Human Evolution and PREHISTORY

Human Evolution andPREHISTORY Chapter Nine: HOMO HEIDELBERGENSIS, NEANDERTAL AND THE MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC Link to the Canadian Association for Physical Anthropology

Chapter Preview Who Were the Descendants of Homo erectus/ergaster? What Was The Culture Of Homo heidelbergensis and Neandertals Like? What Became Of The Neandertals?

ARCHAIC Homo sapiens or other species? • Middle Pleistocene, 800,000 to 120,000 ya • Fossils with mix of erectus/ergaster and sapiens cranial traits • Clear increase in brain size

ARCHAIC Homo sapiens or other 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 Africa Homo heidelbergensis ** the text supports the latter view

Middle Pleistocene fossils • An 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 fossils Africa and Europe • Period between 400,000 and 200,000 ya • Remains classified sometimes as H. sapiens and sometimes as H. erectus/ergaster • Yet all have cranial capacities within range of Sima de los Huesos, and all display the mosaic of features seen in H. heidelbergensis East Asia • same mix of traits – either H. heidelbergensis or a new hominin species

Steinheimensis… Dated to approx. 325 kya Location: Germany Transitional Sapiens Info...

Levalloisian Technique • A method of flake manufacture from a specially prepared core • Found in Africa, Europe, Middle East, China

Technology • 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 ironoxide(rise in ritual activity?); common by 130,000 ya • Red Ochre... • Hafting...

The 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 divergearound 500,000 ya

Characteristics of Neandertals - Crania • Modern-sized brains (higher average cranial capacity than moderns) • Huge front teeth, used for tasks other than chewing • Large noses, to warm and moisten glacial air • Protruding eye sockets, with prominent brow ridges • Occipital bun, to counteract the heavy face

Characteristics of Neandertals – Postcranial Skeleton • Extremely muscular, with robust and dense limb bones • Short limbs relative to body mass • Powerful arms with remarkably strong grip • Massive foot and leg bones • Dimensions of the pelvic outlet are fully consistent with those of a modern woman of the same size

African, Chinese and Javanese Populations • 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 HOMO SAPIENS 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 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 Tradition • Population 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 theyscavenged

The 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 Neandertals • Deliberate burial of the dead • Europe, South Africa, Southwest Asia

The Symbolic Life of Neandertals • Use of pigments, e.g. manganese dioxide and red ochre to apply colour to things • Carving and engraving • Possible use of musical instruments, e.g. flute from a site in Slovenia • Cave bear flute

Neandertals 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 ORIGINS“The Great Debate” • Did populations of archaic Homo sapiens simultaneously evolve from H. erectus into modern H. sapiens (multiregional hypothesis)? OR • Are all contemporary people derived from one single population of archaic Homo sapiens(“Eve” or “Out-of-Africa” hypothesis)?

The Multiregional Hypothesis • In 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 Hypothesis For Europe, there is some resistance to the idea that Neandertals were involved in the ancestry to modern humans because of theAurignacian 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 Hypothesis • Neandertal 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 Hypothesis • An 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” Hypothesis • 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 modernhumans lived in Africa 200,000 years ago • Y-chromosome analysis (paternal lineages) supports the DNA conclusions

Fossil Evidence for the “Out-of-Africa” 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-of-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” Hypothesis 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 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 Analysis • Assumption that mutation rate is steady • Assumption that mtDNA is not subject to selection 3. Assumption that DNA traveled exclusively from Africa, and that there was no two-way exchange

NEXT TIME: Homo sapiens and the Upper Paleolithic

Human Evolution and PREHISTORY