The Emergence Of Homo Sapiens

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Chapter 8

• The Emergence Of Homo Sapiens
• By John Bock, Lauren Corbo, and Chelsea Corley

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Neandertals Homo Sapiens or Homo Neandetalensis

• First hominid fossil found in 1856.
• First fossils were a skullcap and other
  fossilized bones found in Dusseldorf, Germany.
• Scholar Thomas Huxley believed Neandertals were
  no different from modern humans.
• Neandertals were viewed as primitive and
  brutish
• Marcellin Boule claimed between 1908 and 1913
  that Neandertals would not have been capable of
  complete bipedalism.
• It is now generally agreed that the skeletal
  traits of Neandertals are completely consistent
  with bipedalism.
• Neandertals had much larger brains than humans
  today and made very strenuous use of their
  bodies.
• It took almost 100 years for scholars to accept
  that Neandertals were not much different from
  Homo Sapiens.
• Neandertals developed the title of Homo Sapien
  Neandetalensis.

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Theories About The Origins Of Modern Humans

• Single Origin Theory Neandertals did not evolve
  into humans.
• Extinct as of 35,000 years ago
• Theory extracted from mtDNA of living peoples.
• Scholars agree that mtDNA suggests all humans
  share a common ancestry
• Multiregional Theory Homo erectus populations
  evolved in humans.
• Theorists believe that archaic homo sapiens and
  Neandertals represent phases in the gradual
  development of modern humans.
• Theorists claim that mtDNA is inaccurate because
  it mutates slower than perceived.
• Intermediate Theories Belief in multiple forms
  of creation.
• Belief that there was some population
  replacement, some local evolution and some
  interbreeding between modern humans who spread to
  Africa.

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What Happened To Neandertals?

• Interbreeding depleted many common
  characteristics of Neandertals.
• Remains of a 4 year olds fossil is controversial
  because it is a childs skeleton. If this were to
  be true, the mtDNA is wrong.
• Neandertals were killed off by modern humans.
• Little evidence. Not a single murdered
  Neandertal has ever been found.
• Neandertals were driven to extinction by
  competition with modern humans.
• The Neandertals could not have competed with
  modern humans. This has the best archaeological
  support.

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The End