Chapter 12 Neanderthals and Archaic Homo sapiens

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Chapter 12 Neanderthals and Archaic Homo sapiens

• Early Archaic H. Sapiens
• A Review of Middle Pleistocene evolution
• Middle Pleistocene Culture
• Neanderthals Late Archaic H. Sapiens
• Culture of Neanderthals
• Genetic Evidence
• Evolutionary Trends in the Genus Homo

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Early Archaic Homo sapiens

• Homo erectus continued to evolve as transitional
  forms between Homo erectus and Homo sapiens
  sapiens.
• All Middle Pleistocene specimens are classified
  within the species Homo sapiens.
• There is variation within and between samples of
  these hominids and they are geographically widely
  dispersed.

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Middle Pleistocene Culture Levallois technique

• Tool making technique for controlling flake size
  and shape invented by the archaic Homo sapiens in
  Africa and Europe.
• Required several coordinated steps suggesting
  increased cognitive abilities in archaic Homo
  sapiens.

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Middle Pleistocene Culture

• Dwellings included caves, open-air sites and
  temporary structures.
• Chinese archaeologists insist that sites contain
  evidence of human-controlled fire.
• Many different food sources including fruits,
  vegetables, seeds, nuts, and bird eggs.

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NeandertalsLate Archaic H. sapiens

• Classified H. sapiens, they are like us, yet
  different.
• Brain size larger than that of H. sapiens today.
• Cranium was large, low and bulging at the sides.
• France, 1908 - Nearly complete skeleton was
  found surrounded by tools and animal bones.

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Neandertal Culture Settlements

• Improved on the previous Levallois techniques by
  inventing a new variation.
• Lived in open sites, caves and rock shelters.
• Fire was used for cooking, warmth, light, and
  keeping predators at bay.
• Some indication of specialization of tools.

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Neandertal Culture Subsistence

• After the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic the
  spear thrower was invented.
• Besides meat, Neandertals ate berries, nuts and
  other plants.
• Due to the bitter cold of the last glacial
  period, it is assumed that Neanderthals wore
  simple clothing.

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Neandertal Culture Symbolic Behavior

• Consensus is that Neandertals were capable of
  articulate speech.
• Neanderthals deliberately buried their dead.
• Burials contained grave goods (stone tools,
  animal bones and flowers) and graves were covered
  with stone slabs.

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Evolutionary Trends in the past 2 million years

• Early Homo to Homo erectus
• Homo erectus into early Homo sapiens
• Archaic Homo sapiens to anatomically modern Homo
  sapiens

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Three Taxonomic Issues

• Classification of fossils in archaic Homo
  sapiens" is imprecise, since this group is
  ill-defined.
• Several early archaic specimens show derived
  features different from Homo sapiens.
• Neanderthals are viewed by many researchers as
  representing the species, Homo neanderthalensis.