James C. M. Ahern

Non-metric variation in recent humans as a model for understanding Neanderthal-early modern human differences: just how “unique” are Neanderthal unique traits?

Using living humans as an extant referent, this paper examines the probability that the frequency differences in Neanderthal “unique” non-metric traits observed between Neanderthals and Upper Paleolithic modern humans could be sampled from two major populations of the same species. Neanderthal-like features occur in very low frequencies in living humans, if present at all. Rather, other features distinguish major human populations. The population frequency differences of these features are used as a model by which the Neanderthal ‐ Upper Paleolithic frequency differences are assessed using a resampling simulation. This methodological approach tests the null hypothesis that the observed Neanderthal ‐ Upper Paleolithic differences are not greater than what can be sampled from between two major human populations (Amerindians and Euroamericans). Results of the analysis fail to falsify this null hypothesis. Implications of these results for Neanderthal taxonomy are examined.

The Origins of Modern Humans: Biology Reconsidered

Contributors ix Introduction: Thoughts on Modern Human Origins: From 1984 to 2012 xi Fred H. Smith and James C. M. Ahern 1 Africa: The Cradle of Modern People 1 Osbjorn M. Pearson 2 Crossroads of the Old World: Late Hominin Evolution in Western Asia 45 Robert G. Franciscus and Trenton W. Holliday 3 A River Runs through It: Modern Human Origins in East Asia 89 Karen R. Rosenberg and Xinzhi Wu 4 Perspectives on the Origins of Modern Australians 123 Arthur C. Durband and Michael C. Westaway 5 Modern Human Origins in Central Europe 151 James C. M. Ahern, Ivor Jankoviae, Jean-Luc Voisin, and Fred H. Smith 6 The Makers of the Early Upper Paleolithic in Western Eurasia 223 Jean-Jacques Hublin 7 Neandertal Craniofacial Growth and Development and Its Relevance for Modern Human Origins 253 Frank L Engle Williams 8 Energetics and the Origin of Modern Humans 285 Andrew W. Froehle, Todd R. Yokley, and Steven E. Churchill 9 Understanding Human Cranial Variation in Light of Modern Human Origins 321 John H. Relethford 10 The Relevance of Archaic Genomes to Modern Human Origins 339 John Hawks and Zach Throckmorton 11 The Process of Modern Human Origins: The Evolutionary and Demographic Changes Giving Rise to Modern Humans 355 Rachel Caspari and Milford H. Wolpoff 12 The Paleobiology of Modern Human Emergence 393 Erik Trinkaus Index 435 The color plate section can be found between pages 242 and 243.

The Importance of Croatian Pleistocene Hominin Finds in the Study of Human Evolution

In this chapter, we discuss Croatian sites that have yielded human skeletal remains from the Pleistocene. These include the well-known Neandertal localities Husnjakovo (at Krapina) and Vindija cave, as well as the Late Upper Paleolithic hominin fossil site Sandalja II cave in Istria. The Krapina site played an important role in the historical development of paleoanthropology and is still the Neandertal site with the largest known minimum number of skeletal individuals to date. Finds from Vindija cave belong to one of the latest Neandertal groups in Europe and provide data for the study of both their behavioral, as well as biological characteristics (including genomics studies). The Sandalja II cave in Istria is the only site in Croatia with direct association of human skeletal finds and the late Paleolithic, an Epigravettian industry, providing us with data on the anatomy and behavior of the Late Paleolithic inhabitants of this region.

THE END OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERY

Except for the addition of modern material remains, the archaeological record is a finite resource, which means that, at some point in the future, there will be nothing left to find. In this paper, we model trends in archaeological discovery based on the growth of the field and the probability of site discovery. We compare this model to seven diverse datasets of archaeological discovery trends: (1) all sites from the state of Wyoming, USA; (2) high-altitude archaeological sites from the state of Colorado, USA; (3) mostly complete Neandertal crania; (4) monumental sites of the Maya Classic period; (5) proboscidean kill/scavenge sites globally; (6) Upper Paleolithic sites from Europe; and (7) a compilation of shipwreck discoveries. We forecast discovery trends over the current century. We show that, for all datasets, rates of discovery are in decline, and some segments of the record are near depletion. Con la excepción de la añadidura de restos materiales modernos, el registro arqueológico es un recurso finito, lo cual significa que en algún momento en el futuro no quedará nada por descubrir. Es este trabajo modelamos las tendencias en descubrimientos arqueológicos sobre la base del crecimiento del campo y la probabilidad de descubrimiento de sitios. Comparamos este modelo con siete conjuntos de datos de tendencias de descubrimientos arqueológicos: 1) todos los sitios del estado de Wyoming, EUA; 2) los sitios de alta elevación en el estado de Colorado, EUA; 3) los cráneos de Neandertales casi completos; 4) los sitios monumentales mayas del Periodo Clásico; 5) los sitios de matanza y carnicería de proboscídeos alrededor del globo; 6) los sitios europeos del Paleolítico Superior; y 7) una compilación de descubrimientos de naufragios. También predecimos las tendencias en el descubrimiento de sitios en el siglo presente. Mostramos que, para todos los conjuntos, el ritmo de descubrimientos va disminuyendo y en algunos segmentos el registro se encuentra casi agotado.

Recent Research on the Croatian Middle/Upper Paleolithic Interface in the Context of Central and Southeast Europe

This chapter presents some new data on, and interpretations of the Croatian Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic. Alternative interpretations of the Middle/Upper Paleolithic interface in Vindija cave (situated in the Zagorje region of northwestern Croatia) are reported, together with preliminary results of research on the early Upper Paleolithic site of Bukovac pecina (situated in the region of Gorski kotar), and the late Dalmatian Middle Paleolithic sites of Mujina pecina, Velika pecina in Klicevica and Kastel Stafilic—Resnik. The archaeological assemblage (Mousterian industry) and the results of chronometric dating make the sequences of these Dalmatian sites contemporary with late Neandertals and with the earliest known anatomically modern human groups in Europe. This recent research greatly contributes to our understanding of the distribution of Neandertals and the complexity of the Middle/Upper Paleolithic interface.

On some aspects of Neandertal zygomatic morphology

Neandertals are characterized by a series of well-documented facial characteristics, including midfacial prognathism, large nasal and orbital areas, and a marked supraorbital torus. We provide a comparative morphometric study of another part of this facial complex, the frontal process of the zygomatic. We find that European Neandertals have a distinctly columnar form of the frontal process not found in recent modern humans and most Pleistocene modern humans. Some purportedly modern specimens and specimens pre-dating Neandertals exhibit the same pattern as European Neandertals, while others exhibit the modern human pattern. The columnar form is likely a retention of the ancestral state in Neandertals and the other late Pleistocene specimens that exhibit it, but variation in the pattern seen in early modern humans reveals possible insights into late Pleistocene human evolution.

New research on the Late Pleistocene in the Lim Channel, Istria

As a part of the multidisciplinary project entitled ‘Archaeological Investigations into the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene of the Lim Channel, Istria’, archaeological research has been conducted at four sites: Romualds Cave, Abri Kontija 002, Pećina at Rovinjsko Selo and Lim 001 (Figure 1). There is much debate on issues related to biological and behavioural continuity, to patterns of changes and adaptations during this crucial period, and to external factors (e.g. changes in ecology and climate). For example, a clearer insight is needed into how climatic change affects the ecology of specific regions, including changing sea levels. Additionally, there continues to be debate centring on who produced the earliest (Initial) Upper Palaeolithic industries in Europe. To achieve a more precise insight into long-term diachronic changes and cultural relations around the Adriatic, and to document the presence of Middle and Upper Palaeolithic humans in Istria, we concentrated on a single microregion (the Lim Channel in Istria, Croatia). Here we report work on the two sites that to date have yielded Pleistocene material: Romualds Cave and Abri Kontija 002.

Prehistoric massacre revealed. Perimortem cranial trauma from Potočani, Croatia

ABSTRACT During archaeological rescue excavations carried out in 2007 at Potočani in continental Croatia, a pit containing numerous human skeletal remains (MNI = 41) was discovered. The remains were mostly articulated but also commingled and showed no clear pattern of organization. There were no associated artifacts, just a few pottery fragments probably belonging to the Copper Age Lasinja Culture (c. 4300 to 3950 BCE). Anthropological analyses suggest the presence of individuals of all ages and both sexes with many crania exhibiting various perimortem injuries. Three human bone samples from different layers were dated to around 4100 cal BCE by radiocarbon analysis. These radiocarbon dates combined with other aspects of archaeological context, indicate that the deposition was a single episode rather than a long-term accumulation. All this suggests a single violent encounter (massacre). Here we present results of the bioarchaeological analysis of four adult crania with clear signs of perimortem trauma. These include blunt force trauma as well as cuts and penetrating injuries indicating the use of different weapons/tools.

Chapter 12 – Archaic Homo

Archaic Homo refers to the human populations or species that were chronologically and anatomically intermediate between Homo erectus and modern Homo sapiens. Archaic Homo can be further subdivided into two chronological groupings, Early and Late Archaics. Anatomically, Archaic Homo exhibit larger braincases than H. erectus as well as greater body mass, among other features. Archaic Homo had controlled and regular use of fire and colonized temperate regions of Eurasia for the first time. In some regions, Archaic Homo populations appear to have directly contributed to the ancestry of modern humans, while the evidence for this in other regions is limited. The overall pattern of evolutionary relationships among Archaic Homo, as elucidated by the available fossil and paleogenomic evidence, indicates that not all archaics and modern humans were reproductively isolated from each other.