Key Inquiry Questions

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Key Inquiry Questions KEY INQUIRY QUESTIONS How do we know How did What challenges What evidence Over the millennia, early humans early humans faced early tells us about in what ways have migrated ‘out of live? humans and the development humans changed and Africa’ across how did they of ancient in what ways have they the Earth? deal with them? societies? stayed the same? & MIGRATION SETTLEMENT add free pic add free pic add free pic pages Throughout human history, Sample people have felt the urge to move outwards from their homelands to improve their lives. This pattern of migration can be traced back SOURCE The first migration: our ancestors 0.1 left Africa to settle across the globe through the millennia to the between 100 000 and 60 000 years ago. By 10 000 BCE they had colonised all of the continents except Antarctica. How Stone Ages. did they survive and thrive in such very 2 different physical environments? of Sumatra, a catastrophic event that lowered global 100 000 BCE Homo sapiens begin UNI to migrate from Africa temperatures for more than 1000 years. Thus, in 60 000 BCE, most people were still living in Africa. Apart from their T SNAP SHOT hunter-gatherer lifestyle these early modern humans were just like us. They had the same physical and mental 1 OUT OF AFRICA capacities as modern humans, along with the ability to adapt to any environment on Earth. Then, in about 200 000– Fossils and DNA provide strong evidence that BCE From about 100 000 onwards, small family 60 000 BCE, during the final cold period of the last Ice Age, 40 000 BCE modern human beings (Homo sapiens) originated groups drifted northwards to south-western Asia, the most important human migration out of Africa began. Middle Palaeolithic in Africa in about 150 000 BCE, during the but this migration ceased in about 70 000 BCE. Palaeolithic period period (Old or Old Stone Age. This period Some experts think that this was because of 50 000 BCE Humans have Stone Age) is so called because early people used very basic the volcanic eruption of Toba on the island settled Australia and Central Asia; estimated world stone tools to help them survive. population is one million SOURCE Venus of Dolni Veˇstonice, SOURCE Zhoukoudian, China, 1.3 1.4 28 000–22 000 BCE c. 25 000 BCE 45 000 Humans have moved into This small figurine of a woman A tooth from an early human Central and Western Europe SOURCE Lascaux, France, c. 17 000 BCE 1.2 is one of the earliest examples was found in this cave alongside These paintings on the walls of ceramic sculpture created by stone tools, a layer of ash, burnt SOURCE Clovis people, of a cave show an abundance humans. It was found at the site stones, charred bones, berry 1.6 of mammoth, bison, oxen of two early kilns along with seeds and more than 40 species c. 9500 BCE and deer. more than 700 other fired pottery of mammal fossils. First artefacts of the Clovis 40 000 BCE First stone tools are fragments. people, discovered in Clovis, developed in South-East Asia New Mexico, USA. These 38 000 Estimated world population people were skilled big game is 1.5 million; what is now Great hunters who made use of a Britain is settled; earliest evidence distinctive spearhead known of cremation, Lake Mungo, pages as the Clovis point. Australia 30 000 BCE First bone and ivory needles are developed 40 000– 12 000 BCE Upper 25 000 Northward migration Palaeolithic of Homo sapiens through Asia; period (Old estimated world population is Stone Age) three million APSHOT N S BCE 20 000 First spear-throwers UNIT 1 17 000 Cave paintings, Lascaux, France T N 15 000 Crossing of the Beringia land bridge from Asia to the ME Americas E Sample TL T E S 10 000 BCE Glacial retreat begins & 9000 First pottery is made 12 000– 2000 BCE SOURCE Lake Mungo, SOURCE Monte Verde, c. 11 000 BCE 8000 Estimated world population 1.5 1.7 is six million Neolithic ATION SOURCE This map shows key sites for 60 000–40 000 BCE There is evidence of human R period (New G 1.1 early Homo sapiens. It also settlement in Chile, South America, The earliest finds of Homo sapiens Stone Age) M 5000 Beginnings of metalwork; shows the routes that the fossils in Australia have been at Lake LEGEND as early as 11 000 BCE. This date farming spreads to Western Europe is at least 1300 years earlier than A first human migrants might Mungo in New South Wales. Two fossil 3500 First pictorial evidence of Site of early modern human M have taken from Africa to the skeletons, those of ‘Mungo Man’ and scientists had at first thought. No- wheeled vehicles in Sumer ‘Mungo Lady’, have been found. There remains one knows how these migrating U rest of the world. H N I has been some controversy over the Migration of early modern early humans found a way through dating of Mungo Man: some experts humans the vast ice glaciers of North SOURCE Timeline of prehistory believe his fossils are more than 60 000 160 000 bce Approximate date of first America of the Ice Age. 1.8 years old, while others place him at evidence of modern humans 4 PEARSON history about 42 000 BCE. 5 UNI E CVIDEN E OF HUMAN N EANDERTHALS T MIGRATION VERSUS EARLY HUMANS Proof of the migration of early humans can be When the first groups of Homo sapiens migrated 2 found at numerous archaeological sites across the out of Africa, they were not alone. Populations of world (see Source 1.1). These comprise caves, rock Homo neanderthalensis or Neanderthals (named and cliff shelters, open campsites, and middens or after the Neander valley in Germany, where their rubbish heaps filled with the litter of early human fossils were first discovered in 1856) were already life: bones, shells, seeds and broken tool and arrow living in Europe and parts of Asia and had been points. They allow archaeologists to estimate when there since about 350 000 BCE. We know a lot about humans arrived in the areas where they are found. Neanderthals since they tended to live in areas rich with limestone caves, which preserved their bones The recent remarkable advances in the understanding well and have proved to be an abundant source of of human physiology, which is the study of the prehistoric fossils and artefacts for archaeologists. working of the human body, through molecular SOURCE Jomon shell midden from 2.1 a site near Kawasaki, biology are another way in which we can learn Homo neanderthalensis was physically distinct Japan. The Jomon about the migration patterns of early humans. from Homo sapiens, with a low, sloping forehead, people lived in Japan from By comparing DNA from fossils with DNA from a prominent brow ridge, a heavy, jutting jaw and about 13 680 BCE to 410 BCE. In this midden archaeologists have modern humans, scientists can work out how Homo little or no chin. Neanderthals were also broader found fish bones, clams, oyster sapiens settled the Earth and when changes or splits shouldered than modern humans, were extremely shells and other shellfish remains. in the population occurred. muscular in the upper body and in their short, M IGRATION strong legs, and had very broad, strong feet. There 1 What sort of dishes is much debate about Homo neanderthalensis do you think the Jomon people might Mi GRATION BEGINS among archaeologists. One source of disagreement THAT N EANDERTHALS has been whether it is a subspecies of Homo sapiens have cooked with It is not known for certain why the movement out of Africa began. The KON these foods? pagesW WERE NEARLY or not. Should it really be classified as Homo hunter-gatherer lifestyle could be a precarious one, dependent on climatic CALLED ‘STUPID sapiens neanderthalensis? 2 Conduct further conditions and the abundance of game and edible plants. When conditions research on the PEOPLE’? changed, the early humans reacted by moving on to other areas. They internet to find out The scientific conventions governing the naming what archaeologists were able to adapt successfully to just about any climate in which they of species say that the name published first is have uncovered about found themselves, from the harshness of nine-month winters and sub-zero the Jomon people’s the one that sticks—luckily for the Neanderthals! SOURCE The skulls of Homo neanderthalensis (left) and ON cooking from their temperatures to the searing heat of arid desert regions and the energy- 2.2 an early Homo sapiens (right) I In 1866 CE, the German biologist Ernst Haeckel T research of middens sapping humidity of steamy tropical rainforests. By the end of the Ice Age, in A proposed that they be named Homo stupidus, R such as this one. BCE G approximately 15 000 , this vast migration was complete. Ice Age hunting but the name Homo neanderthalensis had been 1 Trace the two skulls and label the distinctive I Present your findings bands and family groups had settled all of Africa, Europe and Asia. They features of both skulls. M in a short paragraph. accepted two years earlier and so that is how we had crossed to the Americas via the Beringia land bridge and had traversed now know them. 2 What conclusions can you draw about the tropical waters in canoes and on rafts to settle New Guinea and Australia. two skulls? UNIT 2 The only continent untouched by humans was Antarctica.
Recommended publications
  • Early Members of the Genus Homo -. EXPLORATIONS: an OPEN INVITATION to BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
    EXPLORATIONS: AN OPEN INVITATION TO BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY Editors: Beth Shook, Katie Nelson, Kelsie Aguilera and Lara Braff American Anthropological Association Arlington, VA 2019 Explorations: An Open Invitation to Biological Anthropology is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. ISBN – 978-1-931303-63-7 www.explorations.americananthro.org 10. Early Members of the Genus Homo Bonnie Yoshida-Levine Ph.D., Grossmont College Learning Objectives • Describe how early Pleistocene climate change influenced the evolution of the genus Homo. • Identify the characteristics that define the genus Homo. • Describe the skeletal anatomy of Homo habilis and Homo erectus based on the fossil evidence. • Assess opposing points of view about how early Homo should be classified. Describe what is known about the adaptive strategies of early members of the Homo genus, including tool technologies, diet, migration patterns, and other behavioral trends.The boy was no older than 9 when he perished by the swampy shores of the lake. After death, his slender, long-limbed body sank into the mud of the lake shallows. His bones fossilized and lay undisturbed for 1.5 million years. In the 1980s, fossil hunter Kimoya Kimeu, working on the western shore of Lake Turkana, Kenya, glimpsed a dark colored piece of bone eroding in a hillside. This small skull fragment led to the discovery of what is arguably the world’s most complete early hominin fossil—a youth identified as a member of the species Homo erectus. Now known as Nariokotome Boy, after the nearby lake village, the skeleton has provided a wealth of information about the early evolution of our own genus, Homo (see Figure 10.1).
    [Show full text]
  • The Dates of the Discovery of the First Peking Man Fossil Teeth
    The Dates of the Discovery of the First Peking Man Fossil Teeth Qian WANG,LiSUN, and Jan Ove R. EBBESTAD ABSTRACT Four teeth of Peking Man from Zhoukoudian, excavated by Otto Zdansky in 1921 and 1923 and currently housed in the Museum of Evolution at Uppsala University, are among the most treasured finds in palaeoanthropology, not only because of their scientific value but also for their important historical and cultural significance. It is generally acknowledged that the first fossil evidence of Peking Man was two teeth unearthed by Zdansky during his excavations at Zhoukoudian in 1921 and 1923. However, the exact dates and details of their collection and identification have been documented inconsistently in the literature. We reexamine this matter and find that, due to incompleteness and ambiguity of early documentation of the discovery of the first Peking Man teeth, the facts surrounding their collection and identification remain uncertain. Had Zdansky documented and revealed his findings on the earliest occasion, the early history of Zhoukoudian and discoveries of first Peking Man fossils would have been more precisely known and the development of the field of palaeoanthropology in early twentieth century China would have been different. KEYWORDS: Peking Man, Zhoukoudian, tooth, Uppsala University. INTRODUCTION FOUR FOSSIL TEETH IDENTIFIED AS COMING FROM PEKING MAN were excavated by palaeontologist Otto Zdansky in 1921 and 1923 from Zhoukoudian deposits. They have been housed in the Museum of Evolution at Uppsala University in Sweden ever since. These four teeth are among the most treasured finds in palaeoanthropology, not only because of their scientific value but also for their historical and cultural significance.
    [Show full text]
  • The Early Paleolithic of China1) HUANG Weiwen2)
    第 四 紀 研 究 (The Quaternary Research) 28 (4) p. 237-242 Nov. 1989 The Early Paleolithic of China1) HUANG Weiwen2) spread widely and existed for a long time. The Introduction deposits contained very rich fossils of mammal. 1. Geographic Distribution and the Types of The fauna exisiting in the stage from the early Deposits to the middle Pleistocene can be at least divided Before the 1940's, only one locality of the into three groups, which have their own Early Paleolithic period was discovered in characteristics and sequence: Nihewan fauna of China. That is Zhoukoudian near Beijing early Pleistocene, Gongwangling (Lantian Man) City (the site of Peking Man). Since the 1950's fauna of the latest stage of early Pleistocene many new localities have been found, of which or the earliest stage of middle Pleistocene and no less than fifteen are relatively important. Zhoukoudian (Peking Man) fauna of the middle These localities spread in North, South and Pleistocene. In the recent years, some scholars Northeast China covering a range from 23°35' to have suggested that locations of Dali and 40°15'N and from 101°58' to 124°8'E which Dingcun which originally recognized as be- includes two climate zones, namely, the sub- longing to the early stage of late Pleistocene tropical zone and warm temperate zone in the should place in the middle Pleistocene, as the eastern part of today's Asia (Fig. 1). latest stage of this epoch (LIU and DING,1984). The localities include three types of deposit: There also existed fluviatile and fluviol- 1) Fluviatile deposit: acustrine deposits of Pleistocene in South Xihoudu (Shanxi), Kehe (Shanxi), Lantian China.
    [Show full text]
  • Stone Age Technology
    World’s Early People DIGGING UP DNA STONE AGE TECHNOLOGY IN PARTNERSHIP WITH Worlds_Early_People_FC.indd 1 2/7/17 11:22 AM 2 Who Lived in the Stone Age? When you think of “old,” what comes to But they helped hominins to thrive. mind? Last year’s shoes? Life before the The first species to make tools is from the Internet? Try a little earlier – 2.5 million genus (category) we call Homo (human). It years earlier! is known as Homo habilis, or “handy That’s about the time some of the first person.” It most likely lived in Africa 1.5 hominins, or humanlike species that walk to 2.4 million years ago. Homo habilis upright, started making tools from rocks. represented a big change. How big? Big Their tools were simple – mainly stones enough that we call its time the Paleolithic split to form a point or a sharp edge. era, or the Old Stone Age. l THE BRAINS ability to make of Homo habilis and use tools. were about Homo habilis’s half the size of tools and brain- present-day human power helped it brains. However, spread. Over the brains of Homo millennia, it habilis were larger adapted, or made than the brains changes that of the hominins helped it survive, to that came before live in regions that it. This may have earlier species had contributed to its found too harsh. d HOMO ERECTUS, or early as 2.5 million communities, hunt “upright person,” years ago, Homo for food, create art, was probably a lot erectus was at its and control fire like Homo habilis, peak about 1.9 for warmth and but taller and thin- million years ago.
    [Show full text]
  • Human Origin Sites and the World Heritage Convention in Eurasia
    World Heritage papers41 HEADWORLD HERITAGES 4 Human Origin Sites and the World Heritage Convention in Eurasia VOLUME I In support of UNESCO’s 70th Anniversary Celebrations United Nations [ Cultural Organization Human Origin Sites and the World Heritage Convention in Eurasia Nuria Sanz, Editor General Coordinator of HEADS Programme on Human Evolution HEADS 4 VOLUME I Published in 2015 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 7, place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP, France and the UNESCO Office in Mexico, Presidente Masaryk 526, Polanco, Miguel Hidalgo, 11550 Ciudad de Mexico, D.F., Mexico. © UNESCO 2015 ISBN 978-92-3-100107-9 This publication is available in Open Access under the Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO (CC-BY-SA 3.0 IGO) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/). By using the content of this publication, the users accept to be bound by the terms of use of the UNESCO Open Access Repository (http://www.unesco.org/open-access/terms-use-ccbysa-en). The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The ideas and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors; they are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization. Cover Photos: Top: Hohle Fels excavation. © Harry Vetter bottom (from left to right): Petroglyphs from Sikachi-Alyan rock art site.
    [Show full text]
  • A Review of the Middle Pleistocene Record in Eurasia
    Was the Emergence of Home Bases and Domestic Fire a Punctuated Event? A Review of the Middle Pleistocene Record in Eurasia NICOLAS ROLLAND THIS SURVEY OF THE EVIDENCE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF DOMESTIC FIRE and home bases integrates naturalistic factors and culture historical stages and processes into an anthropological theoretical framework. The main focus will be to review fire technology in terms of (1) its characteristics in prehistoric times and its earliest established evidence; (2) the role it played, among other factors, in the appearance of ancient hominid home bases sensu stricto, as part of a key formative stage during the transition from Lower to Middle Paleolithic; and (3) current findings and debates relating to the role of anthropogenic fire and the evidence of a home base occupation at Zhoukoudian (ZKD) Locality 1 in China. It is con­ cluded that, despite complex site formation processes and postdepositional distur­ bances, the sum of direct evidence and off-site context at Zhoukoudian consti­ tutes a record sufficiently compelling for continuing to regard it as a key early hominid home base occurrence in East Asia. This revised verdict has important implications for evaluating and comparing Middle Pleistocene biocultural evolu­ tion and developments. This analysis seeks to avoid both excessive biological or environmental reduc­ tionism, and treating "cultural" behavior as entirely emergent without reference to its natural historical antecedents. Hominids retained a primate omnivorous diet, but added a meat-eating and meat-procurement component that nlOved them up the trophic pyramid to compete with other carnivores. Ground-living hominids also preserved the primate system of living in large local groups for safety and a diurnal lifestyle.
    [Show full text]
  • April, 28Th 2020 Dear Colleagues, Our 4Th Newsletter Comes in a Slightly Reduced Form with Most of This Year's Conferences
    April, 28th 2020 Dear Colleagues, Our 4th newsletter comes in a slightly reduced form with most of this year’s conferences cancelled or postponed due to the ongoing global pandemic, including our own UISPP congress (page 2). The XIX UISPP congress, including our two pyroarchaeology sessions, has been postponed to September 2021, but will still take place in Meknes. However, there still have been plenty of new pyroarchaeology papers published in the recent months (pages 2 to 5). We conclude our newsletter with an obituary for Ofer Bar-Yosef, written by one his former PhD students, Carolina Mallol (pages 6-7), and hope to bring you better tidings with our next newsletter. With our best wishes Carolina, Chris and Mareike* Contact us via Email [email protected] Follow us on Twitter @pyroarchaeology Visit us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Pyroarchaeology-2265235893709367/ or on our UISPP commission website http://www.uispp.org/pyroarchaeology-0 * responsible for this newsletter Page 1 | 7 4th Newsletter UISPP Pyroarchaeology Commission Conference News Due to the global pandemic most of this year’s conferences have been cancelled, including the Trial by Fire Conference at Liverpool University, and some have plans of going virtual instead (e.g. EAA and ESHE). The XIX UISPP congress in Meknes has been postponed to 2nd to 7th September, 2021, and the abstract submission deadline has also been postponed, to 31st March, 2021. This also means that there will be no meeting of our scientific commission this year. Publication News Allué, E., Mas, B., 2020. The meaning of Pinus sylvestris-type charcoal taphonomic markers in Palaeolithic sites in NE Iberia.
    [Show full text]
  • A Tale of Four Caves: Esr Dating of Mousterian Layers at Iberian Archaeological Sites
    A TALE OF FOUR CAVES A TALE OF FOUR CAVES: ESR DATING OF MOUSTERIAN LAYERS AT IBERIAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES BY VITO VOLTERRA, M. A. A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctorate of Philosophy McMaster University © Copyright by Vito Volterra, May, 2000 . DOCTORATE OF PHILOSOPHY (2000) McMaster University (Anthropology) Hamilton, Ontario TITLE: A Tale of Four Caves: ESR Dating of Mousterian Layers at Iberian Archaeological Sites AUTHOR: Vito Volterra, M. A. (McMaster University) SUPERVISOR: Professor H. P. Schwarcz NUMBER OF PAGES: xviii, 250 Abstract This study was undertaken to provide supporting evidence for the late presence of Neanderthals in Iberia at the end of the Middle Paleolithic. This period is almost impossible to date accurately by the conventional radiocarbon method. Accordingly electron spin resonance (ESR) was used to obtain ages for four Spanish sites. They were EI Pendo in the Cantabrian north, Carihuela in Andalusia and Gorham's and Vanguard caves at Gibraltar. The sites were chosen to allow the greatest variety in geographic settings, latitudes and sedimentation. They were either under exca­ vation or had been excavated recently following modem techniques. A multidisciplinary approach to dating the archaeological contexts was being proposed for all the sites except EI Pendo whose deposits had been already dated but only on the basis ofsedimentological and faunal analyses. This was the first research program to apply ESR to such a variety ofsites and compare its results with that ofsuch a variety of other archaeometric dating teclmiques. The variety allowed a further dimension to the research that is the opportunity ofappraising first hand the applicability and advantages ofa new dating technique and determining its accuracy as an archaeological dating method incomparison with other techniques.
    [Show full text]
  • Intensified Foraging and the Roots of Farming in China
    Boise State University ScholarWorks Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations Department of Anthropology Fall 2017 Intensified orF aging and the Roots of Farming in China Shengqian Chen Renmin University of China Pei-Lin Yu Boise State University This document was originally published in the Journal of Anthropological Research by the University of Chicago Press. Copyright restrictions may apply. doi: 10.1086/692660 Intensified Foraging and the Roots of Farming in China SHENGQIAN CHEN, School of History, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China PEI-LIN YU, Department of Anthropology, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83725, USA. Email: [email protected] In an accompanying paper ( Journal of Anthropological Research 73(2):149–80, 2017), the au- thors assess current archaeological and paleobiological evidence for the early Neolithic of China. Emerging trends in archaeological data indicate that early agriculture developed variably: hunt- ing remained important on the Loess Plateau, and aquatic-based foraging and protodomes- tication augmented cereal agriculture in South China. In North China and the Yangtze Basin, semisedentism and seasonal foraging persisted alongside early Neolithic culture traits such as or- ganized villages, large storage structures, ceramic vessels, and polished stone tool assemblages. In this paper, we seek to explain incipient agriculture as a predictable, system-level cultural response of prehistoric foragers through an evolutionary assessment of archaeological evidence for the pre- ceding Paleolithic to Neolithic transition (PNT). We synthesize a broad range of diagnostic ar- tifacts, settlement, site structure, and biological remains to develop a working hypothesis that agriculture was differentially developed or adopted according to “initial conditions” of habitat, resource structure, and cultural organization.
    [Show full text]
  • On the Earliest Evidence for Habitual Use of Fire in Europe
    On the earliest evidence for habitual use of fire in Europe Wil Roebroeksa,1 and Paola Villab,c,d,1 aFaculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, 2300 RA, Leiden, The Netherlands; bUniversity of Colorado Museum, Boulder, CO 80309-0265; cUnité Mixte de Recherche 5199, de la Préhistoire á l’Actuel: Culture, Environnement, et Anthropologie, Institut de Préhistoire et Géologie du Quaternaire, 33405 Talence, France; and dSchool of Geography, Archaeology, and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits 2050 Johannesburg, South Africa Edited* by Erik Trinkaus, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, and approved February 8, 2011 (received for review December 4, 2010) The timing of the human control of fire is a hotly debated issue, Results with claims for regular fire use by early hominins in Africa at ∼1.6 Interpreting the Record. For most of prehistory until ∼10,000 y ago, million y ago. These claims are not uncontested, but most archae- hominins all over the world subsisted as hunters and gatherers, ologists would agree that the colonization of areas outside Africa, with a generally highly mobile lifestyle. Until the later phases of especially of regions such as Europe where temperatures at time the Paleolithic, these mobile foragers invested very little in camp dropped below freezing, was indeed tied to the use of fire. Our layout, in dwelling structures, or in the construction of formal review of the European evidence suggests that early hominins hearths (14). The overwhelming majority of their traces consist of moved into northern latitudes without the habitual use of fire. It stone tools, the debris of stone tool production, and often but was only much later, from ∼300,000 to 400,000 y ago onward, that not always food remains.
    [Show full text]
  • Preliminary Study of a Prehistoric Site in Northern Laos
    Tam Hang Rockshelter: Preliminary Study of a Prehistoric Site in Northern Laos FABRICE DEMETER, THONGSA SAYAVONGKHAMDY, ELISE PATOLE-EDOUMBA, ANNE-SOPHIE COUPEY, ANNE-MARIE BACON, JOHN DE VOS, CHRISTELLE TOUGARD, BOUNHEUANG BOUASISENGPASEUTH, PHONEPHANH SICHANTHONGTIP, AND PHILIPPE DURINGER introduction Prehistoric research in mainland Southeast Asia was initiated by the French with the establishment of the Geological Service of Indochina (GSI) in 1897. The GSI began to study the geology of Tonkin, Yunnan, Laos, and south- ern Indochina before 1919, later extending their knowledge to northern Indo- china and Cambodia. In the meantime, several major Homo erectus findings occurred in the region, which contributed to the palaeoanthropological debate that prevailed in the 1930s. These discoveries did not involve French but rather Dutch and German scientists. In 1889, E. Dubois discovered Pithecanthropus erectus on the island of Java in Indonesia (Dubois 1894); then in 1929, W. Z. Pei found Sinanthropus pekinensis at Zhoukoudian in China (Weidenreich 1935), while G.H.R. von Koenigswald discovered additional erectus remainsinJava(vonKoe- nigswald 1936). In response, the GSI refocused on the palaeontology and palaeoanthropology of the region, until the cessation of fieldwork activities in 1945 due to the beginning of the war with Japan. Jacques Fromaget joined the GSI in 1923 and conducted tremendous excava- tions in northern Laos and Vietnam as if motivated by the desire to discover some Indochinese hominid remains. Similar to many of his geologist colleagues around the world, Fromaget was not only interested in soil formations but he was also concerned about prehistory. Along with GSI members, M. Colani, E. Fabrice Demeter is a‰liated with the Unite´ Ecoanthropologie et Ethnobiologie, Muse´ede l’Homme, Paris, France.
    [Show full text]
  • Life Without the Movius Line: the Structure of the East and Southeast Asian Early Palaeolithic
    This is a repository copy of Life without the Movius Line: The structure of the East and Southeast Asian Early Palaeolithic. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/100881/ Version: Accepted Version Article: Dennell, R. (2015) Life without the Movius Line: The structure of the East and Southeast Asian Early Palaeolithic. Quaternary International, 400. pp. 14-22. ISSN 1040-6182 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.09.001 Reuse Unless indicated otherwise, fulltext items are protected by copyright with all rights reserved. The copyright exception in section 29 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 allows the making of a single copy solely for the purpose of non-commercial research or private study within the limits of fair dealing. The publisher or other rights-holder may allow further reproduction and re-use of this version - refer to the White Rose Research Online record for this item. Where records identify the publisher as the copyright holder, users can verify any specific terms of use on the publisher’s website. Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. [email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ Elsevier Editorial System(tm) for Quaternary International Manuscript Draft Manuscript Number: Title: Life without the Movius Line: the structure of the East and Southeast Asian Early Palaeolithic Article Type: Peking Man Keywords: Movius Line; Acheulean; Zhoukoudian; China; SE Asia Corresponding Author: Prof.
    [Show full text]