Evolution and Longevity: Implications for

Wisdom

Rachel Caspari

Central Michigan University

Erin Heydenreich/Centre for Whale Research)

LLongevity and Wisdom

1) Individual wisdom

2) Collective Wisdom

Longevity important for

both

LLongevity and Wisdom

1) Individual wisdom

2) Collective Wisdom

Longevity important for

both

– experience

– persistence

Can we learn anything about

wisdom from prehistory?

The Upper Paleolithic

Why so special?

Abstract thinking

Planning depth

Trade networks

Symbolic behavior

Cognitive modernity

Mauro Cutrona

Viktor Deak

Raptor flight feathers were

extracted

130 kyr Krapina eagle talons

with detachment cutmarks are

the oldest ornaments from

anywhere

Davorka RadovčićFabio Fogliazza/Human Evolution Museum (MEH)-Junta de Castilla y León (Spain)

Middle Paleolithic (Neandertal)

cultureBurials

Feathers

Raptor claws

Pigments

Perforated teeth and

shells

Etchings

UP-like artifacts in the African

Middle Stone Age

Katanda

Blombos Cave

UP-like artifacts in the African

Middle Stone Age

Katanda

Blombos Cave

ephemeral

Why?

Didn’t these traditions expand and develop?

Longevity may play a role in the

“Human Revolution”

Krapina Sample

• Approximately 200 isolated teeth

• Many are associated as “dental

individuals” based on age, interproximal

facets, and continuous wear

• Mandibles and maxillae

• Between 75 - 83 individuals

510

1520

2530

3540

4550

Krapina dx

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

Krapina Age At Death Distribution

510

1520

2530

3540

4550

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Age in years

Krapina Survivorship (percent surviving to age interval)

Estimated number of missing infants and children based on

Libben

Assumed 69% survivorship to age 5

5 10 15 20 2530

3540

4550

Krapina lx

Libben

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Age in years

Survivorship (percent surviving to age

interval)

Krapina lx

Libben

5 10 15 20 2530

3540

4550

Krapina lx

Libben

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Age in years

Survivorship (percent surviving to age

interval)

Krapina lx

Libben

Krapina has much

higher adult mortality!

5 10 15 20 25 30 35

0

20

40

60

80

Age in years

Krapina and Atapuerca (SH) Survivorship

(percent surviving to age interval)

Krapina lx

Atapuerca

BERMÚDEZ DE CASTRO and NICOLÁS

1997JHEvolution 33(2/3): 333–355

5 10 15 20 25 30 3540

4550

Krapina lx

Australopithecus

Libben

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Age in years

Survivorship (percent surviving to age

interval)

Krapina lx

Australopithecus

Libben

OY RATIOS

• Pooled samples

• Put specimens into

Old/Young adult

categories

• And asked a different

question: How many

individuals lived to be

old?

• Caspari, R. and S-H Lee (2004)

Proc. Natl. Acad Sci. USA

101:10895-10900.

Low Resolution OK

Broad Categories =

Large Samples

Accommodates Different

Maturation Rates

OY Ratios: A Categorical Approach

OY Categories

• Adulthood: M3

eruption

• Older Adulthood:

Double the age of M3

eruption

The age one could become a grandparent

Samples

Old Young Total

Australopithecines 37 316 353

Early Homo 42 166 208

Neandertals 37 96 113

Upper Paleolithic 50 24 74

Total 166 602 768

Ratios of Old/Young Adults

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

Australopiths Early Homo Neandertal UP

oy r

ati

os

.12 .25

.39

2.1

OLD/YOUNG (OY) RATIOS

The Upper Paleolithic

Could an increase in adult survivorship be

related to the “human revolution” and

wisdom?

Symbols represent transmission of

information (individual wisdom)

– By older adults

– Older adults valued as important constituent of

society

– Contribute to collective wisdom

Demographic implications:

• population growth and

expansion may affect

collective wisdom

Demographic implications: population

growth and expansion may affect collective

wisdom

– Increased fertility from living longer causes growth

– The “grandmother effect” causes growth

– Larger populations - increased innovation (and

contacts)

– And increased longevity contributes to persistence of

populations/cultures

Demographic Implications

Adam van Arsdale of

Wellesley College….

Among other things, he

estimated the total fertility

rates necessary to

sustain groups at different

OY ratios.

Estimated Total Fertility Rate: # of births necessary to replace

each birth cohort, and compensate for child mortality….

Assumed CM=50%

Adult

Mort.

Child

Mort.

Fertility Lifespan

OY CM TFR

(curve)

Max age

2 0.5 5.3 61

1 0.5 6.32 45

0.4 0.5 6.37 37

Adult

Mort.

Child

Mort.

Fertility Lifespan

OY CM TFR

(curve)

Max age

2 0.5 5.3 61

1 0.5 6.32 45

0.4 0.5 6.37 37

Suggests that UP would be much more resilient

Stochastic Models

Caps and ceilings:

Initial size: 100

Penalty imposed at 200

Population unsustainable at 25

Persistence: How long do populations persist

on average?

For Neandertals (OY=0.4): 99 generations

For EUP (OY=2.0): 179 generations

Ephemeral industries

Longevity, Individual and

Collective Wisdom

Increases in longevity

not only resulted in a

larger number of wise

individuals, but also

provided resilience,

leading to cultural

longevity and traditions

that are the foundation

of collective wisdom

Acknowledgements

• Sang-Hee Lee

• Adam Van Arsdale

• Jakov Radovčić

• David Frayer

• Milford Wolpoff

• Jeffrey Meganck

• Dana Begun

• Thomas Kroll

• Roberto Macchiarelli

• Steven A. Goldstein

• Jean-Jacques Hublin

• Davorka Radovčić and the Croatian Natural History Museum

• Dept. of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

• The Paleoanthropology and Orthopaedic Research Laboratories of the University of Michigan