University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 12-2004 A Test of the Multiregional Hypothesis of Modern Human Origins Using Basicranial Evidence from Indonesia and Australia Authur C. Durband University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Durband, Authur C., "A Test of the Multiregional Hypothesis of Modern Human Origins Using Basicranial Evidence from Indonesia and Australia. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2004. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/2155 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Authur C. Durband entitled "A Test of the Multiregional Hypothesis of Modern Human Origins Using Basicranial Evidence from Indonesia and Australia." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Anthropology. Andrew Kramer, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Lyle Konigsberg, Murray Marks, Gary McCracken Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Arthur C. Durband entitled “A Test of the Multiregional Hypothesis of Modern Human Origins Using Basicranial Evidence from Indonesia and Australia.” I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Anthropology. _______Andrew Kramer______ Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Lyle Konigsberg___________ Murray Marks_____________ Gary McCracken___________ Accepted for the Council: ____Anne Mayhew_____ Vice Chancellor and Dean of Graduate Studies (Original signatures are on file with official student records.) A Test of the Multiregional Hypothesis of Modern Human Origins Using Basicranial Evidence from Indonesia and Australia A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee Arthur C. Durband December, 2004 Copyright © 2004 by Arthur C. Durband All Rights Reserved ii Acknowledgements Of course, an undertaking of this magnitude cannot be accomplished without a lot of help. Many different people have provided many different things for me every step of the way to get me this far. First I must thank my main advisor, Andrew Kramer. Throughout my many long years at the University of Tennessee he has been instrumental in providing me with many different opportunities for growth as an aspiring paleoanthropologist. In particular, he brought me to Java during the field season at Rancah, Central Java, in the summer of 1999. During this trip I got to study my first original fossils, and those observations form the basis for this dissertation. He has always encouraged me and pushed me to succeed as a scientist, even though my conclusions about the fossil record and modern human origins in particular have often differed from his own. This work is a direct reflection of this collaboration. The other members of my doctoral committee, Lyle Konigsberg, Murray Marks, and Gary McCracken have all provided significant help and insights for this work. Their patience and dedication to this project is very much appreciated. A number of individuals provided me with access to materials in their care, and also made my many travels to collect data both enjoyable and successful. In Indonesia Fachroel Aziz and Teuku Jacob both provided me with access to original fossils in their care. Tony Djubiantono allowed me to view a cast of the Ngawi calvarium in his laboratory. iii During my trip to Europe John de Vos gave me access to the Wajak 1 cranium and also went out of his way to be helpful during my stay. He gave me a ride from Frankfurt to The Netherlands, taking me to the Neandertal site museum along the way. He also graciously provided me with several copies of original reprints by Dubois that were cited in this dissertation. In Frankfurt, Friedemann Schrenk allowed me to view the original Sangiran fossil material in his care. Christine Hertler was also a great help during my studies in Germany. My work in Australia was greatly assisted by Michael Westaway, who provided me with places to stay and too many helpful contacts to mention. Without his help my trip would not have been anywhere near as successful or enjoyable as it was. At the Shellshear Museum Denise Donlon allowed me to study the impressive collection of Pleistocene Australian casts in her care, and also took the time to show me around the Darling Fish Market. Ann Macintosh supplied me with a stack of original reprints of her late husband’s work that were a real treat to receive, and also entertained me with many great stories. In Canberra, my day of work and conversation with Alan Thorne was one of the most interesting and rewarding experiences I’ve had as an anthropologist. David Bulbeck was also kind enough to take an afternoon to discuss my work during my stay. Harvey Johnston included me in his guided tour of Lake Mungo during my last weekend in Australia, and his efforts are also appreciated. At the American Museum of Natural History, Ian Tattersall, Ken Mowbray, and Gary Schwartz provided me with access to materials in their care. Ken Mowbray and Sam Márquez also took the time to discuss their views on the Ngandong TMJ with me. At the Smithsonian Institution, Rick Potts and Jennifer Clark allowed me to borrow casts iv in their collection to be scanned for the chapter on TMJ morphology. Rebecca Snyder taught me how to use their impressive 3-D scanner to collect my data, and lent her expertise when necessary. David Hunt allowed me access to skeletal material in his care. During my stay in Washington Lisa Nevell provided me with a place to stay as well as a lot of help making TMJ scans. Kristen Yoder spent many days working with me on the color-coded TMJ maps in Chapter 6. Mike O’Neil of the statistical consulting center at the University of Tennessee assisted me with the Manova tests for Chapter 5. Fred Smith has also been instrumental in my development as an anthropologist. He taught the first class I took on the human fossil record and also served as the main advisor on my Masters committee. His influence on this project is considerable. He also allowed me to borrow some of his personal casts, most notably Sambungmacan 3, to complete this work. This work would not have been possible without the support of my friends and family. Their patience and confidence in me has really made this journey possible, and a lot more enjoyable than it could have been. Jim Kidder has collaborated with me on a number of projects in the past several years, and we’ve attended a lot of AAPA meetings together. He has been a great person to work with as well as a good friend, and I hope our work can continue. Dan and Laura Weinand are like family and have kept me sane during this long and often tortuous process. Without their help I would have given it all up and moved to Guatemala to grow coffee beans a long time ago. Meredith Tarczynski has also put up with a lot from me these past few years, and I appreciate her patience and sense of humor. Altogether way too much fun, indeed. v And last, but certainly not least, my family has been all I could have asked for and more. My brother Rob continues to amaze me with everything he knows how to do (he really did get all of the talent in our family), and I continue to hope that I can grow up to be more like him. Most of all, however, I need to thank my Mom, who has made all of this possible. Because of all her sacrifices I get to do what I love every day of my life, and it just doesn’t get any better than that. Funding for this project was provided by University of Tennessee, Northern Illinois University, Sigma Xi, and the American Museum of Natural History. vi Abstract Proponents of the Multiregional Hypothesis of modern human origins have consistently stated that the material from Australasia provides one of the most compelling examples of regional continuity in the human fossil record. According to these workers, features found in the earliest Homo erectus fossils from Java can be traced through more advanced hominids from Ngandong and are found in both fossil and recent Australian Aborigines. For this study, non-metric observations will be used to determine the degree of similarity between earlier Homo erectus from Sangiran, the Ngandong fossils (including the Sambungmacan hominids), and fossil/modern Australian Aborigines in the cranial base. This study will examine the hypothesis that a number of non-metric features will show an overall similarity between these samples, and will reject this hypothesis if it can be shown that significant dissimilarity exists between these groups. The results of this project highlight a suite of features on the cranial base in the Ngandong sample that appear to be unique to that group.