Chapter Study Outline

  1. Modern Human Morphology
    1. Small, flat faces with protruding chins
    2. Rounded skull
    3. Cranial capacity of around 1,350 cc
    4. More gracile postcranial skeleton
    5. Long limbs and short trunks
  2. Genetics of Homo sapiens
    1. Human and chimp genomes differ by just over 1%.
    2. Protein coding genes, however, are substantially different between humans and chimpanzees.
  3. The Archaeology of Human Behavior
    1. Ecological range
      1. Modern humans spread throughout the world, moving into Australia around 40 kya.
      2. Around the same time, people crossed into Britain and Ireland.
    2. Technology
      1. Humans likely constructed boats to colonize islands.
      2. In Asia, sophisticated stone tools were developed.
      3. Blade tools, a Mode 4 technology, were an efficient use of raw materials and showed precision in crafting.
      4. Tools were formed through mental models.
      5. Tools could be made out of bone, ivory, and antler in addition to stone.
    3. Use of animals
      1. New tools were used to exploit more species of prey than before.
      2. Upper Paleolithic people developed clothing and shelter from animal hides, bones, and plant material.
      3. Domestication of dogs likely started with early modern humans.
    4. Social organization
      1. Upper Paleolithic people lived in areas with greater population density than their hominin ancestors.
      2. They also lived longer than Neanderthals, leaving more time for complex culture and transmission of knowledge to occur.
      3. For whatever reason, early modern human remains show less evidence of trauma and disease than the skeletons of Neanderthals do.
    5. Symbolic expression
      1. The first concrete evidence of ritual burial comes from the Upper Paleolithic.
      2. Engravings, drawings, and sculpture have been found from this time period as well, indicating these people were skilled artisans.
  4. Origin and Spread of Modern Humans
    1. Genetic data tell us that:
      1. Modern humans evolved in Africa 200 to100 kya.
      2. Modern humans outside Africa are descended from an East African population of about 10,000 people that left about 60 kya.
      3. This recent population spread around Asia and then Europe.
      4. There was little interbreeding between the hominins in Eurasia and the modern human population.
      5. The human species is less variable genetically than are other species.
      6. The last common ancestor of Neanderthals and modern humans lived around 800 to 400 kya.
      7. There was little to no interbreeding between humans and Neanderthals.
    2. Fossil data and tool kits tell us that:
      1. Modern humans migrated to the Middle East and Africa before Neanderthals went extinct.
      2. Upper Paleolithic toolmaking industries spread rapidly around Eurasia.
      3. The intermediate Ch‰telperronian tool industry was likely the result of Neanderthals borrowing ideas and techniques from modern humans.
  5. Modern Human Behavior
    1. Increased complexity in the Late Pleistocene
      1. New tool industries, called the Later Stone Age (LSA), include small flakes that formed compound or composite tools. Some of these tools were manufactured in the Middle Stone Age (MSA).
      2. MSA first developed blades, had regional variation in tool industries, used bone as tools, manufactured composite tools, and transported raw material great distances.
      3. MSA people built hearths and shelters, and they were artisans.
      4. LSA people hunted larger game than in the MSA; they had more sophisticated, planned behavior; and they engaged in more intensive foraging.
    2. How this behavior evolved
      1. Rapid genetic change could have led to a shift in cognitive abilities.
      2. A new technological advance could have given rise to larger human groups.
      3. Modern human behavior might have evolved gradually in Africa.