Chapter 9: Homo erectus
I.
Discovery of Pithecanthropus
·
Former species name
for Homo erectus
·
discovered on Java (
·
1912, Piltdown Hoax
in
o
a modern cranium
(“large-brained ancestor”) combined with an ape jaw
§
implication: truly intelligent humans first
evolved in
§
accepted as genuine
until exposure of faked fossils in 1954
o
decades of misleading
debate over Piltdown
§
caused authentic
fossils like Pithecanthropus to be misinterpreted
§
smaller-brained Pithecanthropus inappropriatedly
eliminated as possible human ancestor
II.
Piltdown Hoax Mystery
·
The Piltdown Hoax still unsolved: who did it?
o
Many intriguing theories
o
story and bibliography on web : http://www.scicom.lth.se/fmet/piltdown.html
III.
The Beijing Fossils (aka
“
·
Canadian researcher, Davidson Black, had hunch about suspicious
“dragon bones” found at Chinese apothecaries
o
Chinese traditionally ground up fossil bones for medicines and
aphrodisiacs
o
Anthropologists discovered pieces of suspiciously hominoid character
at apothecaries
IV.
·
Controversial site
·
referred to as a “cave,” but is it? Not certain. May not have been a
cave 500,000 years ago
·
about 25 miles from
·
first excavated in 1927 by Davidson
Black and others
·
many “firsts” have been claimed for
the site: first use of fire very controversial
·
first human fossils found there were
named Sinanthropus pekinensis
(popularly known as “Peking Man”)
·
number of fossils from site is
astounding
Web
Sites on Homo erectus
·
If you like learning from web sites, here are two I recommend:
o
General information:
§
http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anth1602/pchomoer.html
o
Dmansi (aka
Dmanisi) Fossils, by Martha Tappen
(Univ. of Minnesota-Twin Cities)
§
http://www.grad.umn.edu/faculty-staff/funding/dean/fsr/examples/martha_tappen.html
V.
Zhoukoudian “tools”
Early
Discussion of Hominid Tools:
·
French prehistorian, Abbé
Henri Brueil, suggested: some Zhoukoudian
bones and antler artifacts actually used as tools [NB: the term “prehistorian” is mostly used in
·
Raymond Dart used this same argument in
o
he labeled some of the bone, tooth and horn found with south African
australopithecines as “tools”—“osteodontokeratic”
culture—a hypothesis which is today mostly discarded
VI.
Other Zhoukoudian Claims
·
fire use (charred bits of wood)
·
Was this fire made by humans, just used by humans, or
merely natural in origin?
·
Hut structures
·
Site dating (500,000 years ago?)
VII.
Israeli Finds
·
formerly “oldest” non-African finds of Homo
erectus in
o
at ‘Ubeidiya, close to the
o
very close to
VIII.
African and European Sites
Homo erectus in
·
1.8-1.6 m.y.a. to about 300,000-200,000 y.a.
·
Nariokotome Boy, discovered by Kamoya Kimeu
o
nearly complete skeleton of male adolescent about 12 years old
o
tall, given his age
o
height is estimated at 5 feet, 3 inches or slightly more
o
could have been 6 feet as an adult
·
Nariokotome’s People
o
population was as
tall as modern humans
o
very athletic—heavy,
robust bones supporting plenty of muscle
o
large brain
(estimated to have grown to 909 cc in adulthood)
o
nearly equivalent to
the lowest range of modern humans
o
narrow pelvis:
evidence for substantial postnatal brain development (as in modern humans)
o
females of his kind
would have had a wider pelvis
IX.
Homo erectus in
·
Oldest: found at Dmansi
in former Soviet Republic of Georgia
·
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&colID=1&articleID=0008C127-C322-1F80-B57583414B7F0103
o
Interpretation still controversial-intermediary between habilis and erectus?
o
very early migration out of
·
2nd
undisputed European H. erectus find from
·
3rd find: Venta Micena finds from southern
o
some suggest that these artifacts come from the horse genus
X.
Homo erectus Cranial Traits
Skulls
– Modern vs. H. erectus
A.
African Homo erectus Crania
·
From left to right: KNM-ER3733 (KoobiFora), KNM-ER3883 (KoobiFora),
and OH9 (Olduvai)
·
Note variation in supraorbital (brow) ridges
(not consistent in size and shape)
B.
Dmansi Crania (S.E.
·
Intermediary between Homo
habilis and Homo erectus?
·
1.8-1.7 m.y.a.
·
First migratory
population?
Did they originate from
·
Why did they migrate?
·
Oldowan tool users
(not Acheulean)
C.
Sinanthropus (
·
·
Elongated from back to front
·
Massive brow ridge (connected)
·
Constriction behind brows
XI.
Homo erectus Anatomy
·
Long duration: 1.9 m.y.a. - 300,000 y.a.
o
wide geographic distribution
o
therefore, much
anatomical variability
·
common cranial identifiers:
o
sagittal keel
o
occipital ridge or torus (a protrusion in the back of the skull)
·
postcranial
skeleton is much more modern
XII.
Homo erectus Brain
·
average brain size, 937 cc for adults
·
range: 750-1225 cc
·
H. erectus not (yet) showing any significant brain growth
during nearly 2 million year period of existence
·
“anatomical stasis”
XIII.
Homo erectus Communication
·
lacked speech capability
·
three reasons:
o
1. analysis of areas of the brain (Broca’s and Wernicke’s along with
hemispherical assymmetry) are mentioned, but these
are all inconclusive
§
Broca’s Area (well developed):
o
part of cerebral
cortex needed for hierarchical organization of grammar and the manual
combination of objects
§
Wernicke’s Area (uncertain development):
o
part of cerebral
cortex needed for comprehension and production of meaningful speech
§
hemispherical asymmetry:
o
associated with right
and left-handedness; significance is debated; apes also have assymmetry
o
2. probability of a short pharynx (the
throat above the larynx) would inhibit effective speech
o
3. thoracic vertebrae reveal a much
smaller spinal nerve canal than seen in modern humans (analyzed in Nariokotome Boy)
§
extra nerves in the
modern thoracic spine are the ones that offer fine-tuned control of breathing
necessary for effective vocalization
XIV.
Phylogeny: 2 schemes
·
1. Homo ergaster arose in
Africa and gave rise to Homo erectus in Asia and
·
2. Homo erectus arose in Africa, spread across Europe
and
o
Homo heidelbergensis dates as early as
800,000 y.a. and overlaps with Homo erectus
o
Ancestral to Neanderthals (species identity controversial) and modern
humans.
XV.
Environment and Culture
o
Able to range from the tropics to cold climates
o
Associated with the Acheulian tool industry
§
hand-ax most
important tool form
§
“core tool” tradition
§
flakes were hammered off stone to form
usable core
§
flakes also used as sharp cutting tools
§
hammer stones, cleavers (have
perpendicular edge) also used
§
hand-axes often made
into bifaces (had two distinct sides)
Acheulean
Tool Types
Culture
– Other Aspects
·
Fire: most believe was in use by humans from about
500,000 y.a.
o
Was Homo erectus cooking food?
·
Primitive shelters:
o
made of sticks and mud or of hides on a stick frame
o
date back to about 400,000-300,000 y.a.
·
Hunting habits are unclear:
o
controlled stampede
would work with herd animals
o
still scavenging
o
caught small animals
or fish
o
most believe that
meat is now important to diet because:
§
effective stone tools
§
large body size
§
metabolic demands of brain
·
Acheulean Tool Issues and Problems
o
not usually found in
o
these areas may have lacked suitable stones for tools
o
other materials not preserved in the archaeological record (bamboo?)
o
boundary between “tools” and “no-tools” is called the Movius Line (first pointed out by Hallam
Movius)
·
Hut Evidence
o
Terra Amata on south coast of
§
no fossils – not well dated
§
evidence of a large structure built as
shelter and living area
§
from about 300,000-plus years ago
o
argument whether this was the work of H. erectus or
Neanderthals, or both at different times
o
http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/w/x/wxk116/habitat/
Terra
Amata
Hunting
Evidence
·
Torralba and Ambrona
in
o
famous for mass kill of large elephant-type animals
o
forced stampede over cliff
o
produced great deal of meat to be shared by many
o
masses of Acheulean
tools litter area
§
butchering of these
large animals done on site
§
pieces of meat and other animal products
taken away in smaller bits
GLOSSARY
TERMS TO KNOW (find the explanations in your
textbook)
(Species and Genera: )
Homo erectus
Homo ergaster
Pithecanthropus
Sinanthropus pekinensis
“Peking Man”
(Important Fossil Sites and Locations: )
Dmansi (
Hexian (
Koobi Fora
Sangiran and Modjokerto
Nariokotome (Boy)
Terra Amata
‘Ubeidiya (possible Homo erectus in
Zhoukoudian
(Anatomical Terms: )
Broca’s Area
Hemispherical Assymmetry
Larynx
Occipital Torus
Pharynx
Sagittal Keeling
Wernicke’s Area
(Miscellaneous Terms: )
Acheulean Industry
Biface
Cleaver
Dragon Bones
Fire
Hand Ax
Lithic Technology
Movius Line
Oldowan Tools
Osteodontokeratic Culture
Pleistocene
(People: )
Lewis Binford
Davidson Black
Francois Bordes
Abbé Henri Breuil
Eugene Dubois
STUDY
QUESTIONS
1. What were the anatomical differences between early Homo and H. erectus?
2. What were the anatomical differences between H. erectus and modern humans?
3. What are the innovations in material culture attributed to H. erectus? What is the chronological sequence
of these innovations?
4. What is the evidence that H. erectus had language? How would the lack of an effective language impact the
species’ ability to migrate long distances?
5. What were the probable relationships between brain size, digestive
tract, and diet in H. erectus? How might brain enlargement have been both the result of evolutionary
pressure and a trigger for further development?
6. What uses might H. erectus have had for fire?
7. What adaptation may have selected for an increase in brain size? Do
you think that living in complex social groups or environmental challenges
played an important role?