ANTH 1210: Archaic Homo Sapiens & Middle Paleolithic

• Lectures 22 & 23 cover Archaic Homo Sapiens & Middle Paleolithic Culture
• Lectures take place March 10 & 12, 2025
• Course code ANTH 1210 A01

Archaic Homo Sapiens

• They existed roughly 600,000 to 200,000 years ago
• They are a mix of H. erectus and H. sapiens traits
• They possess a substantial cranial capacity

Temporal Context

• Early Pleistocene Epoch was 2.3m to 1.8m years ago
• Middle Pleistocene was ~780k to ~125k years ago
• The Middle Paleolithic Cultural period was 300k to 40kya years ago
• Climate had glacial and interglacial periods
• Glacial periods were cooler and drier
• Interglacial ones were warmer and wetter

Key Feature Differences

• Compared to Homo erectus & modern Homo sapiens

Homo Erectus

• Existed 1.8mya-200,000 ya
• Smaller brain size of 900 cc
• Long and low angular skull shape
• Absent forehead and chin
• Larger brow ridge and projecting face
• Large teeth, especially front teeth
• Robust bones of skeleton

Archaic Homo Sapiens (Including Neanderthals)

• Existed 600,000-40,000 ya
• Intermediate skull shape
• Occipital bun
• Wider nasal aperture and some midfacial prognathism
• Brain size 1,200 cc (1,500 cc when including Neanderthals)
• Emerging forehead
• Absent chin
• Intermediate facial features
• Projecting occipital bone
• Slightly smaller teeth
• Robust bones of skeleton

Anatomy Modern Homo Sapiens

• Existed 315,000 ya-today
• Short and high globular skull shape
• Forehead present
• Chin Present
• Brain size of 1,400 cc
• Narrower nasal aperture, no midfacial prognathism
• Small brow ridge and retracted face
• Small bump on rear of skull
• Thin cranial bone
• Smaller teeth
• More gracile bones of skeleton

Neanderthals

• The first Neanderthal fossil was found in 1856
• This predates Darwin's "Origin of Species"
• It was the first scientific study of hominins
• They existed 150,000 to 40,000 years ago
• Locations existed in western Europe, the Middle East, and western Asia
• They have distinct adaptations for cold weather, including:
  • Larger brain capacities (1500-1700cc)
  • Large noses
  • Robust and heavily muscled bodies
  • Barrel chests
  • Short and stocky limbs
• Early 20th Century emphasized primitive human-like characteristics in depictions
• Modern interpretation suggests Neanderthals are within the variation range of modern humans of European descent

Mousterian Tool Tradition

• Used large core tools and small flake tools
• Tools were for scraping hides or working wood
• Some tools may have been attached to a handle
• Used birch bark glue
• Materials were sourced from ~100km away
• Tools indicate possible trade networks or large territory
• It is a Levallois technique
• It was widely used ~400k to 200kya
• Indicates more 'thought-out' processes

Neanderthal Diet and Subsistence

• Performed big game hunting and broad-spectrum foraging
  • Hunted deer, horse, bovid, ibex, seal, rabbit, and pigeon
  • Used drives and group hunting with close jabbing spears
• Plant resources:
  • Food included mushrooms and pine nuts
  • Medicine included poplar and chamomile
• Tartar from teeth:
  • Included wheat, barley, date palms, and tubers
  • These were first cooked to make them palatable

Neanderthal Culture: Community Living

• They cared for members of the group who could no longer contribute to group survival
• Skeletons of the elderly, arthritic, and infirm have been found
• Shanidar Cave contains the remains of a blind and paralyzed man with healed injuries

Social and Ritual Life

• Deliberate graves indicate burial rituals
• There is evidence of offerings, such as artifacts and flowers
• Defleshing and reburial occurred

Language and Intelligence

• They used language with a human-like hyoid bone
• Heavy skull, large nasal cavity, large chest, and short larynx contributed to a high-pitched, nasal, loud resonating voice
• Their intelligence is shown through cultural complexity, tool use, and community living
• Large brain, maybe less social and creative abilities

Fate of the Neanderthals

• Possible climate change
• Limited problem-solving skills
• Fertility issues
• Interbreeding with modern human populations
• Shared traits of red hair and fair skin
• ~1%-4% shared genes

Middle Stone Age Cultures

• They existed 300,000ya to 30,000ya
• The tool tradition in northern Africa was Mousterian
• In sub-Saharan Africa, they used a flake tool tradition with heat treating
• There was an increase in large deliberate fires using wood
• They used new resources: marine, bone tools, hafting, shell beads, pigments (ochre), & microliths

New Homo Species

• Many contemporaneous archaic human species or older hominin species existed
• Denisovans lived in the Altai mountains, Siberia, and Tibetan Plateau around 160kya
• They were contemporaneous with Neandertals and modern humans
• Shared a common ancestor with H. sapiens and Neanderthals
• A hybrid Neandertal and Denisovan girl also existed
• Homo floresiensis existed in Flores, Indonesia ~190k to 50kya
  • There were 12+ individuals
  • They used stone tools
  • Hunted pygmy elephants and large rodents
  • They possibly used fire
  • Might be related to Georgian H. erectus or possibly H. habilis
• Homo naledi existed in Rising Star Cave, South Africa ~335k to 236kya
  • There were 1,550 bones of 15 individuals
  • Hard to access chambers
  • Unknown if bones accidental or deliberately placed
  • ~500cc skull with sagittal keel, large brow, and developed frontal lobe like modern humans
  • Showed arboreal adaptations in arms