ANTHP 101 EXAM 4 : Vlada Pimenova
What is the relationship between Homo erectus and later humans?
o middle in the middle it is difficult to date something that is only tens of thousands of
years old
Hominins of Middle-Late Pleistocene (900-30 kya)
Middle Pleistocene
Tool Use
300-50 kya
some tools were hafted (attached to a
handle)
important innovation
probably used in making stone-tipped
spears for game hunting
I. Homo heidelbergensis
General Information
o aka archaic Homo sapiens
o 600-120 kya
o after Heidelberg, Germany a city and a university, where the main mandible was
found in 1921
o replaced or co-existed with H. erectus
H. erectus H. heidelbergensis
750-1251 cc pronounced
brow ridges
1100-1450 cc smaller brow
ridges
PRIMITIVE hominin traits:
massive brow ridges (most)
thick cranial bones
no chin (only in H. sapiens)
DERIVED hominin traits:
more rounded skulls
higher foreheads
larger brains
cranial capacity 1200-1300 cc [larger
than 600-1200 cc of H. erectus]
Location & Dates
o Africa
o Europe
o Asia
India and China
China
300 kya
Yingkou, northern China most complete fossil found
fossils also found in southern China
MIGRATION theory because Chinas fossils have features similar to fossils in
Africa and Europe
o General
tool use is similar to H. erectus
ate meat
big game hunting
France: adult animals driven off a cliff
butchering use of stone tools
sorting of body parts
coal mine in Germany: wooden spears dating 400 kya (throwing spears?) &
hundreds of horse fossils found there, too
bones cut and processed with stone tools
suggests coordinate hunting efforts
Petralona Cave,
Greece
Homo heidelbergensis
Specimen between H. heidelbergensis and H. sapiens sapiens (modern humans)
Specimen Date Location Details
Bodo 600 kya Bodo, Ethiopia oldest and most complete cranium
with features
with cut marks Kabwe 300-125 kya Zambia found by a miner
in 1921
larger brain: 1200-1300 cc
cranium: signs of disease, wounds,
cavities, dental
abscesses
retained: thick cranial bones,
massive brow
ridges, no chin
body was probably more
robust
Petralona 250-150 kya Pertalona Cave,
Greece
refer to image
II. Homo antecessor
General Information
o ~ 800 kya
o oldest of the archaic H. sapiens but probably not H. heidelbergensis (could have
coexisted)
o precursors to Neanderthals
o Gran Dolina, Spain
cave site
fossils from 6 individuals
o cannibals? cut marks on animal and human remains
Features
o unlike H. heidelbergensis, they have:
What Happened to the Neanderthals? by Katerina Harvati, 2012
disappeared 30 kya
some think that Neanderthal contributed to the gene pool of modern humans
potential Neanderthal-modern human hybrids: European
Upper Paleolithic modern human specimen mDNA: no indication of interbreeding nDNA: some evidence (less than 2% interbreeding
rates)
3rd coexisting species from Desinova Cave?
modern human competitive advantages better clothing and shelter improved hunting/ diverse subsistence (also
consume bird and fish)
social difference (large groups, complexity) demographic factors (birth, mortality/interbirth
intervals)
ideas about Neanderthal extinction: habitat degradation of Neanderthals before modern
humans: unstable climates, intense volcanic activity
competing with modern humans for resources a bit of both?
Neanderthal Behavior by Gilliane Mounier, 2012
disappeared 27 kya
stone tools and animal hunting
for at least 200,000 years throughout Europe and western Asia
coldest conditions adaptations: barrel-shaped chest shorter limbs large brains muscular and strong
frequent injuries
Lithic technology Middle Paleolithic core technology: 300-35 kya stone tools: decrease in frequency of large bifacial
cutting tools (handaxes, cleavers) 7 appearance of
prepared-core technology (Levallois)
evidence: microwear, residue stains Mousterian: Paleolithic assemblages of cores,
flakes, retouched tools; products of different culture
groups
Hunting technology Mousterian points
faces bulge out
double-arched brow ridges
large retromolar space
large cranial capacity (1390
cc)
sexual dimorphism
Atapuerca, Spain: Sima de los
Huesos
o pit of bones
o 13 meters deep
o 350-400 kya
o 30+ individuals with carnivores
found fell to death?
III. Homo neanderthalensis
General Information
o morphologically distinct
hominins dominate Europe and
the Near East
o 130-30 kya
o fossils in Europe: 1st one was
found in Germany
o theory: Neanderthals went
extinct and did not evolve into
humans
o NEW evidence suggests that
Neanderthals and humans
interbred
Features
o Brains
large: 1245-1700 cc
larger than that of H.
heidelbergensis (1200-1300
cc)
some even larger than that of
modern humans (1400 cc)
o Cranium
long and low
more rounded than that of H. heidelbergensis
mid-facial projection
huge long faces
big double-arched brow ridges
no chin
o Teeth strong but bad
smaller molars
large incisors WORN DOWN
processing meat?
using teeth to hold meat?
fused roots in molars
o Bodies (postcranial): short & stout
super robust
heavily muscled bodies
probably weighed 30% more than modern humans of comparable height
wider birth canals babies with large and more developed brains
compared to H. sapiens possibly longer gestation periods
Morphology
o adaptations to COLD environments
there were many climatic changes from 130 kya to 30 kya
large, broad chests
short limbs
distal portions of limbs (tibia, fibula) were shorter than more proximal parts (femur)
Culture & Behavior
o Tools more complex
NO hand axes that were with H. erectus
sophisticated flake tools
Mousterian tool tradition (Mid-Paleolithic)
differs from what we see in Africa
uses:
shaving wood, whittle wood
scrape animal hides
mounted on wooden handles
probably NOT used as weapons
o Hunting
scavengers or hunters?
cliff hunting
Mousterian/ Middle-Paleolithic and
Middle Stone Age
250-45 kya OR 250-35 kya focus on Eurasia and North Africa
Neanderthals in Europe other archaic humans and
early modern humans in
Africa and Near East
flake-based, Mousterian tools
Aliens from Earth
Homo floresiensis
1/3 size of modern humans
known as Hobbits
brains: 400 cc (smalls than a chimps)
Java man
did H. erectus get dwarfed?
hidden Asian lineage a skull found that may lead to the
hobbits and modern humans
new exploration site 5 skulls in Deminisi: unknown
hominin - speculations
animal remains limited number of species
remains of large prey over-represented compared to the environment (?)
prime age animals
meatiest bones found together
o Burial
sometimes buried
Shanidas Cave, Iraq
~ 50 kya
direct evidence of deliberate burial
symbolic and ceremonial burial?
Pathology
o did not live long
o probably died young by age 40 or 45
o healed fractures of skulls/limbs
o periodontal disease
o osteoarthritis: withered arms
o defects in the enamel: food shortages
o implies help from others?
IV. Homo floresiensis
General Information
o 35-14 kya
o Liang Bua Cave, Flores Indonesian island
o announced on Oct 2004 and 2005 as a
discovered distinctive human kind
Features complexity
o tiny size tiny brain
o an entirely new hominin
o tiny due to disease?
o inhabited an island have they dwarfed?
Puzzle Hypotheses
o descendants of H. erectus
o descendants of another pre- H. erectus hominin
o modern humans with small stature due to:
microcephaly
thyroid disease
o there is NO consensus
V. Homo sapiens sapiens General Information
o 160 kya- present
o some humans emerged
o most dated in Africa
o Israel
o Ethiopia
Features
o larger brow ridges, compared to people
today
o compared to Neanderthals, H. sapiens
sapiens have:
small face
protruding chin
smaller teeth (especially incisors) and
jaws
rounded skull
higher forehead
smaller nose
smaller brow ridges
less robust postcranium
Human Migrations
General Information
dispersal of cultural behavior associated with widespread dispersal of modern
humans
probably 40-35 kya Europe
Cro-Magnon man Germany, 30 kya (modern humans)
St. Cesaire France, 36 kya (Neanderthal)
Neanderthals & Anatomically Modern Humans
I. General Information
o Upper Paleolithic people
Origin Theories
Out-of-Africa
a new species emerged in Africa
and replaced H.
erectus and other
hominins
spread throughout the world
most supported by the fossil record
Multi-Regional
Hypothesis
different origins of modern humans
in each location, H. erectus
independently
evolved with
modern humans
unlikely
Culture & Symbolic Expression
South Africa: 70 kya Near East: 45 kya Australia: 40 kya Europe: 35 kya China: 30 kya
Solutrean Artifacts (21 kya)
Magdalenian Artifacts (16.5 kya)
Upper Paleolithic Burial site in Siberia
Population Variation
humans are polytypic: species
composed of populations that differ in
one or more trait expressions
Genetic Variation among Groups
stature varies among human
populations (environment, culture,
etc.)
larger body size is favored by natural
selection in colder climates
lived at higher population densities
lived longer
skeletal materials rarely showed signs
of disease
II. Australia
o 60-55 kya
o through Asia (separated by 100 km of
water!)
o tools and cave paintings
o 1st people to grind tools (15 kya)
III. New World?
o maybe 20 kya, but theres little evidence
o came across the Bering Land Bridge (13-11 kya) good
evidence for that
o coincides with time when trees reappeared (?) after 20
kya of absence
o glaciation: 25-13 kya
o oldest sites:
Americas 25 kya
Midwest and South America 11 kya
Human Variation
Biologically, what are humans?
widespread species known as Homo sapiens
Variation in Humans
I. Genetic Variation: differences between
individuals caused by genes inherited by
parents
II. Environmental Variation: differences between
individuals caused by environmental factors
(e.g.: skin pigmentation)
Example: body mass
environmental
genetic
Subsistence Ecology (~15 kya)
Europe cold! grassland, tundra huge herds of ungulates,
cave bears, wolves, mammoths, reindeer
out of bones ~15 kya beads? shelter? sewn clothes domesticated dogs
We are all linked
to Nature. Natural selection occurs
on an individual
level.
cultural (Uganda vs. United States)
Variation in Human Skin Color
o Genetics
at least 8 genes responsible for skin pigmentation
what affects color:
hemoglobin
keratin
melanin (can absorb UV light!)
skin color is adaptive
hypothesis: natural selection favored dark skin in
areas closer to the equator where there is more UV
exposure; relaxed away from the equator
o Vitamin D
essential for bone growth & development
source: made from sunlight absorbed by the body
need sunlight for vitamin D synthesis
too little
rickets, bone malformations (including pelvis)
reduces fitness
o Folate
vitamin B complex
development in fetal spinal cord and brain
deficiency
severe birth defects
causes decreased sperm count in men
sensitive to the sun
high intensity sunlight = photo-damage to folate
darker skin color offers protection against folate destruction
o Genetic/ Fossil Evidence
people moved out of Africa
probably had dark skin to protect against the sun get plenty of sun, but need
protection
out of Africa, sunlight is less intense less vitamin D rickets
females are lighter need more vitamin D to support the offspring during pregnancy
o Discussion from Study
variation in skin color is variable and subject to selection pressures RAPIDLY and has
changed MANY times during human evolutionary history
not to define groups or phylogenetic relationships
Humans are more than the sum of
their genes.
Phenotype is what is expressed &
who we are.
Human phenotype is influenced by
environment, learned behavior,
culture.
Cline:
form of species that exhibit gradual
phenotypical and/or genetic
differences over a geographical area,
environmental heterogeneity
(variation) [typically because]
Nutritional Adaptations in Modern Humans
I. Milk
The Issue
o primates drink milk as infants
o only humans drink milk as adults
o the ability to metabolize milk is not uniformly distributed
Biological Processes
o lactose
milk sugar
40% of caloric value in human milk
broken down by lactase into glucose and galactose
o lactose intolerance
consequences: bloating, gas, diarrhea
genetically controlled
vast majority of infants can digest mothers milk
decline in lactase production usually begins at 2 years old
(weaning time)
Cultural Significance
o Turkana pastoralists
rely on milk
o Beja
desert between Nile and the Red Sea in Sudan
rely most exclusively on milk
drink 3 liters a day
fresh milk
lactose tolerant
o Europeans
less clear
colonization by nomadic tribes?
o last 7 kya with domestication of livestock
Acclimatization
short-term physiological
response to environmental
conditions
shiver: conserve heat
sweat: dissipate heat
Adaptation
evolutionary response
resulting in change over
time
II. Spice Use
As Nutritional Adaptation
o proximate: food tastes better
o ultimate: anti-microbial, prevents
spoilage
Properties
o our taste evolved to make us prefer foods
that made us healthier
o spices should exhibit anti-bacterial and
antifungal activity
for each 30 spices, all killed at least
25% different bacterial species
garlic, oregano, onion, all-spice
killed 100% bacterial species
o use of spices should be greatest in hot climates, where
unrefrigerated foods spoil especially quickly
Beginnings of Spice Use
o flavors may have been initially appealing or that they
made humans feel good (digestive/vermicidal effects)
o prevent spoilage
o spice-using families: less suffering from food-borne
illnesses survived more often?
Evolution, Brains, and Behavior
How are our brains different from non-human primates?
What were the selective pressures to develop larger brains?
How does our communication compare to NHPs?
Is culture an adaptation?
Have humans stopped evolving?
The Brain
I. General Information
the brain is a million of neurons that communicate with each other
3 units:
o forebrain: most developed
Causation
Proximate Causation Ultimate Causation
explanation of a behavior based on
trigger stimuli or
HOW
proximate = closer
explanation of behavior due to
evolutionary or
long-term,
underlying
mechanisms or
WHY
Examples
A boat sinks.
Proximate: a hole in the boat
Ultimate: poorly-made
A chimp uses a tool to eat ants.
Proximate: hunger
Ultimate: learned behavior
o midbrain: accounts for the reflexes
o hindbrain: spinal cord
cerebrum
o 4 major lobes: frontal, temporal, parietal, occipital
cerebral cortex (gray matter)
o covers surface of cerebrum and cerebellum
o information processing center
o folds in the brain add surface area and increase the amount of gray matter and
increase the amount of information that can be processed
II. Encephalization
an evolutionary increase in the complexity or relative size of the brain; usually involves a
shift of function from the non-cortical parts of brain to cortex
Encephalization Quest (EQ): the ratio of the actual brain size of a species to its expected
brain-size
o based on the statistical regression of the brain to body-size based on a large number
of species
o primates have the highest EQ
o modern humans have an EQ that is :
6-7 times as large as that of Australopithecus and chimpanzees (?)
2-3 times larger than ?
Expensive Tissue Hypothesis
o explains the paradox (there is no correlation between the relative size of the brain and
the relative basal metabolic rate)
o the hypothesis examines other metabolically expensive organs
o turns out, as the brain gets larger, the gastro-intestinal tract, for instance, shrinks in
size
o higher diet quality larger brains
: increased energy availability
III. Cost and Benefit of a Big Brain
Benefits
o storage of information
o collect and process info deliver output in milliseconds
o solve problems and create abstract images
Cost
o large brain large head difficult childbirth
o costs a lot of energy
IV. How are our brains different than those of chimpanzees?
larger
structurally different
o more white matter in human brains
o greater ability to process information
speed of growth (faster in younger humans)
more developed language centers
V. Pressures favoring large brains in climates
Ecological Hypothesis
o Katie Milton: exploitation of fruit mental maps needed to locate food thats fresh in
season
Extractive Food Hypothesis
o primates need to exploit food resources
o tool use chimpanzees, capuchins, others: tool use is variable in chimps and
capuchins
o mammals
tool box: sequential choices in tool use
problems with the hypothesis
gorillas may not need tools, yet they are intelligent enough
Social Intelligence Hypothesis
o social bonds influence participation in coalitions, access to resources, keep track of
relationships
o larger brains are associated with group size
o study based on neocortex
o problem with the hypothesis
orangutans are intelligent, yet they do not live in groups and are alone
Behavioral Flexibility Hypothesis
o ability to invent solutions to novel problems (learning, planning, innovation, tools)
VI. Memory
chimps have excellent memory
VII. Language
the system of human communication
o spoken: requires anatomical specialties
o semantic: words have meaning
o phonemic: made from sound
elements
o grammatical: set of rules on how
to use words
Brains & Language
o Wernickes area: processing of
language we hear spoken, or
language input
o Brocas area: production of
language, what we say
o connected by a large bundle of
nerve fibers
o human vs. chimp
homolog of Brocas area is
Brodmanns area, which is
not as developed in chimpanzees as it is in humans
Planum temporale in chimps
Evolution of Language
o human language resulted from a series of mutations
o evolved naturally through natural selection
o experiments:
Nim Chimpsky: used 125 signs in 44 months
Kanzi (bonobo): learned to communicate with a lexigram board, pushing symbols
that stand for words
Koko: 1000 signs, 2000 English words (?)
o difference between primates and humans:
apes do not have grammar or syntax
brother, killed, Steven
Brother killed Steven
Steven killed brother
Evolution & Culture
I. Culture
information acquired by individuals through imitation, teaching, and other forms of social
learning
common among other animals
is adaptive (depends on a success in the environment)
II. Culture?: Biological anthropology
intergenerational transmission of behavior
o genetically or through social learning
one that is transmitted repeatedly through social or observational learning to become a
population-level characteristic
III. Chimpanzee Culture Types
tool use: stones or branches for cracking nuts
social: greetings, invitations to play or groom
personal hygiene: use of sticks and leaves to clean the body
medicinal: use of plants to treat parasites and infections
IV. Are humans still evolving?
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