Neanderthals & Archaic Homo sapiens Early archaic H. Sapiens & later Neandertals

Neanderthals & Archaic Homo sapiens

• Early archaic H. Sapiens & later Neandertals

• Middle Pleistocene evolutionary trends

• Middle Pleistocene culture

• The Neandertal mystery

I. Early Archaic Homo sapiens

• Some dispersed Homo erectus evolved

• Large variation within & between samples

• All the specimens are classified Homo sapiens

II. Middle Pleistocene Evolution (CIRCA 400,000-125,000 y.a.)

• Fossils exhibit a mosaic of traits (primitive & modern)

• While the fossils from each continent differ, the physical differences are not extraordinary.

• Common physical trends:

• increase in brain size (1450+ cc)
• a change in the skull from pentagonal to globular
• maintain long, low braincase
• short and stocky

II. Middle Pleistocene Evolution

II. Middle Pleistocene Evolution

III A. Middle Pleistocene Culture: Tools

• African and European archaics invent the Levallois technique for tool making.

• Acheulian tools are still around but the Mousterian becomes more common

• More variety in tools (burins, scrapers, etc.)

• Regional variety, no particular “types”

III A. Mousterian

• Named after

• le Moustier, France

• Flake-based

• Pressure flaking

• Retouching common

III B. Middle Pleistocene Culture: Dwellings

• Definitive dwellings with fire show for the first time by 400 kya

• Terra Amata and Mezin

III C. Middle Pleistocene Culture: Hunting

• Many early H. sapiens probably drove large animals off cliffs.

• Weapons large and clunky.

• No missiles.

• Some suggest “encounter strategy”.

• Shipman & Trinkhaus and fractures
• Site location

III D. Middle Pleistocene Culture: Burials

• Neanderthals flexed the bodies of their dead

• We later see deliberate burials containing grave goods like animal bones and stone tools, even flowers at Shanidar.

• All by 100 kya

III E. Middle Pleistocene Culture: Complex Symbolic Behavior

• Burials and grave goods indicate something

• Cave bear skull collections

• Fires over some burials

• Possible evidence of music?

• (undated bear femur flute)

• Compassion

• La Chapelle (Elderly)
• Shanidar1 (Disabled)

III E. Middle Pleistocene Culture: Complex Symbolic Behavior

Taxonomic Issues

• The classification of individual fossils in "archaic Homo sapiens" is viewed by many as imprecise, since this is an ill-defined evolutionary group.

• Several early archaic specimens are interpreted by paleoanthropologists as showing derived features different from Homo sapiens.

• Neanderthals are viewed by numerous researchers as representing a distinct species, Homo neanderthalensis.