The Expansion of Homo erectus Settlement Across Eurasia
1. The Expansion of Homo erectus
Settlement of Eurasia, Material Culture and
Economy
2.
3. Movement into Asia
● Some of the earliest dates for Homo
settlement outside of Africa derive from East
Asia, mainly China and Java
● Some anomalous dates suggest occupation
of these regions as far back as 2.1 million
years, but the majority of dates situate the
presence of Homo erectus to no later than
roughly 1.6 million years which is broadly
consistent with the dates from Dmanisi
● We must accept that there was occupation in
Pakistan and India, but hitherto there have
been no secure dates from sites in these
nations that can confirm this beyond doubt
● It is noteworthy that there is no evidence of
bifacial tools—that is to say, Acheulean
hand-axes—east of India
The 'Movius Line' refers to the distinction
● This has been called the Movius Line, after
seen in the lithic industries of China and the scholar that first recognised this spatial
Eurasia, namely, that Acheulean hand- distinction in lithic industries
axes do not occur in China. Instead, the ● The Movius Line has been thought to
lithic industries here are dominated by
represent the cultural isolation of East Asia in
chopper industries
the Lower Palaeolithic
4.
5. Cultural Isolation
● The prevalence of the chopper industry in
East Asia has led to suggestions of
cultural isolation
● Moreover, this implies that the Acheulean
technology had not travelled to this region
and thus that the Homo erectus
population here had left Africa and
adjacent regions before this industry had
developed
● This is consistent with the early dates, but
it is questionable whether there were no
cultural impulses reaching the region from
points to the west of India
● We must, perhaps, recall the learning
process of chimpanzees: that the tool
making facility is acquired from the mother
before the age of two years
● Does this possibly indicate that the Homo
erectus population in China and
elsewhere in the Orient did not acquire
females from the west ?
6. Riwat, Pakistan
● The sites found in the Riwat Valley
of Pakistan have afforded
tantalisingly early dates for
hominim occupation
● Although the date of 2.4 million
years for some of the layers is
probably erroneous, the chopper
industry here is probably quite old
● Most of the sites lack any faunal
evidence and do not provide fossil
hominim evidence, so it is difficult
to speculate on their relationship to
those known in East Africa
● We must therefore base our
suppositions of cultural affiliations
on the meagre material culture
remains that have been recovered,
which seem to indicate a very early
settlement occurring in this region
7. Material Culture
● Few artefacts were found at Riwat, but
these are clearly produced in the
chopper tradition
● The material is coarse and simple, but
this is primarily a function of the raw
material available
● Only quartzite pebbles were available to
the occupants, which did not present
many opportunities for producing more
sophisticated implements
● Nevertheless, the material is not so
poor that Acheulean hand-axes could
not have been manufactured, thus
indicating that this tradition had not
been established
● The implements resemble those from
Dmanisi quite strongly, and are likely
roughly contemporary with them
9. Early Sites in East Asia
● In recent years, numerous sites of
Homo erectus have been discovered
in China
● Although these are undoubtedly very
old, there is some controversy
regarding their dating and some
scholars have dismissed the earliest
series of radiometric dates for a
variety of reasons
● We nevertheless are left with at least
two unequivocally ancient sites:
Longgupo and Sangiran
● All of these are over a million years
old, most probably as old as 1.7
million years
● Moreover, the new discoveries have
begun to elicit questions concerning
the Movius Line and other axioms of
Lower Palaeolithic studies
10. Longgupo Cave, China
● The dates of the hominim bearing layers
at Longgupo have been between 1.9 and
1.7 million years, but some of the
Chinese scholars have argued for the
possibility that they are in excess of 2
million years
● Much of the controversy regarding the
dates arises from uncertainties of
contamination of some of the samples
● This has led some to entertain the
possibility that there specimens
represent forms of Homo habilis or,
indeed, another hominim species
altogether
● Most of the debate has surrounded the
peculiarities of the teeth as the fossil
evidence is otherwise so fragmentary
and incapable of providing much further
information
● On current evidence, the dating of this
site to 1.9 – 1.7 million years seems
most compelling
11. Importance of Longgupo
● Irrespective of the dates, the site is
profoundly important for the cultural
evidence that is present in
unequivocal association with hominim
remains
● The site consists of discontinuous
layers within a cave, the disturbance
caused by the opening of a chimney
and the collapse of later material
● Some remarks concerning the fossil
remains are, however, apposite: they
are unusual and differ from other
specimens of the same age
encountered in Africa
● It is the unusual characteristics of the
fossil remains that have compelled
some scholars to treat them as a
species separate from Homo erectus
and in some instances have
suggested an independent origin
12. The Fossil Remains
● The determination of hominim species at
Longgupo is encumbered by the
fragmentary nature of the fossil evidence
● All that remains are teeth and a portion of
the mandible, but the teeth are most
certainly unusual in that they are rather
small
● It has been suggested by some
authorities that the dentition shows
greater similarities with extinct Asian apes
than with other members of the genus
Homo
● This has led to the supposition that the
Asian Homo erectus evolved from
another line that left Africa much earlier
● But do we see a convergence in evolution
elsewhere ? If it is another hominim
species, does this invalidate the
arguments about an exclusive origin in
Africa ?
14. Sangiran, Java
● The sites at Sangiran in Java were
situated along the Solo River
● First excavated by Koenigswald in the
1930s, they were near to the younger
site of Trinil which afforded remains of
'Java Man'
● Whereas the latter has been dated to
between 1,000,000 and 700,000 years,
the former may be as old as 1.8 million
years, if not more
● Most authorities accept that the oldest
fossil bearing layers at Sangiran should
be assigned to roughly 1.6 million years
but there are some that consider a date
of 700,000 years more appropriate, and
still others that have argued for a date
in excess of two million years
● All the characteristics of the crania from
the lowest levels suggest that the
specimen is over a million years old
15. Majuangou, China
● A site only recently investigated lies at
Majaungou, in northern China, in the
Niwehan Basin
● This is particularly well dated because
it is situated in lacustrine sediments
● We can therefore confidently assert
that it is ca. 1.66 million years old and
are even able to correlate volcanic
ash horizons with events elsewhere,
such as in Africa
● The site continued to be occupied
until 1.32 million years, and therefore
affords an unique sequence for Asian
sites
● Nearby lie other sites of considerable
antiquity, the most significant being
that of Xiaochangliang whose layers
are contemporary with the uppermost
at Majaungou
16. Material Culture
● The lithic industry at Majuangou
consists of choppers, flakes and
scrapers
● It is fortunate that the lacustrine
sediment preserved faunal remains, for
it is possible to assert that the tools
were used to butcher the remains of
animals such as horse (Equus
sanmeniensis), mammoths or
mastadonts (Elephas sp.), deer (Cervus
sp.), hyena (Pachycrocuta sp.), bovid
(Gazella sp.) and rhinoceros
(Coelodonta antiquitatis)
● Most of these animals were probably
scavenged, rather than hunted,
although it is possible that they were
trapped in the soft sediment and
despatched by the hominims that
occupied the site where their remains
were ultimately encountered
17. Yuanmou, China
● Another site of particular interest,
because of its supposed antiquity, is
that at Yuanmou
● Some of the palaeomagnetic assays
have provided dates of 1.7 million
years, but there is a curious inversion in
the stratigraphic sequence—namely,
there are extinct species at the top of
the sequence rather than the bottom
● This has led some to suspect that the
site is much younger than the 1.7
million years, this date reflecting
contamination
● Instead, most scholars now affix this
site at ca. 600,000 BP and it is
therefore of significance, but not for
elucidating the earliest occupation of
Asia by hominims
● The site affords curious faunal remains
in association with cultural material
18. Gongwangling, China
● The Gongwangling (Lantian) cranial
fragments were discovered at a small hill
near Gongwang Village, east of Lantian,
in 1964
● The first hominid fossil to be found was an
isolated maxillary molar and several
months later this was followed by large
cranial vault fragment
● A large quantity of mammalian faunal
material was also recovered from the site
with a dominance of tropical and
subtropical species has suggested a
warmer climate than today
● There are a range of palaeomagnetic
dates for the hominid locality, with a
choice of 750,000 to 800,000, 1 million, or
1.15 million years depending upon how
the sequence is interpreted
● Lithics were also recovered, but were
sparse, the collection consisting of eleven
cores, five flakes and four scrapers
19. Fossil Remains
● The human fossils (PA 1051-6) include a
complete frontal, large part of the parietals,
most of the right temporal, part of the left
and right nasals, and a large section of the
right maxilla with associated second and
third molars, and part of the left maxilla
● Unfortunately, preservation of the bone
fragments is extremely poor
● There is some distortion through ground
pressure and marked erosion of external
bone surfaces
● Features suggestive of Homo erectus are
most apparent in the frontal bone which is
broad, receding and has a robust
supraorbital torus
● Marked postorbital constriction is evident
and therte is no sulcus between the torus
and frontal squama
20. Later Homo erectus Sites
● Numerous sites from after one million
years have been found in China
● The dating of these are far more
secure, given that a series of more
accurate methods can be employed to
correct the errors inherent in each of
these
● Most of the Chinese sites, as those in
the Middle East and Europe, occur in
caves and therefore offer excellent
conditions for the preservation of
organic remains
● Some uncertainty regarding the
nomenclature employed to describe
different remains exists
● The term Homo erectus is still used
widely in Asia, but it is becoming less
accepted in Africa, Europe and
western Asia resulting in confusion in
the comparison of specimens
21.
22.
23. Yunxian, China
● This site has been dated to ca. 600,000 BP
on the basis of Electron Spin Resonance
assays on a tooth from a mammal
● The tools from this site afford specimens that
can be interpreted as being bifacially worked
and therefore cognate with the Acheulean
tradition
● Such material appears to invalidate the
'Movius Line', but some scholars do not
regard these finds as proper hand-axes
● A series of core and flake tools were also
produced at Yunxian
● The raw material were river-rounded pebbles
of quartzite and coarse sedimentary stones
● In the faunal assemblage, there are a wide
range of animals and some of the remains
afford evidence of butchery, but there is no
unequivocal evidence of hunting and indeed
nothing in this lithic collection suggest
projectiles
24.
25. Faunal Remains
● Herbivorous mammals are the dominant
forms in the fauna
● In terms of age structure, young and old
specimens predominate
● This suggests that the hunting methods
were relatively primitive, in that they
only those creatures that were easiest to
kill were pursued
● Such a practise is consistent with the
nature of the implements, as they are
entirely lacking any obvious hunting tools
● Larger tools that appear to have had a
butchery function were possibly made to
butcher and skin larger animals that were
scavenged
● It is possible that the smaller animals
were hunted with wooden spears, their
tips hardened by fire as is seen slightly
later in the Palaeolithic at European sites
26. Homo erectus in Europe
The Colonisation of Europe and the Main Sites from
1,000,000 BP to 250,000 BP
27. Expansion Into Europe
● Much controversy is associated with the first colonisation of
Europe by hominims
● No sites in Europe indisputably exceed a million years in
antiquity and there is a curious distribution in these, eliciting
questions regarding the direction whence this colonisation
proceeded
● At the moment, the earliest dates range from 1,000,000 years
to 750,000 years and occur in Spain, Italy, England and
Ukraine
● Naturally, there are some sites that are likely to be as old as
these but their dating is uncertain because of contamination
from later deposits and anomalies in the results from different
samples
28. Routes of Expansion
● The oldest site that has been
securely dated is from Spain, in the
vicinity of Atapuerca
● Its location, and the rough
contemporaneity of sites in Morocco,
has led some to infer that migration
might have occurred across the
Gibraltar Strait
● Others regard this as beyond the
technological and cognitive capacity
of Homo erectus and his congeners,
and instead envisage that settlement
occurred from East to West from the
Middle East and Caucasus over
Anatolia or the Ukrainian steppes
● At the moment, there is indeed no
evidence of maritime capacity
amongst Homo erectus as no
offshore regions or islands appear to
have been occupied
● The most plausible route into Europe
is therefore overland
29. Relationships Amongst Species
● Some controversy has arisen regarding the
appropriateness of the term Homo erectus
to describe the species occupying Europe,
especially vis-à-vis the Asiatic specimens
● Because of morphological differences in
the Spanish specimens from Atapuerca, a
new designation was coined: Homo
antecessor
● The species was regarded to have evolved
directly from Homo ergaster, whereas
Homo erectus also evolved from this
species but came to flourish in East Asia
● Following Homo antecessor is Homo
heidelbergensis, which appears sometime
around 500,000 BP and is restricted in its
distribution to Europe
● It may be, however, that the characteristics
which distinguish Homo antecessor and
Homo heidelbergensis from Homo erectus
are exaggerated and reflect geographical
isolation and regional attributes rather than
a separate species
31. Atapuerca, Gran Dolina
● The earliest site in Europe is at Atapuerca
in north-western Spain
● This has been dated to ca. 900,000 years
by thermoluminescence assays and
palaeomagnetic studies have suggested
that the site is at least 780,000 years old
● Although initially surprising, there is little
criticism of the dates obtained by the
thermoluminescence assays and the
earliest horizons are thus situated
between 1,000,000 and 900,000 years
● A large quantity of lithic implements,
faunal remains and hominim fossils were
recovered at the sites, but most important
of all of these, because it is the oldest of
them, is known as TD-6
● Other sites of considerable antiquity
nevertheless surround this, some being
almost of comparable age
32. Lithic Industry
● A total of two hundred and sixty-eight
lithic remains were found at Atapuerca
TD-6
● This industry has been described as
resembling that from Oldowan, with a
preponderance of choppers and flakes
from their production
● It has been likened to the industry at
Dmanisi and Ubeidiya in Israel, but it is
typical of all the chopper based
industries in Africa and Eurasia
● Nevertheless, we should note that the
tools were produced in a wide range of
materials, showing a keen appreciation
of the natural resources available in the
region
● The microwear analysis of the
implements have shown evidence for
the working of wood as well, which
suggests that we are missing a large
proportion of the finds
35. Homo antecessor
● This species represents an extinct
hominin and a potential distinct
species dating from 1.2 million to
800,000 years ago
● Homo antecessor was about 1.6 - 1.8
metres tall, and males weighed
roughly 90 kg
● Their brain sizes were roughly 1000–
1150 cm³, smaller than the 1350 cm³
average of modern human
● Basing on teeth eruption pattern, the
researchers think that Homo
antecessor had the same
development stages as Homo
sapiens, though probably at a faster
pace
● Other features acquired by the
species are a protruding occipital bun,
a low forehead and a lack of a strong
chin
36. Dentition
● Because of the their high component of genetic
expression, teeth are considered the 'safe box' of
the genetic code, so with teeth more than with
any other skeletal part, the phenetic
proximity/distance can be read as genetic
proximity/distance
● The dendrogram obtained by phenetic analysis
consists of three main branches
● One of them identifies the similarities among the
species found in the Eurasian continent,
clustering Homo erectus (ERE) with Homo
heidelbergensis (HEI), Homo neanderthalensis
(NEA), and the Sima de los Huesos (SH)
hominins. SH and NEA show the highest
similarities
● Homo georgicus (GEO) is the sister group of a
large clade that contains all of the later Homo
species. In this clade, a bifurcation is produced:
one branch clusters Homo ergaster (ERG) and
the hominins found in the Middle Pleistocene of
North Africa (MPA), whereas in the other we can
find ERE as the closest sister group of the fossils
found in the Eurasian continent during the
Pleistocene. Homo antecessor (ANT) is the
closest group to the Middle and Upper
Pleistocene species
37. Fauna and Economy
● Many animals remains were found at the oldest sites
at Atapuerca
● Cut marks are present on the animal remains at both
of the earliest sites
● The marks are consistent with processing by humans
for the purpose of obtaining meat and marrow.
● Interestingly, at Gran Dolina most of the human
material also display the same types of cut marks,
indicating dismemberment was probably the goal
● The lack of carnivore tooth marks supports the
suggestion that it was humans that made the
incisions or marks
● Small animal remains at the Sima del Elefante site
suggest the climate at the time was generally warm
and humid with warmer-cooler shifts
● The diet appears to have included large amounts of
meat
● Many of the remains at both sites are of large
mammals that have been butchered and some of the
larger bones have been broken to obtain the marrow
● At Gran Dolina, young horse and deer are
particularly common
