chapter 9 archaic homo sapiens and the middle paleolithic

Chapter 9

Archaic Homo Sapiens and the Middle Paleolithic

Chapter Outline

Who was “archaic” Homo sapiens? What was the culture of archaic homo

sapiens like? Who were the Neandertals and what

became of them?

Archaic Homo sapiens

Species with modern sized brains in skulls that retained ancestral features.

Descended from Homo erectus, transition took place between about 400,000 and 200,000 y.a.

Neandertals, the best known, lived in Europe and western Asia between about 200,000 and 35,000 y.a.

Culture of Archaic Homo sapiens

Made a variety of tools for special purposes.

Made objects for symbolic purposes. Engaged in ceremonial activities. Cared for the old and disabled.

Appearance of Homo sapiens

At sites in Europe, Africa, and East Asia, fossils have been found that date between 400,000 and 200,000 y.a.

These fossils show a mixture of traits of both H. erectus and H. sapiens.

Indicates an evolution from the older into the younger species.

Levalloisian Technique

Levalloisian Technique

Flake tools produced by this technique were found in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and China.

Could be a case of independent invention or the spread of ideas from one part of the world to another.

Invention of Hafting

Affixing small stone bifaces and flakes in handles of wood to make spears and knives.

Involved three components: handle, stone insert, and binding materials.

Regional stylistic and technological variants are clearly evident, suggesting emergence of distinct cultural traditions.

Skull of Classic Neandertals

Shift in Characteristics of Neandertal to Modern Features Between 40,000 and 30,000 years ago, we would

expect to find individuals with characteristics such as those of the Saint Césaire “Neandertal” (A) and the almost modern Cro-Magnon(B).

Upper Paleolithic and Aurignacian Industries

Archaic Homo sapiens

200,000 y.a. populations of archaic H.sapiens lived in all parts of the inhabited world.

The brains of archaic H. sapiens were no different in size and organization than our own.

Utilized culture as a means of adaptation to a greater extent than their predecessors.

They were capable of complex technology and sophisticated thought.

Mousterian Tradition

Named after the Neandertal site of Le Moustier, France.

Tools were lighter and smaller than the Levalloisian and included hand axes, flakes, scrapers, borers, wood shavers, and spears.

Mousterian peoples buried their dead, cared for the disabled, and made objects for symbolic purposes.

Archaic Homo sapiens AndModern Human Origins Multiregional Hypothesis - all

populations of archaic H. sapiens are easily derivable from earlier populations of H. erectus from the same regions.

“Eve” Hypothesis - transition from archaic to anatomically modern H. sapiens took place in one population, probably in Africa.