Palaeoanthropology

Many species co-existed with Homo sapiens in the Late Pleistocene. Through morphological and palaeo-genomic analysis, four archaic hominins have been proven to have interbred with modern humans. Findings show that modern humans of Eurasian origin share DNA with Neanderthals. Additionally, Melanesians, share archaic haplotypes with Neanderthals but also Denisovans and an unknown group, “Species X”, whilst African populations share many with an archaic group of H. sapiens. Introgressed haplotypes of archaic origin are located within many coding sections of DNA, some at curiously high frequencies within certain populations. This can be explained through positive selective pressure, indicating that interbreeding was often adaptive. However, interbreeding also had some detrimental impacts on modern humans (e.g. infertility), which is likely a reason why there is not a greater number of archaic lineages present in modern DNA.

Genetic data allows mapping of the date, location and frequency of admixture events. This contextualisation indicates that - to some extent - an assimilation model is the best fit for the “extinction” of Late Pleistocene hominin species. Therefore, it could be argued that these species are not truly extinct, and instead they live on within modern humans, as nearly 10% of some modern genomes being made up of introgressed sequences. Evidence of introgression suggests it is highly probable that admixture has been a critical dynamic in the process hominin evolution, ever since the origin of our lineage. This has numerous implications on the dynamics of interactions between hominin groups, but also on the designation of many hominin populations as species in their own right.

We have carried out a comprehensive ESR and U-series dating study on the Lake Mungo 3 (LM3) human skeleton. The isotopic Th/U and Pa/U ratios indicate that some minor uranium mobilization may have occurred in the past. Taking such effects into account, the best age estimate for the human skeleton is obtained through the combination of U-series and ESR analyses yielding 62,000±6000 years. This age is in close agreement with OSL age estimates on the sediment into which the skeleton was buried of 61,000±2000 years. Furthermore, we obtained a U-series age of 81,000±21,000 years for the calcitic matrix that was precipitated on the bones after burial. All age results are considerably older than the previously assumed age of LM3 and demonstrate the necessity for directly dating hominid remains. We conclude that the Lake Mungo 3 burial documents the earliest known human presence on the Australian continent. The age implies that people who were skeletally within the range of the present Australian indigenous population colonized the continent during or before oxygen isotope stage 4 (57,000–71,000 years).

Dating the Drimolen hominins Fossil hominins from South Africa are enriching the story of early human evolution and dispersal. Herries et al. describe the geological context and dating of the hominin-bearing infilled cave, or palaeocave, at a site called Drimolen in South Africa (see the Perspective by Antón). They focus on the age and context of a recently discovered Homo erectus sensu lato fossil and a Paranthropus robustus fossil, which they dated to ∼2.04 million to 1.95 million years ago. This makes Drimolen one of the best-dated sites in South Africa and establishes these fossils as the oldest definitive specimens of their respective species ever discovered. The age confirms that species of Australopithecus, Paranthropus , and early Homo overlapped in the karst of South Africa ∼2 million years ago. Science , this issue p. eaaw7293 ; see also p. 34

An up-to-date, well-illustrated introduction to the techniques and results of archaeology, the study of humanity's evolution and ancient past. A fully-referenced, low-cost text, well-illustrated with the author's trademark diagrams, maps and photographs from archaeological work worldwide and spanning early hominin studies to historical archaeology.

The evidence for palaeolithic cultures in North India, have been sporadic and have occurred
majorly as open-air sites associated with Acheulian (bifaces) and Soanian (non-bifacial) lithic
traditions (De Terra and Paterson, 1939; Sankalia, 1974; Chauhan, 2003). These sites have been
predominantly restricted to the Siwaliks. The distribution of the sites in the Siwaliks can be
divided on the basis of the accumulation of sites in a close area, such as the Soan valley in
Pakistan, Markanda river basin in the South-east Himachal Pradesh, the Sutlej catchment area in
the Hoshiarpur district of Punjab and the Banganga-Beas river valley in the North-Western
Himachal Pradesh.
The Banganga-Beas region among these, has been devoid of any significant archaeological
research in recent times. Hence, a primary survey and exploration were carried out in the region
by the researcher, to identify localities with potential palaeolithic assemblages and to re-explore
the localities that have been described by previous researchers. The paper deals with the findings
of the exploration and the description of artefacts collected from a previously unexplored locality
of Nandrool, near the Kangra town.
Due to lack of time and resources, the investigations were limited to just the previously reported
sites. For the same reason, the artefacts that were collected for the study, were retrieved as
surface finds, primarily because the data collection was done individually and independently by
the researcher. This paper is a report of the findings during the survey and attempts to study the
future of these sites in the field of paleolithic archaeology. It begins with a review of previous
investigations in the Siwaliks and the Banganga-Beas valley and then talks about the findings
from the Nandrool site. Finally, it proceeds to elaborate the importance of the finds in relation to
the study of lithic assemblages from Banganga-Beas valley and the Siwaliks as a whole.

The Sterkfontein Caves, located in the south-west of the Cradle of Humankind in Gauteng is the world’s richest Australopithecus-bearing locality. The fossil-bearing cave deposits represent a more recent instalment of a history spanning 2.6 Ga, from the deposition of the karst-hosting dolomites, to the commercial exploitation of the caves by lime miners in the early twentieth century. The location and morphology of the caves is a result of lithological variation within the two host dolomite formations, multiple and complex phases of karstification and infilling of the resultant solution cavities over the two billion years since the dolomite deposition, and consistently active local tensional joint and fault systems. Where vadose collapse has opened the caves to the landscape, a broad range of geomorphological processes has created dynamic sedimentary environments with complex stratigraphic histories.

"The Late Miocene and Early Pliocene hominin fossil record confi rms Africa as the birthplace of humanity. Raymond Dart ’s announcement of the first species of ‘ape-man’ in the journal Nature (Dart, 1925 ) forever changed our perceptions of Africa’s place in the ‘human story’ and fi rmly established the field of African palaeoanthropology. We palaeoanthropologists, past, present and future, owe a significant debt to Dart’s discovery and his recognition of its importance. But Dart’s work was just the beginning of a long and proud legacy of excavation and research in southern Africa, and new discoveries continue to confirm the importance of this region to our understanding of human evolution. The African Genesis symposium, held at the University of the Witwatersrand Medical School, Johannesburg, South Africa between 8 and 14 January 2006, celebrated the 80th anniversary of Dart’s publication of the Taung child and the 80th birthday of a remarkable man, Professor Phillip V. Tobias. Tobias
continued the tradition established by his mentor Dart, and his mentor before him: a long line of mentors and students stretching back more than 500 years (Ungar and Tobias, Chapter 2). Tobias, in turn, continues to collaborate with colleagues and former students on a variety of new perspectives on the fossil hominin material (e.g. Lockwood and Tobias, 2002 ; Holloway et al. , 2004 ; Curnoe and Tobias, 2006 ; Moggi-Cecci et al. , 2006 ). His commitment to education and scientific rigour established a strong foundation for our scholarly community. Phillip Tobias’s contributions encompass the systematic study of all aspects
of human evolution and he continues to inspire students and colleagues worldwide. In his role of palaeoanthropologist, he described new fossil discoveries (Leakey et al. , 1964 ; Hughes and Tobias, 1977 ), headed the excavation programme at Sterkfontein for many years and studied deposits of Sterkfontein,such as the Silberberg Grotto in which Ron Clarke would later discover a near -complete Australopithecus skeleton (Tobias, 1979 ; Clarke and Tobias, 1995 ). Tobias’s seminal publications include two monographs on the comparative
morphology and evolutionary signifi cance of two hominin taxa,
Australopithecus boisei and the enigmatic Homo habilis from Bed 1 Olduvai Gorge , Tanzania (Tobias, 1967 , 1991 ). The African Genesis conference and this subsequent volume outline the major developments since Dart’s announcement and description of Taung and gauge the consensus between various subdisciplines concerning the broader issues of hominin emergence in our ancestral homeland. This chapter reviews
and summarises the main topics linking the contributions in this volume. These are loosely grouped into four parts: (I) the search for origins, whether these be in the earliest African Miocene deposits, in new excavations or in the new interpretation of previously studied hominin assemblages ( Chapters 3 – 7 ); (II)
hominin cranial, postcranial and dental morphology ( Chapters 8 – 16 ); (III) the processes of modern human origins and dispersals ( Chapters 17 – 21 ) and (IV) faunal context of hominin discoveries and the inferences about the evolution of human behaviour through time ( Chapters 22 – 27). At the end of the volume overview, I discuss the other signifi cant discoveries
of the last two decades that have helped to change our perspectives of our science and our origins."

Arguments that megafaunal extinctions in Australia were anthropogenically mediated have focused on establishing terminal appearance ages. This approach has been underpinned by three principle tenets: (1) if megafauna disappeared before significant climate change, but after human colonisation, then it can be inferred that extinctions were human mediated; (2) climate change within the last glacial cycle was unremarkable relative to previous cycles; and (3) all or most Pleistocene megafauna were present when people arrived on the continent. We review the evidence for human causation and note mounting evidence suggesting that the last 400–300 ka in Australia has been characterised by escalating aridity and climatic variability, culminating in the breach of a hydrological threshold within the last glacial cycle. Only 21 species (35%) of megafauna whose disappearance has been attributed to human activity are known to have
persisted after the Penultimate Glacial Maximum, a time of undoubtedly severe climate change. Thus, 39 species of megafauna (65%) cannot be reliably placed within 85,000 years of firm evidence for human arrival, ca 50–43 ka. At most eight species (13%) were clearly present at this time. Four or more persisted until the onset of full glacial conditions at ca 30 ka. We argue for a falsifiable model of staggered extinction in which most megafaunal extinctions predated human arrival and with the influence of people as a minor superimposition on broader trends in train since middle Pleistocene times.

The definitions of human behavior guiding traditional psychology, psychiatry or sociology lack the defining capacity of sciences, the provision of causal explanations of phenomena. Humanities are, by definition, anthropocentric disciplines. The mental, emotional, and social mannerisms or actions of human individuals or populations that represent behavior are manifestations of complex strategies responding to stimuli in perceived realities. In this they apply neurologically constituted means such as consciousness, theory of mind, and self-awareness, while also following culturally imposed conventions of various types. None of these and other factors contributing to human behavior can be dissociated from their historical trajectories, leading all the way into the deep hominin past. Nor can they be explained effectively without an understanding of these trajectories. Such understanding has largely escaped scientific attention thus far, and this chapter cannot provide more than a rudimentary introduction illustrating the profound shortcomings of traditional disciplines in defining the complexities of human behavior.

À quoi ressemblait la Terre quand d’autres hommes que nous la peuplaient ? Comment y vivaient-ils ? Comment les hommes modernes sont-ils apparus et quel fut leur périple à la sortie de leur berceau africain ? Quels furent leurs rapports avec leurs cousins, et notamment les Néandertaliens ? Quand – et par qui! ? – ont été inventés le feu, les outils, les premières sépultures, l’art ? Qui étaient Toumaï, Lucy, le petit Homme de Florès ou le nouveau venu, Homo naledi ? Autant de questions, et bien d’autres, auxquelles répondent deux grands spécialistes de la paléoanthropologie – l’histoire naturelle de l’homme – et de la préhistoire – son histoire culturelle – en s’appuyant sur l’ensemble des découvertes scientifiques les plus récentes. L’évolution foisonnante de l’humanité et la vie quotidienne des hommes qui nous ont précédés sont retracées de façon claire et accessible, et abondamment illustrées par plus de 200 photos, cartes et dessins, permettant de mieux voir et comprendre toute la richesse de notre préhistoire.

This paper presents a thermal model for the prehistoric origins and development of clothing. A distinction is drawn between simple and complex clothing, a distinction which has implications for palaeolithic technological transitions and the emergence of modern human behavior. Physiological principles and paleoenvironmental data are harnessed to identify conditions requiring simple, loosely–draped garments and the more challenging conditions that demanded additional protection in the form of complex garment assemblages. No actual clothing survives from the Pleistocene, yet the archaeological record yields evidence for technological and other correlates of clothing―more evidence than is generally supposed. Major innovations and trends in the distributions and relative frequencies of lithic and other tool forms may reflect the changing need for portable insulation in the context of fluctuating ice age climates. Moreover, the non–thermal repercussions of complex clothing can be connected with archaeological signatures of modern human behavior, notably adornment. Alternative models are less parsimonious in accounting for the geographical and temporal variability of prominent technological and other behavioral patterns that vary in association with environmental changes.

Persistence and change are necessary for the stability and development of both the human individual and the human society, since the beginnings of human history. Man needs a static framework, which, related to his self-awareness, defines a topocentric system of perception, evaluation, order, and meaning. He also requires a dynamic impetus, which allows exceeding the limits of special world views, shifting of perspectives and transformations of individual as well as social approaches to life. Travelling especially helped to broaden man’s horizon and mind. Accross cultures voyages guided by the skies are linked with practical concepts of exploring and domesticating time and space, but also figuratively with the life’s journey and with other worlds, being expressed by mythic, ritual and later scientific language.

Here is the story of human origins in the Arabian Peninsula, the lost Southern Crescent where humanity took its first steps toward civilization. Under Arabia’s surface of sand and stone lies a primordial realm of rolling grasslands, freshwater lakes, and river floodplains. This book aims to restore a critical missing chapter in the prehistory of our species that played out in this forgotten place of plenty.

With twenty years of fieldwork experience in Yemen and Oman, Dr. Jeff Rose leaves no stone unturned, weaving together an unorthodox tapestry of archaeology, environmental science, genetics, even Middle Eastern mythology. At times, Arabia’s grasslands formed an extension of the East African savannah. For most of our species’ tenure on earth, the Gulf was not there, instead a well-watered river valley flowing into the Indian Ocean. This book proposes that there was more than just a Fertile Crescent spanning Mesopotamia and the Levant, there was another crescent, a lost southern Crescent that served as a bridge between prehistoric worlds. Combined, these formed a Fertile Circle, which was the crucible where the world's first civilization was cast.

The dispersal of humans and earlier ancestors out of Africa and into Asia is a key topic in human evolutionary studies. The earliest dispersals into Asia appear to range back to nearly 2 million years, whereas the migration 􏰁􏰅􏰄􏰁􏰇􏰂􏰄􏰁􏰢􏰈􏰄􏰑􏰛􏰃􏰌􏰐􏰃􏰑􏰄􏰅􏰂􏰁􏰀􏰄􏰐􏰉􏰑􏰄􏰬􏰅􏰂􏰐􏰌􏰋􏰈􏰄􏰊􏰁􏰀􏰃􏰍􏰋􏰈􏰙􏰄􏰛􏰂􏰁􏰞􏰋􏰞􏰍􏰝􏰄􏰁􏰌􏰌􏰇􏰂􏰂􏰃􏰙􏰄􏰁􏰏􏰃􏰂􏰄􏰋􏰄􏰛􏰃􏰂􏰐􏰁􏰙􏰄􏰂􏰋􏰈􏰜􏰐􏰈􏰜􏰄􏰅􏰂􏰁􏰀􏰄􏰫􏰠􏰗􏰮􏰉􏰁􏰄􏰘􏰗􏰮􏱆􏰋􏰔􏰄 The fossil and archaeological record in support of these multiple dispersal events is remarkably limited, and DNA evidence is mostly confined to an understanding of the movement of 􏱂􏰔􏰮􏰑􏰋􏰛􏰐􏰃􏰈􏰑. Nevertheless, the Asian landmass contains significant localities, many of which can help us to address important questions in palaeoanthropology, such as the relationship between climate change and hominin demography, the evolution of cognition and symbolism and the evolution of behavior. To date, relatively few Asian sites have been placed on the World Heritage List, though this situation can clearly be rectified by paying greater attention to the many key sites in the region. An examination and assessment of rock art districts throughout Asia is one of the potential avenues that could prove to be productive in nominating archaeological sites to the World Heritage List. Rock art sites and districts are spatially large entities, and often co-occur with significant archaeological deposits and human skeletal remains. As a case example, the rock art district of Bhimbetka (India), currently on the World Heritage List, is evaluated here to demonstrate how such a nomination is of value for preserving significant archaeological sites and landscapes. We demonstrate that Bhimbetka is not a unique example, and provide a case study from the Kurnool District of southern India, which has played a major role in many of the key topics of interest to palaeoanthropologists, Palaeolithic archaeologists and geneticists.

The next volume of the Transactions covers a part of the works carried out under the Cooperation Agreement between the IEA RAS and the Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan at the Gonur-depe archaeological site in the southeast Karakum desert. Archaeological, including stratigraphic works, as well as paleoanthropological, paleopathological, archaeoecological, geochemical, and magnetometric studies are briefly described. The social structure of the Margiana society, the ivory trade, the methodological aspects of the age determination based on the bone material and some ethnographic themes are discussed. The problem of localization of the primary center of Indo-European speakers and a number of themes on the paleoanthropology of Tajikistan are touched upon. The publication is intended for specialists in archaeology, anthropology, ethnography and history of Eurasia.
Очередной том Трудов экспедиции освещает часть работ, проведенных в рамках Соглашения о сотрудничестве между ИЭА РАН и Министерством культуры Туркменистана на памятнике Гонур-депе в юго-восточных Каракумах. Кратко описываются археологические, в том числе стратиграфические работы, а также палеоантропологические, палеопатологические, археоэкологические, геохимические и магнитометрические исследования. Обсуждается социальная структура маргианского общества, торговля слоновой костью, методические вопросы определения возраста по костному материалу и некоторые этнографические сюжеты. Затрагиваются проблема локализации первичного очага носителей индоевропейских языков и ряд тем палеоантропологии Таджикистана. Издание предназначено для специалистов по археологии, антропологии, этнографии и истории Евразии.

Archaeological evidence for musical activities pre-dates even the earliest-known cave art and it remains the case that no human culture has yet been encountered that does not practise some recognisably musical activity. Yet the human abilities to make and appreciate music have been described as “amongst the most mysterious with which [we are] endowed” (Charles Darwin, 1872) and music itself as “the supreme mystery of the science of man” (Claude Levi-Strauss, 1970). Like language, music has been the subject of keen investigation across a great diversity of fields, from neuroscience and psychology, to ethnography, to studies of its structures in its own dedicated field, musicology; unlike the evolution of human language abilities, it is only recently that the origins of musical capacities have begun to receive dedicated attention.

It is increasingly clear that human musical abilities are fundamentally related to other important human abilities, yet much remains mysterious about this ubiquitous human phenomenon, not least its prehistoric origins. It is evident that no single field of investigation can address the wide range of issues relevant
to answering the question of music’s origins. This review brings together evidence from a wide range of anthropological and human sciences, including palaeoanthropology, archaeology, neuroscience, primatology and developmental psychology, in an attempt to elucidate the nature of the foundations of music, how they have evolved, and how they are related to capabilities underlying other important human behaviours.

It is proposed that at their most fundamental level musical behaviours (including both vocalisation and dance) are forms of deliberate metrically-organised gesture, and constitute a specialised use of systems dedicated to the expression and comprehension of social and emotional information between individuals. The abilities underlying these behaviours are selectively advantageous themselves; in addition, various mechanisms by which the practice of musical activities themselves could be advantageous are outlined.

The origins of the Germanic “Straw-bears” have been subject to speculation for years. In this study the Straw-bears will be contextualized along with their European relatives so that their meaning can be better appreciated within a larger framework of European ritual belief and social practice. The cosmogony in question is grounded in the belief that humans descended from bears, a belief that continued into the 20th century among Basque-speakers. The transformative aspects of the Straw-bear performances will be examined in relation to “Good-Luck Visits”, a type of performance aimed at bringing good health and prosperity to the houses visited and in which Straw-bears and their relatives have played a major role.

The Middle Pleistocene (~721-126 thousand-years-ago) is one of the most complex and unclear periods with regards to the evolutionary history of genus Homo. Remains from Africa, Europe, and sometimes Asia are assigned to “Homo heidelbergensis”: a species theoretically defined around the ~600,000-year-old Mauer mandible. However, many specimens do not align closely with the holotype, and the apparently-broad polymorphism during this period, combined with the emergence of modern human, Neanderthal, and Denisovan lineages have made the designation H. heidelbergensis extremely controversial.

A geometric-morphometric analysis of posterior dental crowns was undertaken, with the aim of quantifying and assessing levels of intra-specific shape variability within H. heidelbergensis in comparison with other taxa. The results showed that Middle Pleistocene specimens generally exhibited larger inter-individual shape variation than other hominin species and may include several palaeodemes, providing further support to the illegitimacy of H. heidelbergensis. However, it may not necessarily be concluded from this study that the specimens represent more than one broad, over-arching species; at least, within this sample of mostly-European specimens. Alternatively, it may provide support for broad intra-taxic variability, and leaves the status of H. heidelbergensis still to be clarified. Though many interpretations of H. heidelbergensis are found in palaeoanthropological literature, it may not necessarily be inaccurate as a cross-continental species lasting from ~700kya until speciation events, ~250kya.

The addition of Afro-Eurasian specimens would provide a fairer assessment of H. heidelbergensis as a cross-continental taxon. Furthermore, this study adds to the lack of clarity with regards to acceptable levels of polymorphism within the genus Homo.

The debate over whether Africa was the sole home of hominin species (excepting Homo neanderthalensis and Homo floresiensis) is not completely won (Dennell, 2009: 466). Homo erectus (sensu lato) is often thought to be the first species to have left Africa and entered Asia (Langbroek, 2004: 11; Klein, 2005: 102), with occasional discussions on earlier hominids (such as australopithecines) having made this symbolic breakthrough (Templeton, 2002: 48; Dennell and Roebroeks, 2005: 1100). The role of climate has often been used to discuss the emergence of a particular species, however it has been less discussed when approaching why a species – (Homo erectus) – may have evolved into a new species – (Homo heidelbergensis) – on one continent, whilst seemingly persisting for a large period of time on another, with little change to its skeletal morphology.
Homo erectus became ubiquitous (Bonnefille, 2010: 408) across a number of environments across Africa and Asia, from high plateau to sea level, temperate to tropical, desert to rainforest as well as persisting from c.1.7 Ma to maybe c. 60 Ka (Klein, 2005: 106). The emergence of this species is believed to have been triggered by climatic changes c. 1.8 Ma, as was its dispersal across the old world (or before) (Bar Yosef, 1998: 267; Clark, 1998: 437). Ultimately, the equation for hominin occupation and survival across the earth required access to water, food and stone (Dennell, 2009: 476).

All living beings communicate but only humans have language. This is because in order to work properly, language requires the co-occurrence of a "symbolic mind" and of a "computational mind" (based on recursive thinking). The former must be able to give a specific meaning to gestures, sounds and signs which in themselves would not have one, the latter is necessary to generate and ordinate the signs and the symbols in the correct way to form grammatical sentences. Both these abilities - ultimately referred to semantics and syntax - are rooted in the physiological organization of the brain. It is therefore from the study of this organ that we must start to understand the origin of language. From a biological point of view, language and social learning are closely related phenomena. In both humans and apes, the cortical areas involved in social learning (emulative and imitative) are anatomically associated with areas that control language in Homo sapiens; in addition, the social learning exhibits a functional coupling of semantic and computational aspects, which phylogenetically precede any evidence of language. It is likely that the imitative skills of our Plio-Pleistocene ancestors increased due to the advantages drawn from passing technical skills and knowledge required to access essential nutrients for brain expansion (encephalization). It is within this exaptative context that language, and its related cortical and functional complexities, might have been selectively promoted.