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Archaic Homo Sapiens and the Middle Paleolithic

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Species with modern sized brains in skulls that retained ancestral features. ... y.a. populations of archaic H.sapiens lived in all parts of the inhabited world. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Archaic Homo Sapiens and the Middle Paleolithic


1
Chapter 9
  • Archaic Homo Sapiens and the Middle Paleolithic

2
Chapter Outline
  • Who was archaic Homo sapiens?
  • What was the culture of archaic homo sapiens
    like?
  • Who were the Neandertals and what became of them?

3
Archaic Homo sapiens
  • Species with modern sized brains in skulls that
    retained ancestral features.
  • Descended from Homo erectus, transition took
    place between about 400,000 and 200,000 y.a.
  • Neandertals, the best known, lived in Europe and
    western Asia between about 200,000 and 35,000 y.a.

4
Culture of Archaic Homo sapiens
  • Made a variety of tools for special purposes.
  • Made objects for symbolic purposes.
  • Engaged in ceremonial activities.
  • Cared for the old and disabled.

5
Appearance of Homo sapiens
  • At sites in Europe, Africa, and East Asia,
    fossils have been found that date between 400,000
    and 200,000 y.a.
  • These fossils show a mixture of traits of both H.
    erectus and H. sapiens.
  • Indicates an evolution from the older into the
    younger species.

6
Levalloisian Technique
  • Flake tools produced by this technique were found
    in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and China.
  • Could be a case of independent invention or the
    spread of ideas from one part of the world to
    another.

7
Invention of Hafting
  • Affixing small stone bifaces and flakes in
    handles of wood to make spears and knives.
  • Involved three components handle, stone insert,
    and binding materials.
  • Regional stylistic and technological variants are
    clearly evident, suggesting emergence of distinct
    cultural traditions.

8
Archaic Homo sapiens
  • 200,000 y.a. populations of archaic H.sapiens
    lived in all parts of the inhabited world.
  • The brains of archaic H. sapiens were no
    different in size and organization than our own.
  • Utilized culture as a means of adaptation to a
    greater extent than their predecessors.
  • They were capable of complex technology and
    sophisticated thought.

9
Mousterian Tradition
  • Named after the Neandertal site of Le Moustier,
    France.
  • Tools were lighter and smaller than the
    Levalloisian and included hand axes, flakes,
    scrapers, borers, wood shavers, and spears.
  • Mousterian peoples buried their dead, cared for
    the disabled, and made objects for symbolic
    purposes.

10
Archaic Homo sapiens AndModern Human Origins
  • Multiregional Hypothesis - all populations of
    archaic H. sapiens are easily derivable from
    earlier populations of H. erectus from the same
    regions.
  • Eve Hypothesis - transition from archaic to
    anatomically modern H. sapiens took place in one
    population, probably in Africa.
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