1. Human Evolution and PREHISTORY
Chapter Nine: HOMO HEIDELBERGENSIS, NEANDERTAL AND THE MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC
Link to the Canadian Association for Physical Anthropology

2. Chapter Preview
Who Were the Descendants of Homo erectus/ergaster? What Was The Culture Of Homo heidelbergensis and Neandertals Like? What Became Of The Neandertals?

3. ARCHAIC Homo sapiens or other species?
Middle Pleistocene, 800,000 to 120,000 ya
Fossils with mix of erectus/ergaster and sapiens cranial traits
Clear increase in brain size

4. ARCHAIC Homo sapiens or other species?
Some anthropologists lump these fossils into archaic H. sapiens because of the similarity to moderns; the variation is only at the subspecies level, e.g. H. sapiens neandertalensis
others feel that the variations represent a different species (increasingly the majority view)
E.g. early Middle Pleistocene, Europe and Africa
Homo heidelbergensis
** the text supports the latter view

5. Middle Pleistocene fossils
An important site is Sima de Los Huesos, Spain, close to Gran Dolina where H. antecessor was found which dated to 800,000 ya (chapter 8)
Dates to 325,000 – 205,000 ya, with significant variation in the 32 individuals
Mix of morphological features between erectus/ergaster and sapiens

6. Sima de Los Heusos site in the Atapuerca Mountains in Spain...

7. Middle Pleistocene fossils
Africa and Europe
Period between 400,000 and 200,000 ya
Remains classified sometimes as H. sapiens and sometimes as H. erectus/ergaster
Yet all have cranial capacities within range of Sima de los Huesos, and all display the mosaic of features seen in H. heidelbergensis
East Asia
same mix of traits – either H. heidelbergensis or a new hominin species

8. Steinheimensis… Dated to approx. 325 kya Location: Germany
Transitional Sapiens
Info...

9. Levalloisian Technique
A method of flake manufacture from a specially prepared core
Found in Africa, Europe, Middle East, China

10. Technology
Red Ochre...
Hafting...
Composite tools made by hafting bifaces and flakes in wood handles
Regional styles and variation of tools are clearly evident
Proportion of raw materials from distant sources increases
In Africa, increased use of yellow and red iron oxide (rise in ritual activity?); common by 130,000 ya

11. The Neandertals 125,000 to 29,000 ya in Europe and west Asia
Homo neandertalensis
Maternal DNA virtually absent from modern humans
Neandertals and modern humans began to diverge around 500,000 ya

12. Characteristics of Neandertals - Crania
Modern-sized brains (higher average cranial capacity than moderns)
Huge front teeth, used for tasks other than chewing
Large noses, to warm and moisten glacial air
Protruding eye sockets, with prominent brow ridges
Occipital bun, to counteract the heavy face

13. Characteristics of Neandertals – Postcranial Skeleton
Extremely muscular, with robust and dense limb bones
Short limbs relative to body mass
Powerful arms with remarkably strong grip
Massive foot and leg bones
Dimensions of the pelvic outlet are fully consistent with those of a modern woman of the same size

14. African, Chinese and Javanese Populations
Same time period as European Neandertals
These fossils simply lack the extreme mid-face projection and massive muscle attachments, e.g. Solo River
Look like robust versions of earlier populations in the same region
Fully modern-sized brains

15. THE CULTURE OF ARCHAIC HOMO SAPIENS
Middle Paleolithic Traditions
Best known are the Mousterian and Mousterian-like traditions of Europe, Western Asia, North Africa
166,000 to 40,000 years ago
Comparable traditions are found as far east as China and Japan where they arose independently from local predecessors

16. The Mousterian Tradition
Characterized by Acheulean handaxes and flake tools made by new Levalloisian techniques
Great variety of tool types, e.g. notched flakes, gravers, borers, scrapers
Composite tools with hafting in bone and wood

17. The Mousterian Tradition
Population increase pushed people into colder climates in Europe
In adaptation to the cold people increased their intake of meat (animal fats)
As hunters Neandertals were opportunistic predators as well as focusing on a particular species
Neandertals were capable of hunting large game animals, utilizing local faunal diversity….and they scavenged

18. The Mousterian Tradition
Increase in complexity of tool kit for hunting and processing
People became less mobile as seen in the long occupations of caves and rock shelters
People began to care for the physically disabled and the elderly, e.g. Shanidar Cave
Culture was now more than what was needed to survive

19. The Symbolic Life of Neandertals
Deliberate burial of the dead
Europe, South Africa, Southwest Asia

20. The Symbolic Life of Neandertals
Use of pigments, e.g. manganese dioxide and red ochre to apply colour to things
Carving and engraving
Possible use of musical instruments, e.g. flute from a site in Slovenia
Cave bear flute

21. Neandertals and Spoken Language
Shape and position of hyoid bone was adequate for speech
The necessary neural development had occurred
Size of hypoglossal canal is like that of modern humans
Thoracic vertebral canal is expanded (increased breath control for speech)

22. MODERN HUMAN ORIGINS “The Great Debate”
Did populations of archaic Homo sapiens simultaneously evolve from H. erectus into modern H. sapiens (multiregional hypothesis)? OR
Are all contemporary people derived from one single population of archaic Homo sapiens (“Eve” or “Out-of-Africa” hypothesis)?

23. The Multiregional Hypothesis
In Africa, China and Southeast Asia, the fossil evidence strongly supports genetic continuity from Homo erectus through to modern Homo sapiens
Gene flow among populations keeps the human species unified throughout the Pleistocene; there were no speciation events, e.g. Neandertals

24. The Multiregional Hypothesis
For Europe, there is some resistance to the idea that Neandertals were involved in the ancestry to modern humans because of the Aurignacian toolmaking tradition, a new blade technology, appearing in Europe by 36,500 years ago
Anatomically modern humans are generally considered the makers of these tools

25. The Multiregional Hypothesis
Neandertal sites are known from western Europe dating to 35,000 to 30,000 years ago, indicating coexistence between modern and archaic forms of sapiens
Considering the anatomical differences, some form of population replacement, rather than simple evolution, may have occurred

26. The Multiregional Hypothesis
An alternate to the explanation is the idea of the “varied population”, rather than ideal types
In the western Europe population between 40,000 and 30,000 years ago, some individuals retained stronger Neandertal heritage and in others modern traits are more prominent

27. The “Eve” or “Out-of-Africa” Hypothesis
Anatomically modern humans are descended from one specific population of Homo sapiens, replacing populations as they spread out from their original homeland
This hypothesis comes from the use of mitochondrial DNA to reconstruct family trees (maternal lineages)
Preliminary results suggested that the ancestor of modern humans lived in Africa 200,000 years ago
Y-chromosome analysis (paternal lineages) supports the DNA conclusions

28. Fossil Evidence for the “Out-of-Africa” Hypothesis
1. Homo sapiens idaltu (Ehtiopia), 160,000 to 154,000 years ago
2. Modern traits, e.g. domed forehead, narrow nasal bones
3. Acheulean and Middle Stone Age tools
4. Omo river (Ethiopia) fossils, recently dated to 190,000 ya, anatomically modern humans

29. Cultural Evidence for the “Out-of-Africa” Hypothesis
1. oldest substantial behavioural evidence linked to moderns is from Africa
2. at Klasies River and Blombos Cave, South Africa, both land and sea resources are exploited, 70,00-80,000 ya
3. use of blade technology

30. Problems with the “Out-of-Africa” Hypothesis
There is no evidence for replacement in southwest Asia and east Asia, and strong evidence for continuity in both the archaeological and fossil record in East Asia

31. African Origin or Ancient Population Size Differences?
ORIGINAL STUDY
African Origin or Ancient Population Size Differences?
The “Eve” theory is based on the idea that the greater genetic variability observed in Africans was a measure of a large number of mutations accumulating over a long period of time; therefore, humans must have evolved longer in Africa
An alternative explanation is that ancient population sizes expanded first, and are larger, in Africa than in other regions, thereby creating greater African variation
Larger populations lose fewer mtDNA lineages and therefore retain more variation
Therefore, the last common ancestor will be farther in the past, and this could be the explanation for the origin of modern humans being in Africa

32. Problems With the mtDNA Analysis
Assumption that mutation rate is steady
Assumption that mtDNA is not subject to selection
3. Assumption that DNA traveled exclusively from Africa, and that there was no two-way exchange

33. Homo sapiens and the Upper Paleolithic
NEXT TIME:
Homo sapiens and the Upper Paleolithic