Pioneers of Modern Humanity

By 100,000 Years Ago... ARCHAIC Homo sapiens Found throughout the “Old World” Physically similar, culturally distinct “Growing into” local environments A “critical mass” of neurons attained

Discovered by Johann Fuhlrott in 1856 in a small cave at Feldhofer in the Neander Valley in Germany. The find consisted of a skullcap, thigh bones, part of a pelvis, some ribs, and some arm and shoulder bones. The lower left arm had been broken in life, and as a result the bones of the left arm were smaller than those of the right. There were actually two earlier Neandertal finds. A partial cranium of a 2.5 year old child found in 1829 in Belgium was not recognized until An adult cranium found on Gibraltar in 1848 gathered dust in a museum until it was recognized as a Neandertal in Homo sapiens neanderthalensis By 100,000 Years Ago... ARCHAIC Homo sapiens

Homo sapiens neanderthalensis 1400cc skull capacity (vs. 1300cc for mod humans) Mainly confined to SW Europe Very robust skeleton Comparison of top view of Chimpanzee, Homo erectus, and Neandertal skulls.

Homo sapiens neanderthalensis First hominid known to have buried the dead. Earlier cultures had core tool lithic technologies, Mousterian is characterized by flake tools. Flake tool technology… Mousterian Culture Levallois flakes consciousness… aesthetics…. religion Middle Paleolithic (Middle Old Stone Age)

Homo sapiens neanderthalensis What happened to Neandertal?

Homo sapiens sapiens ….had “grown into” a wide variety of local habitats throughout the Old World by cultural adaptation. Upper Paleolithic Sequence in Southwestern France and Northern Spain Magdalenian 15,000-10,000BC Chatelperronian 38,000-28,500BC Aurignacian 28,500-22,000BC Gravettian 22,000-18,000BC Solutrian 18,000-15,000BC By 40,000 Years Ago…. Altamira Lascaux Solutrian Laurel-leaf Points “Venus” figurines Burins Backed blades Pech Merle

Lascaux - southwestern France In this panel of Back-to Back Bison, reserves around the limbs in the background, distortion of shapes, choice of surface, symmetrical composition, are all used to create a three dimensional effect... Upper Paleolithic Art (ca. 12, 000 BP)

Altamira - northern Spain Upper Paleolithic Art (ca. 12, 000 BP) In this representation of a horse, red is ocher, black charcoal. Undulations in cave wall and ceiling were incorporated in the composition of the paintings.

Upper Paleolithic Art (ca. 12, 000 BP) Pech Merle - Spotted Horses (entoptic phenomena?)

Summary of Early Fossil Evidence This chart shows rough sequence of fossil hominids. 10,000BP Homo sapiens (full culture, worldwide distribution) 100,000BP Homo sapiens (Neandertal, et al.) 1mBP Homo erectus (Radiation thru Old World) 2mBP Homo habilis (Earliest Culture?) 3mBP Australopithecus var. (Fully bipedal) 4mBP Ardipithecus ramidus (Earliest hominines?) 5mBP

Post Pleistocene Adaptations Mesolithic and Archaic - After last glaciation in Europe and New World. Exam 1 Scores A – 8 B – 10 C – 6 D – 1 F – 0 O - 2

Neolithic domestication of plants and animals The Neolithic Revolution Sedentary, population increase, specialization in division of labor Jericho; Jarmo - early villages occurred independently in several “hearths”

Early Civilization Developed in various places at different times…. Sumerian Civilization - Early Phases (Developed in the Fertile Crecent region.) generally in area of earliest domestication. Sumerian Early Dynasty BCE Sumerian Protoliterate BCE Sumerian Ubaid Phase BCE