Hominin Evolution: Neandertals

Term Test 2

• Tuesday, March 25
• Covering primates (past and present), hominin evolution, Homo, and modern humans (chapters 7-11)

Later Hominins

• Includes Archaic Homo sapiens and Neandertals
• Associated with Middle Palaeolithic Cultures

Neandertal Misconceptions

• Influenced by Marcellin Boule's work, portraying Neandertals as dim-witted, brutish, and dull
• The 1930s American Museum display perpetuated these misconceptions

Neandertal Characteristics

• Neandertals had a receding forehead and occipital bun
• They also had a projecting midface, browridge, and lacked a chin
• They were shorter, had a more robust skeletal frame, and were likely heavily muscled, compared to modern H. sapiens
• Neandertal adaptations to cold climates are apparent, but this is problematic due to the milder climate in western Asia where Neandertals also lived
• Cranial features and a modern hyoid bone suggest the likelihood of spoken language
• Possible classifications include Homo sapiens neandertalensis and Homo neandertalensis

Neanderthal Hunters

• Conceptions have changed from scavenger to 'apex predator'
• They practiced organized hunting and had a relatively carnivorous diet, including plants

Mousterian Tradition

• Associated with the Le Moustier (France) rock shelter
• Characterized by fewer hand axes and more flake tools than the Acheulean tradition
• Employs the Levallois technique which prepared cores, detached and retouched flakes
• Tools were made for different tasks such as hunting and skinning
• Used spears, this meant it was necessary to move closer to prey

Neandertal Lifestyle

• Practiced burials which shows possible evidence of culture
• The dead were often buried in a flexed position
• At Le Moustier, a 15-year-old was found with an axe near his hand, and there was a 'family plot' containing 5 children and 2 adults
• At Shanidar Cave, about 60,000 years ago, a body was laid to rest in a cave on a bed of wild flowers

Neandertal Extinction

• Coexisted with AM H. sapiens for at least 20,000 years, possibly 60,000
• Several scenarios contributed to their extinction
• Killed off by H. sapiens
• Interbred with H. sapiens
• Adaptive disadvantage where competition for resources led to dwindling numbers as AMHS spread, resulting in extinction 30,000 ya

The Denisovans

• They were also archaic humans

Later Hominins

• Includes Anatomically Modern Homo sapiens (AMHS)
• Associated with Upper Paleolithic Cultures

Emergence of modern H. sapiens

• Two main hypotheses for the emergence of modern H. sapiens
• Single-Origin Hypothesis, where H. erectus in Africa experienced a rapid spurt of evolution, leading to the emergence and migration of modern H. sapiens, replacing H. erectus and its descendants
• The Multiregional Hypothesis suggests modern H. sapiens gradually evolved from H. erectus at diverse geographic sites, with regional morphological differences, but the species remained linked through gene flow

Cro-Magnons

• A Cro-Magnons discovery in France in 1868
• Cro-Magnons of Western Europe were once considered the earliest of modern humans, appearing 35,000 ya
• Earlier finds of H. sapiens sapiens were then uncovered in Africa dating back ~100,000 ya
• Sites have also been found in Israel (e.g., Skuhl 90,000 ya), Borneo (40,000 ya), and Australia (30,000 ya)

Fossils from Skhul

• In the 1930s, fossils with a mosaic of Neandertal and AMHS traits were found
• These fossils were believed to be evidence for gradual evolution from Neandertal to AMHS
• Considered "progressive Neandertals"

Contemporaries and Neighbours

• Evidence suggests Neandertals and AMHS coexisted in SW Asia for at least 45,000 years
• This discovery upset the traditional view that AM H. sapiens were descendants of Neandertals
• It's possible Neandertals and AMHS evolved elsewhere (Neandertal in Europe, AMHS in Africa) and both settled in SW Asia

Characteristics of AMHS

• AMHS had a domed cranium with an average volume of 1350 cc
• They had a reduced, also absent, browridge and a high forehead
• Relatively non-projecting face
• Presence of a chin
• A gracile body and tooth reduction due to culture, not physical strength

Upper Palaeolithic Culture

• From 40,000 ya to 14,000 ya
• Characterized by a larger and more elaborate (specialized) toolkit
• Utilized stone (e.g., flint, basalt, obsidian) and other materials
• Included ornamental artifacts and elaborate shelters
• Increased the use of non-local (exotic) materials such as amber and seashells, indicating trade networks

Tool/Cultural Traditions

• In SW Asia, fossil evidence suggests Neandertals and AMHS shared Mousterian technology for some time (over 100,000 years)
• They both used “flake technology”

Upper Palaeolithic Innovators

• Several traditions emerged and replaced one another in the 20,000 years of the Upper Palaeolithic
• There was a new focus on blades rather than flakes, with blades being twice as long as they are wide
• At least 5 different traditions

Upper Palaeolithic Technologies

• Technologies used were Chatelperronian, Aurignacian, Gravettian, Solutrean, and Magdalenian
• They showed stylistic differences and novel artifact types

Solutrean Tool Tradition

• Used indirect percussion with a punch made of bone or horn
• Pressure flaking was used instead of and percussion flaking, where bone, wood, or antler was used to reshape fine edges
• Flint was heated to make it more workable
• Microliths (small-size blades) started appearing
• Hafted tools were created

Other Upper Palaeolithic Tools

• Allowed for the exploitation of new materials like bone, antler, and ivory
• Used creation of new types of items, like tailored clothing
• Composite tools such as Harpoons, awls, needles, and projectile points (spears & arrows)

Atlatl

• Atlatl (spear-thrower) was used
• Was more effective hunters & fishers
• Hunted for Mammoth, reindeer, bison, horse, antelope
• Meat was a food source, with other animal products were also utilized

Art

• Elaborate wall paintings and engravings emerged in the Magdalenian period (15,000 – 11,000 ya)
• Over 200 caves containing these art have been found in southern France, Northern Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Croatia
• Lascaux (France) is a notable site

Lascaux Cave

• After World War II the entrance was enlarged for visitors averaging 1200/day
• Closed in 1963 due to carbon dioxide destroying the paintings
• Work began on a reproduction cave in the 1980s

Anatomically Modern Homo sapiens in the Americas

• Megafauna movements and migrations
• AMHS followed and hunted animal herds

Beringia Land Bridge

• The land bridge was first exposed from 60,000 to 25,000 years ago, with the best time to migrate around 14,000 years ago
• It flooded out about 10,000 years ago
• Linguistic evidence suggests three migration waves

Waves of Migration

• There are also earlier possible migrations
• Pedra Furada (northeastern Brazil) containing Stone flakes & wall paintings from 10,000 – 32,000 ya
• Monte Verde (south-central Chile) containing Stone flakes, mammoth bones, remains of a hut -33,000 ya
• Some of these migrations explored ideas of traveling by water & ice

Hunters in the Americas

• Mammoths were the largest prey species in the Americas
• Mammoth hunters used tools of the Clovis complex
• Mammoths went extinct 10,000 ya
• They began to hunt for the Bison as well
• Change in tool tradition began where they would use the Folsom Point
• Bison antiquus went extinct 9000 ya

Cultural Traditions in the Americas

• Palaeo-Arctic Tradition which existed from 8000 ВСЕ – 5000 BCE
• Arctic Small Tool Tradition which existed from 2000 BCE – 800 BCE
• BCE "before the common era"which is 2000 ya
• Same as "BC" = Before (birth of) Christ
• 8000 BCE = 10 000 ya

Arctic Small Tool Tradition

• Existed from 2000 – 800 BCE
• Dorset culture
• Hunted for Seal, caribou, muskox, fish
• Used Kayaks and sleds

Arctic Small Tool Tradition

• Culture included the Thule culture
• Made use of sleds & dogs
• Used Sea-going (umiaks) & harpoons