Ch 13- Modern Humans Flashcards
When and where were the earliest modern Homo Sapiens?
Earliest fossil of a fully anatomically correct human:
Omo Kibish, Ethiopia
- Skull called Omo 1
- 195 000 years ago
Middle Awash Area, Ethiopia
- Called the Herto remains
- 160-154 000 years ago
- Paleoanthropologists called the skull ‘near-modern’
When did modern humans first arise
East and South Africa
East Africa between 150-200 kya
South Africa by 100 kya
Multiregional Continuity Model
- In general
“Local populations in Africa, Europe, and Asia continued their own indigenous evolutionary development from premodern Middle Pleistocene forms to anatomically modern humans”
Multiregional Continuity Model
- Milford Wolpoff and colleagues
- Said the earliest modern H. sapiens didn’t originate exclusively in Africa
- If true, how did we all end up with such similar morphologies?
Multiregional Continuity Model
- New genetic dat and how it disproves this theory…
• Now, with genetic data, can ask: “if this is true, how is it possible that we are so similar genetically”?
- The original model cannot account for abundant genetic data that strongly support an African origin for modern Homo sapiens
Replacement Models
- In general
“Modern humans evolved in Africa and with later dispersal that replaced all hominins already living in the area”
Replacement Models
- Complete Replacement
- Chris Stringer and colleagues
- Modern H. sapiens were a separate species and could not interbred with other hominins
- We now know that is untrue
• aDNA proves it
Replacement Models
- Partial Replacement
- Gunter Brauer and John Relethford
- Interbreeding occurred but not that much
- The “mostly out of Africa” idea is correct
- 1-4% (and probably 1.5-2.1%) of Neanderthal DNA in non- Africa modern populations; 0% in indigenous African populations
Replacement Models
- Assimilation Model
- Fred Smith
- Based on fossil evidence only, not genetic data
- More interbreeding took place, at least in some regions, than Brauer and Relethford say
**“Lapedo Child”
Abrigo do Lagar Velho site in Portugal - 4-year-old child - 24,500 kya - Argue it is a mixed set of anatomical features indicating both Neanderthal and modern H. sapiens • Supports partial replacement model
Which Theory does the Lapedo Child Support?
Partial Replacement Model
New Discovery!
January 2018!
What, when and why don’t people believe it?
- Upper jaw
- Dated to 175-200 kya
- ~55 kya earlier than other dates
- Argued to be modern human
- People may not believe it but they are taking it seriously because of the technology they were found with- very modern
Modern Human Remains: Madjedbede rock shelter
- > 10,000 stone tools, ochres, plant remains and bones
- OSL dating showed it was much older than we originally thought
• The Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation, representing the Mirarr people, joined much of the excavation and reviewed the findings
What is OSL Dating?
Where was it used (via her lecture)
- Used in:
Madjedbede rock shelter
- Dating of oldest layers by optical stimulated luminescence (OSL)
- OSL is used on minerals to date the last time it was exposed to sunlight
