Chapter 10

1. Chapter 10 Homo Sapiens and the Upper Paleolithic

2. Chapter Outline • When did anatomically modern forms of Homo sapiens appear? • What was the culture of Upper Paleolithic peoples like? • When and how did humans spread to Australia and the Americas?

3. Homo Sapiens and the Upper Paleolithic • By 30,000 y.a. populations in all parts of the inhabited world resembled modern humans. • People refined adaptations to local conditions, and expanded into new regions. • Biological consequences included reduction of the face to modern proportions, and the reduction of body mass.

4. Cultural Adaptations in the Upper Paleolithic • Tools took over cutting, softening, and clamping functions once performed by the teeth. • This resulted in a reduction in the size of the teeth and jaws. • Technological improvements reduced selective pressures that had favored massive, robust bodies.

5. Upper Paleolithic Tools • Pressure flaking was used to press off small flakes as the final step in stone tool making. • Burins were used to work bone, horn, antler, and ivory into fishhooks, harpoons, and eyed needles.

6. Upper Paleolithic Tools • Spear-throwers added to the efficiency of the spear as a hunting tool. • Nets made from the fibers of wild plants were used in net hunting. • Bow and arrow was invented.

7. Upper Paleolithic Art • Carvings in tool handles • Statues • Cave paintings • Bone flutes and whistles

8. The Spread of Upper Paleolithic Peoples • Expanded into regions previously uninhabited by their archaic forebears. • Colonization of Siberia began 42,000 y.a. • 10,000 years later they reached the northeastern part of that region.

9. The Spread of Upper Paleolithic Peoples • 60,000 y.a., people arrived in Australia and New Guinea. • They crossed at least 90 kilometers of water that separated Australia and New Guinea from the Asian continent throughout Paleolithic times.

10. The Spread of Upper Paleolithic Peoples • The first Americans may have come by boat. • They may have traveled between islands or ice-free pockets of coastline, from as far away as the Japanese islands and down North America’s northwest coast.

11. Major Paleolithic Trends: Tools • Tools became more sophisticated, varied, and specialized. • Tools were lighter and smaller, with a better ratio between length of cutting edge and weight of stone. • Tools were specialized according to region and function.

12. Blade Technique

13. Pressure Flaking • Two methods used for pressure flaking in which a bone, antler, or wooden tool is used to press rather than strike off small flakes.

14. Major Paleolithic Trends: Hunting • Tools were developed that exceeded other animals’ physical equipment: spear thrower, net hunting, bow and arrow. • Improved social organization and cooperation were important for survival and population growth.

16. Ancient Peoples Spreading to the Americas

17. Major Paleolithic Trends: Regionalism Due to two factors: • Perceived need to distinguish symbolically one’s own people from others. • The need to adapt to differing environments.