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- Lab 10 Notes Fall 1997 Archaic Homo sapiens, Homo sapiens, ante-Neandertals, and Neandertals Evolution of the Genus Homo Evolution of the human brain About 9 out of 10 humans are right handed. Chimps and other primates are half and half. Skilled human hand movements lie mostly in the left hemisphere ( the brain has 2 halves). Speech centers are mostly on the left side - even in many left handers. Vocalization centers in other primates are not lateralized. Brain re-organization The non-dominant (mostly right) side has specialized for facial recognition (chimp recognition is not lateralized), musical, and artistic abilities and intuitive responses. These are not as clearly present in our closest relatives, I.e. the chimps, and probably evolved during the past 5 my. Broca and Wernicke’s areas Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas are left side neocortical association areas used in language. Broca’s area controls muscles of the face, tongue, palate, and larynx used in speech. If this area is injured speech is slow and labored. Wernicke’s area Wernicke’s area contains circuits for speech comprehension. When Wernicke’s area is damaged, speech may still seem fluent but the message is garbled and confused. If you damage both Broca's area and Wernicke you would have trouble making or understanding the grammar of speech. Language uses many parts of the brain however. The two hemispheres of the brain are specialized. The left side is language dominant in most people. Archaic Homo sapiens Archaic Homo sapiens (A.h.s.) in Africa had a "mosaic" of features and looks partly like Homo erectus (H.e.)and partly like an anatomically modern human (a.m.H.s). To make things even more complex, there is regional variation. early Archaic Homo sapiens Africa: The Broken Hill, Zambia skull ~130 kya - This specimen had cutmarks on the head (Rhodesian man") Cutmarks can be the result of burial practices and do NOT necessarily mean cannibalism. Archaic Homo sapiens The Kabwe specimen Broken Hill, Rhodesia A mosaic of features ante-Neandertals Spain: Atapuerca ~350 kya. Several individuals have been found They show variability. Some look erectus like and some look like later Neandertals in their features. Archaics lifeways Used Acheulian and chopper tools were Big Game hunters A suggestion of cannibalism (?) In Europe Wolf skulls were positioned outward in a cave. There is a suggestion of ceremonialism or "totemism." European late erectus/ante-Neandertals Torralba & Ambrona, Spain ~350 kya (a hunting site along an animal migration route). Boxgrove, England ~ 500 kya (Acheulian Hand Axes) Clacton-on-Sea, England ~ 300 kya Menez-Dregan, France ~ 465 kya Terra Amata, France ~350 kya (beach hut on the ocean) "Non- utilitarian" behavior Post- mortem (after death) manipulation of human and animal skulls Zhoukoudian, China ~ 400 kya Bodo, Ethiopia ~ 600 kya Ornamentation - ocher Torralba & Ambrona, Olduvai, & Terra Amata Tool technology Europe - Wooden spears shaped like a javelin (for throwing?) at 400,000 ya Prepared core, or "levallois" tool technology (a core is prepared before the last blow - requires imagining it) "Flake" tools (small pieces) and possible composite tools (e.g. stone "hafted" to wood). Neandertals ~700 kya to 35 kya Neandertals Compared to Archaic Homo sapiens in Africa, European Neandertals had higher cranial vaults smaller brow ridges smaller faces smaller teeth brain sizes as large or larger than modern Homo sapiens (us). Neandertal Large round eye orbits Neandertal Large nasal cavities (an adaptation to breathing cold air? - Ian Tatersall) Neandertal Neandertal La Chapelle aux Saints, France Neandertal, La Ferrasie, France Neandertal: Skhul V, Israel 35 kya Neandertal characteristics Named after the "Neander Valley," Germany where the first were found. "tal" or "thal" are both correct spellings. One is an older spelling in German. 180?-30 kya Found in Europe and the Near East The Mousterian stone tool technology (worked on one side) Neandertal characteristics First species to Bury their Dead Cared for the old and sick Large cranial capacity (1300 -1640 cc) On average larger than Homo sapiens Large Noses, face projects forward including the teeth, unusual noses, high bridge and interior spurs of bone Neandertal characteristics Arched brow ridges (smaller than Homo erectus) Neandertals are a kind of Archaic Homo Cheek teeth are smaller than in earlier Homo sapiens Retromolar space (a space between the last molar and jaw). Front teeth are large and often worn Neandertal characteristics Dental wear patterns (cutmarks under the microscope) show they probably held food with their teeth and then cut it off. Taurodontism-enlarged pulp cavity in the molar Occipital bun (rear of the cranium). Forehead is backward sloping Chin is backward sloping. Neandertal characteristics Short and stocky (cold adapted like Inuit -Eskimos). Big bodies hold heat better. Very muscular with broad hands and feet. Short distal forearms and shins (cold) History of the discovery First found at Gibraltar, Spain in 1848. Neander Valley, Germany in 1856 by Rudolph Virchow La Chapelle Aux Saints, Frabce in 1908. Marcellin Boule reconstructed them as hunched and brutish (missed the arthritis). Neandertal characteristics Much bone breakage as if they leaped on animals to hunt (like rodeo riders do). Similar injuries to rodeo riders in the head and neck area. Thicker femurs side-to-side (movement like football players) Neandertal characteristics Longer and more slender pubic bones so they may have been slightly less efficient in walking. The shoulder is not as efficient as Homo sapiens at overhand throwing. Neandertal Language There is a dispute about their hyoid bones and ability to speak as clearly as we do. They had a large cranial capacity. Their behaviors were complex. They had a flat base on their craniumand short pharynx so their speech may not have been as good. They could have used a gestural form of communication. Neandertal behavior Less forward looking than Homo sapiens? Their sites are low and Homo sapiens sites in the same valley are high up ( Paul Bahn). Less ability to think ahead? (Lewis Binford). Mousterian Tools Requires a Mousterian prepared core. Retouched tools and some individuals may have specialized in their manufacture. Made composite tools (hafted stone on to wood) and may have made "glue" with bitumen. Used fire. Made spears. Hunted mammoth, horse, rhinos, reindeer. Neandertal burials Inhumations (not cremation or excarnation or leaving bodies out for animals). Religion and ceremonialism. 8 kinds of wildflower pollen were found with a burial at Shanidar Cave, Iraq ~70-45 kya. 1 was a medicinal plant. Cupmarks were found in a child burial on a triangular stone at La Ferrassie, France. Neandertal behavior Used red ocher (pigment from iron ore) on burials. Perforated animal teeth. A bone flute was found that may have had the "do re me" scale on it Possible ritual cannibalism has been reinterpreted to be hyenas breaking into crania for food. Neandertal lifeways Possible cave bear cults. At several sites they seem to have collected cave bear skulls and put them in prominent places in special arrangements. e.g. Drachenloch, Switzerland Regourdou, France Possible "totemic" significance (identification with animals is common). Care for the Old and Sick At Shanidar Cave, an old, blind crippled man who had partially recovered from whatever had crippled him (arm amputation) was apparently cared for by others.Another had a partly healed spear wound in his ribs. At La Chapelle aux Saints, France and "Old Man" who presumably could not hunt was found and may have been cared for in his "old age." Neandertal diseases Arthritis was prevalent (possibly from cold environmental conditions and strenuous living. Rickets was prevalent (caused by a lack of Vitamin D. Insufficient sunlight. Rickets bows the limbs and causes problems having children. They may have stayed indoors a lot and/or had inadequate diets. Neandertal overlap with Homo sapiens Neandertals and Homo sapiens overlap in time by tens of thousands of years in the Middle East in nearby caves. They may have competed or ignored each other. Neandertal DNA Munich, German scientists took 0.4 grams of a sample from the upper arm bone of a skeleton found in 1857. The first "Neander Valley" skeleton found. Comparing 378 base pairs of the Neandertal’s mitochondrial DNA to that of modern humans there were an average of 27 differences between modern and Neandertal DNA. DNA studies The typical variation among modern humans is 8 differences not 27. Mitochondria, which are structures that help produce energy have their own genes and are passed down the female line with only an occasional mutation. The study of more Neandertal DNA samples might turn up some mixing, and confirm some interbreeding between Neandertals and H. sapiens Neandertal DNA The conclusion thus far is that Neandertals were a different species than early humans who may have "swept them aside" in Europe and the Near East. The "African Eve" hypothesis suggesting that all humanity descended from one woman about 100 to 200 kya claims this supports their view.
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