The Emergence of Homo Sapiens

Introduction u Transition from Homo erectus l areas of agreement l areas of disagreement l fossils with mixed traits u Africa / Europe / Asia

Introduction (cont.) u Transition (cont.) l fossils < 200,000 years old u definitely Homo sapiens

Neanderthals u Early Discoveries l Neander Valley, Germany l other fossil finds l later fossils concentrated in Europe u did not evolve u glaciation

Neanderthals (cont.) u Early Discoveries (cont.) l disappeared 30,000 ya l closely related to H. sapiens

Neanderthals (cont.) u Physical Characteristics l “brutish” appearance l larger braincase than modern humans l large hands / fingers

Neanderthals (cont.) u Tool Assemblages l Middle Paleolithic cultural period u Africa - Middle Stone Age l Mousterian tool assemblage u Africa - post Acheulian

Neanderthals (cont.) u Tool Assemblages (cont.) l small flake tools l Levalloisian Method u Flake-tool manufacture u Chipped of a specially prepared core of rock u Resulted in uniform and specialized small blades for sawing, gouging, piercing, and preparing animal hides for clothing

Neanderthals (cont.) u Homesites l caves & rock shelters u most common excavations l open sites

Neanderthals (cont.) u Funeral Rituals? l deliberate burials l examples of possible rituals u Le Moustier u Shanidar Cave, Iraq

Emergence of Modern Humans (H. sapiens sapiens) u Cro-Magnon humans l named after rock shelter - France l oldest fossils - Africa u 100,000 ya?

H. sapiens sapiens (cont.) u Cro-Magnon humans (cont.) l many other finds l physical characteristics u modern looking

Upper Paleolithic Cultures u Introduction l Upper Paleolithic u 40, ,000 ya l Lifestyles

Upper Paleolithic (cont.) u Tool technology l indirect percussion u hammer-struck punch l bone & antler tools l burins l pressure flaking u microliths

Upper Paleolithic (cont.) u Art l early u beads / carvings / paintings l Venus figures l cave paintings

Humans in the New World u Introduction l H. sapiens sapiens migrated to new world u no earlier species found l disagreement over earliest appearance

New World (cont.) u Migrations l Linguistic research u three waves of migration l Dental research u confirms theory of three waves

New World (cont.) u Tool Assemblages l Clovis Complex u Clovis, New Mexico u large projectile point v hunted large game v dated 11,200-10,900 ya

New World (cont.) u Tool Assemblages (cont.) l Folsom Point u smaller point v indicated smaller game