Chapter 11 and 12

Question 1

What are the physical characteristics of Homo Erectus?

Answer 1

Sagittal keel, but a crest
Occipital torus
Taurodontism
Lighter and thinner jaw, and less prognathic face than earlier hominids
895 –1040 cc
Prominent, projecting nose
Postcranial skeleton similar to modern human

Question 2

Describe the Nariokotome boy

Answer 2

Discovered by Leakey team at Nariokotome, Lake Turkana - 1.6 mya
1.6 metrestall, 11-12 year old
Provides evidence of prolonged development in Homo erectus

Question 3

Illeret footprints

Answer 3

Homo Erectus, Kenya
looks human. species moved essentially like we do.
feet are arched + big toe in line w/ other toes

Question 4

Homo Erectus in Middle Pleistocene

Answer 4

Daka, Ethiopia, More Asian Morphology, Like Peking Man -one species
Bodo Ethiopia - cutmarks on skull (defleshing)

Question 5

Describe Homo erectus in Dmanisi, Republic of Georgia

Answer 5

5 skulls, considerable variation = showing there may be less actual species than we say there are
500-600 cc
Range of habilis + erectus
Long leg

Question 6

Fire!

Answer 6

Extends daylight, work on tools
Warmth + light, able to move to cold places
Keeps people together = social centre, dev. language, complex social relationships
Cooking food = more nutrients, bigger brains

Question 7

Describe H Erectus in Asia

Answer 7

Zhoukoudian - Peking Man (H Erectus fossil).
Davidson Black, Canadian physician/paleontologist
Took over: Franz Weidenreich, German
40 individuals, proof that we lived in caves. - stone tools and controlled fire

Question 8

Describe hand axes

Answer 8

Acheulian hand axes, Europe and Asia. Look like a pointy tear drop.

Question 9

Describe Homo erectus Culture

Answer 9

Tool use ~1.5mya
Big Game Eating - evidence large scale fauna remains (e.g. Torralba + Abronan Spain)
Unclear hunt or scavenge sites
Evidence for control of fire in South Africa ~1.4 mya + China ~.5 mya

Question 10

What are H. Erectus sites like?

Answer 10

Close to water sources + food resources
Some camp sites in caves, most are open-air sites (Terra Amata, France)
They may have been building things? (The hut?)

Question 11

Language and H. Erectus

Answer 11

Endocasts suggest hemispheric specialization

Some suggest H erectus has ability to possess linguistic skills to the level of a modern 6 yo

Question 12

Archaic H. Sapiens

Answer 12

transition ~500,000 yrs ago
Begins S. + East Africa
Homogeneity in H Erectus specimens geographically + temporally ~1 million years
Some reduction in teeth + face size, small increase in cc over this period
Early forms called H Heidelbergensis

Question 13

What was found in the Petralona Cave in Greece?

Answer 13

Skeleton and a skull of a past hominin

Question 14

Archaic H. Sapiens in Africa

Answer 14

Large face w/ browridge
Large, heavily worn front teeth
Near modern brain size
Bodo (Ethiopia), 600,000 yrs old, Brain 1,250 cc
Kabwe (Zambia), ~250,000 years old, 1,300 cc

Question 15

Archaic H. Sapiens in East Asia

Answer 15

long + low braincases
brain size close to or within modern human range
Have massive browridges
Same kinds of morphology as African archaic H. sapien skulls
implies gene flow connecting these pop. across continents.
Indonesia, India, China

Question 16

Describe Archaic H. Sapiens in West Asia

Answer 16

Shanidar, Iraq
45,000 yrs old Old 
male, 40-50 yrs 
Heavy wear on teeth
Very large brain
Eye injury, arm amputation, foot with arthritis - somebody cared for him, altruism

Question 17

Neandertals

Answer 17

Occipital bun, evidence teeth are used as tools = neck muscles
One group of Archaic Homo sapiens
1856 discovery in Neander (New Man) Valley, poor reconstruction La Chapelle-aux-Saints (arthritis, missing teeth, very old) , Marcellin Boule 1900s

Question 18

Who were the Neandertals?

Answer 18

Genetic evidence suggests Neandertals diverged from line leading to modern humans ~600,000 yrs ago, but interbred w/ AMHS
Recent DNA studies identify alleles modern humans share w/ Neandertals

Question 19

Describe Middle Paleolithic Cultures (archaic H Sapiens)

Answer 19

Mousterian Tool tradition (resemble hand axes)
Smaller proportion of large core tools, Levallois flakes (retouched flakes) found in Mousterian toolkits (diff tools to do diff things)
Homesites - found in caves and rock shelters (allowed life in colder temps)

Question 20

Describe Funeral Rituals

Answer 20

Neandertal rituals = burials Shanidar cave burials - flower pollen over top of body (covered w/ flowers?)
Drachenloch - caching of cave bear skulls (cultural activity, no clear point)
France - burials marked w/ mounds of earth (put into comfortable “sleeping position”

Question 21

Describe Altruism in Neandertals

Answer 21

Concept of caring for + sustaining members of group who no longer contribute to group’s survival
La Chapelle-aux-Saints frequently cited as evidence of altruism
Better evidence remains of a blind + paralyzed individual from Shanidar Cave

Question 22

Describe Language in Neandertals + Archaic H Sapiens

Answer 22

Basicranium of Archaic Homo sapiens appears modern
Some suggest though that Neandertal basicranium is not modern
Evidence from Neandertal hyoid also supports modern language capabilities

Question 23

Describe Neandertal jewelry

Answer 23

Shells, teeth, carved bones
Believed only modern human trait, but it ain’t
Divje Babe, Slovenia - flute - MUSIC
Cave painting made by Neandertals ~60,000 Bp

Question 24

What are the three Theories of modern Human Origin

Answer 24

Christopher Stringer, Single Origin Hypothesis
Milford Wolpoff, Multiregional Hypothesis
Fred Smith, Assimilation Hypothesis (mtDNA, nuclear DNA, Y-chromosome)

Question 25

Describe the Single Origin hypothesis

Answer 25

Also Replacement or Eve hypothesis
All anatomically modern humans evolved from Archaic H sapiens in east + south Africa, all other archaic H sapiens pop. became extinct
1980s-90s supported by early studies mtDNA + fossils

Question 26

Describe the multiregional hypothesis

Answer 26

AMHS evolved simultaneously in diff areas of world, descending from early hominid pop

Question 27

Describe the Assimilation Model for Modern Human Variation

Answer 27

Archaic H Sapiens + AMHS interbred after H Erectus left Africa, move out + move back, interbred w/ neandertals

Question 28

What does Fossil evidence tell us about AMHS divergence?

Answer 28

Fossils from Portugal are argued to be a Neandertal-modern transitional form
Fossil evidence from regional continuity in some areas (like Asia)

Question 29

Cultural Evidence for AMHS

Answer 29

Artifacts founds in association w/ early modern sites more sophisticated than other assemblages from same period in Europe + Asia

Question 30

Describe Early Modern Homo sapiens in Africa

Answer 30

Modern H. sapiens
Omo + Herto, Ethiopia
Klasies River Mouth Cave, S. Africa
Anatomies: High forehead + round skull w/ reduced face + teeth, Chin, Gracile postcranial skeleton

Question 31

Describe Early Modern Homo sapiens in Asia

Answer 31

Skhul V, Israel
Cohabitation of modern H. sapiens + Neandertals
Zhoukoudian

Question 32

On the Margin of Modernity in Southeast Asia: Homo floresiensis

Answer 32

Flores, Indonesia
Tiny brain and skull
400cc, Short stature, 1m
Dwarf or developmental abnormality?

Question 33

Describe Early Modern Homo sapiens in Europe

Answer 33

Dolni Vestonice, Czech Republic
Cro-Magnon, France
Mladec, Croatia