Journal of anthropological sciences = Rivista di antropologia : JASS最新文献

{"title":"Two Acheuleans, two humankinds: From 1.5 to 0.85 Ma at Melka Kunture (Upper Awash, Ethiopian highlands).","authors":"R. Gallotti, M. Mussi","doi":"10.4436/JASS.95001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4436/JASS.95001","url":null,"abstract":"The Acheulean is the longest-lasting human cultural record, spanning approximately 1.5 Ma and three continents. The most comprehensive sequences are found in East Africa, where, in largescale syntheses, the Lower Pleistocene Acheulean (LPA) has often been considered a uniform cultural entity. Furthermore, the emergence and development of Acheulean technology are seen as linked to the emergence and evolution of Homo ergaster/erectus. The criterion for grouping together different lithic assemblages scattered over space and time is the presence of large cutting tools (LCTs), more than of any other component. Their degree of refinement has been used, in turn, as a parameter for evaluating Acheulean development and variability. But was the East African LPA really uniform as regards all components involved in lithic productions? The aim of this paper is to evaluate the techno-economic similarities and differences among LPA productions in a specific micro-regional and environmental context, i.e. at Melka Kunture, in the Ethiopian highlands, and in a specific period of time: between ≈1.5 Ma, when some of the earliest Acheulean complexes appeared, and 1.0-0.85 Ma, when LCTs productions became intensive and widespread. Our detailed comparative analyses investigate all aspects and phases of the chaînes opératoires. Since hominin fossil remains were discovered at some of the analyzed sites, we also discuss differences among lithic productions in relation to the changing paleoanthropological record. Our studies show that at Melka Kunture the LPA techno-complexes cannot be grouped into a single uniform entity. The assembled evidence points instead to \"two Acheuleans\" well-defined by a strong discontinuity in various aspects of techno-economic behaviors. This discontinuity is related to a major step in human evolution: the transition from Homo ergaster/ erectus to Homo heidelbergensis.","PeriodicalId":171465,"journal":{"name":"Journal of anthropological sciences = Rivista di antropologia : JASS","volume":"149 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133364393","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Filling the gap. Human cranial remains from Gombore II (Melka Kunture, Ethiopia; ca. 850 ka) and the origin of Homo heidelbergensis.","authors":"A. Profico, F. Di Vincenzo, Lorenza Gagliardi, M. Piperno, G. Manzi","doi":"10.4436/JASS.94019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4436/JASS.94019","url":null,"abstract":"African archaic humans dated to around 1,0 Ma share morphological affinities with Homo ergaster and appear distinct in cranio-dental morphology from those of the Middle Pleistocene that are referred to Homo heidelbergensis. This observation suggests a taxonomic and phylogenetic discontinuity in Africa that ranges across the Matuyama/Brunhes reversal (780 ka). Yet, the fossil record between roughly 900 and 600 ka is notoriously poor. In this context, the Early Stone Age site of Gombore II, in the Melka Kunture formation (Upper Awash, Ethiopia), provides a privileged case-study. In the Acheulean layer of Gombore II, somewhat more recent than 875 ±10 ka, two large cranial fragments were discovered in 1973 and 1975 respectively: a partial left parietal (Melka Kunture 1) and a right portion of the frontal bone (Melka Kunture 2), which probably belonged to the same cranium. We present here the first detailed description and computer-assisted reconstruction of the morphology of the cranial vault pertaining to these fossil fragments. Our analysis suggest that the human fossil specimen from Gombore II fills a phenetic gap between Homo ergaster and Homo heidelbergensis. This appears in agreement with the chronology of such a partial cranial vault, which therefore represents at present one of the best available candidates (if any) for the origin of Homo heidelbergensis in Africa.","PeriodicalId":171465,"journal":{"name":"Journal of anthropological sciences = Rivista di antropologia : JASS","volume":"31 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121604221","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"What constitutes Homo sapiens? Morphology versus received wisdom.","authors":"J. Schwartz","doi":"10.4436/JASS.94028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4436/JASS.94028","url":null,"abstract":"Although Linnaeus coined Homo sapiens in 1735, it was Blumenbach forty years later who provided the first morphological definition of the species. Since humans were not then allowed to be ante-Diluvian, his effort applied to the genus, as well. After the Feldhofer Grotto Neanderthal disproved this creationist notion, and human-fossil hunting became legitimate, new specimens were allocated either to sapiens or new species within Homo, or even to new species within new genera. Yet as these taxonomic acts reflected the morphological differences between specimens, they failed to address the question: What constitutes H. sapiens? When in 1950 Mayr collapsed all human fossils into Homo, he not only denied humans a diverse evolutionary past, he also shifted the key to identifying its species from morphology to geological age - a practice most paleoanthropologists still follow. Thus, for example, H. erectus is the species that preceded H. sapiens, and H. sapiens is the species into which H. erectus morphed. In order to deal with a growing morass of morphologically dissimilar specimens, the non-taxonomic terms \"archaic\" (AS) and \"anatomically modern\" (AMS) were introduced to distinguish between the earlier and later versions of H. sapiens, thereby making the species impossible to define. In attempting to disentangle fact from scenario, I begin from the beginning, trying to delineate features that may be distinctive of extant humans (ES), and then turning to the fossils that have been included in the species. With the exception of Upper Paleolithic humans - e.g. from Cro-Magnon, Dolni Vestonice, Mladeč - I argue that many specimens regarded as AMS, and all those deemed AS, are not H. sapiens. The features these AMS do share with ES suggest the existence of a sapiens clade. Further, restudy of near-recent fossils, especially from southwestern China (∼11-14.5 ka), reinforces what discoveries such as H. floresiensis indicate: \"If it's recent, it's not necessarily H. sapiens\".","PeriodicalId":171465,"journal":{"name":"Journal of anthropological sciences = Rivista di antropologia : JASS","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115720414","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Multi-level human evolution: ecological patterns in hominin phylogeny.","authors":"A. Parravicini, T. Pievani","doi":"10.4436/JASS.94026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4436/JASS.94026","url":null,"abstract":"Evolution is a process that occurs at many different levels, from genes to ecosystems. Genetic variations and ecological pressures are hence two sides of the same coin; but due both to fragmentary evidence and to the influence of a gene-centered and gradualistic approach to evolutionary phenomena, the field of paleoanthropology has been slow to take the role of macro-evolutionary patterns (i.e. ecological and biogeographical at large scale) seriously. However, several very recent findings in paleoanthropology stress both climate instability and ecological disturbance as key factors affecting the highly branching hominin phylogeny, from the earliest hominins to the appearance of cognitively modern humans. Allopatric speciation due to geographic displacement, turnover-pulses of species, adaptive radiation, mosaic evolution of traits in several coeval species, bursts of behavioral innovation, serial dispersals out of Africa, are just some of the macro-evolutionary patterns emerging from the field. The multilevel approach to evolution proposed by paleontologist Niles Eldredge is adopted here as interpretative tool, and has yielded a larger picture of human evolution that integrates different levels of evolutionary change, from local adaptations in limited ecological niches to dispersal phenotypes able to colonize an unprecedented range of ecosystems. Changes in global climate and Earth's surface most greatly affected human evolution. Precisely because it is cognitively hard for us to appreciate the long-term common destiny we share with the whole biosphere, it is particularly valuable to highlight the accumulating evidence that human evolution has been deeply affected by global ecological changes that transformed our African continent of origin.","PeriodicalId":171465,"journal":{"name":"Journal of anthropological sciences = Rivista di antropologia : JASS","volume":"157 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114274865","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Make it clear: molds, transparent casts and lightning techniques for stereomicroscopic analysis of taphonomic modifications on bone surfaces.","authors":"Edgard Camarós, Carlos Sánchez-Hernández, F. Rivals","doi":"10.4436/JASS.94023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4436/JASS.94023","url":null,"abstract":"This paper provides detailed description of a non-destructive, low-cost, and low-time consuming technique for producing high-resolution casts for the observation of taphonomic modifications on bone surfaces. The aim of the whole process is to obtain molds that accurately replicate the original bone surface at both the macro- and microscopic levels. The high quality transparent epoxy casts produced are analyzed by light microscopy and used to produce detailed microphotographs of bone surfaces. After describing each step of the process, we present some examples of its application in the case of anthropic activity, carnivores, or other post-depositional modifications.","PeriodicalId":171465,"journal":{"name":"Journal of anthropological sciences = Rivista di antropologia : JASS","volume":"94 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130643213","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The evolution of language and thought.","authors":"P. Lieberman","doi":"10.4436/JASS.94029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4436/JASS.94029","url":null,"abstract":"Language primarily evolved as a vocal medium that transmits the attributes of human culture and the necessities of daily communication. Human language has a long, complex evolutionary history. Language also serves as an instrument of thought since it has become evident that in the course of this process neural circuits that initially evolved to regulate motor control, motor responses to external events, and ultimately talking were recycled to serve tasks such as working memory, cognitive flexibility linguistic tasks such as comprehending distinctions in meaning conveyed by syntax. This precludes the human brain possessing an organ devoted exclusively to language, such as the Faculty of Language proposed by Chomsky (1972, 2012). In essence like Fodor's (1983) modular model, a restatement of archaic phrenological theories (Spurzheim, 1815). The subcortical basal ganglia can be traced back to early anurans. Although our knowledge of the neural circuits of the human brain is at a very early stage and incomplete, the findings of independent studies over the past 40 years, discussed here, have identified circuits linking the basal ganglia with various areas of prefrontal cortex, posterior cortical regions and other subcortical structures. These circuits are active in linguistic tasks such as lexical access, comprehending distinctions in meaning conferred by syntax and the range of higher cognitive tasks involving executive control and play a critical role in conferring cognitive flexibility. The cingulate cortex which appeared in Therapsids, transitional mammal-like reptiles who lived in age of the dinosaurs, most likely enhanced mother-infant interaction, contributing to success in the Darwinian (1859) \"Struggle for Existence\" - the survival of progeny. They continue to fill that role in present-day mammals as well as being involved in controlling laryngeal phonation during speech and directing attention (Newman & MacLean, 1983; Cummings, 1993\". The cerebellum and hippocampus, archaic structures, play role in cognition. Natural selection acting on genetic and epigenetic events in the last 500,000 years enhanced human cognitive and linguistic capabilities. It is clear that human language did not suddenly come into being 70,000 to 100,000 years as Noam Chomsky (Bolhuis et al., 2014) and others claim. The archeological record and analyses of fossil and genetic evidence shows that Neanderthals, who diverged from the human line at least 500,000 years ago possessed some form of language. Nor did the human population suddenly acquire the capability to relate two seemingly unrelated concepts by means of associative learning 100,000 years ago, re-coined \"Merge\" by Chomsky and his adherents, Merge supposedly is the key to syntax but associative learning, one of the cognitive processes by which children learn languages and the myriad complexities of their cultures, is a capability present in dogs and virtually all animals.","PeriodicalId":171465,"journal":{"name":"Journal of anthropological sciences = Rivista di antropologia : JASS","volume":"46 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121341719","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"\"Breasts are getting bigger\". Where is the evidence?","authors":"Nicola Brown, J. Scurr","doi":"10.4436/JASS.94020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4436/JASS.94020","url":null,"abstract":"Concerns over breast size have gained prominence as progressively more research points to an association between increased breast size and negative health implications. Larger breast sizes are associated with a higher incidence of breast pain (Brown et al., 2014), postural issues (Findikcioglu et al., 2007) and body image dissatisfaction (Sarwer et al., 1998). It has been widely reported in the popular press that female breast size is increasing, however, empirical evidence for this assertion is limited, with support for this notion stemming primarily from bra sales. For example, a 2010 media article reporting an increase in British women’s breast size cited best-selling bra size statistics from retailer John Lewis, increasing from a 34B in 2008 to a 32D in 2010 (Fisher, 2010). Similarly, media articles in the United States of America (USA) report that the average bra cup size is now a 36DD, increasing from an average 34B 10 years ago (Holson, 2009; Hadley, 2012), with these statistics again obtained from lingerie retailers. We argue that bra sales data cannot be used to document breast size, or change in breast size over time, as this data is confounded by a lack of industry sizing standards and the high proportion of women reportedly wearing the incorrect bra size. Size charts and grading methods differ between bra companies resulting in inconsistencies in bra sizes produced by different manufacturers (McGhee & Steele, 2006). Therefore, whilst women may be one bra size in one brand, they may be a different size in another which may impact bra sale statistics. It is also recognised that up to 100% of women are wearing the wrong-sized bra (Greenbaum et al., 2003). There is currently no objective, empirical evidence of secular increases in breast size.","PeriodicalId":171465,"journal":{"name":"Journal of anthropological sciences = Rivista di antropologia : JASS","volume":"94 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129386387","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The place of Homo floresiensis in human evolution.","authors":"K. Baab","doi":"10.4436/JASS.94024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4436/JASS.94024","url":null,"abstract":"Two main evolutionary scenarios have been proposed to explain the presence of the small-bodied and small-brained Homo floresiensis species on the remote Indonesian island of Flores in the Late Pleistocene. According to these two scenarios, H. floresiensis was a dwarfed descendent of H. erectus or a late-surviving remnant of a older lineage, perhaps descended from H. habilis. Each scenario has interesting and important implications for hominin biogeography, body size evolution, brain evolution and morphological convergences. Careful evaluation reveals that only a small number of characters support each of these scenarios uniquely. H. floresiensis exhibits a cranial shape and many cranial characters that appear to be shared derived traits with H. erectus, but postcranial traits are more primitive and resemble those of early Homo or even australopiths. Mandibular and dental traits show a mix of derived and primitive features. Unfortunately, many traits cannot be used to assess these two hypotheses because their distribution in H. erectus, early Homo (e.g., H. habilis), or both is unknown. H. erectus ancestry implies evolutionary convergence on a postcranial configuration similar to australopiths and early Homo, which could be explained by a return to more climbing behaviors. Body size reduction as well as brain size reduction on a scale only rarely documented in mammals would also accompany the origin of H. floresiensis from a H. erectus ancestor. H. habilis ancestry implies parallel evolution of numerous cranial characters, as well as a few dentognathic traits. A pre-H. erectus ancestry also suggests an early migration to Southeast Asia that is as yet undocumented in mainland Asia, but minimal body and brain size reduction.","PeriodicalId":171465,"journal":{"name":"Journal of anthropological sciences = Rivista di antropologia : JASS","volume":"70 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115233914","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"New evaluation of the Castel di Guido 'hyoid'.","authors":"L. Capasso, R. D’Anastasio, L. Mancini, C. Tuniz, D. Frayer","doi":"10.4436/JASS.94021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4436/JASS.94021","url":null,"abstract":"Castel di Guido is located west of Rome and part of the Aurelian formation (Mariani-Constantini et al., 2001) along with other sites such as Torre in Petra and La Polledrara (Mussi, 2001). These localities are a mixture of surface collections and excavated sites, all associated with Acheulean tools and dated to MIS 9. At Castel di Guido material was collected from the surface and excavations in an erosional channel (Mariani-Constantini et al., 2001; Mussi, 2001). The Middle Pleistocene dates suggest an age of around 400 ka. Direct associations between the human bones and tools do not exist, but based on the size and degree of fossilization the human material is thought to be late Acheulean. The deposits overlie tuffs from the Sabatini volcanic eruptions, dated at 431 ka+/-40 ka 438 ka +/40 ka. so cannot be older than this. Originally six fragmentary bones were recovered from the site (Alciati et al., 2005) but Capasso, Michetti & D'Anastasio (2008) found additional material based on their survey of the material for post-mortem modifications. Publication Details Capasso, L., D'Anastasio, R., Mancini, L., Tuniz, C. & Frayer, D. W. (2016). New evaluation of the Castel di Guido 'hyoid'. Journal of Anthropological Sciences, 94 231-235. This journal article is available at Research Online: http://ro.uow.edu.au/smhpapers/4264 JASs Correspondence & Notes Journal of Anthropological Sciences the JASs is published by the Istituto Italiano di Antropologia www.isita-org.com Vol. 94 (2016), pp. 231-235 New evaluation of the Castel di Guido ‘hyoid’ Luigi Capasso1,2, Ruggero D’Anastasio1,2, Lucia Mancini3, Claudio Tuniz4,5 & David W. Frayer6 1) University Museum, State University “G. d’Annunzio”, Piazza Trento e Trieste 1, 66100 Chieti, Italy 2) Dept. Medicine and Ageing Sciences, University “G. d’Annunzio”, Via dei Vestini 29, 66100 Chieti, Italy e-mail: r.danastasio@unich.it 3) Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A., S.S. 14, km 163.5, Area Science Park, 34149 Basovizza, Trieste, Italy 4) The “Abdus Salam” International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Strada Costiera 11, 34151 Trieste, Italy 5) Centre for Archaeological Science, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, 2022 NSW, Australia 6) Department of Anthropology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, 66045 KS, USA","PeriodicalId":171465,"journal":{"name":"Journal of anthropological sciences = Rivista di antropologia : JASS","volume":"45 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115285248","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The false dichotomy: a refutation of the Neandertal indistinguishability claim.","authors":"T. Wynn, Karenleigh A. Overmann, F. Coolidge","doi":"10.4436/JASS.94022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4436/JASS.94022","url":null,"abstract":"In the debate about the demise of the Neandertal, several scholars have claimed that humanity's nearest relatives were indistinguishable archaeologically, and thus behaviorally and cognitively, from contemporaneous Homo sapiens. They suggest that to hold otherwise is to characterize Neandertals as inferior to H. sapiens, a false dichotomy that excludes the possibility that the two human types simply differed in ways visible to natural selection, including their cognition. Support of the Neandertal indistinguishability claim requires ignoring the cranial differences between the two human types, which have implications for cognition and behavior. Further, support of the claim requires minimizing asymmetries in the quantity and degree of behavioral differences as attested by the archaeological record. The present paper reviews the evidence for cognitive and archaeological differences between the two human types in support of the excluded middle position.","PeriodicalId":171465,"journal":{"name":"Journal of anthropological sciences = Rivista di antropologia : JASS","volume":"64 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122637135","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}