Human Evolution Human Evolution andand PREHISTORYPREHISTORY

Chapter Nine:Chapter Nine:

HOMO HOMO HEIDELBERGENSISHEIDELBERGENSIS, ,

NEANDERTAL AND THE NEANDERTAL AND THE MIDDLE PALEOLITHICMIDDLE PALEOLITHICLink to the Canadian Association for Physical Anthropology

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Who Were the Descendants of Who Were the Descendants of Homo Homo erectus/ergastererectus/ergaster??

What Was The Culture Of What Was The Culture Of Homo Homo heidelbergensisheidelbergensis and Neandertals and Neandertals

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What Became Of The Neandertals?What Became Of The Neandertals?

ARCHAIC ARCHAIC Homo sapiensHomo sapiens or other or other species?species?

Middle Pleistocene, 800,000 to 120,000 ya Fossils with mix of erectus/ergaster and sapiens cranial traitsClear increase in brain size

ARCHAIC ARCHAIC Homo sapiensHomo sapiens or other or other species?species?

Some anthropologists lump these fossils into archaic H. sapiens because of the similarity to moderns; the variation is only at the subspecies level, e.g. H. sapiens neandertalensis

others feel that the variations represent a different species (increasingly the majority view)E.g. early Middle Pleistocene, Europe and

AfricaHomo heidelbergensis

** the text supports the latter view

Middle Pleistocene fossilsMiddle Pleistocene fossilsAn important site is Sima de

Los Huesos, Spain, close to Gran Dolina where H. antecessor was found which dated to 800,000 ya (chapter 8)

Dates to 325,000 – 205,000 ya, with significant variation in the 32 individuals

Mix of morphological features between erectus/ergaster and sapiens

Sima de Los Heusos site in the Atapuerca Mountains in Spain...

Middle Pleistocene fossilsMiddle Pleistocene fossilsAfrica and EuropePeriod between 400,000 and 200,000 yaRemains classified sometimes as H. sapiens

and sometimes as H. erectus/ergasterYet all have cranial capacities within range

of Sima de los Huesos, and all display the mosaic of features seen in H. heidelbergensis

East Asiasame mix of traits – either H.

heidelbergensis or a new hominin species

Steinheimensis…

Dated to approx. 325 kya

Location: Germany

Transitional Sapiens

Info...

Levalloisian TechniqueLevalloisian Technique

A method of flake manufacture from a specially prepared core

Found in Africa, Europe, Middle East, China

TechnologyTechnology Composite tools made by

hafting bifaces and flakes in wood handles

Regional styles and variation of tools are clearly evident

Proportion of raw materials from distant sources increases

In Africa, increased use of yellow and red iron oxide (rise in ritual activity?); common by 130,000 ya

Red Ochre...

Hafting...

The NeandertalsThe Neandertals

125,000 to 29,000 ya in Europe and west Asia

Homo neandertalensis

Maternal DNA virtually absent from modern humans

Neandertals and modern humans began to diverge around 500,000 ya

Characteristics of Neandertals - CraniaCharacteristics of Neandertals - Crania

Modern-sized brains (higher average cranial capacity than moderns)Huge front teeth, used for tasks other than chewingLarge noses, to warm and moisten glacial airProtruding eye sockets, with prominent brow ridgesOccipital bun, to counteract the heavy face

Characteristics of Neandertals – Postcranial Characteristics of Neandertals – Postcranial SkeletonSkeleton

Extremely muscular, with robust and dense limb bonesShort limbs relative to body massPowerful arms with remarkably strong gripMassive foot and leg bonesDimensions of the pelvic outlet are fully consistent with those of a modern woman of the same size

African, Chinese and Javanese African, Chinese and Javanese PopulationsPopulations

Same time period as European Neandertals

These fossils simply lack the extreme mid-face projection and massive muscle attachments, e.g. Solo River

Look like robust versions of earlier populations in the same region

Fully modern-sized brains

THE CULTURE OF ARCHAIC THE CULTURE OF ARCHAIC HOMO HOMO SAPIENSSAPIENS

Middle Paleolithic Traditions

Best known are the Mousterian and Mousterian-like traditions of Europe, Western Asia, North Africa

166,000 to 40,000 years ago Comparable traditions are found as

far east as China and Japan where they arose independently from local predecessors

The Mousterian TraditionThe Mousterian Tradition

Characterized by Acheulean handaxes and flake tools made by new Levalloisian techniques

Great variety of tool types, e.g. notched flakes, gravers, borers, scrapers

Composite tools with hafting in bone and wood

The Mousterian TraditionThe Mousterian TraditionPopulation increase pushed people into colder climates in Europe

In adaptation to the cold people increased their intake of meat (animal fats)

As hunters Neandertals were opportunistic predators as well as focusing on a particular species

Neandertals were capable of hunting large game animals, utilizing local faunal diversity….and they scavenged

The Mousterian TraditionThe Mousterian Tradition

Increase in complexity of tool kit for hunting and processing

People became less mobile as seen in the long occupations of caves and rock shelters

People began to care for the physically disabled and the elderly, e.g. Shanidar Cave

Culture was now more than what was needed to survive

The Symbolic Life of NeandertalsThe Symbolic Life of Neandertals

Deliberate burial of the dead

Europe, South Africa, Southwest Asia

The Symbolic Life of NeandertalsThe Symbolic Life of Neandertals

Use of pigments, e.g. manganese dioxide and red ochre to apply colour to things

Carving and engravingPossible use of

musical instruments, e.g. flute from a site in Slovenia

Cave bear flute

Neandertals and Spoken LanguageNeandertals and Spoken Language

Shape and position of hyoid bone was adequate for speech

The necessary neural development had occurred

Size of hypoglossal canal is like that of modern humans

Thoracic vertebral canal is expanded (increased breath control for speech)

MODERN HUMAN ORIGINSMODERN HUMAN ORIGINS“The Great Debate”“The Great Debate”Did populations of archaic Homo sapiens

simultaneously evolve from H. erectus into modern H. sapiens (multiregional hypothesis)?

ORAre all contemporary people derived from

one single population of archaic Homo sapiens (“Eve” or “Out-of-Africa” hypothesis)?

The Multiregional HypothesisThe Multiregional HypothesisIn Africa, China and Southeast Asia,

the fossil evidence strongly supports genetic continuity from Homo erectus through to modern Homo sapiens

Gene flow among populations keeps the human species unified throughout the Pleistocene; there were no speciation events, e.g. Neandertals

The Multiregional HypothesisThe Multiregional HypothesisFor Europe, there is some resistance to the

idea that Neandertals were involved in the ancestry to modern humans because of the Aurignacian toolmaking tradition, a new blade technology, appearing in Europe by 36,500 years ago

Anatomically modern humans are generally considered the makers of these tools

The Multiregional HypothesisThe Multiregional HypothesisNeandertal sites are known from western Europe dating to 35,000 to 30,000 years ago, indicating coexistence between modern and archaic forms of sapiens

Considering the anatomical differences, some form of population replacement, rather than simple evolution, may have occurred

The Multiregional HypothesisThe Multiregional HypothesisAn alternate to the explanation is the idea of the “varied population”, rather than ideal types

In the western Europe population between 40,000 and 30,000 years ago, some individuals retained stronger Neandertal heritage and in others modern traits are more prominent

The “Eve” or “Out-of-Africa” The “Eve” or “Out-of-Africa” HypothesisHypothesis

Anatomically modern humans are descended from one specific population of Homo sapiens, replacing populations as they spread out from their original homeland

This hypothesis comes from the use of mitochondrial DNA to reconstruct family trees (maternal lineages)

Preliminary results suggested that the ancestor of modern humans lived in Africa 200,000 years ago

Y-chromosome analysis (paternal lineages) supports the DNA conclusions

Fossil Evidence for the “Out-of-Fossil Evidence for the “Out-of-Africa” HypothesisAfrica” Hypothesis

1. Homo sapiens idaltu (Ehtiopia), 160,000 to 154,000 years ago

2. Modern traits, e.g. domed forehead, narrow nasal bones

3. Acheulean and Middle Stone Age tools

4. Omo river (Ethiopia) fossils, recently dated to 190,000 ya, anatomically modern humans

Cultural Evidence for the “Out-Cultural Evidence for the “Out-of-Africa” Hypothesisof-Africa” Hypothesis

1. oldest substantial behavioural evidence linked to moderns is from Africa

2. at Klasies River and Blombos Cave, South Africa, both land and sea resources are exploited, 70,00-80,000 ya

3. use of blade technology

Problems with the “Out-of-Africa” Problems with the “Out-of-Africa” HypothesisHypothesis

There is no evidence for replacement in southwest Asia and east Asia, and strong evidence for continuity in both the archaeological and fossil record in East Asia

ORIGINAL STUDY

African Origin or Ancient Population Size African Origin or Ancient Population Size Differences?Differences?

The “Eve” theory is based on the idea that the greater genetic variability observed in Africans was a measure of a large number of mutations accumulating over a long period of time; therefore, humans must have evolved longer in Africa

An alternative explanation is that ancient population sizes expanded first, and are larger, in Africa than in other regions, thereby creating greater African variation

Larger populations lose fewer mtDNA lineages and therefore retain more variation

Therefore, the last common ancestor will be farther in the past, and this could be the explanation for the origin of modern humans being in Africa

Problems With the mtDNA AnalysisProblems With the mtDNA Analysis

1. Assumption that mutation rate is steady

2. Assumption that mtDNA is not subject to selection

3. Assumption that DNA traveled exclusively from Africa, and that there was no two-way exchange

Homo sapiensHomo sapiens and the and the Upper PaleolithicUpper Paleolithic