The term Archaic Homo sapiens refers generally to the earliest members of the species Homo sapiens. Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus Fossils categorized as archaic Homo sapiens have many of the same features as modern humans with general tendencies toward features of earlier Hominid species. A hominid is any member of the biological family Hominidae (the "great apes" including the extinct and extant Humans Chimpanzees
Archaic Homo sapiens lived during the Mindel and Riss glacial periods of the Middle Pleistocene (300,000 to 30,000 B.P.). The Kansan Glaciation (known in the UK as the Anglian glaciation, Elster glaciation in northern Europe and the Mindel glaciation in the So far the Pleistocene Series is not subdivided into formal units (i Before Present (BP years are a time scale used in Archaeology, Geology, and other scientific disciplines to specify when events in the past occurred They were seemingly well adapted to different environmental stresses, as evidenced by the wide distribution of their tool and fossil remains. An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants animals and micro-organisms( Biotic factors in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical ( FOSSIL is a standard protocol for allowing serial communication for Telecommunications programs under the DOS Operating system. Their brains were larger than those of Homo erectus, and were comparable in size to those of modern humans. The brain is the center of the Nervous system in animals All Vertebrates and the majority of Invertebrates have a brain Homo erectus ( Latin: "upright man" is an extinct species of the genus Homo, believed to have been the first hominin
There is some debate about whether Homo heidelbergensis or Homo neanderthalensis should in fact be classified as Homo sapiens. Homo heidelbergensis ("Heidelberg Man" is an Extinct Species of the Genus Homo which may be the direct ancestor The Neanderthal (neɪˈændərtɑːl also with /niː-/ and /-θɔːl/ or Neandertal, is an extinct member of the Homo genus that is known from Some anthropologists hold that although they do have some anatomical similarities, they are not in fact of the species H. Anthropology (/ˌænθɹəˈpɒlədʒi/ from Greek grc ἄνθρωπος anthrōpos, "human" -λογία -logia) is the study of Anatomy (from the Greek anatomia, from ana separate apart from and temnein, to cut up cut open is a branch of Biology that is the consideration In Biology, a species is one of the basic units of Biological classification and a Taxonomic rank. sapiens. They suggest that these different groups of hominids should be designated as their own, separate species. The earliest undisputed presence of H. sapiens is ascertained from ca. 160,000 BP with Homo sapiens idaltu. Homo sapiens idaltu is an extinct Subspecies of Homo sapiens that lived almost 160000 years ago in Pleistocene The most recent common matrilineal ancestor of humans alive today lived at about that time as well (ca. Mitochondrial Eve ( mt-mrca) is the name given by researchers to the woman who is defined as the Matrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA for all currently 150,000 BP).
Between 400,000 years ago and the second interglacial period in the Middle Pleistocene, around 250,000 years ago, the trend in cranial expansion and the elaboration of stone tool technologies developed, providing evidence for a transition from H. erectus to H. The Pleistocene ('plaɪstəsin is the epoch from 18 million to 10000 years BP covering the world's recent period Cranial capacity is a measure of the volume of the interior of the Cranium (also called the braincase or brainpan of those Vertebrates who have both a cranium and Homo erectus ( Latin: "upright man" is an extinct species of the genus Homo, believed to have been the first hominin sapiens. In the Recent African Origin scenario, migration within and out of Africa eventually replaced the earlier dispersed H. In Paleoanthropology, the recent African origin of modern humans is one of two hypotheses of the origin of anatomically modern humans Homo sapiens sapiens erectus. Homo sapiens idaltu, from Ethiopia, lived from about 160,000 years ago. Homo sapiens idaltu is an extinct Subspecies of Homo sapiens that lived almost 160000 years ago in Pleistocene It is the oldest known anatomically modern human.
Fossils of modern humans were found in a cave in Israel at Qafzeh and have been dated to 100,000 years ago. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. Qafzeh or Kafzeh is a paleoanthropological site at Mount Kafzeh south of Nazareth, Israel. However these humans seem to have either gone extinct or retreated back to Africa 80,000 - 70,000 years ago, possibly replaced by south bound Neanderthals escaping the colder regions of ice age Europe. All other fossils of fully modern humans outside of Africa have been dated to more recent times. The next oldest fossil of modern humans outside of Africa are those of Mungo Man found in Australia and have been dated to about 42,000 years ago. The Mungo Man (also known as Lake Mungo 3) was an early Human inhabitant of the continent of Australia, who is believed to have lived about 40000 years [1]
Contents |
Behavioral modernity
Though fossil remains of modern humans appear about 200,000 years ago, significant changes in technology do not appear until much later. Behavioral modernity is a term used in Anthropology, Archeology and Sociology to refer to a list of traits that distinguish present day humans and their Early humans apparently continued to use the same technology of the Neanderthals. Beginning about 100,000 years ago evidence of more sophisticated technology and artwork begins to emerge and by 50,000 years ago fully modern behaviour becomes more prominent. Behavioral modernity is a term used in Anthropology, Archeology and Sociology to refer to a list of traits that distinguish present day humans and their By this time the ritual burying of the dead is noted. See also Prehistoric religion The origin and early Development of religion falls into the Paleolithic. Stone tools show regular patterns that are reproduced or duplicated with more precision. Tools made of bone and antler appear for the first time. [2][3] These new changes are suggestive of more advanced behaviour and scientists attribute these changes to the development of language. The new stone tool types have been described as being distinctly differentiated from each other as if each tool had a specific name. This period is referred to as the Upper paleolithic. The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe Africa For the first time in the fossil record evidence of fishing indisputably appears in Africa at 50,000 years ago. Homo erectus and the Neanderthals lived alongside oceans, rivers and lakes but never ate fish. Archaeological coastal sites that are dated to before 50,000 years contain no fish bones whereas those dated to after 50,000 do contain fish bones. This also serves as evidence for significant change in human behaviour at the 50,000 year mark. [4]
Cultural universals are the key elements shared by all groups of people throughout the history of man. A cultural universal (see George Murdock, Claude Levi-Strauss, Donald Brown) is an element pattern trait or institution that is common to all Human Examples of elements that may be considered cultural universals are language, religion, art, music, marriage, gender roles, the incest taboo, myth, cooking, games, and jokes. A language is a dynamic set of visual auditory or tactile Symbols of Communication and the elements used to manipulate them A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos Art refers to a diverse range of Human activities creations and expressions that are appealing to the Senses or Emotions of a human individual Music is an Art form in which the medium is Sound organized in Time. NOTICE TO WOULD-BE ROMEOS ************** A gender role is defined as a set of perceived behavioural norms associated particularly with Males or Females in a given social group or system The incest taboo refers to the cultural prohibition of Sexual activity or Marriage between persons defined as "close" relatives - commonly called Incest The word mythology (from the Greek grc μυθολογία mythología, meaning "a story-telling a legendary lore" Cooking is the process of preparing Food by applying Heat, selecting measuring and combining of ingredients in an ordered procedure for producing safe and edible A game is a structured activity, usually undertaken for Enjoyment and sometimes also used as an Educational tool See also Mathematics of humor A joke is a short story or ironic depiction of a situation communicated with the intent of being humorous. These traits distinguish homo sapiens from other species. Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus David Buller hypothesizes that some cultural universals may in fact be cultural homologies that originate from a common human ancestry. In Anthropology and Archaeology, homology is a type of Analogy whereby two human beliefs practices or artefacts are separated by time but share [5] Nicholas Wade writes:
- Yet the ancestral population, even if generally inclined to aggression, presumable possessed all the major elements of human behavior that occur in descendant populations around the world, since otherwise all of these behaviors would have had to evolve or be invented independently in each of thousands of societies
- Whatever the genesis of these universals, the fact that they are found in societies throughout the world suggests strongly that they would have been possessed by the ancestral human population before its dispersal. Nicholas Wade is a British-born scientific reporter editor and author who currently writes for the Science Times section of The New York Times. [6]
Origin of language
- Further information: Origin of music
There is considerable debate regarding when modern human language first came into existence. The origin of language ( glottogony) is a topic that has attracted considerable speculation throughout human history In the History of music, prehistoric music (previously called primitive music) is all Music produced in preliterate cultures ( Prehistory Much of the debate centers on whether modern language arose suddenly with anatomically modern humans or whether language developed gradually over millions of years with all archaic hominids. Those in favor of the "sudden occurrence" of language argue that the first indisputable signs of symbolism such as art, which are associated with language, occur in the fossil record 50,000 BP, and become significantly more abundant thereafter. Art refers to a diverse range of Human activities creations and expressions that are appealing to the Senses or Emotions of a human individual They contend that language was a necessary prerequisite for modern humans to leave Africa and reach continents such as Australia, that had never before been populated by Archaic hominids. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Since all these major historic events appear to take place around the 50,000 year mark, scholars believe this is when language suddenly arose, with some suggesting that it may have required some biological change such as a mutation affecting the brain.
Other schools of thought disagree with the sudden emergence of language. They argue that since only a few materials such as bone and stone fossilize, the lives of archaic hominids may have involved the use of several materials that do not fossilize, such as wood or bark. Hence it would be impossible to concretely ascribe a date to the first symbolism. In addition a few fossils that appear to be symbolic have been controversially dated to much earlier than 50,000 BP. These include the Katanda bone points from the Congo, dated to 100,000 years ago and engravings found on red ochre dated to 75,000 years ago from Blombos cave in South Africa. The Semliki harpoon, also known as the Katanda harpoon, refers to complex harpoon heads carved from bone Blombos Cave is a Cave in a Limestone cliff on the Southern Cape coast in South Africa. This would indicate that language may have arisen much earlier. However these findings are disputed with some arguing that they are simply anomalies in the fossil record.
Since the human line branched off from the common ancestor shared with chimpanzees six million years ago, the human vocal tract has been evolving. Hence some scholars argue that it must have been evolving for a reason. If the Neanderthals possessed a near modern if not fully modern vocal tract, then it would only make sense that it must have evolved for them to use some sort of speech. However critics once again point to the Neanderthal stone tool kit, that remained relatively unchanged and unsophisticated from millions of years before.
Physical appearance
There is considerable speculation on the physical appearance (skin colour, body hair) of early Homo sapiens during the period of Mitochondrial Eve and prior to exodus from Africa. Variations in the physical appearance of humans, known as human looks, are believed by Anthropologists to be an important factor in the development of personality and Human skin color can range from almost black (due to very high concentrations of the dark brown pigment melanin to nearly colorless (appearing reddish white due to the Blood Androgenic hair, colloquially Body hair, is the Terminal hair on the Human body developed during and after Puberty. Mitochondrial Eve ( mt-mrca) is the name given by researchers to the woman who is defined as the Matrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA for all currently
The majority of apparent difference in human physical appearance around the world, or what may also be called racial features, can also be explained through the process of regional sexual selection. The term race or racial group usually refers to the concept of categorizing Humans into Populations or groups on the basis of various sets Sexual selection is the Theory proposed by Charles Darwin that states that certain evolutionary traits can be explained by Intraspecific competition [7]
The general consensus among scholars is that dark skin, coupled to loss of body hair, evolved some 1. The term black people usually refers to a racial group of Humans with dark Skin color, but the term has also been used to categorise a number of diverse 2 million years ago, well before the emergence of Homo sapiens. The SLC24A5 mutation resulting in light skin is currently estimated to have originated among Europeans some 6,000 to 12,000 years ago. SLC24A5 ( solute carrier family 24 member 5) is a Gene that is thought to explain between 25 and 38% of Skin pigmentation variation between Black [8]
Fossils
- Further information: List of human evolution fossils
- Omo remains, 200ka, Ethiopia
- Jebel Irhoud, 160ka, Morocco
- Qafzeh, 100ka, Israel
- Mungo Man, 42ka, Australia
- Hofmeyr Skull, 36ka, South Africa
- Cro-Magnon 1, 30ka, France
References
- ^ human origins by the Museum of natural history
- ^ Ancestral tools
- ^ Middle to upper paleolithic transition
- ^ three distinct human populations
- ^ Buller, David (2005). The following charts give a brief overview of several notable Primate Fossil finds relating to Human evolution. The Omo remains are a collection of hominid bones discovered by Richard Leakey and others at the Omo Kibish site near the Omo River in the Jebel Irhoud is an archaeological cave site located near Sidi Moktar, about 100 km west of Marrakesh, Morocco. Qafzeh or Kafzeh is a paleoanthropological site at Mount Kafzeh south of Nazareth, Israel. The Mungo Man (also known as Lake Mungo 3) was an early Human inhabitant of the continent of Australia, who is believed to have lived about 40000 years The Hofmeyr Skull is a 36 kya human skull Specimen. The skull was found in 1952 at the coordinates, in a dry channel bed of the Vlekpoort River near Hofmeyr See also Cro Magnon List of fossil sites (with link directory List of hominina (hominid fossils Adapting Minds: Evolutionary Psychology and the Persistent Quest for Human Nature. PMIT Press, pages 467-468. ISBN 0262025795.
- ^ Wade, Nicholas ((2006)). Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors, pages65-66. ISBN 1594200793.
- ^ Diamond, Jared (2006). The Third Chimpanzee: the Evolution and Future of the Human Animal. New York: Harper Perennial. The Third Chimpanzee The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal (ISBN 978-0060-98403-8 originally published in English in 1991 as The Rise and Fall of the ISBN 0060845503.
- ^ Gibbons A (2007). "American Association of Physical Anthropologists meeting. European skin turned pale only recently, gene suggests". Science 316 (5823): 364. doi:. A digital object identifier ( DOI) is a permanent identifier given to an Electronic document. PMID 17446367.
- Kottak, Conrad Phillip. Windows on Humanity: A Concise Introduction to Anthropology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005. ISBN 0-07-035907-5
See also
- Human
- Human evolution
- Homo sapiens idaltu
- Homo erectus
- Recent African Origin
- Early human migrations
- Middle Paleolithic
- Neanderthal interaction with Cro-Magnons
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic