DOCSLIB.ORG

0205683290.Pdf

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
0205683290.Pdf Hominin footprints preserved at Laetoli, Tanzania, are about 3.6 million years old. These individuals were between 3 and 4 feet tall when standing upright. For a close-up view of one of the footprints and further information, go to the human origins section of the website of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, www.mnh.si.edu/anthro/ humanorigins/ha/laetoli.htm. THE EVOLUTION OF HUMANITY AND CULTURE 2 the BIG questions v What do living nonhuman primates tell us about OUTLINE human culture? Nonhuman Primates and the Roots of Human Culture v Hominin Evolution to Modern What role did culture play Humans during hominin evolution? Critical Thinking: What Is Really in the Toolbox? v How has modern human Eye on the Environment: Clothing as a Thermal culture changed in the past Adaptation to Cold and Wind 12,000 years? The Neolithic Revolution and the Emergence of Cities and States Lessons Applied: Archaeology Findings Increase Food Production in Bolivia 33 Substantial scientific evidence indicates that modern hu- closest to humans and describes how they provide insights into mans have evolved from a shared lineage with primate ances- what the lives of the earliest human ancestors might have been tors between 4 and 8 million years ago. The mid-nineteenth like. It then turns to a description of the main stages in evolu- century was a turning point in European thinking about tion to modern humans. The last section covers the develop- human origins as scientific thinking challenged the biblical ment of settled life, agriculture, and cities and states. narrative of human origins. Two British thinkers, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, independently discovered vvv the principle of natural selection, the process by which or- ganisms better adapted to the environment reproduce more Nonhuman Primates and the effectively compared to less well-adapted forms. This princi- Roots of Human Culture ple, in turn, supported the acceptance of the concept of evolution, or inherited and cumulative change in the charac- According to abundant evidence from genetics, anatomy, teristics of a species, population, or culture. This scientific physiology, and behavior, humans are primates. This section view conflicts with some religious perspectives, including describes primate characteristics in general and then situates Christian creationism, based on a literal understanding of bib- humans within the group of primate with whom we are most lical writings, that all animal species, including humans, date closely related in order to provide some comparisons. from the Day of Creation and have always existed in the physical form that they do now. The scientific view of human PRIMATE CHARACTERISTICS origins, however, does not conflict with all religious perspec- The primates are an order of mammals that includes modern tives, including nonliteralist Christians and Buddhists. humans. Primates vary in size from several ounces to over Fossils (the preserved remains of a plant or animal of 400 pounds. Some inhabit limited areas, and others range the past), artifacts (portable objects made or modified by more widely. In defining primate characteristics, morphology, humans), and new genetic analyses provide strong evidence or physical form, is a basic consideration because it is related that modern humans existed before the Christian Day of to behavior. Compared to the faces of other mammals such as Creation, estimated to be 4004 BCE. The evidence also shows dogs or cows, primate faces tend to be flat with reduced that human anatomy evolved over time from more ape-like to snouts. Relatedly, primates differ from other mammals in more human-like, and human cultural capabilities have terms of being highly reliant on vision for dealing with their changed dramatically. Many anthropologists, like other scien- environment and social interactions. Primates have five digits tists, find ways to reconcile the scientific evidence with their on their hands and feet, opposable thumbs, and they can grasp personal religious beliefs. with both their hands and feet. Primate brains are large in re- This chapter accepts the scientific perspective on human lation to body size. Because of their large brain size, primates evolution. It therefore begins with a discussion of the primates take longer to mature than other mammals do. This extended Members of a group of Hanuman langurs in India involved in social behavior. Most primates are highly social and interact with their group-mates in complex ways. 34 PART I INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY MAP 2.1 Where Nonhuman Primates Live Today. The habitats of nonhuman pri- mates are greatly reduced from what they were in prehistory, and they are increasingly threatened by human encroachment and environmental change. 01,500 3,000 Miles 01,500 3,000 Kilometers developmental period, combined with the fact that most pri- use to gouge the outer layer of trees to start the flow of mate species are highly social, provides a context for the social gums and saps. Many have large intestines to help them molding of primate behavior. digest these food sources. In terms of environmental adaptations, most nonhuman • Omnivores are generalists: many kinds of foods make up primate species live in low-altitude areas of the tropics or sub- their diet. Therefore, they lack specialized dental or gut tropics (see Map 2.1). A few live in high altitudes in Africa, morphology. Humans are omnivores. Nepal, and Japan. Most primate species are arboreal (tree- dwelling), quadrupedal (moving on all fours), and diurnal Most primates live in a social group, or collection of ani- (active during the day), and most, like humans, have a high mals that interact regularly. Group life has advantages in terms degree of sociality, or a preference for living in groups and of information sharing about food sources and protection interacting regularly with members of the same species. against threats from other groups. The details of group organi- All nonhuman primates in the wild provide for their zation vary.The most common social group among nonhuman food needs by foraging, or obtaining food available in nature primates, by far, is the multi-male/multi-female (MM/MF) through gathering, hunting, or scavenging. Species vary, how- group. This type of group contains adults of both sexes and the ever, in terms of the kinds of foods they prefer (Strier 2007). females’ offspring. Females make up the core of the group and Five major dietary patterns of primates are based on their often have strong alliances with each other. Male membership primary food sources: in these groups is less stable. A rare subvariety is called a fission-fusion group, a large group of 50 or more individuals that • Frugivores eat mainly fruit. They have large front teeth, regularly breaks up into much smaller subgroups for foraging. or incisors, to allow them to puncture the flesh of large Although rare among nonhuman primate species overall, fruits and transfer pieces into their mouths, like when the fission-fusion pattern is important because it is found in you bite into an apple. Digestion of fruits occurs in the chimpanzees and bonobos, the nonhuman primates most like small intestine, so frugivores have a long small intestine. humans. Thus it is possible that the early human ancestors may • Folivores eat primarily leaves. Leaves are difficult to di- have had a fission-fusion form of social organization. gest because of the chemicals, such as cellulose, in their walls. Folivores’ chewing teeth are designed to help them natural selection process by which organisms better break leaves into small pieces, and bacteria in their diges- adapted to the environment reproduce more effectively tive systems break down the cell walls of leaves. Some compared with less well-adapted forms. folivores have an expanded large intestine (Milton 1984). evolution inherited and cumulative change in the • Insectivores eat mainly insects. They have high, sharp characteristics of a species, population, or culture. cusps on their molar teeth to puncture and break up the fossil preserved remains of a plant or animal of the past. insects’ hard covering. The contents of insects are quite artifact portable object made or modified by humans. easy to digest, so insectivores have short and simple primates order of mammals that includes modern humans. guts. Insects are difficult to catch, so the limited food sociality preference for living in groups and interacting sources mean that insectivores are small-bodied. regularly with members of the same species. • Gummivores have a diet that relies on the gums and saps foraging obtaining food available in nature through of trees. Some have protruding lower incisors that they gathering, hunting, or scavenging. CHAPTER 2 THE EVOLUTION OF HUMANITY AND CULTURE 35 the lives and behavior of early human ancestors might have Orangutans Gorillas Chimpanzees Modern been like. and Bonobos Humans Apes differ from other primates in the absence of a tail, larger brains relative to body size, and the tendency to travel by brachiation. All apes, including humans, are capable of 8 million years ago brachiation, a form of arboreal travel, using the forelimbs to swing from branch to branch, related to changes in the shoul- der anatomy and distinct to apes (see Figure 2.2). Apes are 12 million years ago typically frugivores but they eat a variety of other foods, in- cluding insects such as termites. Mountain gorillas eat mainly 15 million years ago leaves and stalks. Orangutans are the only Asian great ape. They live on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra (see Map 1.1, p. 10). Sexual dimorphism in body size (difference in size between FIGURE 2.1 The Great Apes, Including Modern Humans. males and females) is marked, with the weight of an adult male (175–200 pounds) roughly double that of an adult Complex communication and signaling systems are an- female (73–99 pounds).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Radiocarbon Evidence Relating to Northern Great Basin Basketry Chronology
    UC Merced Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology Title Radiocarbon Evidence Relating to Northern Great Basin Basketry Chronology Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/52v4n8cf Journal Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, 20(1) ISSN 0191-3557 Authors Connolly, Thomas J Fowler, Catherine S Cannon, William J Publication Date 1998-07-01 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California REPORTS Radiocarbon Evidence Relating ity over a span of nearly 10,000 years (cf. to Northern Great Basin Cressman 1942, 1986; Connolly 1994). Stages Basketry Chronology 1 and 2 are divided at 7,000 years ago, the approximate time of the Mt. Mazama eruption THOMAS J. CONNOLLY which deposited a significant tephra chronologi­ Oregon State Museum of Anthropology., Univ. of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403. cal marker throughout the region. Stage 3 be­ CATHERINE S. FOWLER gins after 1,000 years ago,' when traits asso­ Dept. of Anthropology, Univ. of Nevada, Reno, NV ciated with Northern Paiute basketmaking tradi­ 89557. tions appear (Adovasio 1986a; Fowler and Daw­ WILLIAM J. CANNON son 1986; Adovasio and Pedler 1995; Fowler Bureau of Land Management, Lakeview, OR 97630. 1995). During Stage 1, from 11,000 to 7,000 years Adovasio et al. (1986) described Early ago, Adovasio (1986a: 196) asserted that north­ Holocene basketry from the northern Great ern Great Basin basketry was limited to open Basin as "simple twined and undecorated. " Cressman (1986) reported the presence of and close simple twining with z-twist (slanting decorated basketry during the Early Holo­ down to the right) wefts. Fort Rock and Spiral cene, which he characterized as a "climax Weft sandals were made (see Cressman [1942] of cultural development'' in the Fort Rock for technical details of sandal types).
    [Show full text]
  • © in This Web Service Cambridge University
    Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-01829-7 - Human Adaptation in the Asian Palaeolithic: Hominin Dispersal and Behaviour during the Late Quaternary Ryan J. Rabett Index More information Index Abdur, 88 Arborophilia sp., 219 Abri Pataud, 76 Arctictis binturong, 218, 229, 230, 231, 263 Accipiter trivirgatus,cf.,219 Arctogalidia trivirgata, 229 Acclimatization, 2, 7, 268, 271 Arctonyx collaris, 241 Acculturation, 70, 279, 288 Arcy-sur-Cure, 75 Acheulean, 26, 27, 28, 29, 45, 47, 48, 51, 52, 58, 88 Arius sp., 219 Acheulo-Yabrudian, 48 Asian leaf turtle. See Cyclemys dentata Adaptation Asian soft-shell turtle. See Amyda cartilaginea high frequency processes, 286 Asian wild dog. See Cuon alipinus hominin adaptive trajectories, 7, 267, 268 Assamese macaque. See Macaca assamensis low frequency processes, 286–287 Athapaskan, 278 tropical foragers (Southeast Asia), 283 Atlantic thermohaline circulation (THC), 23–24 Variability selection hypothesis, 285–286 Attirampakkam, 106 Additive strategies Aurignacian, 69, 71, 72, 73, 76, 78, 102, 103, 268, 272 economic, 274, 280. See Strategy-switching Developed-, 280 (economic) Proto-, 70, 78 technological, 165, 206, 283, 289 Australo-Melanesian population, 109, 116 Agassi, Lake, 285 Australopithecines (robust), 286 Ahmarian, 80 Azilian, 74 Ailuropoda melanoleuca fovealis, 35 Airstrip Mound site, 136 Bacsonian, 188, 192, 194 Altai Mountains, 50, 51, 94, 103 Balobok rock-shelter, 159 Altamira, 73 Ban Don Mun, 54 Amyda cartilaginea, 218, 230 Ban Lum Khao, 164, 165 Amyda sp., 37 Ban Mae Tha, 54 Anderson, D.D., 111, 201 Ban Rai, 203 Anorrhinus galeritus, 219 Banteng. See Bos cf. javanicus Anthracoceros coronatus, 219 Banyan Valley Cave, 201 Anthracoceros malayanus, 219 Barranco Leon,´ 29 Anthropocene, 8, 9, 274, 286, 289 BAT 1, 173, 174 Aq Kupruk, 104, 105 BAT 2, 173 Arboreal-adapted taxa, 96, 110, 111, 113, 122, 151, 152, Bat hawk.
    [Show full text]
  • Fort Rock Cave: Assessing the Site’S Potential to Contribute to Ongoing Debates About How and When Humans Colonized the Great Basin
    RETURN TO FORT ROCK CAVE: ASSESSING THE SITE’S POTENTIAL TO CONTRIBUTE TO ONGOING DEBATES ABOUT HOW AND WHEN HUMANS COLONIZED THE GREAT BASIN Thomas J. Connolly, Judson Byrd Finley, Geoffrey M. Smith, Dennis L. Jenkins, Pamela E. Endzweig, Brian L. O’Neill, and Paul W. Baxter Oregon’s Fort Rock Cave is iconic in respect to both the archaeology of the northern Great Basin and the history of debate about when the Great Basin was colonized. In 1938, Luther Cressman recovered dozens of sagebrush bark sandals from beneath Mt. Mazama ash that were later radiocarbon dated to between 10,500 and 9350 cal B.P. In 1970, Stephen Bedwell reported finding lithic tools associated with a date of more than 15,000 cal B.P., a date dismissed as unreasonably old by most researchers. Now, with evidence of a nearly 15,000-year-old occupation at the nearby Paisley Five Mile Point Caves, we returned to Fort Rock Cave to evaluate the validity of Bedwell’s claim, assess the stratigraphic integrity of remaining deposits, and determine the potential for future work at the site. Here, we report the results of additional fieldwork at Fort Rock Cave undertaken in 2015 and 2016, which supports the early Holocene occupation, but does not confirm a pre–10,500 cal B.P. human presence. La cueva de Fort Rock en Oregón es icónica por lo que representa para la arqueología de la parte norte de la Gran Cuenca y para la historia del debate sobre la primera ocupación de la Gran Cuenca. En 1938, Luther Cressman recuperó docenas de sandalias de corteza de artemisa debajo de una capa de cenizas del monte Mazama que fueron posteriormente fechadas por radiocarbono entre 10,500 y 9200 cal a.P.
    [Show full text]
  • 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]
  • Homo Erectus: a Bigger, Faster, Smarter, Longer Lasting Hominin Lineage
    Homo erectus: A Bigger, Faster, Smarter, Longer Lasting Hominin Lineage Charles J. Vella, PhD August, 2019 Acknowledgements Many drawings by Kathryn Cruz-Uribe in Human Career, by R. Klein Many graphics from multiple journal articles (i.e. Nature, Science, PNAS) Ray Troll • Hominin evolution from 3.0 to 1.5 Ma. (Species) • Currently known species temporal ranges for Pa, Paranthropus aethiopicus; Pb, P. boisei; Pr, P. robustus; A afr, Australopithecus africanus; Ag, A. garhi; As, A. sediba; H sp., early Homo >2.1 million years ago (Ma); 1470 group and 1813 group representing a new interpretation of the traditionally recognized H. habilis and H. rudolfensis; and He, H. erectus. He (D) indicates H. erectus from Dmanisi. • (Behavior) Icons indicate from the bottom the • first appearance of stone tools (the Oldowan technology) at ~2.6 Ma, • the dispersal of Homo to Eurasia at ~1.85 Ma, • and the appearance of the Acheulean technology at ~1.76 Ma. • The number of contemporaneous hominin taxa during this period reflects different Susan C. Antón, Richard Potts, Leslie C. Aiello, 2014 strategies of adaptation to habitat variability. Origins of Homo: Summary of shifts in Homo Early Homo appears in the record by 2.3 Ma. By 2.0 Ma at least two facial morphs of early Homo (1813 group and 1470 group) representing two different adaptations are present. And possibly 3 others as well (Ledi-Geraru, Uraha-501, KNM-ER 62000) The 1813 group survives until at least 1.44 Ma. Early Homo erectus represents a third more derived morph and one that is of slightly larger brain and body size but somewhat smaller tooth size.
    [Show full text]
  • Paleoanthropology Society Meeting Abstracts, St. Louis, Mo, 13-14 April 2010
    PALEOANTHROPOLOGY SOCIETY MEETING ABSTRACTS, ST. LOUIS, MO, 13-14 APRIL 2010 New Data on the Transition from the Gravettian to the Solutrean in Portuguese Estremadura Francisco Almeida , DIED DEPA, Igespar, IP, PORTUGAL Henrique Matias, Department of Geology, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, PORTUGAL Rui Carvalho, Department of Geology, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, PORTUGAL Telmo Pereira, FCHS - Departamento de História, Arqueologia e Património, Universidade do Algarve, PORTUGAL Adelaide Pinto, Crivarque. Lda., PORTUGAL From an anthropological perspective, the passage from the Gravettian to the Solutrean is one of the most interesting transition peri- ods in Old World Prehistory. Between 22 kyr BP and 21 kyr BP, during the beginning stages of the Last Glacial Maximum, Iberia and Southwest France witness a process of substitution of a Pan-European Technocomplex—the Gravettian—to one of the first examples of regionalism by Anatomically Modern Humans in the European continent—the Solutrean. While the question of the origins of the Solutrean is almost as old as its first definition, the process under which it substituted the Gravettian started to be readdressed, both in Portugal and in France, after the mid 1990’s. Two chronological models for the transition have been advanced, but until very recently the lack of new archaeological contexts of the period, and the fact that the many of the sequences have been drastically affected by post depositional disturbances during the Lascaux event, prevented their systematic evaluation. Between 2007 and 2009, and in the scope of mitigation projects, archaeological fieldwork has been carried in three open air sites—Terra do Manuel (Rio Maior), Portela 2 (Leiria), and Calvaria 2 (Porto de Mós) whose stratigraphic sequences date precisely to the beginning stages of the LGM.
    [Show full text]
  • In Search of the First Americas
    In Search of the First Americas Michael R. Waters Departments of Anthropology and Geography Center for the Study of the First Americans Texas A&M University Who were the first Americans? When did they arrive in the New World? Where did they come from? How did they travel to the Americas & settle the continent? A Brief History of Paleoamerican Archaeology Prior to 1927 People arrived late to the Americas ca. 6000 B.P. 1927 Folsom Site Discovery, New Mexico Geological Estimate in 1927 10,000 to 20,000 B.P. Today--12,000 cal yr B.P. Folsom Point Blackwater Draw (Clovis), New Mexico 1934 Clovis Discovery Folsom (Bison) Clovis (Mammoth) Ernst Antevs Geological estimate 13,000 to 14,000 B.P. Today 13,000 cal yr B.P. 1935-1990 Search continued for sites older than Clovis. Most sites did not stand up to scientific scrutiny. Calico Hills More Clovis sites were found across North America The Clovis First Model became entrenched. Pedra Furada Tule Springs Clovis First Model Clovis were the first people to enter the Americas -Originated from Northeast Asia -Entered the Americas by crossing the Bering Land Bridge and passing through the Ice Free Corridor around 13,600 cal yr B.P. (11,500 14C yr B.P.) -Clovis technology originated south of the Ice Sheets -Distinctive tools that are widespread -Within 800 years reached the southern tip of South America -Big game hunters that killed off the Megafauna Does this model still work? What is Clovis? • Culture • Era • Complex Clovis is an assemblage of distinctive tools that were made in a very prescribed way.
    [Show full text]
  • New Research at Paisley Caves: Applying New Integrated Analytical Approaches to Understanding Stratigraphy, Taphonomy and Site Formation Processes
    Shillito L-M, Blong J, Jenkins D, Stafford TW, Whelton H, McDonough K, Bull I. New Research at Paisley Caves: Applying New Integrated Analytical Approaches to Understanding Stratigraphy, Taphonomy and Site Formation Processes. PaleoAmerica 2018 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/20555563.2017.1396167 Copyright: © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited DOI link to article: https://doi.org/10.1080/20555563.2017.1396167 Date deposited: 23/10/2017 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License Newcastle University ePrints - eprint.ncl.ac.uk PaleoAmerica A journal of early human migration and dispersal ISSN: 2055-5563 (Print) 2055-5571 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ypal20 New Research at Paisley Caves: Applying New Integrated Analytical Approaches to Understanding Stratigraphy, Taphonomy and Site Formation Processes Lisa-Marie Shillito, John C. Blong, Dennis L. Jenkins, Thomas W. Stafford Jr, Helen Whelton, Katelyn McDonough & Ian D. Bull To cite this article: Lisa-Marie Shillito, John C. Blong, Dennis L. Jenkins, Thomas W. Stafford Jr, Helen Whelton, Katelyn McDonough & Ian D. Bull (2018): New Research at Paisley Caves: Applying New Integrated Analytical Approaches to Understanding Stratigraphy, Taphonomy and Site Formation Processes, PaleoAmerica, DOI: 10.1080/20555563.2017.1396167 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/20555563.2017.1396167 © 2018 The Author(s).
    [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]
  • Quaternary Studies Near Summer Lake, Oregon Friends of the Pleistocene Ninth Annual Pacific Northwest Cell Field Trip September 28-30, 2001
    Quaternary Studies near Summer Lake, Oregon Friends of the Pleistocene Ninth Annual Pacific Northwest Cell Field Trip September 28-30, 2001 springs, bars, bays, shorelines, fault, dunes, etc. volcanic ashes and lake-level proxies in lake sediments N Ana River Fault N Paisley Caves Pluvial Lake Chewaucan Slide Mountain pluvial shorelines Quaternary Studies near Summer Lake, Oregon Friends of the Pleistocene Ninth Annual Pacific Northwest Cell Field Trip September 28-30, 2001 Rob Negrini, Silvio Pezzopane and Tom Badger, Editors Trip Leaders Rob Negrini, California State University, Bakersfield, CA Silvio Pezzopane, United States Geological Survey, Denver, CO Rob Langridge, Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, Lower Hutt, New Zealand Ray Weldon, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR Marty St. Louis, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Summer Lake, Oregon Daniel Erbes, Bureau of Land Management, Carson City, Nevada Glenn Berger, Desert Research Institute, University of Nevada, Reno, NV Manuel Palacios-Fest, Terra Nostra Earth Sciences Research, Tucson, Arizona Peter Wigand, California State University, Bakersfield, CA Nick Foit, Washington State University, Pullman, WA Steve Kuehn, Washington State University, Pullman, WA Andrei Sarna-Wojcicki, United States Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA Cynthia Gardner, USGS, Cascades Volcano Observatory, Vancouver, WA Rick Conrey, Washington State University, Pullman, WA Duane Champion, United States Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA Michael Qulliam, California State University, Bakersfield,
    [Show full text]
  • Evolution of the 'Homo' Genus
    MONOGRAPH Mètode Science StudieS Journal (2017). University of Valencia. DOI: 10.7203/metode.8.9308 Article received: 02/12/2016, accepted: 27/03/2017. EVOLUTION OF THE ‘HOMO’ GENUS NEW MYSTERIES AND PERSPECTIVES JORDI AGUSTÍ This work reviews the main questions surrounding the evolution of the genus Homo, such as its origin, the problem of variability in Homo erectus and the impact of palaeogenomics. A consensus has not yet been reached regarding which Australopithecus candidate gave rise to the first representatives assignable to Homo and this discussion even affects the recognition of the H. habilis and H. rudolfensis species. Regarding the variability of the first palaeodemes assigned to Homo, the discovery of the Dmanisi site in Georgia called into question some of the criteria used until now to distinguish between species like H. erectus or H. ergaster. Finally, the emergence of palaeogenomics has provided evidence that the flow of genetic material between old hominin populations was wider than expected. Keywords: palaeogenomics, Homo genus, hominins, variability, Dmanisi. In recent years, our concept of the origin and this species differs from H. rudolfensis in some evolution of our genus has been shaken by different secondary characteristics and in its smaller cranial findings that, far from responding to the problems capacity, although some researchers believe that that arose at the end of the twentieth century, have Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis correspond to reopened debates and forced us to reconsider models the same species. that had been considered valid Until the mid-1970s, there for decades. Some of these was a clear Australopithecine questions remain open because candidate to occupy the «THE FIRST the fossils that could give us position of our genus’ ancestor, the answer are still missing.
    [Show full text]
  • The Terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene Record in the Northwestern Great Basin: What We Know, What We Don't Know, and How We M
    PALEOAMERICA, 2017 Center for the Study of the First Americans http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20555563.2016.1272395 Texas A&M University REVIEW ARTICLE The Terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene Record in the Northwestern Great Basin: What We Know, What We Don’t Know, and How We May Be Wrong Geoffrey M. Smitha and Pat Barkerb aGreat Basin Paleoindian Research Unit, Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA; bNevada State Museum, Carson City, NV, USA ABSTRACT KEYWORDS The Great Basin has traditionally not featured prominently in discussions of how and when the New Great Basin; Paleoindian World was colonized; however, in recent years work at Oregon’s Paisley Five Mile Point Caves and archaeology; peopling of the other sites has highlighted the region’s importance to ongoing debates about the peopling of the Americas Americas. In this paper, we outline our current understanding of Paleoindian lifeways in the northwestern Great Basin, focusing primarily on developments in the past 20 years. We highlight several potential biases that have shaped traditional interpretations of Paleoindian lifeways and suggest that the foundations of ethnographically-documented behavior were present in the earliest period of human history in the region. 1. Introduction comprehensive review of Paleoindian archaeology was published two decades ago. We also highlight several The Great Basin has traditionally not been a focus of biases that have shaped traditional interpretations of Paleoindian research due to its paucity of stratified and early lifeways in the region. well-dated open-air sites, proboscidean kill sites, and demonstrable Clovis-aged occupations. Until recently, the region’s terminal Pleistocene/early Holocene (TP/ 2.
    [Show full text]