Paleoanthropology
Study of the immediate ancestors of humans (homininis)
* Relies on fossils
* Geographically specific
* East and South Africa
* East Asia
* Middle East
Process of Fossilization
Fossilization is rare
* Less than 10% of species are represented
* 95% of fossils are marine animals
Taphonomy
* Study of decomposition
* Process may be arrested by
* Dry
* Cold
* Wet (anaerobic environments)
Fossils
Fossilisation:
* Rare process
* Conditions must be just right
Types of fossils:
* Sedimentary rock
* Volcanic activity
Dating Fossils
How old is old?
Relative Dating:
* Give a relative assessment
* Does not give a specific date
* One strata is younger or older
Absolute Dating:
* Give a range of dates
* More accurate than relative dating
Law of Superposition: the further down you go down, the farther back you go in time.
Index Fossils
Certain fossils used to date strata
* Changes in fossil organisms can reflect changes in paleoenvironments
* Useful in paleontology and economic growth
Relative Dating - Fluorine
Fluorine is an element found in soil
* Leaches into bones
* Amount of fluorine gives a relative age
* The more you have in the bones, the older it is
* Amount of fluorine depends on the soil
* There is a limit
Relative Dating - Cultural Dating
Common in archeological contexts
* Based on the Excavation of a site
* Analyze the change in artifact styles over time
* Putting the artifacts in order → noting the changes in styles → you are able to replicate a timeline.
Absolute Dating - Dendrochronology
* The first absolute dating method that was developed.
* Based upon some archeological sites in the midwest
Principles of Cross Dating: comparing different trees to find the ring patterns; this allows us to assign exact dates to each ring
Absolute Dating - Radiocarbon
* Based upon the decay of unstable isotopes
* Takes 5,730 years for half of the carbon 14 to decay
* 1950 is consider present
* When you get passed 50,000 years you can’t use carbon dating because the carbon 14 is gone.
Absolute Dating - Chemical Dating Techniques
This is how a lot of fossils are dated
* Rely on half-lives of radioactive elements
* Potassium-argon (K-Ar) dating
* Half-life: 1,250,000,000 years
* You are not dating the fossil directly, you have to bracket it.
* Uranium Series (fission track) dating
* Half-life: 4,500,000,0000 years
* Areas where you do not have volcanic ash
* Composes into lead
* The ranges of dates are not as precise as potassium-argon dating
Archeological Recovery
Used on paleoanthropological context
“To dig is to destroy”
* Mapping of fossil-rich areas
* Recording of strata/geology
* Measuring spatial distributions in 3D space
Bipedalism
This occurred 1st
Upright walking
Facultative Bipedalism: not their main method of locomotion.
* Some primates
* It's not their preferred but they can do it
Habitual Bipedalism: our main way of getting around, locomotion
* Birds
* Macropods (kangaroos)
* Dinosaurs (T-Rex)
* Homo sapiens (humans)
Hypothesis of Bipedalism
Why did it arise?
Hunting (no longer believed):
* Darwin believed we are bideds because we are hunters; we use our hands.
* proposed that the caves and sinkholes were the early sites of the hominins.
* Osteodontokeratic technology: bone, tooth, horn.
* To go out and kill other animals to bring back to their home base.
* Raymond Dart:
* Involvement in the 1924 discovery of the first fossil found of Australopithecus africanus.
* Said they are not using modified stone tools, but unmodified items are weapons to kill things.
* The horn of an antelope
Seed eating hypothesis:
* Proposed by Clifford Jolly
* He thought the early hominids were inhabited in an open grassland environment.
* Efficient for gathering seeds
* Can see predators more easily
* Maybe it helps with survival.
Thermoregulation
* Radiator hypothesis
* Better cooling for the body; you are on two legs and the sun is only beating down on the top of your head vs your back.
* Dean Falk
Patchy Forest Hypothesis:
* Peter Rodman and Henry McHenry
* African Forests became fragmented
* Bipedalism may have begun in the trees (gibbons)
* Used to walk between patches of food resources
Male provisioning:
* Owen Lovejoy
* Monogamous pair bonding
* Males assisted w/ child-learning
* Provided for defense
Chimpanzee hypothesis:
* Andrienne Zihlman
* Early homininis did not form pair bonds
Traits in Fossil Record
Traits:
* Primitive: a trait that was possessed by a last common ancestor; ex: opposable thumb
* Derived: specific to a species or a group of species; ex: bipedalism
Convergent evolution:
* Convergence of traits in dissimilar creatures
Parallel evolution:
* Parallel development in two environments
* Two different environments, yet the plants and animals mirror each other. Ex: australia.
Homologous traits: (homology)
* Similar due to a shared ancestry
* Ex: frogs, horse, human. (single bone humerus, radius, ulna and metacarpals)
Homoplastic traits: (homoplasty)
* Similarity but no common ancestor
Anatomy of Bipedalism
Derived traits of bipedalism
* Position of foramen magnum
* The more center it is, the more biped they are.
* Shape of pelvis
* Arched foot
* In line big toe (hallux)
* Limb proportions
* Musculature
Born to Run?
* Hypothesis that humans are designed for long distance running.
* Takes evidence from several American Indian tribes and physiology/anatomy.
Other Human-Like Traits
* Reduced canine
* Masticatory muscles
* Enlarged brain (cranial capacity)
* Enamel thickness
* Nonhoning canines
The First Hominins
Miocene Epoch (23-5 mya)
* Large expanses of tropical and subtropical forests
* First biped fossils
* Prob time of the split between humans and chimps
Early Hominins
Sahlenthropus Tchadensis:
* 7-6 mya
* Discovered in 2001 by M. Brunet in France
* Found in Chad
* 350 cc cranial capacity
* Ape like
* Massive brow ridge
* Non-honing chewing complex
* Forest environment
* Possible knuckle-walker?
* Likely not a biped
* Femur morphology
* Ulna morphology
* Ulna consistent w/ quadrupedalism
Orrorin Tugenesis:
* Discovered in Tugen Hills, Kenya
* 6 mya
* Mostly postcranial elements
* Mandible fragments
* Suggestive that it is a biped
* Chimpanzee-like teeth
* Lived in dry forest environment
Ardipithecus Kadabba:
* Discovered in Middle Awash, Ethiopia
* Fossils include postcranial bones and teeth
* Not a whole lot to go off of to piece a body together
* 5.8 - 5.2 mya
* Lived in mixed woodland environment
* Big toe is broad and flat
* Indicates push off by big toe in locomotion similar to humans
afrdipithecus Ramidus:
* Found in Ethiopia
* 5.5 - 4.5 mya
* Bipedal?
* Opposable hallux
* Not flexible
* Many primitive ape-like characteristics
* Ancestral
* Thin enamel
* Forward foramen magnum
These are called pre australopithecus
Pliocene Epoch
Environment
* Cooler and drier than the Miocene
* Expansion of the grasslands in Africa
* Appearance of large grazing animals
* Megafauna
Australopithecines (4 -1 mya)
Their brain size is the same as modern apes
Genus: Australopithecus
* Paranthropus?
* “Robust” australopithecines” cranial anatomy, highly specialized in what they are eating. Like gorillas.
* “Gracile” australopithecines; not as robust.
* Bipeds
* Ape-like body proportions
* arm/leg ratio
* Ape-like brain size
* Geography
Australopithecus anamensis
Earliest australopithecine
*** Oldest one
* Ethiopia
* Ape-like characteristics
* Large canines
* Parallel tooth rows
* Bipedal femur
Australopithecus afarensis
Found in early 1970s
* Donald Johanson
* Found 40% of the skeleton “lucy”
* After the Beatles song, “Lucy in the Sky”
* Many ape-like characteristics
* True biped
* Primitive Characteristics:
* Teeth
* <500 cm brain (small brain)
* Ape-like face proportions
* Curved phalanges
* Long arms
Australopithecus africanus
Discovered in 1925 “The Taung Baby”
Raymound Dart
* Not immediately accepted as a hominin. For 2 reasons:
* It's a child; who knows what it would have looked like as an adult
* They already exhibited a fossil that was a good candidate and was accepted by the other anthropologists
“Piltdown Man”
Found in south africa
Characteristics:
* Ape-like face
* Ape-like body proportions
* Omnivores
* Relatively long arms/ shorter legs
* Anatomy is more gracile
Australopithecus (Kenyanthropus) platyops
3.5 mya
400 - 500 cm^3 cranial capacity
* Derived characteristics
* Flat faced (platyops)
* Small molars
Australopithecus garhi
2.5 mya
* Small brain 450 cc
* Some features indicate it may be ancestral to early homo
* Gracile features
* Smaller teeth
* Used tools?
* If we used tools, chimps used tools, very possible that our latest ancestor also used tools. (modified stone)
Australopithecus sebida
Discovered in 2008
One of the later australopithecus
Characteristics:
* Smaller teeth
* Pelvis similar to homo
* arm/leg like australopithecines.
Robust Australopithecines: (Paranthropus)
3-1 mya
Characteristics:
* 410-530 cranial capacity
* Sagittal crest
* Very large teeth
* Dish-faced
Three members of Genus:
* A. Boisei
* A. Aethiopicus
* A. Robustus
Australopithecus aethiopicus
The “black skull”
2.5 mya
Flattened cranial base
* Small brain:
* Very large teeth
* Perhaps ancestral to boisei
Australopithecus robustus
Behavior:
* Lived in large groups
* Specialized diet: seeds, nuts, tubers
* Robustus australopithecines thought to be an evolutionary “side branch”
* Disappeared about 1 mya
Australopithecus boisei
* Zinj (name that was given by Louis L who discovered it)
* Large molars but small canines
* Sagittal crest
* Large jaw
Pleistocene Epoch
Begins when homo habilis shows up
2.6 mya - 11,700 ya
* One of the earlier cooling periods on earth (the last great ice age)
* Glacials
* Interglacials
* Sea level 130 meter (145 feet) lower than today
Early Homo
2.5 - 1.8 mya
East Africa
* East Turkana
* Hadar
* Olduvai Gorge
South Africa
Homo Habilis
* 550 - 800 cc cranial; larger (631 cc average)
* Sexual dimorphism
* Greater than homo sapiens
* Human-like dentition
* Reduced face
Homo habilis - OH 62
Found in 1980s - Olduvai Gorge
Australopithecine-like postcranial remains
* Skull can not be reconstructed
* Short legs, relatively long arms
* From the neck down it is very australopithecine
Australopithecus habilis? OH 24
Bernard Wood and Mark Collard
* Homo habilis very different from later homo
* Primitive face
* Primitive limb proportions
* Should be considered an australopithecine
Two Species?
KNM ER 1470
* Really big cranium
* Teeth are bigger
* Larger body size
* Found in Kenya
* Sometimes considered homo rudolfensis
Stone tools - the Oldowan Complex
Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
* Louis Leakey
* Until you find a homo habilis with tools in their hand, you don’t know who is making these
* Stone tools at same level as homo habilis and late australopithecines
* Simple stone tools
* Simple reduction process
* Take one rock against another rock, shaking off flakes. Creating cutting implements.
Oldowan Tools
Commonly used obsidian - volcanic glass; very sharp
Hammer stone → core stone → flakes
Homo Habilis - precision grip
Flexor pollicis longus
* Precision grip
* Originates along the radius
* Inserts on the ventral surface of the 1st terminal phalanx
Homo Habilis the Scavenger
Scavenger hypothesis: “homo habilis is starting to eat more meat than the australopithecines did”
* Pat Shipman came up with the hypothesis
* Groups of H. habilis began to eat meat
* Opportunistic scavenging
* Oldowan tools
* Based on cut marks of animal bones
* Something had taken a sharp tool, and cut away the meat
Early Homo and Meat Eating
Advantages
* Increase in calories
* Rich in vitamins and nutrients
* Reduced digestive system
* Expansion of the brain
* Early weaning of offspring
* Aids childhood growth and development
South African Homo Habilis
SK 847 (total number of fossils period)
* Evidence for early homo in south africa
* Homo ergaster?
Other fossils present
* Mostly small pieces and teeth
Homo naledi
Discovered in 2013 by Lee Berger in Rising Star Cave
336 - 236 kya (thousand years ago)
* Longer arm/leg ratio
* Skull features:
* Small brain
* Sagittal keel
* Relict population? Group of organisms that has persisted in a restricted area after being more widespread in the past
Homo erectus
Asian form
First discovered in 1891 in Java
* Eugene Dubois
* Skull cap and a femur
* Later dated to 1.6 mya
* Named it “Pithecanthropus erectus”
Homo ergaster
Found in East Africa
Early homo erectus
* 1.8 - 0.3 mya
* 900 cc cranial capacity
* Human-like limb proportions
* Human-like teeth (smaller molars)
* Less sexually dimorphic
Homo erectus (ergaster)
“The Nariokotome Boy”
WT15000
* West Turkana
* Aged about 15 at death
* 5’3 tall (taller as an adult)
* 880 cc cranial capacity
Ileret, Kenya Erectus
1.51 - 1.53 mya
* Anatomy almost identical to homo sapiens
* Features an in-line hallux and an arch
* Reveals truly human form of bipedalism
Acheulean Technology
* The tool is flaked on both sides to create a cutting edge
* They vary in size
* You have a point, cutting edge, then a chopper on the bottom (3 tools in 1)
Homo Erectus: Out of Africa
Dmanisi, Georgia (6 individuals were found at the site)
* Found in 1990s
* 1.7 mya
* Relatively small brain
* Evidence homo erectus left africa early in evolutionary history
Asian Homo Erectus
* Physiology
* Characteristics:
* Greater robusticity
* 850 - 1100cc cranial capacity
* Heavy browridges
* Low forehead
* Sagittal keel
* Nuchal torus
Zhoukoudian, China Erectus
“Peking Man”
* 1929 - Pei Wenshong
* 1930s - Franz Weidenreich
* He described the fossils
* Cave site
* Dates to 670,000 to 410,000 ya
* At least 14 individuals
* Cultural debris (some tools and ancient hyenas)
* The 1st site to have evidence of fire
* Hunting
* They had heavy clothing
Homo Erectus Culture
* Acheulean technology
* Africa, Europe
* East Asia? - chopper/chopping tool complex
* Tool differentiation in later H. erectus sites
* Tools found on indonesian islands
* H. erectus embraced culture as a survival strategy
* The islands present suggested that there were use of rafts for them to cross the water
Homo Erectus and Fire
Direct evidence:
* The earliest site is the Daughters of Jacob Bridge Site in Israel
* There were traces of ash
* 1 mya
Indirect evidence:
* Geography - living in cold places (you would need fire to survive that climate
* Cooking - when did that show up?
Cooking
Richard Wragham (he thinks it began with homo erectus)
Advantages:
* Releases nutrients (helps breaking down the rough wall of the food)
* Easier to digest
* Led to longer life span
* Implications for societal formation
* You can wean offspring sooner with softer foods
* Birth rate increases
Late African H. Erectus
Bodo, Ethiopia
* John Kalb
* 600 kya
* Very robust
* 1250 cc cranial capacity
* Uncertain technology
* Cutmarks?
* Was he butchered
* Eaten
* Or evidences of symbolic sacrifices
Homo Erectus
(1.8 may 0 300,000 ya)
Interpretations:
* 1st to leave Africa
* Efficient bipedalism
* Human-like body size
* hunting /cooking/ butchering animals
* Relying on clothing
* 1st biocultural creature
* Which has caused speculation of early homo sapiens
Homo Heidelbergensis
Homo erectus populations begin to differentiate
Probably represents multiple species
* Retain many H. erectus characters
Derived Characteristics: traits that have evolved in a lineage and are distinct from ancestral traits
* Increased brain size
* More rounded brain case
* Dental reduction
* Less angled occipital
Atapuerca, Spain
28 Hominins were found in this site
Gran Dolina
* Discovered in railway cut
* 850 - 780 kya
* “Homo antecessor” original name given; not used much anymore
* 1000cc cranium
* Homo erectus-like morphology
* Occipital bun
* Human-like body size
Africa
Kabwe (Broken hill), Zambia
* 600 - 15 kya
* Erectus-like browridge (very large prominent)
* Low vault
* Large occipital torus
* Modern cranial base/ thinner cranial bones
* 1300cc cranial capacity
Asia
Also display a suite of primitive and derived characteristics
Dali, China
* 230 - 180
* 1120 cc
Jinniushan, China
* 200 kya
* 1260cc
* Modern homo sapiens-like braincase
Europe
Arago, France
* Prominent brow ridges
Steinheim, Germany
* Large braincase
* Round occipital
* Flat face
* Cranial base is broken
Middle Pleistocene
780 - 125 kya
The Ice Age
* Glacials (big glaciers and expansion of ice caps)
* Interglacials (warm periods, desert areas expand and ice retreats)
* Restricted or encouraged hominin migrations
* Sea level drops during glacials
* Food resources change
*** Need to know: Conversion of Evolution and parallel evolution.
Schoningen Spears
Set of wooden spruce spears
* Made out of ash, no stone tips
* Found in lignite coal mine
* Date to 380,000 - 400,000 kya
* 6 - 7.5 ft long
Neanderthals
“Late Archaic Homo Sapiens” in the txtbook
Found from Spain all the way to Middle East and Central Asia
Skull is larger than homo sapiens; larger jaw and larger cranial space
They have derived characteristics:
* Projective midface
* Large nose
* Large cranial capacity (1500cc)
* Occipital bun
Derived characteristics not shared with us (Primitive):
* No chin
* Large brow ridge
* Low forehead
*Almost all neanderthals that were found had some sort of injury to them
300 - 30 kya
Europe and Middle East
Pleistocene of Europe: Homo neanderthalensis
1856 - Neander Valley, Germany
* Limestone quarry
* Neanderthals started to be appreciated for what they were
1829 - Engis, Belgium
* Some neanderthals found
1848 - Forbes Quarry, Gibraltar
* Some neanderthals found
1908 - La Chapelle, France Site
60,000 ya
* Was buried
* Flexed (same position at birth)
* Severely arthritic
* Led to interpretation of “brutishness”
* Compassion?
* 1620 cubic cm brain - one of the largest brains ever found
Sanidar, Iraq Site
Shanidar Cave 45 - 35,000 ya
Shanidar 1
* Hints at the neanderthals took care of their groups
* Healed cranial fracture on left side; but impaired vision
* Lost the use of his right arm through injury
* 1600 cc
* 5’7”
Teshik-Tash, Uzbekistan Site
A single 9 year old child was found
* 70,000 ya
* Intentionally buried
* Ibex horns placed around the grave
Neanderthal Culture
Mousterian tool technology:
* Central core
* Flakes driven off core
* Produced more cutting edge
* Much more efficient
* Levallois technique:
Subsistence:
* Big game hunting
* Lived in sub-arctic conditions
* Did hunt big animals
* Had handheld spears; used close-proximity spears
Neanderthal Culture Cont:
* Burials
* Wore more form fitting clothing
* Evidence for symbolic behavior
* Site in Switzerland shows the remains of their culture practices
* Artwork dated to 43,000 ya
Neanderthal Genetics
Series of studies
* Diverged from other hominins around 550 kya
* Less genetic diversity = small population
* Evidence of inbreeding
Homo sapien genome
* Evidence in inbreeding
* 1-4% of DNA is neanderthal
* No neanderthal mtDNA lineages in modern humans
What does Neanderthal DNA mean for homo sapiens?
* Advantages:
* Toleration of low oxygen
* Improved blood coagulation
* Fewer miscarriages
* Freckling, skin pigmentation
* Disadvantages:
* Allergies
* Depression
* Skin cancers
* Blood clots, strokes
Homo Denisova
“The Denisovans”
* Discovered in 2008, in Altai Mtns
* DNA differs from humans by 385 bases
* Equally distant from homo sapiens and neanderthals
The “Dragon Man” Skull
* Found in China, 1930s
* 138,000 - 309,000 ya
* Morphology more like homo sapiens than neanderthals
* DNA not recovered
Penghu, Taiwan
* 130,000 - 190,000 ya
* Male mandible
* Genetics = confirms distinct species from homo sapiens and neanderthals
* That it was denisovan
Denisovan DNA
1 - 4% of dna of modern humans
* Highest percentage in Tibetans, Melanseians, and Australian Aborgines (3-5%)
Advantages:
* High altitude adaptations
Homo Florensiensis
“The Hobbit”
Flores, Indonesia
* Discovered in 2003, several were found
* Dated from 80 to 18,000 ya
* Small stature
* 3.5 ft
A dwarf species
Island Dwarfism
Large animals get smaller over time
* When you isolated large animals on an island, they tend to get smaller; a smaller body needs smaller food (think of Journey Mysterious Island)
* Genetics: possible inbreeding
* Examples: mammoths
* Island gigantism: small animals get bigger
Early Homo Sapiens Fossils
African Sites
* Earliest dates
* 300 kya
Unique Homo sapiens morphology:
* High forehead
* Reduced brow ridge
* Chin rounded cranium
* Less robust
Homo Sapiens sapiens
Africa
Jebel Irhoud, Morocco
(oldest specimen found there)
* Dates: 300,000 ya
* Discovered in 1961, redacted in 2017
* Neanderthal-like tool technology
Herto, Ethiopia
* Dates: 160,000 ya
* Modern homo sapiens morphology
Klasies River Mouth, South Africa
* Dates: 110,000 ya
* Mandible w/ chin
* Relatively thin cranial bone thickness
Middle East
Skhul V
* Location: Mt. Carmel, Israel
* Dates: 120,000 - 80,000 ya
* Contemporaneous w/ neanderthals
Qafzeh, Israel
* Dates: 100,000 ya
* 5 individuals
* Qafzeh 11 ( 13 years old, buried with red deer antler inclusion)
Asia
Tam Pa Ling, Laos
* Dates: 63,000 - 43,000 ya
* Oldest homo sapiens fossils in SE Asia
* No artifacts recovered
Europe
Oase, Romania
* Dates: 39,000 - 41,000 ya
* Multiple individuals found in cave
* Cave bear remains were placed around cave
Cro-Magnon, France
* Dates: 32,000 - 30,000 ya
* Rockshelter
* 5 individuals were found and had some kind of trauma on their skelton
Australia
Lake Mungo
* Dates: 40 - 68 kya
* 2 individuals were found
* Fully modern homo sapiens
* Simple inhumation (male)
* Cremation (female)
North America
* First humans arrive
* Dates: 13,500 ya
* Different interpretations
* Original : people migrated from siberia/alaska down into north america due to the ice age
* Sea faring hypothesis: Instead of walking and following herds, instead they sailed along the coast.
* Different timing?
* Different sources?
* Clovis Technology: (oldest recognisable technology)
* Clovis, New Mexico (1st found)
* Designed for big game hunting (mammoths among other animals)
* Anzick 1 (Montana)
* 12,700 BP (Before Present)
* DNA; indicated that paleolinians are the primary ancestors to modern native americans
Intermixing?
Lagar Velho, Portugal
* Dates: 24.5 kya
* Has a mix of homo sapiens and neanderthals traits
* Modern features: chin
* Neanderthal features: robust; short limbs
Oase, Romania
* Dates: 40,000 kya
* Genetic analysis: 6-9% of DNA derived from neanderthals
The Upper Paleolithic
(homo sapiens)
* Cultural period began in Europe about 40,000 ya
* Industries based on sophisticated tool technologies
* Fine, thin blades are produced
* Atl-atl: way to increase the velocity of a spear throw
Chauvet Cave
Discovered in 1990s
* Oldest cave art in Europe
* Dates: 30,000 ya
* Horses, cave lions, and rhinos were represented on the walls
* They are using the uneven cave surfaces of the wall to create a 3D effect
North America
First humans arrived about 13,500 years ago
* Differing interpretations
* Different timings?
* Different sources?
Clovis Technology
* Clovis, New Mexico
* Anzick 1 (montana)
* Dna