Chapter 9 Archaic Homo Sapiens and the Middle Paleolithic

Chapter Outline  Who was “archaic” Homo sapiens?  What was the culture of archaic homo sapiens like?  Who were the Neandertals and what became of them?

Archaic Homo sapiens  Species with modern sized brains in skulls that retained ancestral features.  Descended from Homo erectus, transition took place between about 400,000 and 200,000 y.a.  Neandertals, the best known, lived in Europe and western Asia between about 200,000 and 35,000 y.a.

Culture of Archaic Homo sapiens  Made a variety of tools for special purposes.  Made objects for symbolic purposes.  Engaged in ceremonial activities.  Cared for the old and disabled.

Appearance of Homo sapiens  At sites in Europe, Africa, and East Asia, fossils have been found that date between 400,000 and 200,000 y.a.  These fossils show a mixture of traits of both H. erectus and H. sapiens.  Indicates an evolution from the older into the younger species.

Levalloisian Technique

 Flake tools produced by this technique were found in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and China.  Could be a case of independent invention or the spread of ideas from one part of the world to another.

Invention of Hafting  Affixing small stone bifaces and flakes in handles of wood to make spears and knives.  Involved three components: handle, stone insert, and binding materials.  Regional stylistic and technological variants are clearly evident, suggesting emergence of distinct cultural traditions.

Skull of Classic Neandertals

Shift in Characteristics of Neandertal to Modern Features  Between 40,000 and 30,000 years ago, we would expect to find individuals with characteristics such as those of the Saint Césaire “Neandertal” (A) and the almost modern Cro-Magnon(B).

Upper Paleolithic and Aurignacian Industries

Archaic Homo sapiens  200,000 y.a. populations of archaic H.sapiens lived in all parts of the inhabited world.  The brains of archaic H. sapiens were no different in size and organization than our own.  Utilized culture as a means of adaptation to a greater extent than their predecessors.  They were capable of complex technology and sophisticated thought.

Mousterian Tradition  Named after the Neandertal site of Le Moustier, France.  Tools were lighter and smaller than the Levalloisian and included hand axes, flakes, scrapers, borers, wood shavers, and spears.  Mousterian peoples buried their dead, cared for the disabled, and made objects for symbolic purposes.

Archaic Homo sapiens And Modern Human Origins  Multiregional Hypothesis - all populations of archaic H. sapiens are easily derivable from earlier populations of H. erectus from the same regions.  “Eve” Hypothesis - transition from archaic to anatomically modern H. sapiens took place in one population, probably in Africa.