{"id":288,"date":"2017-09-13T20:24:30","date_gmt":"2017-09-13T20:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-history-of-our-tribe\/chapter\/36-homo-sapiens\/"},"modified":"2017-10-03T16:40:01","modified_gmt":"2017-10-03T16:40:01","slug":"36-homo-sapiens","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-history-of-our-tribe\/chapter\/36-homo-sapiens\/","title":{"raw":"36. Homo sapiens","rendered":"36. Homo sapiens"},"content":{"raw":"
\r\n

Early Anatomically Modern Humans<\/b><\/h1>\r\n

Homo sapiens <\/i>(>200 kya)<\/b><\/h1>\r\n

(\u201csame\u201d \/ \u201ccapable of discerning\u201d)<\/h2>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_344\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"250\"]\"8.50\" Figure 36.1\u00a0<\/em>\u201cScene from the Upper Quaternary Paleolithic Period.\u201d Painting by Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Velasco (1840\u20131912) (Mexican).<\/b>\u201cJos\u00e9 Maria Velasco \u2013 Scene from the Quaternary upper Paleolithic Period \u2013 Google Art Project<\/a>\u201d by Google Cultural Institute is in the public domain.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n
\r\n

SITES<\/b><\/h3>\r\n

Africa:<\/b><\/p>\r\nTanzania:<\/b> Ngaloba\r\n\r\nKenya:<\/b> Guomde\r\n\r\nEthiopia:<\/b> Omo Kibish and Herto\r\n\r\nDemocratic Republic of Congo:<\/b> Katanda\r\n\r\nSouth Africa:<\/b> Border Cave and Klasies River Mouth\r\n

Asia (the following are earliest regional sites):<\/b><\/p>\r\nIsrael: <\/b>Skhul and Jebel Qafzeh\r\n\r\nMongolia<\/b>: Ordos\r\n

Europe (the following are famous sites):<\/b><\/p>\r\nFrance: <\/b>Cro Magnon (the most famous site in France)\r\n\r\nGermany, Italy, Spain<\/b>\r\n

Australia (the following are earliest regional sites):<\/b><\/p>\r\n<\/b>Mungo Lake and Kow Swamp\r\n

New World (the earliest regional site):<\/b><\/p>\r\nChile:<\/b> Mesa Verde\r\n

PEOPLE<\/b><\/h3>\r\nToo numerous to mention, as one or more individuals work at each site and sites are numerous, especially in Eurasia\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

INTRODUCTION<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nMy discussion of early AMH will cover their existence and culture prior to the Mesolithic period (~12 kya) only and will focus primarily on European sites due to the paucity of information from earlier and non-European sites.\r\n

PHYLOGENY<\/b><\/h2>\r\nThe origin of our species is thought to have occurred in Africa sometime prior to 200 kya, based on fossil and genetic evidence. We may be descended from an African population of Homo heidelbergensis<\/i> (sometimes referred to as Homo rhodesiensis<\/i>) or an earlier common ancestor of heidelbergensis<\/em>, based on recent genetic evidence. Fossils characteristic of a transitional form, termed Homo helmei<\/i>, are found at the South African site of Florisbad<\/b> and dated to 260 kya. Material from the Herto<\/b> site in Ethiopia (Middle Awash area of the Afar Depression) is dated to 160 kya and sometimes referred to as Homo idaltu<\/i> or Homo sapiens idaltu<\/i>. Homo idaltu<\/i> may be descended from the earlier South African form(s) and the most recent ancestor of AMH.\r\n\r\nGroups of AMH made one or more exoduses out of Africa during the Late Pleistocene. The ancestors of some Southeast Asians and the earliest Australians (as well as inhabitants of surrounding islands and those that were used as \u201cstepping stones\u201d) may have left Africa ~125 kya. There are sites dating to ~120 kya in the Middle East. A later group left prior to 50 kya and populated Eurasia and the New World, and made their way to the South Pacific as well, where they must have come into contact and interbred with the previously existing humans there.\r\n\r\nThe AMH ancestors of Eurasians interbred with neandertals, so that living descendants have inherited an average of 2.5% of neandertal genes. Some Southeast Australasians inherited both neandertal and Denisovan genes, due to interbreeding, and they carry ~7% of genes from those two species.\r\n

DISCOVERY AND GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION<\/b><\/h2>\r\nMost of the oldest AMH material has been discovered in more recent times, relative to early discoveries of Asian Homo erectus<\/i> and neandertal remains. The earliest AMH material is dated to 200\u2013150 kya in East Africa (e.g. Omo Kibish and Herto in Ethiopia, Guomde in Kenya, and Ngaloba in Tanzania), 180 kya in central Africa (Katanda in the Democratic Republic of Congo), and 160 kya in South Africa (e.g. Klasies River Mouth). Later sites dated to 115 kya are found in Israel (Skhul and Jebel Qafzeh caves) and South Africa (Border Cave).\r\n\r\nDue to increasing aridification during the Late Pleistocene of sub-Saharan Africa, researchers speculate that there were few areas that would have been habitable for early AMH. South Africa and other coastal areas likely served as refugia during those times.\r\n\r\nBy 125 kya, it would have been possible for AMH to have left Africa during a short interglacial period (see Figure 36.2 for routes and dates of arrival throughout the world). Middle Eastern sites dated to <120 kya preserve evidence of AMH. The Arabian land bridge likely served as a corridor to Southeast Asia, just as it had for the ancestor of Homo erectus<\/i>. By ~50 kya, that early wave of humans made it all the way to Australia. Archaeological sites dated to over 50 kya are found in Japan and Australia (with cave art possibly as old as 75 kya), and fossil material from Australia is dated to 40 kya. Some researchers see similarities between early Australians and early Africans, supporting the idea of at least two African exoduses and multiple human migrations into the South Pacific. The first wave left Africa first and arrived by 50 kya. Ancestors of AMH that left Africa during the \u201csecond\u201d exodus followed at a later point in time. It is not known when they arrived in the various areas of Southeast Asia or whether they made it to the same destinations as the original colonizing group, prior to modern times.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_345\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"1024\"]\"8.51\" Figure 36.2\u00a0<\/em>Human arrival dates: 1 = Homo sapiens, 2 = neandertals, 3 = early hominins.\u00a0<\/b>\u201cSpreading homo sapiens<\/a>\u201d by Magasjukur2 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThe earliest date for AMH in Eurasia is from the Ordos<\/b> site in Mongolia at 50 kya. AMH reached Western Europe by 35 kya. Sites are found in Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, with the best-known site being the Cro-Magnon<\/b> site in Les Ezies, France. The Cro-Magnon site gave the name to the earliest people of Western Europe and is the location where the \u201cOld Man of Cro-Magnon<\/b>\u201d (see Figure 36.3) was found in 1868 by Louis Lartet.\r\n\r\nBy 15 kya, humans had spread throughout the world. They reached the New World, either by rafting along the shoreline from Asia during extremely low sea levels that characterized the last glacial maximum (~17 kya) or by crossing the Bering Land Bridge at a later point in time. Dates in South America (~14 kya) are older than those in North America and represent the former mode of travel. Sea levels dropped by as much as 120 m during that time. Crossing Beringea<\/b> involved traveling between two ice shields and was likely a difficult undertaking.\r\n

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS<\/b><\/h2>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_346\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"255\"]\"8.52\" Figure 36.3\u00a0<\/em>\u201cThe Old Man of Cro\u2013Magnon.\u201d\u00a0<\/b>\u201cCro-Magnon<\/a>\u201d by 120 is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nAMH are distinguished from Homo heidelbergensis<\/i> and rhodesiensis<\/i> by a suite of cranial characteristics and continued loss of robusticity, both cranially and postcranially. AMH skulls were more vertically oriented with thinner bones. While the cranial capacity (mean = 1450 cc) was lower relative to neandertals, the brain was architecturally different, and corresponding behavior was more complex and indicative of greater lateralization. The parietal and frontal lobes were expanded, resulting in high maximum width and breadth and a more pronounced forehead. Those areas of the cerebrum are involved with higher thought-processing skills related to association, speech, and all of the\u00a0other cognitive capabilities that make us unique relative to other species, past and present. The face was shorter, the orbits were more rectangular, and the brow ridges were less pronounced. <\/b>The brows are termed bipartite<\/b> in that they are characterized by a slight bulge on either side of the nose, with a break in between. While the nose may have been pronounced, the nasal opening was narrower, and the midfacial prognathism seen in earlier forms was absent. Jaw and dental robusticity became further reduced. AMH are characterized by a chin<\/b>, or mental eminence <\/b>(an autapomorphic, or unique, trait in AMH). While the mandible was less robust, the morphology (described as an inverted T-shape) was strong and stress resistant.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_348\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"550\"]\"8.54\" Figure 36.4\u00a0<\/em>Sternocleidomastoid muscle. Plate 1194 from Gray\u2019s Anatomy.\u00a0<\/b>\u201cGray1194<\/a>\u201d by Henry Vandyke Carter is in the public domain.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_347\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"250\"]\"8.53\" Figure 36.5\u00a0<\/em>Mastoid process. From Gray\u2019s Anatomy.\u00a0<\/b>\u201cProcessusmastoideusossistemporalis<\/a>\u201d by Engusz is in the public domain.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nBecause they had more gracile and hence lighter faces, they needed stronger anterior neck muscles to flex the head from an extended position, i.e. from a back-tilted to a forward-tilted position. The sternocleidomastoid<\/b> muscle (see Figure 36.4) accomplishes that action, along with some rotation. The muscle originates on the sternum and clavicle and inserts on the mastoid process<\/b> (bony projections posterior to ears; see Figure 36.5). The mastoid process became more pronounced to handle the additional power that was necessary (Campbell 1998).\r\n\r\nPostcranially, AMH exhibited narrow hips, long legs, and thinner long bones than H. heidelbergensis<\/i> or neanderthalensis<\/i>. While they were seemingly not as cold-adapted as neandertals, they moved into northern latitudes and survived through the last glacial maximum. It is strange that the seemingly more heat-adapted humans survived and the robust neandertals did not. However, their long legs and more gracile morphology were less energetically costly and afforded them greater endurance and a longer stride and hence greater speed. In addition, cultural adaptations to the climate must have occurred or they could not have survived. They are thought to have made better clothes, shelter, and weaponry and were skilled hunters.\r\n

ENVIRONMENT AND WAY OF LIFE<\/b><\/h2>\r\nEarly AMH arose and lived during the latter part of the Pleistocene Epoch, which was characterized by intermittent glacial and interglacial periods. They ventured into northern latitudes by ~50 kya and stayed and survived in extreme conditions during the period prior to, during, and after the last glacial maximum. Populations that stayed in Africa and other warm regions would certainly have continued with life as usual in the absence of climatic upheaval.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_349\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"300\"]\"8.55\" Figure 36.6\u00a0<\/em>\u201cGlyptodon old drawing\u201d by Haplochromis is in the public domain.\u00a0Paleoindians<\/a> hunting a glyptodon<\/a> in South America. Being large and slow-moving, they were hunted to extinction within two millennia. Painting by Heinrich Harder<\/a> (1858\u20131935).[\/caption]\r\n\r\nUntil the advent of agriculture and the beginning of the modern geological epoch (i.e., the Holocene<\/b>) approximately 10 kya, humans were mobile to semi-sedentary foragers. They exploited whatever flora and fauna were native and available in the various regions they inhabited and colonized, from mastodons in the far north to wallabies in the far south of the Old World. We really do not need to discuss much about how AMH made a living because we have living and historic examples in the ethnographic record to show us how people lived and adapted, even to environmental extremes, from the cold of the Arctic to the deserts of the world. We have a record of Stone Age populations whose way of life disappeared within my lifetime, such as Australian Aborigines and Amazonian Indians. Like modern foragers, population density would have been low, and life ranged from easy to hard, depending on the availability of resources, seasons, and climatic patterns and disasters. One estimate of mortality rates has 50% of people dying before 20 years of age, few females living beyond 30, and only 12% living beyond the age of 40.\r\n\r\nAny discussion of early AMH culture is seemingly Eurocentric, because the majority of the known archaeological record falls between 30 and 20 kya in Western Europe. We know that ~30 kya, a warming trend occurred that lasted several thousand years. As glacial ice retreated, prime grazing land opened and spread from Spain to Siberia. As large game expanded their geographical range, so did humans and other predators. Human population numbers increased as groups spread throughout the habitable landmass. However, as the last glacial maximum approached, ice reclaimed the land and humans were once again restricted in their range and movements.\r\n
\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_350\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"782\"]\"8.56\" Figure 36.7\u00a0<\/em>Vegetation map for last glacial maximum (zoom in for a better look).\u00a0<\/b>\u201cLast glacial vegetation map<\/a>\u201d by Jrockley is in the public domain.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nThe vegetation map in Figure 36.7\u00a0shows what the world was like beginning about 20 kya, during the last glacial maximum. By that time, AMH were living in Africa, Eurasia, island chains southeast of Asia, and Australia and the surrounding islands. A short time later, they ventured into the New World.\r\n\r\nWe certainly know that early humans had spoken language, and it would have facilitated their survival via group memory and tradition as well as problem-solving. They were qualitatively different than the neandertals, and their modes of communication were likely more advanced. Modern languages can be traced, showing their spread and evolution over time and geographic space. Some of the symbols that have survived from Paleolithic times, such as dots, dashes, and hand-prints, may have conveyed information. The same may be said for depictions of animals, humans, and hunting on cave walls.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_351\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"1024\"]\"8.57\" Figure 36.8\u00a0<\/em>\u201cIce age fauna of northern Spain\u201d by Mauricio Ant\u00f3n.\u00a0<\/b>\u201cIce age fauna of northern Spain \u2013 Mauricio Ant\u00f3n<\/a>\u201d by FunkMonk is licensed under CC BY 2.5<\/a>.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nEarly AMH culture falls within the period termed the Upper Paleolithic<\/b> (40\u201312 kya). Relative to prior Middle Paleolithic sites, AMH cultural achievements are much more impressive. Over time, they made great technological advances, inventing a great variety of new and useful objects and modes of production. People left Africa armed with language, religion, and cultural identity, as they are cultural universals and there is some evidence in the archaeological record that suggests religious practices and initiation rituals (see below). Greater individual expression is apparent in the wonderful representational art that has survived in cave paintings and sculptures, and body adornment in the form of clothing, jewelry, and pigmentation. Complex aspects of culture, such as rules regarding kinship and marriage, also may have preceded the African diaspora(s). They too are cultural universals, and while they likely changed over time in response to need and ecology, they certainly did not evolve independently in all places.\r\n\r\nAccording to Stringer and Andrews (2005), cultural achievements in the various regions of the Old World were as follows:\r\n