• Mode 1
: remove flakes from cores; flakes and cores used as tools. No systematic shapes– Associated Industries: Oldowan, Lomekwian
1/39
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| • Mode 1 | : remove flakes from cores; flakes and cores used as tools. No systematic shapes– Associated Industries: Oldowan, Lomekwian |
| • Mode 2 | : cores shaped into symmetrical bifaces; cores used as tools – Associated Industries: Acheulean |
| • Mode 3 | : cores shaped to give many types of flakes using less material; both cores and flakes used as tools. Re-touch (re-use/sharpening) is common – Associated Industries: Levallois, Mousterian |
| A. anamensis | 4.2 -3.9 East Africa • Derived traits – Small(er) canines, thick enamel, large molars – Knee & ankle for bipedalism • Primitive traits – box-shaped jaw like apes (parallel tooth rows), larger canines than later australopithecines – Upper limb features for arboreality • Probably lived in mixed habitats (grasslands, woodlands) -walked like a human in trees often |
| A. afarensis | 3.6- 3.0 East Africa • Lived in mix of forest, woodland & savannah habitats • Important specimens: – AL 288-1 (“Lucy”) found in Hadar, Ethiopia, 1974 by Don Johanson • 40% complete skeleton revealed details of locomotion – AL 333 – “First Family” (n=13 individuals all found together) – Selam – Dikika Child - 3 year old female skeleton – Laetoli fossil footprint trackway |
| A. africanus* | 3.5 - 2.2 South Africa • First hominin species ever found in Africa • “Taung baby” – Raymond Dart, first discovery in 1924! – Said hominin because of foramen magnum position – Rejected by most scientists as too primitive and brain too small • South Africa • 3.5 – 2.2 Ma • Postcrania similar to A. afarensis • Dentition different: – smaller canines and incisors – larger molars • Cranium and body much like A. afarensis, but with even larger cheek teeth and deep mandible = chewing adaptations? |
| A. garhi | 2.5 East Africa Name means “surprise!” in Afar language • Even larger molars and premolars than A. africanus • Found in association with cut-marked animal bones – Evidence of butchery by hominins – Stone tools found in similarly aged deposits – Hunting or just scavenging? -Probably both |
| A. sediba | ~2 South Africa most likely ancestor to genus Homo • Maybe descended from A. africanus and claimed ancestor of genus Homo – Has Homo-like face and teeth – Small brain • Two partial skeletons • Fully bipedal but still somewhat arboreal (long arms) • “Transitional species” or A. africanus? |
| P. aethiopicus | 3 – 2.3 East Africa |
| P. boisei | 2.3 – 1.3 East Africa |
| P. robustus | 2 – 1South Africa |
| • 5 new features separate humans from chimps | : 1. Dental characteristics 2. Larger brain/body size ratio 3. Slow maturation and development 4. Complex symbolic and material culture • Including language 5. Habitual (committed) bipedalism |
| • Homo erectus | – Modern body proportions and body size (running?) – Larger brains – Smaller teeth – Distribution outside Africa and into colder places – More complex tech (Acheulean) – Dietary shift to more meat eating |
| Homo heidelbergensis | -distributed in Africa Europe and China between 800 and 500 Ka range -descendant of homo erectus -derived: large brain 1200-1300cc |
| the expensive tissue hypothesis | -certain tissues take more energy to maintain like the stomach and brain -humans have big brains but small digestive tracts -so guts were shrunk to allow for larger brain size which leads to a change toward higher quality diets |
| Homo habilis | • First found in association w/ very basic flaked stone tools at Olduvai Gorge, TZ • Evidence of tool use led to classification as first species of Homo – 50% larger cranial capacity than australopiths (500-600 cc) – Small teeth – Parabolic dental arcade – (reduced snout), reduced jaws & chewing muscles |
| when is LCA between humans and chimps from | 6-8 million years ago |
| • Two types of dating methods | – Absolute dating → gives age estimate in years – Relative dating → gives fossil sequence |
| 1. Dental characteristics | • Reduction in size of the canines – Canines don’t interlock – Upper canine no longer hones (sharpens) on the 1st lower premolar – Honing characteristic of apes and monkeys • Change in shape of the dental arcade (tooth row) from U-shape to parabola• Enamel gets thicker |
| 2. Larger brain/body size ratio | • Apes have large brains relative to body size (~ 2 x expected) •Humans are 7-8x greater than expected • Chimp brains ~ 320- 350 cc • Human brains average 1350 cc • Cognition, life history patterns are implicated, but not straightforward → Does size matter? (yes, but it’s not everything matters between species but not within) |
| 3. Slow maturation and development | • Humans have slower life histories than apes • Reminder: Life History = timing of key events in an organism’s life, shaped by ecology and natural selection– Growth, sexual maturity, death etc. • Humans have longer gestation, juvenile periodand growth, menopause etc. • Can be measured to some extent in fossils – Tooth eruption and bone/enamel development |
| 4. Complex symbolic and material culture | • Including language • Apes do have complex cognition and some ability to use tools – But not to the same extent as hominins! • Increased reliance on technology • Ability in inhabit almost all environments • Tools, fire, symbolism, art, and language are major innovations • Archaeological record tells us some aspects of culture – Many thing would not preserve • e.g. wood tools, body decorations |
| 5. Habitual (committed) bipedalism | • Anatomical changes from head to toe • Probably the most defining feature of hominins – Recognizable in the fossil record • We know now that it comes first– Before big brains |
| human bipedalism | – Extended knee and hip – Lumbar curve – Ventral foramen magnum – Places center of gravity (COG) in line with major joints |
| 1. Sahelanthropus tchadensis | • Found in 2002 in Chad • Dated to 6-7 Ma using relative dating (fauna) • Near complete cranium & mandible • Woodland environment • Primitive: brain size (~350 cc like chimp) • Derived: flat face like later hominids, thick enamel, small canines • Location of foramen magnum and placement of neck muscle attachment suggest bipedalism |
| Why bipedalism? | A costly adaptation so most likely it was about getting and eating food -hunting -surveillance -thermoregulation -carrying stuff -endurance running -low hanging fruit also -energy efficient -making tools -good for different movements -breathing is separated from movement |
| . Orrorin tugenensis | • Found in 1999, Tugen Hills, Kenya, ~6 Ma • Teeth and postcranial bones • Woodland environment • Primitive: curved proximal phalanx • Derived: • teeth small w/ thick enamel • femoral neck length/shape and distribution of bone suggest bipedalism |
| Ardipithecus kadabba | • Limited material – Dental remains, toe bone • Primitive: upper canine sharpens (hones) against lower premolar (i.e. canines are not reduced) • Derived: toe bone similar to toe bones of later hominins – bipedalism?? |
| . Ardipithecus ramidus | • Middle Awash, Ethiopia, 4.4 Ma – 1 Ma after A. kadabba • First published material (1994) was only dental material • 2009: publication of “Ardi” – very complete female skeleton – Hands/feet, pelvis, skull, teeth preserved • Woodland environment • Details of find and original research team’s findings in film “Discovering Ardi” (2010) • Primitive: Opposable big toe, long fingers/short thumb, thin enamel on molars, small brain (~350cc) • Derived: Anterior foramen magnum and bipedal |
| Tools and Homo erectus | • Tool culture advances over Oldowan (but Oldowan tools still retained) • Acheulean tool industry (Mode 2) appears 1.6 Ma in Africa (and lasts 1 million years!) • Biface (hand axes, cleavers, picks) – Very standardized, flattened form w/ sharp edge along entire circumference – The tool maker had a design in mind |
| fire | • Hard to get evidence of fire use in the archaeological record. But how to move into northern areas without it?! • Swartkrans (S.Afr.): burnt bones (~1.0 Ma) – Low temp, long time (brush fire)? – High temp, short time (campfire)? • Koobi Fora (Kenya): burnt earth/clay (1.5 Ma) – Temps too high for brush fire? |
| Homo heidelbergensis | -distributed in Africa Europe and China between 800 and 500 Ka range -descendant of homo erectus -derived: large brain 1200-1300cc higher forehead more rounded cranium -primitive: low skull more prognathic brow ridges no chin Big Game Hunter Technology -early Homo heidlbergensis used Acheulean complex similar to Homo erectus -by about 300Ka handaxes were pretty rare major innovations in flake preparation – Levallois technique (Mode 3) – Flake is preshaped on a core (contrast to Modes 1 and 2) – Different tools produced by different preshaping – Evidence of hafting (spears) -used the same tool many times and shape it into different tools |
| Neandertals | • Cold-adapted cousins who lived short tough lives in the Upper Pleistocene ice age • Large brains, likely language and/or symbolic communication – Well-developed tool kits, capable hunters • Care for sick/elderly, burials • Likely went extinct ~30-40,000 after interbreeding with Homo sapiens |
| Homo floresiensis | Flores, Indonesia -Liang Bua cave is 100000-60000 years old • 9-14 individuals, including one excellentskull and partial skeleton • Diminutive species (~ 3 feet tall) • Brain size only ~400 cc • Primitive features: long arms, primitive wrist, tiny skull, long feet without an arch • Used Mode I tools • Had controlled fire • Hunted and consumed animals • All with a small brain! -Likely a dwarfed descendant of Homo erectus • More material found at Mata Menge, Flores: 700,000 • Less complete, but also small-bodied • Stone tools on the island are even older, at 1 Ma. INSULAR DWARFING • Limited resources • Lack of predators • Genetic Drift |
| Meme | an idea, behavior, style or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture” |
| Human Language | • all human cultures have the same capacity for language • All languages have common grammar • All languages have syntax • Suggests a common underlying structure to language • And special cognitive adaptation for human language – Different from intelligence/general cognitive abilities |
| Culture | information acquired by individual through some type of social learning |
| how culture is acquired | -Social Facilitation activity of one animal indirectly increases the chance that other animals will learn on their own proximity and opportunity every individual figures it out every time -Observational Learning (imitation) learn by watching skilled individuals allows for cumulative cultural change |
| fate of Neanderthals | died because of competition with humans and lower fertility or inability to cope with climate change |