Lecture 20 - Pleistocene Homo

Question 1

pleistocene climate oscillation

Answer 1

• colder and more variable climate, especially by 1.8 ma
• interval marked by repeated glacial cycles, known as the Ice Age
• huge volumes of water in continental ice sheets (about 30% of earth’s surface) - lower sea level
• exposed land bridges connecting continents as a result of lower sea level
• highly unpredictable or variable climate, with as many as 2-dozen major glacial advances during the Pleistocene

Question 2

H. ergaster cranial

Answer 2

• cranial capacity ~880 cm3
  (significant jump in brain size)
• long, low, flat skull
• no sagittal crest but had sagittal keel
• thick brow ridge

Question 3

H. ergaster - Turkana Boy

Answer 3

most of what is known comes from Turkana Boy
* juvenile, presumably male, nearly complete skeleton

Question 4

H. ergaster postcranial

Answer 4

• estimated stature of 5’3” (6’1”) as an adult, indicates a significant increase in overall body size compared to Aus.
• similar body proportions to modern humans - long & linear build (like modern tropical savanna habitants)
• heavily muscled - robustly built skeleton
• capable of walking and running large distances
• lacks arboreality

Question 5

H. ergaster & H. erectus

Answer 5

• first hominin species known outside of Africa
• Africa, 1.9-1.0 Ma
• H. erectus - Asia, ~1.8 Ma - 30 Ka (discovered first)

Question 6

Acheulean Tool Industry

Answer 6

• 1.6 Ma - 200 Ka
• more sophisticated tech than Oldowan
• symmetrical, biface tools,
  toolmaker works tool symmetrically on both sides
• retouching, soft hammer percussion –> made rough draft, then refined it with subtle flaking
• requires mental template and forward thinking - not immediately obvious from raw materials –> harder to replicate as compared to Oldowan replication

Question 7

Out of Africa by 1.8 Ma

Answer 7

• varied environments, from tropical Africa into more seasonal colder regions in Eurasia and the Far East
• H. erectus likely hominins migrated out of Africa very shortly after their first appearance
• as soon as we see appearance out of Africa, only took 100k ish years to get to Java, Indonesia
• considering no intent to get there, and across multiple generations, really quick dispersal to get halfway across the globe
• encountered wildly different environments (more seasonal, colder)

Question 8

Dmanisi skulls, Georgia, Caucasus, 1.8 Ma

Answer 8

• H. ergaster?, H. erectus?, H. georgicus?
• small bodies and brains
• Oldowan technology
• perhaps synchronic populationm who took care of old and/or sick individuals –> based on reabsoprtion of the jaw (dental anatomy)

Question 9

Java, Indonesia, 1.8 Ma

Answer 9

• H. erectus from Java: Mojokerto (1.8), Sangiran (1.65)
• questions about provenance and dating; land bridge between Java and mainland Asia
• no stone tools

Question 10

Why out of Africa by 1.8 Ma

Answer 10

• drier climate and more open landscapes would have expored land connections allowing for migration
• tools and increase cognitive capabilities allowed early hominins to colonize new environments
• obligate long-range bipedalism –> running after large game?
• Fire?
• OR expansion was earlier but only visible at 1.8 mya?

Question 11

Trends in H. ergaster/erectus

Answer 11

• reduction in size of cheek teeth (similar to modern humans)
• increased body size and modern human-like limb proportions; long range bipedalism adaptations
• absolute brain size increases
• associated with Oldowan & Acheulean tools, evidence of fire
• wide geographic distribution outside of Africa

Question 12

Archaic H. sapiens

Answer 12

transitional nature of these groups between H. erectus -like hominins and later species

Question 13

Archaic H. sapiens

H. heidelbergensis

Answer 13

• Europe, 600-200ka
• large number of specimens coming from differen regions of Europe
• some of them show clear similarities with Neanderthals, but some other don’t
• probably direct ancestors of Neanderthals - direct evidence

Question 14

middle stone age/middle paleolithic

Answer 14

• ~300-50Ka
• Mousterian industry
• Middle Pleistocene hominins and Neanderthals
• Levallois technique - required even more planning than Acheulean tools
  –> more cutting edge, more efficient
  –> very difficult, requires a lot of skill and needed to be taught rather than self-learn (entering realm of cumulative culture)

Question 15

evidence for big game hunting

Answer 15

• bones of large animals associated with Acheulean tools
• humans may have stampeded large animals over edge of cliff (La Cotte de St. Brelade, France) and butchered the carcasses
• collaborative hunting effort, complex social patterns

Question 16

neanderthal vs modern humans - cranial differences

Answer 16

neanderthal:
* inflated cheeks
* occipital bun
* retromolar space
* no chin
* double-arched browridges
* large noses
* prognathism

humans:
* small teeth & jaws
* no occipital bun
* chin
* limited development of browridges
* canine fossa

Question 17

neanderthals vs humans - postcranial differences

Answer 17

neanderthals:
* robist, heavily muscled body - adaptation to conserve heat in their glacial environment
* barrel-shaped rib cage
* thick leg bones
* shortern than modern Europeans

Question 18

Neanderthal subsistence

Answer 18

• hafted weapons, competent hunting
• animal remains at the Neanderthal sites are often characterized by an abundance of 1 or 2 prey species (specialization)
• healthy animal adults are abundant in animal remains at Neanderthal sites
• cut-marked bones, first access
• also plants included in diet