Paleolithic Papers #15

Genus Homo:

Long endurance in modern Humans seems to have arisen in the genus Homo around 1 million years ago.

Humans lost strength relative to chimpanzees due to a need for low energetic cost, repetitive motions.

Different times when people are better awake (night owls, early birds, etc) may have increased the human ancestors' chances of survival.

Did a dog domestication take a wrong turn?

A Mesolithic rock shelter's biomarkers might be useful for studies around the world.

How female chimps differ from male on how they acquire meat may shed light on how humanity evolved gender roles.

Old age insomnia might actually be a survival mechanism.

When did music originate in the human line?

Modern Humans (H. sapiens):

The oldest known fossils of modern humans date from around 300 kya and show the diet of that ancient modern human was very meat heavy.  Additionally, the site is mesolithic, further tying our species to the advent of that level of technology.  The fossil raises interesting questions about how modern humans evolved in Africa.

Examining the Omo-Kibish pelvis, one of the oldest known fossils of modern humans.

In the late Pleistocene, PaleoIndians in Peru had an interestingly advanced culture.

A Mesolithic culture in Ethiopia used ochre for thousands of years at one site.

Mesolithic era human remains have been found in South Africa.

Rice domestication has been pushed back to the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary.

The first use of potatoes in North America has been dated to the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary.

Upper Paleolithic behaviors changed based on evidence from an Armenian cave.

Late Paleolithic beads made from Ostrich shells in northern China show evidence of different craftsmen.

It appear the Aboriginals reached Australia 65,000 years ago based on new archaeological evidencea.

Neandertals (H. neanderthalensis):

A commentary on the recent paper about Neandertal diet.

The Apidima 2 hominin is a Neandertal from 160,000 years ago.

The transition from Neandertals to modern human occupation in the Czech Republic.

The transition from Neandertals to modern human occupation in Iran's Zagros Mountains took place between 45,000 to 40,000 years ago.

Dating the Mousterian in France.

Neandertals apparently used toothpicks based on tooth wear evidence.

Rabbits may have disturbed a Neandertal gravesite bringing into question the dating of the remains there.

Mitochondrial DNA suggests Neandertals interbred with a close relative of modern humans between 220,000 to 470,000 years ago.

H. naledi:

Homo naledi chipped its teeth an awful lot.

H. ergaster:

How Homo ergaster might have organized socially due to predation.

META:

The evolution of the hominin ankle and knee.

Examining the depositional environment in South African hominin fossil sites that are paleokarsts.

Increasing aridity and hominin evolution may not be as tightly coupled as originally thought.

When did hominins start eating large amounts of meat?

When did the Genus Homo get Large?

Spatial and temporal variation of body size among early Homo

Authors:

Will et al

Abstract:

The estimation of body size among the earliest members of the genus Homo (2.4–1.5 Myr [millions of years ago]) is central to interpretations of their biology. It is widely accepted that Homo ergaster possessed increased body size compared with Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis, and that this may have been a factor involved with the dispersal of Homo out of Africa. The study of taxonomic differences in body size, however, is problematic. Postcranial remains are rarely associated with craniodental fossils, and taxonomic attributions frequently rest upon the size of skeletal elements. Previous body size estimates have been based upon well-preserved specimens with a more reliable species assessment. Since these samples are small (n less than 5) and disparate in space and time, little is known about geographical and chronological variation in body size within early Homo.

We investigate temporal and spatial variation in body size among fossils of early Homo using a ‘taxon-free’ approach, considering evidence for size variation from isolated and fragmentary postcranial remains (n = 39). To render the size of disparate fossil elements comparable, we derived new regression equations for common parameters of body size from a globally representative sample of hunter-gatherers and applied them to available postcranial measurements from the fossils.

The results demonstrate chronological and spatial variation but no simple temporal or geographical trends for the evolution of body size among early Homo. Pronounced body size increases within Africa take place only after hominin populations were established at Dmanisi, suggesting that migrations into Eurasia were not contingent on larger body sizes. The primary evidence for these marked changes among early Homo is based upon material from Koobi Fora after 1.7 Myr, indicating regional size variation. The significant body size differences between specimens from Koobi Fora and Olduvai support the cranial evidence for at least two co-existing morphotypes in the Early Pleistocene of eastern Africa.