Transcript Chapter 14 The Origin and Dispersal of Modern Humans

Chapter 14
The Origin and
Dispersal of Modern Humans
Chapter Outline
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Approaches to Understanding Modern
Human Origins
The Earliest Discoveries of Modern
Humans
Something New and Different
Technology and Art in the Upper
Paleolithic
Summary of Upper Paleolithic Culture
Homo sapiens
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Sometime, probably close to 200,000 years
ago, the first modern Homo sapiens evolved in
Africa.
Within 150,000 years or so, their descendants
had spread across most of the Old World, even
expanding as far as Australia.
All contemporary populations—more than 6
billion living humans—are placed within this
species (and the same subspecies as well).
Questions About the Origin and
Dispersal of Modern Humans
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When did modern humans first appear?
Where did the transition take place?
In one region or several?
What was the pace of evolutionary change?
How fast did the transition occur?
How did the dispersal of modern humans to
other areas of the Old World take place?
Theories of Human Origins
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Complete Replacement Model
Regional Continuity Model
Partial Replacement Model
Complete Replacement Model
(Recent African Evolution)
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Developed by British paleoanthropologists
Christopher Stringer and Peter Andrews.
Proposes anatomically modern populations
arose in Africa in the last 200,000 years.
They migrated from Africa, completely replacing
populations in Europe and Asia.
Does not account for the transition from archaic
H. sapiens to modern H. sapiens anywhere
except Africa.
Modern Humans From Africa
and the Near East
Partial Replacement Model
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Proposed by Günter Bräuer of the
University of Hamburg.
Postulates the earliest dates for African
modern Homo sapiens at over 100,000
y.a.
Partial Replacement Model
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Initial dispersal of H. sapiens sapiens from
South Africa was influenced by environmental
conditions.
Moving into Eurasia, modern humans
hybridized with resident groups, eventually
replacing them.
The disappearance of archaic humans was due
to hybridization and replacement.
Regional Continuity Model
(Multiregional Evolution)
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Associated with paleoanthropologist
Milford Wolpoff of the University of
Michigan.
Populations in Europe, Asia, and Africa
continued evolutionary development from
archaic H. sapiens to anatomically
modern humans.
The Regional Continuity Model
(Multiregional Evolution)
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Question: How did modern humans evolve in
different continents and end up so physically
and genetically similar?
Explanation:
Due to gene flow between archaic
populations, modern humans are not a
separate species.
Earlier modern H. sapiens did not originate
exclusively in Africa.
Question
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Which of the following is not one of the
hypotheses explaining the origins and
dispersal of anatomically modern
humans?
a) the partial replacement model
b) the regional continuity model
c) the regional replacement model
d) the complete replacement model
Answer: c
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The regional replacement model is
not one of the hypotheses explaining
the origins and dispersal of anatomically
modern humans.
Question
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Which hypotheses holds that anatomically
modern populations arose in Africa within the
last 200,000 years, migrated out and replaced
populations in Europe and Asia. They did not
interbreed, they were a separate species.
a)
the partial replacement model
b)
the regional continuity model
c)
the regional replacement model
d)
the complete replacement model
Answer: c
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The Complete Replacement Model
holds that anatomically modern
populations arose in Africa within the last
200,000 years, migrated out and replaced
populations in Europe and Asia. They did
not interbreed, they were a separate
species.
Question
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The model also known as "Recent African
Evolution" is based on the origin of modern
humans
a) in Africa and their interbreeding with
local African populations.
b) in Africa and their replacement of local
populations in Europe and Asia.
c) in China and their relatively recent
evolution in Africa.
d) simultaneously in Africa and China.
Answer: b
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The model also known as "Recent African
Evolution" is based on the origin of
modern humans in Africa and their
replacement of local populations in
Europe and Asia.
Early Homo sapiens Discoveries
From Africa and the Near East
Site
Dates
(y.a.)
Human Remains
Comments
Qafzeh
(Israel)
110,000
20 individuals
(minimum)
Large sample;
variability in
expression of modern
traits
Skhu-l
(Israel)
115,000
10 individuals
(minimum)
Earliest evidence of
modern H. sapiens
outside of Africa
Early Homo sapiens Discoveries
From Africa and the Near East
Site
Omo-Kibish
(Ethiopia)
Klasies River
Mouth (South
Africa)
Dates (y.a.)
Human
Remains
Comments
120,000–
80,000?
Cranium and
postcranial
remains
Second individual
shows fewer
modern traits
120,000?
Several
individuals;
fragmentary
Perhaps earliest
modern H. sapiens
in Africa
Omo I
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Reconstructed skull
of Omo I, an early
modern human from
Ethiopia, dated to
195 kya.
Note the clear
presence of a chin.
Herto Cranium From Ethiopia
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Herto cranium from
Ethiopia, dated
160,000–154,000 ya.
This is the bestpreserved early
modern H. sapiens
cranium yet found.
Mt. Carmel
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Mt. Carmel, studded
with caves, was
home to H. sapiens
sapiens at Skhu¯l
(and to Neandertals
at Tabun and
Kebara).
Specimens from Israel
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(a) Skhu¯l 5. (b) Qafzeh 6.
These specimens from Israel are thought to be
representatives of early modern Homo sapiens.
The vault height, forehead, and lack of prognathism are
modern traits.
Early Modern Homo sapiens Discoveries
- Europe, Asia, Australia
Site
Abrigo do
Lagar
Dates
(y.a.)
24,500
Human
Remains
4 y.o.
child’s
skeleton
Velho
(Portugal)
CroMagnon
(France)
30,000
8
individuals
Comments
Shows mixture of traits
Interpreted as evidence of
hybridization
Famous site of early
modern H. sapiens;
variability in expression of
modern traits
Early Modern Homo sapiens Discoveries
- Europe, Asia, Australia
Site
Ordos
(Mongolia,
China)
Kow
Swamp
(Australia)
Lake
Mungo
(Australia)
Dates
(y.a.)
Human
Remains
Comments
50,000
1 individual
Perhaps earliest
evidence of H. sapiens
in Asia
14,0009,000
More than 40
individuals
(all ages)
Very robust individuals
3 individuals,
one cremation
Date is controversial;
recent extraction and
analysis of DNA
60,00030,000
Anatomically Modern Homo
sapiens (Asia and Australia).
Anatomically Modern
Humans in Europe
Early Modern Homo Sapiens
in Central Europe
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The Mlade c (a) and Dolní V estonice (b) crania,
from the Czech Republic, are good examples of
early modern Homo sapiens in central Europe.
Cro-Magnon I
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Cro-Magnon I
(France).
In this specimen,
modern traits are
quite clear. (a) Lateral
view. (b) Frontal view.
Timeline for Modern Homo
Sapiens Discoveries
Techniques for Dating Middle
and Upper Pleistocene Sites
Technique
Physical Basis
Uranium
series
Radioactive decay
of short-lived
uranium isotopes
Accumulation of
Thermolumi
electrons in certain
nescence
crystals released
(TL)
during heating
Examples of Use
Date limestone formations;
estimate age of Jinniushan
site in China and Ngandong
site in Java
Date ancient flint tools;
provide key dates for the
Qafzeh site
Techniques for Dating Middle
and Upper Pleistocene Sites
Technique
Electron
spin
resonance
(ESR)
Physical Basis
Examples of Use
Measurement of
trapped electrons
Date dental enamel;
corroborate dating various
sites in Israel, Java, South
Africa, and Australia
Flores Hominids
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Cranium of adult
female Homo
floresiensis from
Flores, Indonesia,
dated 18,000 ya.
Location of the Flores Site in
Indonesia
The New World
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Ancestors of Native Americans reached
the New World through migration over the
Bering Land Bridge over many millennia.
Debates continue, but at present, the only
direct evidence of hominids in the New
World date to about 12,000 y.a.
Anatomically modern Homo sapiens
and Homo floresiensis
The Upper Paleolithic
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Cultural period began in western Europe
approximately 40,000 years ago.
Industries based on tool technologies:
1. Chatelperronian
2. Aurignacian
3. Gravettian
4. Solutrean
5. Magdalenian
Upper Paleolithic Tools
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(a) Burin. A very common
Upper Paleolithic tool.
(b) Solutrean blade. This
is the best-known work of
the Solutrean tradition.
 Solutrean stonework
is considered the most
highly developed of
any Upper Paleolithic
industry.
Cultural Periods of the
European Upper Paleolithic
Upper Paleolithic
(beginnings)
Cultural Periods
17,000
21,000
27,000
40,000
Magdalenian Solutrean
Gravettian
Aurignacian
Chatelperronian
Middle
Paleolithic
Mousterian
Upper Paleolithic Grave
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Skeleton of two
teenagers, a male
and a female, from
Sungir, Russia.
Dated 24,000 ya, this
is the richest find of
any Upper Paleolithic
grave.
The Punch Blade Technique
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(a) A large core is
selected and the top
portion is removed by
use of a
hammerstone.
The Punch Blade Technique
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(b) The objective is to
create a flat surface
called a striking
platform.
The Punch Blade Technique
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(c) Next, the core is
struck by use of a
hammer and punch
(made of bone or
antler) to remove the
long narrow flakes
(called blades).
The Punch Blade Technique
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(d) Or the blades can
be removed by
pressure flaking.
The Punch Blade Technique
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(e) The result is the
production of highly
consistent sharp blades,
which can be used, as is,
as knives; or they can be
further modified
(retouched) to make a
variety of other tools
(such as burins,
scrapers, and awls).
Magdalenian Bone Artifact
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Note the realistic animal engraving on this object, the
precise function of which is unknown.
Artifacts from the Middle Stone Age of Africa
and the Upper Paleolithic in Europe