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?