Lecture 10 Flashcards
Homo species
*Homo ergaster 1.9-1.4mya
* Homo erectus 1.6-?0.6mya
* Homo georgicus? 1.8mya
* Homo antecessor 1.2mya – 780kyrs
* Homo heidelbergensis 600 – 250kyrs
Homo ergaster age
- C1.9 – 1.5mya
Homo ergaster location
- East Africa: Kenya, Nariokotome
- South Africa: Swartkrans
Homo ergaster specimens
- Well-preserved full skeletons
Homo ergaster body size
- Male: 66kg, 1.8m
- Female: 56kg, 1.6m
- Sexual dimorphism similar to modern humans
Homo ergaster brain size
750-848cm3
Homo ergaster teeth
human sized!
Homo ergaster bipedal
*obligate bipedalism
* Reduced arm length relative to legs
* Barrel-shaped ribcage
* Straight fingers and toes
Homo ergaster palaeoenvironmental evidence
- Little known but bodily stature suggested open, tropical environments
- Was this the first hairless hominin?
The Nariokotome boy: 1.6/1.5mya (Home ergaster)
Active/dangerous lifestyle?
Traumatic vertebral herniation aka slipped disc:
* Several backache, limping, problems bending
* Survived with the condition: received care
* Some argue pathology e.g. scoliosis, but disagreement
Disputes over age:
* Bone maturity: 11-12yrs old
* Dental development: ~8yrs old
* Discrepancy means no adolescent growth spurt?
* i.e. a primate-like fast rate of maturation, rather than
human-like slow/delayed maturation?
* But brain size?! C.900cc
Homo erectus age
c.1.6-0.6(0.3?!)mya
Homo erectus was previously known as
- Pithecanthropus erectus
- Sinanthropus pekinensis
- ‘Java man’
Homo erectus location
- Indonesia: Sangiran, Sambungmachan;
Java (Trinil) - China: Zhoukoudian; Lantian
Homo erectus specimes
- Well-preserved full skeletons
Homo erectus body size
- Male: 1.79m
- Female: smaller!
- Sexual dimorphism larger than modern humans
Homo erectus brain size
727-1225cm3
Homo erectus bipedalism type
- Obligate bipedalism
Homo erectus palaeoenvironmental evidence
- Found in more temperate/seasonal environments than earlier
hominins
Homo erectus skull features
*Thick, shelf-like browridge
*Cranial bones very thick
*Long, low skull; no forehead Sagittal crest
*Pronounced muscle markings
*Shorter and sturdier than H. ergaster but
overall proportions similar
*Very robust postcranially
*Short, wide massive faces
*Protruding jaws
H. erectus shellfish consumption, shell
use and engraving: 430,000bp
- Holes found in shells:
- Not known in natural shell accumulations
- 80% of hole located where perforation of
shell and muscle inside would force mollusc
to open up; very similar to experiments - Damage closer to that produced by
historical human groups’ subsistence than to
other possible agents (primates; otters; rats;
birds etc.) - One shell shows signs of use for cutting or
scraping: shell tools? - One shell shows geometric grooves:
deliberately engraved while shell was fresh? - Made using a shark tooth? Present in assemblage
Homo georgicus age
- ~1.85-1.77mya
Homo georgicus location
- Georgia, Caucasus
Homo georgicus specimens and size
- Large redeposited assemblage of bones and stones
- > 15,000 cores and flakes (mode 1 technologies)
- Thousands of animal bones,
only 8 cut-marked bones - IF we assume they’re all one
species… - Body size: 50kg, 1.5m
- Brain size: 546-775cm3
- Including D3444/D3900: nearly
toothless old man - Needed care? At the very least, carefully chosen diet!
Homo georgicus teeth
essentially modern
Homo georgicus bipedal type
- Fully bipedal (obligate)
- Postcrania suggest obligate bipedalism but
some elements suggest a slightly different
form to modern bipedalism: e.g. foot is
slightly turned inwards
Homo georgicus tool use
Toolmaker: mode 1 (Oldowan)
Homo georgicus skull features
- Crania very variable * Average brain size very close (close to H.
habilis) - Slightly elongated skull * Slight sagittal keeling * Back of skull smooth, rounded and quite gracile (i.e. more modern than H. erectus or Neanderthals)
- Browridge, but not very pronounced
- Upper face quite small with narrow nasal
bones - Slightly prognathic upper jaw region but
reduced from earlier hominins
Homo georgicus controversy
- Includes skulls and postcrania of at least 6
individuals
BUT very variable: are they all one population or even species?! Variability especially pronounced in: - Zygomatic arches
- Prognathism
- browridges
- How many species represented here?
- Cranial variability comparable to that of modern Pan
- Distinct species OR part of Homo erectus sensu lato?
Relationships with other hominins?
More like H. ergaster and H. erectus than H. habilis?
* Apart from cranial size: 600cm3 more like H. habilis!
* i.e. this earliest dispersal preceded brain size increase?
* Supports an Asian (not African) origin of H. erectus?
Homo floresiensis age
- Originally dated to only
18,000bp BUT now pushed
back to 100-60,000BP
Relationships between H. georgicus, H.
ergaster and H. erectus?
- H. ergaster evolved in Africa, then spread to Asia via the Caucasus, evolving en
route into H. georgicus and H. erectus - H. erectus evolved in Africa from H. ergaster (or they are the same species) and
spread to Asia
a. ‘H. georgicus’ could belong to either, or be descended from either, or
represent a mixing of both! - A pre-H.ergaster species (represented at Dmanisi?) spread into Asia and evolved
into H. erectus, then spread back into Africa as H. ergaster
b. Those transitional/archaic populations in Asia had descendants who
left no traces (that have yet been found) that eventually evolved into
Homo floresiensis in Flores?
What about Europe: Homo antecessor, 1.2mya …?!
1. H. ergaster OR a pre-ergaster species at Dmanisi spread both East and West and
evolved into both H. erectus and H. antecessor
2. H. erectus (wherever it came from!) spread West from Asia into Europe and
evolved into H. antecesso
Homo floresiensis facts
- Small-bodied
- Very small-brained
- Australopithecine-like?!
- Originally dated to only 18,000bp BUT now pushed back to 100-60,000BP, stone tools dating back to 190,000BP
- i.e. supporting evidence for
dispersal of pre-erectus
species?
Homo antecessor age
- 1.2 – 0.5mya
Homo antecessor location
Northern Spain: Atapuerca, 2 localities:
* Gran Dolina
* Sima del Elefante
Homo antecessor specimens
- > 10 individuals known, adults, adolescents
and children
Homo antecessor body size
60-90kg; 1.6-1.8m
* Very like modern humans but with longer, more slender arms and broader chest
Homo antecessor brain size
1125 – 1390cm3
(Pleistocene
Homo sapiens average ~1,500cm3)
Homo antecessor skull/face
similar to modern humans
Homo antecessor teeth
relatively large teeth
Homo antecessor tool use
Toolmaker, mode 1
Homo antecessor palaeoenvironmental evidence
- Temperate environment
Atapuerca: multiple sites
- Several caves exposed by a
railway cutting
Sima del Elefante: (1.2-1.1 mya)
* 25m of depositsin16 layers
* TE9c level produced oldest fossil in
western Europe
Gran Dolina: (780,000ya)
* 18m of deposits in 11 layers
* TD6 (Aurora stratum) 165 fossils
from min. 11 individuals
Sima de los Huesos: (430,000ya)
* Cave accessed by 14m deep
chimney/hole in roof
* Thousands of fossils from min.28
individuals of Neanderthal clade
Atapuerca: Sima del Elefante
- Layer TE9c: 1.2 to 1.1 mya
Hominin remains
* molar and mandible fragment
* Molar ‘well worn’, from 20-25yr old
* Dental calculus shows ingestion of raw
meat and wild grasses, and use of twigs to
clean teeth! (Hardy et al. 2016). I.e., brain
expansion occurs prior to cooking…
Also 33x stone tools
* Raw materials all from within 2km
Evidence of animal bone processing:
* Thousands of animal bones (5% are
cutmarked) and 33 stone tools
Cave filling accumulated via a fissure
entrance (i.e. not a cave mouth
entrance; secondary deposit?)
Atapuerca: Gran Dolina
- Gran Dolina:
- TD-11: Mousterian;
Neanderthal? - TD-10: Homo heidelbergensis
TD-6 (Aurora stratum):
* >80 fragments of 5/6 hominins 850-780,000bp: H. antecessor
* About 25% of the bones show possible signs of cannibalism.
* Retouched core and flake tools
- TD-4 (780,000 BP), 4 stone
tools
Homo antecessor: evidence of cannibalism?
Evidence:
* Bones show evidence of slicing, chopping, scraping
* Particular evidence for facial skinning and defleshing
* Lower limbs: cutmarks and bone breakage by percussion and bending
* Fingers and toes were smashed, i.e. intensive carcass exploitation
Homo antecessor: reason for cannibalism?
- Ritual/magic/funerary
- Aggressive
- Affectionate
- Endocannibalism
- Exocannibalism
- Nutritional
Homo heidelbergensis age
- ~700-300,000bp
Homo heidelbergensis location
- Across Europe and ?Africa?
- African specimens go by a variety of other names too e.g. Homo helmei, Homo leakeyi,
H. rhodesiensis
Homo heidelbergensis body size
50-68kg; 1.45-
1.85m
Homo heidelbergensis brain size
1,100-1,400cm3
Homo heidelbergensis tool use
Toolmaker: mode 2
(Acheulean)
- Large, strong skull
- Strong muscle
attachment sites - Broad, relatively flat
face - Strong brow-ridges
- Large jaws
- More robust than
modern humans
