CHAPTER 9 The Earliest Dispersal of the Genus Homo: Homo erectus and Contemporaries First Dispersal of the Hominins • Close to 2 million years ago, hominins expanded out of Africa into other areas of the Old World. • Early hominin fossils have never been discovered out of Africa, leading researchers to believe that the early hominins were isolated there for 5 million years. • After 2 mya, there’s less diversity in these hominins than in their pre- australopith and australopith predecessors. • There is some variation among the different geographical groups of these hominins, and anthropologists still debate how to classify them. • There is universal agreement that the hominins found outside of Africa are members of genus Homo. Homo erectus • The first hominin to expand into new regions of the Old World. • Homo erectus is the hominin species for which there is the most evidence. • As a species, H. erectus existed over 1 million years. • More evolved behavioral/cultural practices and larger more derived bodies aided their success • East African finds have been dated to 1.7 m.y.a. Lumping vs Splitting • Depending on preference researchers tend to want to group individual fossil finds together into species (lumping) or split a genus into as many identifiable species as possible (spliting) • Some researchers split Homo erectus into two species • African fossils into Homo ergaster. • Asian fossils into Homo erectus • Analyses show that H. erectus/ergaster are a closely related species and possibly geographical varieties of a single species Morphology of Homo erectus • There was much varition in the individual groups that are included in H. erectus, but they share a set of features: Body Size • Adult weight >100 lbs, average adult height of ca. 5 feet 6 inches • Sexually dimorphic, weight and height varied according to sex • Increased robusticity (heavily built body) that dominated hominin evolution until anatomically modern H. sapiens Brain Size • Cranial capacities 700 cm3 to 1250 cm3 • Brain size closely linked with overall body size • H. erectus is larger-bodied than early Homo sample but relative brain size is about the same • Relative brain size of H. erectus is considerably less encephalized than later members of genus Homo Cranial Shape • Thick cranial bone, large brow ridges (supraorbital tori), and projecting nuchal torus • A projection of bone in the back of the cranium where neck muscles attach; used to hold up the head. • Braincase long and low, with little forehead development • Cranium wider at base, compared with earlier and later species • Sagittal keel, a small ridge from front to back along the sagittal suture African Origin of H. erectus • African origin supported by evidence of: 1. Earlier hominins prior to the appearance of H. erectus occurring in Africa. 2. 1.7 mya fossils at East Turkana, in Kenya, where australopiths have also ...

1. CHAPTER 9
The Earliest Dispersal of the Genus Homo:
Homo erectus and Contemporaries
First Dispersal of the Hominins
• Close to 2 million years ago, hominins expanded out of Africa
into other areas
of the Old World.
• Early hominin fossils have never been discovered out of
Africa, leading
researchers to believe that the early hominins were isolated
there for 5 million
years.
• After 2 mya, there’s less diversity in these hominins than in
their pre-
australopith and australopith predecessors.
• There is some variation among the different geographical
groups of these
hominins, and anthropologists still debate how to classify them.

2. • There is universal agreement that the hominins found outside
of Africa are
members of genus Homo.
Homo erectus
• The first hominin to expand into new regions of the Old
World.
• Homo erectus is the hominin species for which there is the
most evidence.
• As a species, H. erectus existed over 1 million years.
• More evolved behavioral/cultural practices and larger more
derived bodies aided their success
• East African finds have been dated to 1.7 m.y.a.
Lumping vs Splitting
• Depending on preference researchers tend to want to
group individual fossil finds together into species
(lumping) or split a genus into as many identifiable
species as possible (spliting)
• Some researchers split Homo erectus into two species
• African fossils into Homo ergaster.

3. • Asian fossils into Homo erectus
• Analyses show that H. erectus/ergaster are a closely
related species and possibly geographical varieties of a
single species
Morphology of Homo erectus
• There was much varition in the individual groups that are
included in H. erectus, but they share a set of features:
Body Size
• Adult weight >100 lbs, average adult height of ca. 5 feet 6
inches
• Sexually dimorphic, weight and height varied according to
sex
• Increased robusticity (heavily built body) that dominated
hominin evolution until anatomically modern H. sapiens
Brain Size
• Cranial capacities 700 cm3 to 1250 cm3

4. • Brain size closely linked with overall body size
• H. erectus is larger-bodied than early Homo sample
but relative brain size is about the same
• Relative brain size of H. erectus is considerably
less encephalized than later members of genus
Homo
Cranial Shape
• Thick cranial bone, large brow ridges (supraorbital tori), and
projecting
nuchal torus
• A projection of bone in the back of the cranium where neck
muscles attach;
used to hold up the head.
• Braincase long and low, with little forehead development
• Cranium wider at base, compared with earlier and later species
• Sagittal keel, a small ridge from front to back along the
sagittal suture
African Origin of H. erectus
• African origin supported by evidence of:
1. Earlier hominins prior to the appearance of H. erectus
occurring in

5. Africa.
2. 1.7 mya fossils at East Turkana, in Kenya, where
australopiths have
also been found,and not long after at other sites in East Africa.
3. Though, 1.8 mya populations in southeastern Europe; 1.6 mya
populations in Indonesia, suggesting quick migrations
4. It seems likely that in East Africa around 2.0 –1.8 mya, some
form of
early Homo evolved into H. erectus.
Nariokotome Skeleton WT 15000:
Turkana Boy
• In 1984, Kamoya Kimeu discovered a small piece
of skull on the west side of Lake Turkana at the
site known as Nariokotome.
• The excavations produced the most complete H.
erectus skeleton ever found
• Facial bones, a pelvis, and most of the limb
bones, ribs, and vertebrae.

6. Nariokotome Skeleton
• The Nariokotome
skeleton is dated to
about 1.6 mya.
• The skeleton is that of
a boy about 8 to 12
years of age with an
estimated height of 5
feet 3 inches.
Other Important African Finds
• Olduvai Gorge, dated at 1.4 mya :
• Cranial vault with small part of upper face, the cranial
capacity is
the largest of all the African H. erectus specimens.
• The browridge is the largest known for any hominin, but the
walls of
the braincase are thin. Similar to East African H. erectus
specimens;

7. differs from thick cranial bones in Asian H. erectus.
• Gona, Ethiopia dated to appx. 1.3 mya
• Female pelvis with very wide birth canal, indicating large-
brained
infants in utero, perhaps newborn H. erectus had a brain similar
to
modern human baby
• When compared with Nariokotome pelvis, considerable sexual
dimorphism in skeletal anatomy is linked to reproduction and
body
size
Other Important African Finds
• Daka, Middle Awash of Ethiopia find dated to appx. 1
mya
• Complete cranium more like Asian H. erectus than most
earlier East African remains discussed
• Discounts argument that East African fossils are
different species than Asian H. erectus

8. The First Hominins to Leave Africa
• Evolved in Africa about 2.0 mya
• Once spread into new environments outside of Africa a
great range of physical variation in specimens begins to
be seen at about 1.8 mya
• Reached Java, Indonesia by 1.6 mya
• Equates to less than 200,000 years to travel from East
Africa to Southeast Asia
The Dmanisi Hominins
• The remains are the best-preserved hominins of this age
found anywhere outside of Africa.
• 1.8 mya
• All three Dmanisi crania have small cranial capacities.
• A number of stone tools, similar to Olduwan industry from
Africa, have been recovered at Dmanisi.
• Remains from four individuals allows comparisons with H.
erectus from other areas

9. Diagnostic Characteristics
• The most complete specimen has a less robust and
thinner browridge, a projecting lower face, and a large
upper canine.
• Estimated height ranging from ca 4 feet 9 inches to 5 feet
5 inches, smaller than full H. erectus specimens from East
Africa or Asia
• Body proportions, however, similar to H. erectus (and H.
sapiens) and different from earlier hominins
Possibilities Raised by the Dmansi Discoveries
1. First hominins to leave Africa were small-bodied early form
of
H. erectus, with smaller brains than later forms and carrying
a typical African Oldowan stone tool culture
2. Perhaps two migrations out of Africa at the time: small-
brained, short-statured Dmanisi hominins and large, robust
body build of H. erectus populations of Java and China

10. Does this skull represent care for the elderly?
Homo Erectus from Indonesia
• Six sites in eastern Java, dating from 1.6 mya to 1 mya,
during the Early to Middle Pleistocene.
• The Ngandong individuals date from 27,000 ya.
• Excavated in 1930, being re-dated believed possibly 40-70,000
ya
• The famous Trinil skullcap found by Eugene Dubois in Java.
Zhoukoudian Homo erectus
• 40 male and female adults and children near Beijing, at
Zhoukoudian, excavated beginning in 1920s.
• 14 skullcaps, other cranial pieces, more than 100 isolated
teeth, and
scattering of postcranial remains
• Many interpretations for these remains, i.e. used fire, ritual,
cannibalism, remains from the meals of giant hyenas
• Cultural remains of more than100,000 artifacts indicate site
occupation of several thousand years
• Lack of evidence of the control of fire and suggestive
evidence of
bone accumulation of carnivores cast doubt on whether the cave

11. was home or hearth
Later Homo erectus from Europe
• Atapuerca region in northern Spain, 1.2 mya
• partial jaw with few teeth;closely resembles Dmanisi
fossils; simple flake tools and animal bones
• Gran Dolina, dated to appx 850,000-780,000 ya
• Assigning the fossils to a particular species is problematic,
based on the fragmentary nature of the remains
• Spanish paleoanthropologists place these hominins into a
species called Homo antecessor
Homo erectus Timeline
Technological Trends in Homo erectus
• Expansion of the brain enabled H. erectus to develop
sophisticated tools that span two stone tool
industries: Oldowan and Acheulian

12. • Biface - stone worked on both sides and used to
cut, scrape, pound, and dig.
• Raw materials transported more consistently and for
longer distances
• Suggests foresight: knew they needed a stone tool in
the future and carried what they regarded as useful
Acheulian Industry
• Pertaining to a stone tool industry from the Lower and Middle
Pleistocene.
• Characterized by a large proportion of bifacial tools (flaked on
both sides).
• Multifunctional tools, including uses for butchery
• Most common tool was the hand axe
Did Meat Make Us Smarter?
• Our brains use 25% of out bodies energy
• Meat provides the highest caloric value per unit of any food
type

13. • It is possible but very difficult for modern humans to meet
their caloric needs eating just raw fruits and vegetables
• This is also linked to the controversial idea that Homo
erectus may have cooked their food.
CHAPTER 8
Primate and Hominin Origins
Dating Methods
• Relative dating methods tell you that something is older or
younger than something else
• Stratigraphy- based on the law of superposition, which
states that a lower layer is older than a higher one
• Biostratigraphy: Using comparative fossils, mainly
predictable dentition, that have been dated at one site to
date another
• Paleomagnetism: Using magnetically charged particles in
deposits to determine the earths magnetic poles at time of
deposit
• This method is used primarily as a double check in
conjunction
with other methods

14. Dating Methods
• Chronometric (Absolute) dating methods are based on
calendar years
• K/Ar, or potassium argon method used to date materials
in the 5-1 mya range
• Carbon-14 method used to date organic material extending
back to 75,000 years
• Uranium series dating
• Thermoluminescence
• Electron spin resonance (ESR)
Early Primate Evolution
• The beginnings of the primate order date to the
initial placental mammal radiation at least 65 mya.
• The earliest primates date to the Paleocene (65-56
mya) and diverge from quite early primitive
placental mammals, called plesiadapiforms.

15. • A vast number of fossil primates from the Eocene
(56–33 mya) have been discovered and now total
more than 200 recognized species.
Eocene Primates
• Fossil primates from the Eocene display distinctive primate
features.
• North Africa fossils dating from the early Eocene (50 mya)
and Egypt
(37 mya)
• Some may have been ancestral to the lemurs and lorises, or the
tarsiers, evidenced by a dental comb
• Most do not appear to be ancestral to any living primate
• When the Eocene primates in their entirety are examined, it is
certain
that they were:
1. primates,
2. widely distributed, and
3. mostly extinct by the end of the Eocene
• Darwinius, from the

16. Messel site in
Germany, discovered in
2009 and dates to 47
mya. Though initial
claims to connection to
living primates were
made, they have yet to
be confirmed and are
hotly debated
Oligocene Primates
–23 mya) has yielded fossil
remains of several species of early anthropoids.
the New World from the Old World.
hropoids may have reached South
America by “rafting” over from where they emerged in
Africa.

17. separate after 35 mya.
Oligocene Primates from Fayum
• Apidium: Early primate genus found in the Fayum, a region
in Egypt
• Primitive dental arrangement suggests near or before
evolutionary divergence of Old and New World anthropoids
• Small, squirrel-like fruit and seed eating, adept at leaping and
springing
Oligocene Primates from Fayum
• Aegyptopithecus
• Largest of Fayum anthropoids, roughly the size
of a modern howler monkey (13-18 lbs)
• Short-limbed, slow-moving
• Bridges the gap between
Eocene fossils and succeeding

18. Miocene hominoids
Miocene Fossil Hominoids
• Existed for the entirety of the Miocene, 23 to 6mya
• Thousands of fossils have been discovered, many of
which only tenuous or disputed conclusions have
been drawn
• Geographically widespread with fossils discovered
across Africa, parts of Europe and Asia
Miocene Fossil Hominoids
African forms (23–14 mya)
primitive characteristics.
monkey

19. Miocene Fossil Hominoids
Asian forms (16–7 mya)
• The largest and most varied group found from
Turkey through India/Pakistan and east to
southern China, most are highly derived.
• Sivapithecus
• Found in Turkey and Pakistan
• Facial features similar to the modern orangutan,
suggesting a fairly close evolutionary link.
Sivapithecus Compared
• Comparison of a modern chimpanzee (right), Sivapithecus
(middle), and a modern orangutan (left).
• Both Sivapithecus and the orangutan exhibit a dished face,
broad cheekbones, and projecting upper jaw and incisors.
Miocene Hominoid Fossils Conclusions
• Mostly large-bodied hominoids, similar to
orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans not
siamangs and gibbons.
• Most forms discovered are so derived that they are

20. probably not ancestral to any living form. (except
Sivapithacus)
• Definite hominins from the Miocene has not been
indisputably confirmed. Some finds suggest that
hominins diverged sometime in the latter Miocene.
Who are the Hominins?
• Name for all members of the tribe Hominini
• Includes all bipedal hominoids back to the divergence with
African great apes.
• Refers to all great apes (orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees,
and bonobos) and humans
• Defined by dental features, bipedal locomotion, large brain
size, and tool making behavior
• Characteristics that developed at different rates, called
mosaic evolution
Mosaic Evolution

21. • A pattern of evolution in which the rate of evolution in one
functional system varies from that in other systems.
• In hominin evolution, bipedal locomotion is a defining
characteristic; other features such as brain development
and behavior become significant in later stages
• In other words the traits that make us human did not all
evolve at the same time, and different species evolved at
different rates with different traits
Traditional Classification of Hominoids
Revised Classification of Hominoids
Paleoanthropology
• Paleoanthropology is defined as the study of early
humans.
• Paleoanthropologists reconstruct the anatomy,
behavior, and ecology of our ancestors:

22. • It is a diverse multidisciplinary pursuit seeking to
reconstruct every bit of information possible
concerning the dating, anatomy, behavior, and
ecology of our hominin ancestors.
• Locate early hominin sites, collect faunal remains
and artifacts
Early Hominin Tools
• Earliest tools likely made of perishable materials
• Hominin bipedalism would have made tools easier to
transport
• Oldowan-Earliest recognized stone tool culture, including
very simple tools, mostly small flakes
Hominin Bipedalism
• Habitual bipedalism, efficient and standard bipedal
locomotion is seen only in hominins.
• Hominins are also obligate bipeds, meaning they
cannot locomote efficiently in any other form

23. • Advantages of bipedalism:
• Freed the hands for carrying and tool use
• Offers a wider view of surroundings.
• Bipedal walking is an efficient in covering long
distances.
Obligate Bipedalism: Structural Alterations
• Foramen magnum positioned under the skull to balance
the skull and enable the head to be held upright
• Two distinctive curves in spine to keep weight centered
above pelvis
Obligate Bipedalism: Structural Alterations
• Pelvis is comparatively much shorter and broader and extends
around to the side, stabilizing the line of weight transmission
from lower back to hip joint, supporting internal organs in
upright posture
Obligate Bipedalism: Structural Alterations

24. • Foot as stable support instead of a grasping limb
• Elongated legs to increase the length of stride
• Full extension of knee and narrow stance to maintain center of
support directly under the body
Finding Early Hominin Fossils
• East Africa sites along the Great Rift Valley where more than
2,000 hominin fossils have been found
• South Africa sites with geological strata more complex than
along the East African Rift Valley
Possible Early Hominins
• These are grouped as the Pre-Australpiths
• They are classified as homimin, but it’s disputed by some
• Sahelanthropus tchadensis
• Small braincase and huge browridge
• Intermediate foramen magnum
• Vertical face, hominin like teeth

25. • No post-cranial remains to prove locomotion
• Ardipithecus
• Ardi, a female skeleton is 50% complete, earliest hominin to
have
so many parts of the body preserved
• Pelvis and foot show both derived and ancestral characteristics
• Divergent big toe shows high climbing ability and life
adapted to the trees
Orrorin Tugenensis
• First hominid with preserved post cranial remains
• Best evidence among the Pre-Australiths for bipedalism
• Dated to 6mya
Australopiths (4.2–1.2 mya)
• The group of well studied, diverse and widely
distributed of the early African hominins are called
australopiths.
• This group of hominins is made up of two closely
related genera: Australopithecus and

26. Paranthropus.
• Existed over a 3 million year time range from
approximately 4.2 mya until becoming extinct
apparently close to 1 mya.
Australopiths (4.2–1.2 mya)
• Major features
1.They are all bipedal though not necessarily the
same as Homo
2.They all have relatively small brains at least as
compared to Homo.
3.They all have large teeth, particularly the back
teeth, with thick to very thick enamel on the
molars.
Australopithecus afarensis
• Found primarily at Hadar, Ethiopia and Latoli, Tanzania
• Primitive in relation to later Australopiths
• Very sexually dimorphic

27. • Obligate and habitual bipeds that were still capable of
climbing
• Evolutionary bridge between early pre-Australopiths and the
later hominin species
Laetoli footprints
• Dated at between 3.5 and 3.7 mya.
• Fossilized hominin footprints were found in an ancient
volcanic
bed in Laetoli, Tanzania.
• Despite agreement that these individuals were bipedal, some
researchers feel they were not bipedal in the same way as
modern humans.
Note the deep impression of the heel and the large toe in line
(adducted) with the other toes.
Infant A. afarensis skeleton
• A mostly complete female infant
A. afarensis skeleton was
announced in 2006.
• The discovery was made at the

28. Dikika locale in northeastern
Ethiopia, near the Hadar sites.
• Dated to 3.3 mya.
• First immature hominin prior to
100,000 ya
• Key to developmental study
Later More Derived Australopiths (2.5–1.2 mya)
• Over time australopiths became adapted to varied
niches, became more derived and showed
physical changes making them distinct from their
immediate ancestors.
• There were at least three separate lineages of
hominins living between 2.5 and 1 mya.
• Australopithecus
• Paranthropus
• Homo
Paranthropus
• Very derived australopith
• Displays features characteristic of a varied and tough diet

29. • Massive teeth
• Large jaws and sexually dimorphic sagittal crest
• Small brain capacity
• Large, broad, flat face
• Two species:
• Paranthropus boisei: Very dentally
robust specimens from East Africa
• Paranthropus robustus: Less dentally
robust species from South Africa
Austrolpithicus africanus
• Dated to 3 and 2 mya
• Discovered in South Africa
• The Taung child, discovered in 1924
• Well preserved child's skull
• Small relative braincase
• Large teeth, but reduced from Paranthropus
• Clear markers for obligate bipedalism

30. Austrolpithicus sediba
• Considered by initial reports to be transitional between the
australopiths and early Homo, but contested by others
• Dated to less than 2mya
• Early Homo remains have been dated earlier leading to the
challenges to the A. sediba lineage claims
• Austrlopith charactristics;
• Small brain
• Long arms, curved fingers
• Primitive foot features
• Homo characteristics
• Very derived hand
• Possible brain changes
Early Homo (2.0+-1.4 mya)
• Evidence suggests at least one, possibly two species lived
in East Africa for at least a million years.

31. • One lineage likely evolved in H. erectus, the other went
extinct
• Homo habalis remains have been discovered in Turkana
and Olduvai and are the best known early Homo species
• Early Homo show:
• Significantly increased brain size
• Associations with stone tools
• Skull shape unlike the australopiths
• Face shape and teeth still robust
Homo naledi
• Dicovered in 2013
• Over 1500 fossils found in the Dinaledi Chamber in the Rising
Star cave system representing at least 15 individuals
• Largest collection of a single species ever found in Africa
• Full age range from infants to adults have been found
• Unique mix of australopith and Homo characteristics
• Small brain, trunk, pelvis and femur similar to australpiths
• Cranial shape, hands and feet close to Homo

32. • Remains may have been intentionally placed
• Not yet dated
Three Options for Dating H. naledi
What’s the Big Picture
• Even with new finds all the time there will always be gaps in
the
fossil record, it may always be incomplete
• There are patterns to be found:
• Early hominin species had restricted ranges, this can lead to
rapid
speciation from population isolation
• Most species appear to have been at least partially tied to
arboreal habitats
• Some (mainly Paranthropus) diets of coarse, fibrous plant
foods, such as
roots may have routinely taken them farther away from the trees
and led to
divergence

33. • Very little evidence for an evolutionary trend of increased
body size or of
markedly greater encephalization except for some early Homo
• No association of any pre-australopith or australopith
hominins with
patterned tool use
• All early African hominins show an accelerated developmental
pattern like
the great apes, one quite different from Homo sapiens
CHAPTER 10
Premodern Humans
The Pleistocene
• The Pleistocene, often called the Ice Age, was marked by
advances and retreats of massive continental
glaciations.
• At least 15 major and 50 minor glacial advances have been
documented in Europe.

34. • All life on the planet was impacted by changing weather
patterns
• Hominins were impacted as the climate, flora, and animal life
shifted.
Pleistocene Stages
• Middle Pleistocene
• The portion of the Pleistocene epoch beginning 780,000 ya
and
ending 125,000 ya.
• Late Pleistocene
• The portion of the Pleistocene epoch beginning 125,000 ya
and
ending approximately 10,000 ya.
Glaciations
• Climatic intervals when continental ice sheets cover much
of the northern continents.
• Glaciations equate to colder temperatures in northern
latitudes and more arid conditions in southern latitudes,

35. most notably in Africa.
Interglacials
• Climatic intervals when continental ice sheets are
retreating, eventually becoming much reduced in size.
• Interglacials in northern latitudes are associated with
warmer temperatures, while in southern latitudes the
climate becomes wetter.
Changing Pleistocene Environments in Africa
Changing Pleistocene Environments in Eurasia
• Changing migration routes.
Homo heidelbergensis
• Widely distributed, Middle Pleistocene, premodern human
• Found in Africa, Asia and Europe (first time Europe is
permanently
occupied)
• Replacing earlier hominins in their previous habitats (or

36. coexisting
as in Southeast Asia)
• Most likely the evolutionary ancestor to Homo sapiens and
Neandertals
• Exhibit several H. erectus characteristics:
• Large face, projected brows, low forehead, and thick cranial
vault
• New Features:
• Increased brain size, rounded braincase, vertical nose, and
reduced occipital
African Homo heidelbergensis finds
• The Kabwe (Broken Hill)
skull from Zambia.
• Clear mix of primitive and
derived traits
• Note the robust browridges.
• Bodo Cranium
• The earliest evidence of Homo
heidelbergensis in Africa.
• Possibly defleshed with stone
tools.

37. Europe
• Gran Dolina finds in northern Spain may represent the ealiest
H.
heidelbergensis, possibly dating to 850,000 ya
• Atapuerca site of Sima de los Huesos remains of at least 28
individuals date to 600,000-530,000 ya
• This is 80% of all Middle Pleistocene hominin remains found
in the world,
crucial site for further study
• May be the earliest site of intentional disposal of the dead
Asia
• Dali fossils display H. erectus and H. sapiens traits, cranial
capacity of 1120 cm3
• Jinniushan, northeast China, 200,000 ya individual with
modern
features and cranial capacity appx 1260 cm3
• Many Chinese researchers have argued evidence suggests
separate evolutionary linage of Chinese specimens to modern

38. humans
• Debate remains if these specimins should be classified as H.
heidelbergensis or H. sapien
Middle Pleistocene Culture
• The Acheulian technology of H. erectus carried into
the Middle Pleistocene with little change until near
the end of the period, when it became slightly more
sophisticated.
• Some later premodern humans in Africa and Europe
invented the Levallois for controlling flake size and
shape.
• This suggests increased cognitive abilities in later
premodern populations.
The Levallois Technique
Middle Pleistocene Culture

39. • Premodern human populations built temporary shelters
evidenced by concentrations of bones, stones, and artifacts
• May have increased their use of caves as seen by large
deposits of bone and cultural remains in many areas.
• Chinese archaeologists insist that many Middle Pleistocene
sites in China contain evidence of human-controlled fire. Some
evidence from France, Germany and Hungary may also
support this.
Middle Pleistocene Culture
• Evidence shows different food sources were exploited,
fruits, vegetables, fish, seeds, nuts, and bird eggs,
seasonally.
• Also marine life, new innovation in human evolution.
• There has been little evidence supporting widely practiced
advanced hunting at this time.
• However, in 1995 wood spears were found at the
Schöningen site in Germany provisionally dated to 400,000
to 300,000 ya
• These were most likely used as throwing spears to hunt large
animals.

40. • The bones of numerous horses were also recovered at
Schöningen.
Neandertals of the Late Pleistocene
• Neandertals are premodern humans that are
increasingly placed by researchers into the
classification of a subspeices of H. Sapien,
• Homo sapiens neanderthalensis with modern humans split of
as
H. sapiens sapiens
• Many disagree with seperating them form the H. sapien
species due to new genetic findings
Homo neanderthalensis
• Brain Size: Larger than H. sapiens today (1520 cm3 compared
to 1300-1400 cm3 (perhaps adapted to cold climate).
• Cranium: Large, long, low, and bulging at the sides, occipital
bun, with large brow ridge.
Homo neanderthalensis
• Structure: Robust, barrel-chested, and powerfully muscled

41. with
shorter limbs than modern H. sapiens.
Important Neanderthal Finds
• La Chapelle-aux-Saints Skull
• Outlier individual, especially robust
• Interpritation led to early views of
Neanderthal
• Krapina Cranium
• Possibly oldest fully Neanderthal
specimins
• Oldest burial on record
• St. Césaire
• St. Césaire, among the “last” Neandertals
Shanidar Cave
• In Shanidar cave, in the Zagros Mountains of northeastern
Iraq, fieldworkers found partial skeletons of nine individuals,
four of them deliberately buried.
• Shanidar 1 is a skeleton of a male who lived to be 30 to 45

42. years old, a very old age for prehistoric human.
• His height is estimated at 5 feet 7 inches, and his cranial
capacity is 1,600 cm3.
• He had injuries that made it impossible to perform normal
activities leading researches to believe he must have been
helped by others.
Shanidar 1
• Could he represent
Neandertal
compassion for the
disabled?
Culture of Neandertals
• Neandertals improved previous techniques by inventing
a new variation, Mousterian.
• They trimmed a flint nodule around the edges to form
a disk-shaped core.
• Each time they struck the edge, they produced a
flake, continuing until the core became too small and
was discarded.
• They then trimmed the flakes into various forms, such

43. as scrapers, points, and knives.
Subsistence
• Remains of animal bones demonstrate that
Neandertals were successful hunters.
• Used close-proximity spears for hunting (spear
thrower and bow and arrow weren't invented until the
Upper Paleolithic).
• Patterns of trauma in Neandertal remains match
those of contemporary rodeo performers, indicating
close proximity to prey.
Speech and Symbolic Behavior
• Prevailing consensus has been that Neandertals were
capable of articulate speech.
• Same hyoid bone and FOXP2 gene
• Even if Neandertals did speak, they did not have the

44. same language capabilities of modern Homo sapiens.
Burials
• Neanderthals buried their dead.
• Their burials included grave goods like animal bones and
stone tools.
• They placed the bodies of their dead in a flexed position.
Upper Paleolithic
• A cultural period usually associated with modern humans,
but also found with some Neandertals, and distinguished
by technological innovation in various stone tool
industries.
• Best known from western Europe, similar industries are
also known from central and eastern Europe and Africa.
Chatelperronian
• Pertaining to an Upper Paleolithic industry found in France
and

45. Spain, containing blade tools and associated with Neandertals.
• Suggestive of some cultural hybridization
The 3rd Upper Paleolithic Hominin
• Denisova Cave, southern Siberia
• Finger bone and tooth dated to 50,000-30,000 ya
• Mitochondrial DNA shows significant genetic distance
from both Homo sapiens and Neandertals
• This means a third Hominin existed contemporaneously
with Neandertals and modern humans!
Molecular Connections: The Genetic Evidence
• Tremendous advances in past 15 years in sequencing
Neandertal mitochondrial and nuclear DNA
• Modern human populations outside of Africa possess1-
4% of distinctive Neandertal DNA
• Melanesian populations contain 4-5% of distinctive
Denisovan DNA

46. • Suggests interbreeding of premodern and modern
populations