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

{"title":"A tentative framework for the acquisition of language and modern human cognition.","authors":"I. Tattersall","doi":"10.4436/JASS.94030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4436/JASS.94030","url":null,"abstract":"Modern human beings process information symbolically, rearranging mental symbols to envision multiple potential realities. They also express the ideas they form using structured articulate language. No other living creature does either of these things. Yet it is evident that we are descended from a non-symbolic and non-linguistic ancestor. How did this astonishing transformation occur? Scrutiny of the fossil and archaeological records reveals that the transition to symbolic reasoning happened very late in hominid history - indeed, within the tenure of anatomically recognizable Homo sapiens. It was evidently not simply a passive result of the increase in brain size that typified multiple lineages of the genus Homo over the Pleistocene. Instead, a brain exaptively capable of complex symbolic manipulation and language acquisition was acquired in the major developmental reorganization that gave rise to the anatomically distinctive species Homo sapiens. The new capacity it conferred was later recruited through the action of a cultural stimulus, most plausibly the spontaneous invention of language.","PeriodicalId":171465,"journal":{"name":"Journal of anthropological sciences = Rivista di antropologia : JASS","volume":"50 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":"131417876","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":"Visuospatial integration and human evolution: the fossil evidence.","authors":"E. Bruner, M. Lozano, C. Lorenzo","doi":"10.4436/JASS.94025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4436/JASS.94025","url":null,"abstract":"Visuospatial integration concerns the ability to coordinate the inner and outer environments, namely the central nervous system and the outer spatial elements, through the interface of the body. This integration is essential for every basic human activity, from locomotion and grasping to speech or tooling. Visuospatial integration is even more fundamental when dealing with theories on extended mind, embodiment, and material engagement. According to the hypotheses on extended cognition, the nervous system, the body and the external objects work as a single integrated unit, and what we call \"mind\" is the process resulting from such interaction. Because of the relevance of culture and material culture in humans, important changes in such processes were probably crucial for the evolution of Homo sapiens. Much information in this sense can be supplied by considering issues in neuroarchaeology and cognitive sciences. Nonetheless, fossils and their anatomy can also provide evidence according to changes involving physical and body aspects. In this article, we review three sources of morphological information concerning visuospatial management and fossils: evolutionary neuroanatomy, manipulative behaviors, and hand evolution.","PeriodicalId":171465,"journal":{"name":"Journal of anthropological sciences = Rivista di antropologia : JASS","volume":"76 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":"133939214","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":"Evolution of brain and culture: the neurological and cognitive journey from Australopithecus to Albert Einstein.","authors":"D. Falk","doi":"10.4436/JASS.94027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4436/JASS.94027","url":null,"abstract":"Fossil and comparative primatological evidence suggest that alterations in the development of prehistoric hominin infants kindled three consecutive evolutionary-developmental (evo-devo) trends that, ultimately, paved the way for the evolution of the human brain and cognition. In the earliest trend, infants' development of posture and locomotion became delayed because of anatomical changes that accompanied the prolonged evolution of bipedalism. Because modern humans have inherited these changes, our babies are much slower than other primates to reach developmental milestones such as standing, crawling, and walking. The delay in ancestral babies' physical development eventually precipitated an evolutionary reversal in which they became increasing unable to cling independently to their mothers. For the first time in prehistory, babies were, thus, periodically deprived of direct physical contact with their mothers. This prompted the emergence of a second evo-devo trend in which infants sought contact comfort from caregivers using evolved signals, including new ways of crying that are conserved in modern babies. Such signaling stimulated intense reciprocal interactions between prehistoric mothers and infants that seeded the eventual emergence of motherese and, subsequently, protolanguage. The third trend was for an extreme acceleration in brain growth that began prior to the last trimester of gestation and continued through infants' first postnatal year (early \"brain spurt\"). Conservation of this trend in modern babies explains why human brains reach adult sizes that are over three times those of chimpanzees. The fossil record of hominin cranial capacities together with comparative neuroanatomical data suggest that, around 3 million years ago, early brain spurts began to facilitate an evolutionary trajectory for increasingly large adult brains in association with neurological reorganization. The prehistoric increase in brain size eventually caused parturition to become exceedingly difficult, and this difficulty, known as the \"obstetrical dilemma\", is likely to constrain the future evolution of brain size and, thus, privilege ongoing evolution in neurological reorganization. In modern babies, the brain spurt is accompanied by formation and tuning (pruning) of neurological connections, and development of dynamic higher-order networks that facilitate acquisition of grammatical language and, later in development, other advanced computational abilities such as musical or mathematical perception and performance. The cumulative evidence suggests that the emergence and refinement of grammatical language was a prime mover of hominin brain evolution.","PeriodicalId":171465,"journal":{"name":"Journal of anthropological sciences = Rivista di antropologia : JASS","volume":"47 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":"133253798","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":"Linguistic, geographic and genetic isolation: a collaborative study of Italian populations.","authors":"Marco Capocasa,&nbsp;Paolo Anagnostou,&nbsp;Valeria Bachis,&nbsp;Cinzia Battaggia,&nbsp;Stefania Bertoncini,&nbsp;Gianfranco Biondi,&nbsp;Alessio Boattini,&nbsp;Ilaria Boschi,&nbsp;Francesca Brisighelli,&nbsp;Carla Maria Caló,&nbsp;Marilisa Carta,&nbsp;Valentina Coia,&nbsp;Laura Corrias,&nbsp;Federica Crivellaro,&nbsp;Sara De Fanti,&nbsp;Valentina Dominici,&nbsp;Gianmarco Ferri,&nbsp;Paolo Francalacci,&nbsp;Zelda Alice Franceschi,&nbsp;Donata Luiselli,&nbsp;Laura Morelli,&nbsp;Giorgio Paoli,&nbsp;Olga Rickards,&nbsp;Renato Robledo,&nbsp;Daria Sanna,&nbsp;Emanuele Sanna,&nbsp;Stefania Sarno,&nbsp;Luca Sineo,&nbsp;Luca Taglioli,&nbsp;Giuseppe Tagarelli,&nbsp;Sergio Tofanelli,&nbsp;Giuseppe Vona,&nbsp;Davide Pettener,&nbsp;Giovanni Destro Bisol","doi":"10.4436/JASS.92001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4436/JASS.92001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The animal and plant biodiversity of the Italian territory is known to be one of the richest in the Mediterranean basin and Europe as a whole, but does the genetic diversity of extant human populations show a comparable pattern? According to a number of studies, the genetic structure of Italian populations retains the signatures of complex peopling processes which took place from the Paleolithic to modern era. Although the observed patterns highlight a remarkable degree of genetic heterogeneity, they do not, however, take into account an important source of variation. In fact, Italy is home to numerous ethnolinguistic minorities which have yet to be studied systematically. Due to their difference in geographical origin and demographic history, such groups not only signal the cultural and social diversity of our country, but they are also potential contributors to its bio-anthropological heterogeneity. To fill this gap, research groups from four Italian Universities (Bologna, Cagliari, Pisa and Roma Sapienza) started a collaborative study in 2007, which was funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research and received partial support by the Istituto Italiano di Antropologia. In this paper, we present an account of the results obtained in the course of this initiative. Four case-studies relative to linguistic minorities from the Eastern Alps, Sardinia, Apennines and Southern Italy are first described and discussed, focusing on their micro-evolutionary and anthropological implications. Thereafter, we present the results of a systematic analysis of the relations between linguistic, geographic and genetic isolation. Integrating the data obtained in the course of the long-term study with literature and unpublished results on Italian populations, we show that a combination of linguistic and geographic factors is probably responsible for the presence of the most robust signatures of genetic isolation. Finally, we evaluate the magnitude of the diversity of Italian populations in the European context. The human genetic diversity of our country was found to be greater than observed throughout the continent at short (0-200 km) and intermediate (700-800km) distances, and accounted for most of the highest values of genetic distances observed at all geographic ranges. Interestingly, an important contribution to this pattern comes from the \"linguistic islands\"( e.g. German speaking groups of Sappada and Luserna from the Eastern Italian Alps), further proof of the importance of considering social and cultural factors when studying human genetic variation. </p>","PeriodicalId":171465,"journal":{"name":"Journal of anthropological sciences = Rivista di antropologia : JASS","volume":" ","pages":"201-31"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2014-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40293875","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":"Osteoporosis and paleopathology: a review.","authors":"Francisco Curate","doi":"10.4436/JASS.92003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4436/JASS.92003","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Osteoporosis is a complex and heterogeneous disorder, of multi-factor aetiology. It is the most frequent metabolic bone disorder, affecting an increasing number of post-menopausal women and aging individuals from both sexes. Although first recognized more than 250 years ago, the clinical and epidemiological knowledge about osteoporosis is largely limited to the last 70 years. Within the conceptual frames of paleopathology, disease is necessarily perceived in a space without depth (the skeleton) and of coincidence without development (the crucial moment of death) -but is also interpreted in a time interval which adds an historical gaze to its \"biography\". The study of osteoporosis in past populations (which faced sociocultural conditions utterly different from the genus vitae experienced by modern communities) supplements diachronic depth to the knowledge about bone modifications related to age, menopausal status or lifestyle. This article aims to provide a comprehensive record on the history of osteoporosis and fragility fractures as perceived by the biomedical, historical and, particularly, paleopathological sciences. As such, the main focus of this review is to present an exhaustive and historical-framed exposition of the studies of osteoporosis, bone loss and associated fractures within the field of paleopathology and, to a lesser extent, in the history of medicine. A biomedical-oriented synopsis of the main operational definitions, etiological agents and epidemiological features of osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures is also provided. </p>","PeriodicalId":171465,"journal":{"name":"Journal of anthropological sciences = Rivista di antropologia : JASS","volume":" ","pages":"119-46"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2014-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40293876","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 study of language islands: an interdisciplinary approach.","authors":"Fiorenzo Toso","doi":"10.4436/JASS.92002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4436/JASS.92002","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":171465,"journal":{"name":"Journal of anthropological sciences = Rivista di antropologia : JASS","volume":" ","pages":"1-5"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2014-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40293873","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":"On the trail of the genus Homo between archaic and derived morphologies.","authors":"Giorgio Manzi","doi":"10.4436/jass.90018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4436/jass.90018","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The topic of this review is the evolution of the genus Homo, focusing on evolutionary transitions that occurred during the Early and Middle Pleistocene. Two crucial issues are addressed in particular: 1) the emergence in the Early Pleistocene of the archaic variant of Homo that might represent the last common ancestor before the emergence of at least two (more probably three) geographically distinct trajectories; and (2) the evolution of these derived lineages, ultimately leading to the allopatric speciations of the most encephalised species of Homo: H. neanderthalensis and H. sapiens. In this framework, the time window between 1.0 million years ago (Ma) and 500 thousand years ago (ka) is of crucial importance, since it is probable that a new kind of humanity emerged in this period and then spread across a wide area encompassing Africa and Eurasia. These humans are represented by a number of specimens that are included within the single, polymorphic, and widespread species H. heidelbergensis. It is suggested that, in the course of the Middle Pleistocene, this species diversified in a number of incipient species -or subspecies- geographically and phenotypically distinct from one another. The case-study furnished by the calvarium found near Ceprano, in Italy, is of great interest in this regard, since it displays the least derived morphology seen among the hypodigm of H. heidelbergensis, and may represent better than other specimens the ancestral morphotype (i.e., the stem subspecies) of this taxon.</p>","PeriodicalId":171465,"journal":{"name":"Journal of anthropological sciences = Rivista di antropologia : JASS","volume":" ","pages":"99-116"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2012-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40197174","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":"Online databases for mtDNA and Y chromosome polymorphisms in human populations.","authors":"Alessandra Congiu,&nbsp;Paolo Anagnostou,&nbsp;Nicola Milia,&nbsp;Marco Capocasa,&nbsp;Francesco Montinaro,&nbsp;Giovanni Destro Bisol","doi":"10.4436/jass.90020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4436/jass.90020","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study presents an overview of online databases for mtDNA and Y chromosome polymorphisms in human populations. In order to provide readers with information which may help optimize their use, we focus on: (i) type, quantity and source of data contained; (ii) possibilities of downloading and uploading; (iii) availability of data filters and population genetics tools. We show that some of these databases offer a useful complement to the primary databases by giving access to additional data and making it possible to perform queries which exploit some specific metadata. Thereafter, we evaluate the state of the art from an evolutionary anthropologist's point of view. We suggest that online databases could become even more useful research tools by combining an easier data retrieval with quality control and by making a more extensive use of metadata regarding populations and individuals. Making population data on mtDNA and Y chromosome polymorphisms more complete, well ordered and easily accessible, we could better exploit the potential of new generation sequencing techniques for advancements in human evolutionary genetics.</p>","PeriodicalId":171465,"journal":{"name":"Journal of anthropological sciences = Rivista di antropologia : JASS","volume":" ","pages":"201-15"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2012-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40198642","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":"Refined age estimates and Paleoanthropological investigation of the Manyara Beds, Tanzania.","authors":"Stephen Frost,&nbsp;Hilde Schwartz,&nbsp;Liane Giemsch,&nbsp;Leah Morgan,&nbsp;Paul Renne,&nbsp;Maya Wildgoose,&nbsp;Charles Saanane,&nbsp;Friedemann Schrenk,&nbsp;Katerina Harvati","doi":"10.4436/jass.90001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4436/jass.90001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Manyara Beds in the area of Makuyuni Village in the Lake Manyara Basin, Tanzania have been studied for nearly a century, but interpretations of their age have ranged from Middle Pleistocene to Late Pliocene. New geological, paleontological and archeological fieldwork was conducted at the site and has provided siginificant new evidence, including refined stratigraphy, radiometric age estimates, preliminary paleomagnetic analysis, significant new faunal collections, as well as stratigraphic context for some of the lithic artifacts in stratigraphic context. These efforts have succesfully constrained the geological age estimates for the Manyara Beds to between less than 0.63 to 1.3 Ma, and the age of the two hominin bearing localities to between 0.63 and 0.78 Ma. This new chronology may impact the taxonomic interpretation of the hominin remains recovered from the site. They also suggest that two mammalian taxa, Metridiochoerus compactus and Eurygnathohippus, may have some of their youngest known occurences in the Manyara Beds. Acheulean lithics were also found in stratigraphic context during this more narrow time interval. Furthermore, the presence of potential cut-marks on the surface of a bovid mandible may represent the first evidence for human modification of bones from the Manyara Beds.</p>","PeriodicalId":171465,"journal":{"name":"Journal of anthropological sciences = Rivista di antropologia : JASS","volume":" ","pages":"151-61"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2012-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40155879","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":"Dynamics of genetic and morphological variability within Neandertals.","authors":"John Hawks","doi":"10.4436/jass.90019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4436/jass.90019","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Paleogenomics may suggest changes to the way anthropologists have discussed the dynamics and morphological diversity among Neandertals. Genetic comparisons show that later Neandertals had relatively low autosomal genetic variation compared to recent humans. The known mitochondrial sample from Neandertals covers a broader geographic and temporal range, and shows greater diversity. This review addresses how genetic data compare to morphological and archaeological evidence about Neandertal variation and dynamics. Traditional views emphasized the morphological differences between western and eastern Neandertal populations, and between early and later Neandertals. Genomes broadly support these groupings, without resolving the outstanding question of the affinities of specimens from southwest Asia. However, the pattern of genetic variation appears to reject a long, in situ transformation of Neandertal groups over time, suggesting instead a more rapid process of regional dispersal and partial population replacement. Archaeological indicators sample dynamics on a much finer timescale than morphological or genetic evidence, and point to dispersal and turnover among Neandertals on a regional scale. In this way, genetic evidence may provide a bridge between the timescales relevant to morphological and archaeological comparisons. New ways of looking at the morphology of Neandertals may yield a better picture of their interactions and movements.</p>","PeriodicalId":171465,"journal":{"name":"Journal of anthropological sciences = Rivista di antropologia : JASS","volume":" ","pages":"81-7"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2012-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40197173","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}