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Archaic Homo sapiens - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Archaic Homo sapiens


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Archaic Homo sapiens is a loosely defined term used to describe a number of varieties of Homo, as opposed to anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens), in the period beginning 500,000 years ago. The term is typically taken to include Homo heidelbergensis, Homo rhodesiensis, Homo neanderthalensis and sometimes Homo antecessor.[1] Modern humans are believed to have evolved from archaic Homo sapiens, who in turn evolved from Homo erectus. Varieties of archaic Homo sapiens are included under the binomial name "Homo sapiens" because their brain size is very similar to that of modern humans. Archaic Homo sapiens had a brain size averaging 1200 to 1400 cubic centimeters, which overlaps with the range of modern humans. Archaics are distinguished from anatomically modern humans by having a thick skull, prominent brow ridges and the lack of a prominent chin.[1][2] Anatomically modern humans appear from about 200,000 years ago and after 70,000 years ago (see Toba catastrophe theory) gradually marginalize the "archaic" varieties. Non-modern varieties of Homo are certain to have survived until after 30,000 years ago, and perhaps until as recent as 10,000 years ago. Which of these, if any, are included under the term "archaic Homo sapiens" is a matter of definition and varies among authors. Nonetheless, and according to recent genetic studies, modern humans seem to have bred with "at least two groups" of ancient humans: Neanderthals and Denisovans.[3] New evidence suggests another group may also have been extant as recently as 11,500 years ago, the Red Deer Cave people of China.[4]

Homo rhodesiensis "Broken Hill Cranium": dated to either 130,000 years ago (using amino acid racemization determination) or 800,000 to 600,000 years ago (within the same time as Homo erectus), depending on which dating method is used.

Contents
1 Terminology and definition 2 Brain size expansion 3 Origin of language 4 Fossils 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

Terminology and definition


The category archaic Homo sapiens is disputed[1] and lacks a single, agreed upon definition. According to one definition, Homo sapiens is a single species comprising several subspecies that include the archaics and modern humans. Under this definition, modern humans are referred to as Homo sapiens sapiens and Archaics are also designated with the prefix "Homo sapiens". For example, the Neanderthals are Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, and Homo heidelbergensis is Homo sapiens heidelbergensis. Other taxonomists prefer not to consider archaics and modern humans as a single species but as several different species. In this case the standard taxonomy is used, ie Homo rhodesiensis, or Homo neanderthalensis.[1] The dividing lines that separate modern humans from archaic Homo sapiens and archaics from Homo erectus are blurry. The
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5/28/12

Archaic Homo sapiens - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

earliest known fossils of anatomically modern humans such as the Omo remains from 195,000 years ago, Homo sapiens idaltu from 160,000 years ago, and Qafzeh remains from 90,000 years ago are recognizably modern humans. However, these early modern humans do exhibit a mix of some archaic traits, such as moderate, but not prominent, brow ridges.

Brain size expansion


The emergence of Archaic Homo sapiens is sometimes used as an example of punctuated equilibrium.[5] This occurs when a species undergoes significant biological evolution within a relatively short period. Subsequently, the species undergoes very little change for long periods until the next punctuation. The brain size of Archaic Homo sapiens expanded significantly from 900 cubic centimeters in erectus to 1300 cubic centimeters. Since the emergence of archaics, brain size has remained stable up until the present.

Origin of language
Main article: Origin of language Robin Dunbar has argued that Archaic Homo sapiens were the first to use Anatomical comparison of the skulls of anatomically modern humans "wise language. Based on his analysis of the men" (left) and Homo neanderthalensis (right) relationship between brain size and hominid group size, he concluded that because Archaic Homo sapiens had large brains, they must have lived in groups of over 120 individuals. Dunbar argues that it was not possible for Hominids to live in such large groups without using language, otherwise there could be no group cohesion and the group would disintegrate. By comparison, chimpanzees live in smaller groups of up to 50 individuals.[6][7]

Fossils
Further information: List of human evolution fossils Sima de los Huesos Saldanha Man Altamura Man Kabwe Skull Steinheim Skull

See also
Human Human evolution Evolution of human intelligence Homo sapiens idaltu Homo erectus Recent African Origin Early human migrations Middle Paleolithic
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Archaic Homo sapiens - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Neanderthal extinction hypotheses

References
1. ^ a b c d Dawkins (2005). "Archaic homo sapiens" (http://books.google.com/books? id=rR9XPnaqvCMC&printsec=frontcover#PPA62,M1) . The Ancestor's Tale. Boston: Mariner. ISBN 0-618-61916-X. http://books.google.com/books?id=rR9XPnaqvCMC&printsec=frontcover#PPA62,M1. 2. ^ Companion encyclopedia of archaeology (http://books.google.com/books?id=c4BZ7vu0WRsC&pg=RA1PA783&lpg=RA1PA783&dq=punctuated+equilibrium+archaic+homo+sapiens&source=bl&ots=bTy2NIi8Bm&sig=QeRgYZ1HskygoiRcKv62HRUo0A&hl=en&ei=2KULSofuFZy6tAOf_ZD4Ag&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#PRA1-PA783,M1) 3. ^ Mitchell, Alanna (January 30, 2012). "DNA Turning Human Story Into a Tell-All" (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/science/gains-in-dna-are-speeding-research-into-human-origins.html) . NYTimes. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/science/gains-in-dna-are-speeding-research-into-human-origins.html. Retrieved January 31, 2012. 4. ^ Amos, Jonathan (March 14, 2012). "Human fossils hint at new species" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/scienceenvironment-17370170) . BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17370170. Retrieved March 14, 2012. 5. ^ Alone in the Universe (http://books.google.com/books?id=67NUz_HVJfQC&printsec=frontcover#PPA62,M1) 6. ^ CO-EVOLUTION OF NEOCORTEX SIZE, GROUP SIZE AND LANGUAGE IN HUMANS (http://www.bbsonline.org/Preprints/OldArchive/bbs.dunbar.html) 7. ^ Dunbar (1993). Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language (http://books.google.com/?id=nN5DFNT6ToC&printsec=frontcover#PPA112,M1) . Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-36336-6. http://books.google.com/? id=nN5DFNT-6ToC&printsec=frontcover#PPA112,M1.

External links
EARLY AND LATE ARCHAICHOMO SAPIENS AND ANATOMICALLY MODERN HOMO SAPIENS (http://www.anthropology.hawaii.edu/People/Faculty/Pietrusewsky/anth310/labs/Lab05.pdf) Origins of Modern Humans: Multiregional or Out of Africa? (http://www.actionbioscience.org/evolution/johanson.html) Homo sapiens, Museum of Natural History (http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/biology/humanevolution/sapiens.html) Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Archaic_Homo_sapiens&oldid=493236997" Categories: Recent single origin hypothesis Human evolution Humans Middle Stone Age Paleoanthropology Early species of Homo This page was last modified on 18 May 2012 at 19:19. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of use for details. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

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