Paper No. : 01 Physical/Biological Anthropology Module : 13 Emergence of Man Development Team Prof. Anup Kumar Kapoor Principal Investigator Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi Paper Coordinator Prof. Subho Roy Department of Anthropology ,University of Calcutta Dr. Arpita Mandal (Nandi) Content Writer Department of Anthropology, Narasinha Dutt College,Howrah Content Reviewer Prof. Barun Mukhopadhyay Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata 1 Physical/ Biological Anthropology Anthropology Emergence of Man Description Of Module Subject Name Anthropology Paper Name 01 Physical/Biological Anthropology Module Name/Title Emergence of Man Module Id 13 2 Physical/ Biological Anthropology Anthropology Emergence of Man Contents of this unit 1. Introduction 2. The debate on the origin 3. Important early modern Homo sapiens sites 4. Who are modern humans? 5. Anatomical features 6. Material culture 7. Origins 8. Explanation of their expansion 9. What mitochondrial DNA reveals? 10. New hypothesis 11. Summary Learning objectives: • Who are Humans? • Where did they come from? • When did they first appear? • What was their path of emergence? 3 Physical/ Biological Anthropology Anthropology Emergence of Man Introduction: All modern human beings belong to the genus Homo. Between 2.5 and 2.3 million years ago, the fossil record reveals the emergence of several new hominid species that anthropologists place into the genera Paranthropus and Homo. Both genera most likely have evolved from a late species of Australopithecus. Genus Homo evolved some 400,000 years ago. This is known from the fossil evidence of a lower jaw found in Africa. The time dates approximately to 2.8 million year when it is learned that Homo branched out from a common ape-like ancestor. The early fossils belonging to the genus Homo were originally placed into a single species, Homo habilis (handy human being). The first specimen of H.habilis was discovered by Louis and Mary Leakey in 1960 at Olduvai Gorge. Kaya Reed, 2013. Source: www.theguardian.com2013 photo provided by Kaye Reed 2013 photo provided by Kaye Reed 2013 photo provided by This lower jaw found in the Afar region of Africa show features common to both the Australopithecus and Homo. The sloping chin was somewhat similar to Australopithecus while narrow and symmetrical molars push it towards the genus, Homo. Two early modern hominids from Israel, one from Jebel Qafzeh and the other from Tabun, placed anatomically modern humans well back into the Neanderthal 4 Physical/ Biological Anthropology Anthropology Emergence of Man time range, the dating being between 115,000 and 96,000B.P. and 100,000 B.P years respectively. Early modern humans are often seen in terms of a population called Cro-Magnon, which lived about 28,000 years ago or later. In 1868, several partial skeletons were discovered in a rock shelter in south- western France. They became the prototype of Homo sapiens. A recent discovery of a skull at a site near the village of Buia, Eritrea, East Africa shows a mixture of Homo erectus and Homo sapiens features at around one million years ago. The past century and a half of palaeoanthropological discoveries have provided a general outline of hominid evolution. At around 1.9 million years ago a new grade of hominids, Homo ergaster and Homo erectus begin to appear. Many fossil hominids dating from about one million to 130,000 years ago show more Homo sapiens like characteristics than Homo erectus like, these are placed into the species Homo heidelbergensis. However populations of Parathropus survived until about 900,000 years B.P.; some populations of Homo erectus survived as late as 27,000 years B.P. The Neanderthals existed between 130,000 to about 30,000 years ago. They have been seen as a direct ancestor to modern Europeans and a side branch of humanity that genetically contributed little or nothing to modern populations. Today details of Neanderthal anatomy such as an oval shaped foramen magnum, the distinctive structure of th middle and inner ear, and the unique shape of the nasal region have convinced paleoanthropologists that Neanderthals should be placed in a separate species, Homo sapiens neanderthalensis. The debate on the origin • It has been continuining for long now, that H. erectus, considered to be the precursor to modern humans, evolved in Africa and gradually spread or migrated to Europe and Asia about 1.7 million years ago. The dating considered for the appearance of the anatomical modern humans is considered to be at least 130,000 years ago. • Further, it was commonly agreed upon that, by 100,000 years ago, several species of hominids populated the Earth. The populations of the H. sapiens—us—lived in Africa, whereas the populations of H. erectus in Southeast Asia and China, and Neanderthals in Europe. Then in around 50,000 years ago, there was a sudden explosion of human migration out of Africa and by about 30,000 years ago, only the anatomical modern humans were existing. • The debate arises by differing definitions and views of the archaic and anatomical modern humans. • Anatomical humans were supposed to differ from their counterparts by possessing qualities of the brain which helped them to plan ahead, innovate different technological methods, being 5 Physical/ Biological Anthropology Anthropology Emergence of Man able to adapt themselves to their environmental situations, exhibiting behavior like, cave painting, bead making or burying the dead. Scientists have discovered early modern human fossil remains in the Zhirendong (Zhiren Cave) in south China 6 Physical/ Biological Anthropology Anthropology Emergence of Man Important Early Modern Homo sapiens Sites Date of Fossil (years ago) East Africa: Herto, Middle Awash 160,000-154,000 Omo 1 195,000 Laetoli 120,000 South Africa: Border Cave 115,000-90,000 Klasies River Mouth 90,000 Israel: Skhul and Qafzeh 92,000-90,000 Australia: Lake Mungo 60,000-46,000 Asia: Annamite Mountains (Laos) 63,000 Ordos (Mongolia) 40,000-20,000 ? Liujiang (China) 139,000-111,000 ? Zhirendong (China) 100,000 ? Zhoukoudian upper cave 27,000 (China) Europe: Peştera cu Oase (Romania) 36,000-34,000 Combe Capelle (France) 35,000-30,000 Mladeč and Předmostí 35,000-25,000 (Czech Republic) Cro-Magnon (France) 27,000-23,000 Source:http://www.nature.com/scitable/content/map-of-homo-erectus-fossil-localities-96680469 7 Physical/ Biological Anthropology Anthropology Emergence of Man Who are modern humans? • All over the world people are classified as classified as Homo sapiens. We appeared about 200,000 years ago. Henceforth, our evolution progressed further with the advent of varying technologies. It can be clearly stated modern humans were contemporary with the Neanderthals and did not come after them. Furthermore, the forehead is also relatively higher. Chin is present only in the modern humans. • Compared to the Neanderthals and other late archaic humans, modern humans generally have lighter skeletons. Their skulls are more rounded and their brow ridges generally protrude much less. They rarely have the occipital buns found on the back of Neanderthal skulls. They also have relatively high foreheads, smaller faces, and pointed chins. • The first fossils of early modern humans to be identified were found in 1868 at the 27,000- 23,000 year old Cro-Magnon rock shelter site near the village of Les Eyzies in south western France. They were subsequently named the Cro-Magnon people. They were very similar in appearance to modern Europeans. Males were 5 feet 4 inches to 6 feet tall (1.6- 1.8 m.) and were 4-12 inches (10-31 cm.) taller than Neanderthals. Their skeletons and musculature generally were less massive than the Neanderthals. The Cro-Magnon had broad, small faces with pointed chins and high foreheads. Their cranial capacities were upto 1590 cm3, which is relatively large even for people today. Source: http://anthropology.si.edu/HumanOrigins/ha/weid.html 8 Physical/ Biological Anthropology Anthropology Emergence of Man Three important shifts in human evolutionary history: • the emergence of genus Homo • the transition between non-erectus early Homo and H. erectus, and • The appearance of regional morphological variation in H. erectus (including Homo ergaster). Using this integrated data set, we consider the implications for understanding the changing selective pressures that led to the transition to and evolution of early Homo. Anatomical features Modern humans have a distinctly round head that contains a large brain that averages 1350 cubic centimeters. From front to back, the cranial arch, or vault, is short but high. The occipital bone is delicate. Compared with earlier hominids, the modern human’s face and eye sockets are smaller, the front of the upper jaw and the mandible are also small. The modern human has a strong chin, which is the bony projection of the lower part of the mandible. The modern human skeleton is less robust and the musculature is lighter as compared to the earlier hominid skeletons. Material Culture The archaeological record provides evidence of several key behaviours—including changes in dietary niche, ranging, and cognition—that are often associated with the rise of genus Homo. The manufacture and use of stone tools have long been thought to signal a foraging shift and to be associated with the origin of Homo. The first unambiguous tools appear at 2.6 Ma, with cut-marked animal bone ubiquitous in sites. However, occurrence of one cut-marked bone has been argued to occur before the emergence of Homo. Although the Oldowan is linked to carcass processing, other uses related to plant or food processing are important. This emerging picture is consistent with dental evidence and supports a modest dietary shift to more carnivory in Homo and increased dietary breadth compared with Australopithecus. A second noteworthy change occurs at approximately 1.95 Ma with an increase in stone transport distances that suggests the movement of rock over ∼12 km interval.