obtuse Femoral shafts are more robust forearms indicating massive leg musculature and greater habitual leg force o Large bulbous finger tips technology Neandertals associated with the Mousterian tool Fewer large core tools handaxes choppers More flake tools More sophisticated ways of making flake tools the levallois method Prepare the core by removing flakes along the edges that looks like a peanut butter cup Then remove flakes off of the top Strike the modified core appropriately Off pops a sharp flake of a predetermined Ex Notches and denticulates Ex hafting a Mousterian innovation size and shape