The revolution that didn't arrive: A review of Pleistocene Sahul

There is a "package" of cultural innovations that are claimed to reflect modern human behaviour. The introduction of the "package" has been associated with the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic transition and the appearance in Europe of modern humans. It has been proposed that modern humans spread from Africa with the "package" and colonised not only Europe but also southern Asia and Australia (McBrearty and Brooks, 2000; Mellars, 2006a). In order to evaluate this proposal, we explore the late Pleistocene archaeological record of Sahul, the combined landmass of Australia and Papua New Guinea, for indications of these cultural innovations at the earliest sites. It was found that following initial occupation of the continent by anatomically and behaviourally modern humans, the components were gradually assembled over a 30,000-year period. We discount the idea that the "package" was lost en route to Sahul and assess the possibility that the "package" was not integrated within the material culture of the initial colonising groups because they may not have been part of a rapid colonisation process from Africa. As the cultural innovations appear at different times and locations within Sahul, the proposed "package" of archaeologically visible traits cannot be used to establish modern human behaviour. Whilst the potential causal role of increasing population densities/pressure in the appearance of the "package" of modern human behaviour in the archaeological record is acknowledged, it is not seen as the sole explanation because the individual components of the "package" appear at sites that are widely separated in space and time.     

Modeling Human Ecodynamics and Biocultural Interactions in the Late Pleistocene of Western Eurasia

Given the complex and multidimensional nature of human evolution, we need to develop theoretical and methodological frameworks to account for and model the dynamic feedbacks between co-operational biological and cultural evolutionary systems to better understand the processes that produced modern human behavior. Equally important is the generation of explicit theory-based models that can be tested against the empirical paleoanthropological record. We present a case study that examines evidence for culturally-driven behavioral change among Late Pleistocene hominins that altered the social niche occupied by hominins in western Eurasia, with consequences for subsequent biological and cultural evolution. We draw on a large sample of 167 Pleistocene assemblages across western Eurasia and employ mathematical and computational modeling to explore the feedbacks between cultural and biological inheritance. Shifts in land-use strategies changed the opportunities for social and biological interaction among Late Pleistocene hominins in western Eurasia with a cascade of consequences for cultural and biological evolution, including the disappearance of Neanderthals from the fossil and archaeological records, and the acceleration of cultural evolution among ancestors of modern humans.     

早-中更新世中国古人类演化及其与气候环境的关系

近一个世纪以来,随着旧石器时代考古与古人类研究的发展,我们已经获得了大量的研究材料和数据。尽管个别遗址的年代、文化性质和化石人类分析及鉴定仍有争议,但如此长时间的积累依然为构建序列性认识和思考提供了基础。目前的研究多集中在单个遗址或者区域的古人类化石、石器打制技术和气候环境背景的个案分析,对早-中更新世中国古人类演化及其与气候环境的关系尚缺乏系统探讨。本文选取过去百万年里地球气候冰期-间冰期旋回经历的两次显著转型事件:中更新世气候转型期和中布容事件作为时间节点,讨论伴随气候转型时期中国北方地区、秦岭及周边地区和中国南方地区出现的早期古人类演化特征的变化。具体从遗址分布、石器技术变化、早期人类化石特征等方面入手,尝试构建人类活动与气候环境变化的耦合关系。     

中国现代人起源与演化的考古学思考

越来越多古人类学和旧石器时代考古学的发现与研究成果极大地改变了我们对现代人类起源、演化和适应理论问题的看法。中国作为东亚一个幅员辽阔的地理区域,已经成为这项研究的热点地带。来自该地区新的人类化石和石器组合对基于非洲和欧亚大陆西部记录构建的“现代人出自非洲说”（Recent Out-of-Africa）提出了挑战。新的古人类学研究结果表明,早期现代人出现于约100 kaBP的中国南方,可能（至少部分）是由那里的土著居民演化而来。一些古老型智人表现出了与早期古人类镶嵌或过渡性的体质特征,并可能与尼安德特人和丹尼索瓦人杂交混合。同时一些遗址出土的打制石器表现出了早期现代人类技术和行为的复杂性。中国北方的小石片石器主工业和南方的砾石石器主工业贯穿于整个更新世,然而从约40 kaBP开始,石叶技术开始出现在中国北部,紧随其后的是这些地区骨制工具和个人装饰品的出现,这表明,更新世晚期西伯利亚和中亚地区与我国北部可能存在着紧密的文化关系,东北亚地区可能存在着由西北向东南的迁移路线。人类化石和考古学证据表明,中国现代人类起源和适应的过程与机制可能与欧亚大陆西部有所不同。本文对有关中国现代人类起源与演化的考古学研究所取得的新发现和进展进行了总体回顾,从考古学角度阐述了对相关重要学术问题的看法,并为未来的研究提出了方向性建议。     

山顶洞人与现代华北人头骨非测量性特征比较及中国更新世晚期人类演化的一些问题

山顶洞人化石是迄今在东亚地区发现的数量最为丰富、保存状态最为完好的更新世晚期人类化石。多年来,山顶洞人作为东亚地区更新世晚期人类的代表,在研究东亚地区现代蒙古人种及美洲印第安人起源方面发挥着重要作用。随着对现代人起源与演化研究的深入,学术界对更新世晚期人类演化及现代人群形成过程的许多细节及演化机制予以了越来越多的注意,提出了现代人群出现时间及现代人群分化时间的概念。一些研究对山顶洞人的演化程度及其在东亚地区现代人群形成上的作用也提出了不同看法。为了深入探讨这些问题,本文对12项颅骨非测量特征在山顶洞人与现代中国人的表现情况进行了对比研究。发现有8项特征在山顶洞人与现代中国人之间具有不同的表现,作者认为山顶洞人在颅骨特征表现上较现代中国人具有更多的原始性。在此基础上,作者就更新世晚期人群内部变异、现代人群特征标准等问题进行了讨论。     

The initial peopling of South American Plains: An overview on Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene settlers in Uruguay

This paper reviews more than 20 years of research about the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene occupations of the Uruguayan plains. The aim of this synthesis is to provide an overview of the available information related to early human peopling of Uruguay. Here, we focus on the main issues discussed over the last two decades: early sites characterization and chronology, human response to climate change, cultural diversity, occupations patterns, mobility and technology. The systematic and continuous efforts made have provided new data and new perspectives regarding the earliest human occupations of the region. We have defined an archaeological complex landscape and ongoing research strategy is based on the three main types of site that compose it: residential camps, cave and rock shelters, and raw material sources. This has allowed us to expand and improve our understanding of the record. The new research and data provided by these sites have led us to propose a settlement model for the region and the period. A cultural diversity has been evidenced through in-depth studies of stratified archaeological sites, cultural sequence, a solid chronological database and lithic technology. Finally, we advance in the characterization of objects of social prestige among hunter-gatherers who occupied the plains during the end of the Pleistocene in Southeastern South America.     

Comparaison de l'expression de certains caractères crâniens sur les hominidés chinois du Pléistocène récent et de l'Holocène (grotte supérieure de Zhoukoudian, sites de Longxian et de Yanqing)

The human remains recovered from “Grotte supérieure de Zhoukoudian” are the best-preserved Late Pleistocene human fossils in East Asia. For decades, as the representative of the Late Pleistocene human in East Asia, the Upper Cave skulls have been playing important role in the research of origins of modern Mongoloids and American Indians. With the advance of the origin and evolution of modern humans, more attention has been paid to the details and the mechanisms for the late Pleistocene human evolution and the formation of modern human populations. Both the origin and diversification of modern humans have been stressed. Some studies further trigger the debaters on the Upper Cave Man concerning its evolutionary level and its role in the formation of modern human populations in East Asia. To further explore these problems, we examined and compared 12 non-metric features on the 3 Late Pleistocene Upper Cave skulls and 162 Holocene individuals earthed from two archaeological sites of North China (Longxian and Yanqing). Our results indicate that 8 on the 12 features have different expression patterns between Upper Cave Man and recent Chinese leading the authors to believe that more primitive expressions appeared on the Upper Cave Man than on recent Chinese populations. Based on these findings, some problems on the intragroup variation in Late Pleistocene and Holocene populations are discussed.     

Age and Date for Early Arrival of the Acheulian in Europe (Barranc de la Boella,la Canonja,Spain)

The first arrivals of hominin populations into Eurasia during the Early Pleistocene are currently considered to have occurred as short and poorly dated biological dispersions. Questions as to the tempo and mode of these early prehistoric settlements have given rise to debates concerning the taxonomic significance of the lithic assemblages, as trace fossils, and the geographical distribution of the technological traditions found in the Lower Palaeolithic record. Here, we report on the Barranc de la Boella site which has yielded a lithic assemblage dating to ∼1 million years ago that includes large cutting tools (LCT). We argue that distinct technological traditions coexisted in the Iberian archaeological repertoires of the late Early Pleistocene age in a similar way to the earliest sub-Saharan African artefact assemblages. These differences between stone tool assemblages may be attributed to the different chronologies of hominin dispersal events. The archaeological record of Barranc de la Boella completes the geographical distribution of LCT assemblages across southern Eurasia during the EMPT (Early-Middle Pleistocene Transition, circa 942 to 641 kyr). Up to now, chronology of the earliest European LCT assemblages is based on the abundant Palaeolithic record found in terrace river sequences which have been dated to the end of the EMPT and later. However, the findings at Barranc de la Boella suggest that early LCT lithic assemblages appeared in the SW of Europe during earlier hominin dispersal episodes before the definitive colonization of temperate Eurasia took place.     

The Watinglo mandible: A second terminal Pleistocene Homo sapiens fossil from tropical Sahul with a test on existing models for the human settlement of the region

This paper analyses a fossil human mandible, dated to circa 10 ka, from Watinglo rockshelter on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. The fossil is metrically and morphologically similar to male mandibles of recent Melanesians and Australian Aborigines. It is distinguished from Kow Swamp and Coobool Creek male mandibles (Murray Valley, terminal Pleistocene) by being smaller and having different shape characteristics, as well as smaller teeth and a slower rate of tooth wear. It pairs with the Liang Lemdubu female (Late Glacial Maximum, Aru Islands) in suggesting that the morphology of the terminal Pleistocene inhabitants of tropical Sahul was gracile compared to their contemporaries within the southern Murray drainage. An explanatory scenario for this morphological contrast is developed in the context of the Homo sapiens early fossil record, Australasian mtDNA evidence, terminal Pleistocene climatic variation, and the possibility of multiple entry points into Sahul.     

Acheulean Industries of the Early and Middle Pleistocene,Middle Awash,Ethiopia

The Middle Awash region of Ethiopia contains a rich record of Acheulean occupation spanning from Early Pleistocene times through much of the Middle Pleistocene. Here we will present an overview of some of the major reported features of the Acheulean archaeological record of the Middle Awash (Clark et al., 1994; de Heinzelin et al., 2000) and compare and contrast earlier and later biface technological patterns in this important study area. As an overall pattern, later Acheulean bifaces, here tend to differ from earlier ones in the following characteristics: later biface forms tend to be smaller, more ovate, wider relative to length, thinner (both relative to length and width and in absolute terms), more symmetrical, more heavily flaked, show greater use of soft hammer flaking and Kombewa technique, be straighter-edged or less sinuous, and often exhibit a remarkably high degree of standardization at a given site. These technological changes over perhaps half a million years (between approximately 1.0 and 0.5 million years ago) accompany the transition from Homo erectus to Homo heidelbergensis in this region. The later technological patterns thus correlate with the emergence of larger-brained, more intelligent hominids that exhibit greater technological finesse and also appear to develop and maintain stronger rules and traditions pertaining to their technological behaviors. It is likely that, relative to earlier hominids, these later hominid forms (which would evolve into early anatomically modern humans or Homo sapiens) had richer communicative abilities and cultural complexity, which we believe to be manifested in the technological finesse and standardization of their material culture.     

更新世东亚人群连续演化的考古证据及相关问题论述

本文从考古文化的角度论证中国乃至东亚古人类演化的连续性。通过对石制品原料特点及开发利用方式、石器制作技术、石制品类型、形态与组合特点、区域文化传统演变等方面的分析,提出这里的旧石器时代文化一脉相承,古人群生生不息、连续演化。通过对中国旧石器文化体系中勒瓦娄哇技术制品、具有阿舍利风格的组合和石叶技术产品这些具有"西方元素"特点的文化成分的辨识与分析,指出更新世期间该地区石器生产基本维持在奥杜威模式内,来自西方的文化因素间或出现过,但从来没有成为主流,更没有发生对土著文化的置换,说明这一地区没有发生过大规模移民和人群更替事件;基因混合与文化交流可能发生过,但其过程是融合而非替代。秦岭诸遗址、北窑、大地湾、徐家城、乌兰木伦、织机洞、井水湾、黄龙洞等遗址的地层和测年数据表明东亚不存在距今10~4万年间的材料空白,人类演化的链条没有中断过。古气候和古生物信息也对末次冰期导致本土人群灭绝的论断提出否定。这些考古材料与信息对中国乃至东亚古人群连续演化及现代人类"连续进化附带杂交"的理论提供了强有力的论证和支持。"综合行为模式"等学说的提出强化了对本土人群生存能力的论述。对人类独特的行为特点与社会属性的观察和思考,也对本土人群与西方同类的隔离问题及不同地区人群长时期维持在同一物种内的可能性与动因提供了有益的启示。     

A multilevel analytical framework for studying cultural evolution in prehistoric hunter–gatherer societies

Over the past decade, a major debate has taken place on the underpinnings of cultural changes in human societies. A growing array of evidence in behavioural and evolutionary biology has revealed that social connectivity among populations and within them affects, and is affected by, culture. Yet the interplay between prehistoric hunter–gatherer social structure and cultural transmission has typically been overlooked. Interestingly, the archaeological record contains large data sets, allowing us to track cultural changes over thousands of years: they thus offer a unique opportunity to shed light on long‐term cultural transmission processes. In this review, we demonstrate how well‐developed methods for social structure analysis can increase our understanding of the selective pressures underlying cumulative culture. We propose a multilevel analytical framework that considers finer aspects of the complex social structure in which regional groups of prehistoric hunter–gatherers were embedded. We put forward predictions of cultural transmission based on local‐ and global‐level network metrics of small‐scale societies and their potential effects on cumulative culture. By bridging the gaps between network science, palaeodemography and cultural evolution, we draw attention to the use of the archaeological record to depict patterns of social interactions and transmission variability. We argue that this new framework will contribute to improving our understanding of social interaction patterns, as well as the contexts in which cultural changes occur. Ultimately, this may provide insights into the evolution of human behaviour.     

The Gravettian occipital bone from the site of Malladetes (Barx,Valencia, Spain)

The juvenile occipital bone from the site of Malladetes in Valencia (Spain) is described and compared with other European Pleistocene representatives of the genus Homo. This specimen derives from a Gravettian cultural context and has been AMS radiocarbon-dated to 25,120 +/- 240 years BP. As such, it provides evidence on early modern human anatomy from the Central Mediterranean region of the Iberian peninsula. The clear evidence for a late survival of Neandertals in southern Iberia, has led to considerable debate surrounding the biological and cultural interactions between these Pleistocene humans and their early modern human successors, and it is within this context that the Malladetes specimen represents an important contribution to the discussion. The recently discovered Upper Paleolithic infant from the site of Lagar Velho in Portugal is said to show a mosaic of Neandertal and early modern human characteristics throughout the skeleton and is argued to represent the strongest evidence yet recovered in favor of hybridization between these two Pleistocene populations. Our analysis of the Malladetes occipital, however, reveals no evidence of Neandertal genetic influence.     

世界不同地区现代人及现代行为的出现与区域特征

现代人和现代行为在世界不同地区的出现是多年来学术界的焦点问题, 至今关于这方面的研究与讨论仍然非常热烈。本文简要梳理了不同地区现代人及其行为出现的情况及特点, 并在目前的材料和研究的基础上特别关注了东亚地区, 指出有待进一步研究和解释的问题。现代行为和文化具有显著的区域特征, 这应当是现代人在不同自然和社会环境中适应生存的反映。同时各地区在旧石器时代晚期也展现出相似或相同的技术思维、知识和行为方式,暗示出活跃的人群迁徙与交流。     

Peopling of South Asia: investigating the caste-tribe continuum in India

In recent years, mtDNA and Y chromosome studies involving human populations from South Asia and the rest of the world have revealed new insights about the peopling of the world by anatomically modern humans during the late Pleistocene, some 40,000-60,000 years ago, over the southern coastal route from Africa. Molecular studies and archaeological record are both largely consistent with autochthonous differentiation of the genetic structure of the caste and tribal populations in South Asia. High level of endogamy created by numerous social boundaries within and between castes and tribes, along with the influence of several evolutionary forces such as genetic drift, fragmentation and long-term isolation, has kept the Indian populations diverse and distant from each other as well as from other continental populations. This review attempts to summarize recent genetic studies on Indian caste and tribal populations with the focus on the information embedded in the socially defined structure of Indian populations.     

MAMMALIAN EXTINCTIONS IN THE LATE PLEISTOCENE OF NORTHERN EURASIA AND NORTH AMERICA

The 'mass extinctions' at the end of the Pleistocene were unique, both in the Pleistocene and earlier in the geological record, in that the species lost were nearly all large terrestrial mammals. Although a global phenomenon, late Pleistocene extinctions were most severe in North America, South America and Australia, and moderate in northern Eurasia (Europe plus Soviet Asia). In Africa, where nearly all of the late Pleistocene 'megafauna' survives to the present day, losses were slight. Ruling out epidemic disease or cosmic catastrophe, the contending hypotheses to explain late Pleistocene extinctions are: (a) failure to adapt to climatic/environmental change; and (b) extermination by human hunters ('prehistoric overkill'). This review focuses on extinctions in northern Eurasia (mainly Europe) in comparison with North America. In addition to reviewing the faunal evidence, the highly relevant environmental and archaeological backgrounds are summarized. The latest survival dates of extinct species are estimated from stratigraphic occurrences of fossil remains, radiocarbon dates, or association with archaeological industries. The Middle and Upper Pleistocene (ca. 700,000-10,000 BP) in northern Eurasia and North America was a time of constantly changing climate, ranging from phases of extensive glaciation in cold stages, to temperate periods (interglacials). In the Lateglacial (ca. 15,000-10,000 BP), during which most extinctions occurred, there was a major reorganization of vegetation, mainly involving the replacement of open vegetation by forests. These changes were more profound than earlier in the Last Cold Stage, but similar in nature to vegetational changes that took place at previous cold stage/interglacial transitions. The archaeological record shows that humans have been present in Europe since the early Middle Pleistocene. The arrival in Europe ca. 35,000 BP of 'anatomically modern humans', with their technologically more advanced upper palaeolithic industries, was a 'quantum leap' in human history. Extinctions occurred throughout the European Pleistocene, but until the late Pleistocene most losses were replaced by the evolution or immigration of new species, and most of those lost without replacement were small mammals. In marked contrast, extinctions without replacement in the late Pleistocene were almost entirely confined to the largest mammals (greater than 1000 kg) and some medium-large species (100-1000 kg).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

How Accurate are Paleoecological Reconstructions of Early Paleontological and Archaeological Sites?

Paleoecology allows construction of paleoenvironmental models, faunal changes and evolutionary trends of paleontological taxa using modern analogs. However, when linking modern analogs to paleontological taxa in paleoecological reconstruction, differential taxonomic preservation in the fossil record has to be taken into account. Paleontologists have known the biased nature of the fossil record since Efremov’s publication on taphonomy in 1940, yet many ecological models of habitats associated with hominins in paleontological and archaeological sites in Africa and elsewhere barely address the complexity of the fossil record. We use randomly sampled ungulates from modern biomes in a comparative taxonomic abundance to demonstrate how the combination of modern thanatocoenoses and taphocoenoses, when used in reference to habitat-specific biocoenosis, produce better inferences of past habitats in paleontological and archaeological sites than approaches currently used.     

东亚现代人来源的考古学思考:证据与解释

现代人的起源与扩散是当今古人类学界极具争议的问题。目前,"多地区进化"假说和非洲起源为主的"同化"假说是该争议的两大阵营。在"多地区进化"假说的基础上,立足中国的化石材料,吴新智提出了中国乃至东亚古人类"连续演化、附带杂交"的假说,认为中国的现代人主要由本地古老类型人类演化而来。本文从现代人扩散关键时段的考古材料出发,讨论氧同位素5～3阶段(大约13～3万年)考古材料在研究中国现代人形成中的作用和存在的挑战。首先,概括介绍现代人起源的主要假说和现代人扩散的假定路线——南线和北线的多重证据;其次,在此背景下,通过对中国境内考古材料的概括,分析不同石器技术可能反映的现代人来源;最后,简要探讨立足考古材料研究现代人起源与扩散的挑战。总体而言,氧同位素5～3阶段的旧石器考古材料支持中国北方南部和中国南方古人类的连续演化,同时也指示了非洲扩散而出的现代人人群自西北地区和南方地区进入中国的可能性。该模式支持中国古人类"连续演化、附带杂交"假说,然而我们也认识到中国现代人起源研究的考古基础仍十分薄弱,使用考古学材料研究现代人扩散的理论基础也需探讨。目前,细化、完善基础考古数据仍是中国旧石器时代考古学和古人类学学者努力的主要方向之一。如此,我们才能够更加有效地将人类化石与考古学证据融合,进而结合分子生物学的研究,更为全面地理解现代人的起源与演化。     

A geometric morphometric analysis of hominin upper first molar shape

Recent studies have revealed interesting differences in upper first molar morphology across the hominin fossil record, particularly significant between H. sapiens and H. neanderthalensis. Usually these analyses have been performed by means of classic morphometric methods, including the measurement of relative cusp areas or the angles defined between cusps. Although these studies have provided valuable information for the morphological characterization of some hominin species, we believe that the analysis of this particular tooth could be more conclusive for taxonomic assignment. In this study, we have applied geometric morphometric methods to explore the morphological variability of the upper first molar (M(1)) across the human fossil record. Our emphasis focuses on the study of the phenetic relationships among the European middle Pleistocene populations (designated as H. heidelbergensis) with H. neanderthalensis and H. sapiens, but the inclusion of Australopithecus and early Homo specimens has helped us to assess the polarity of the observed traits. H. neanderthalensis presents a unique morphology characterized by a relatively distal displacement of the lingual cusps and protrusion in the external outline of a large and bulging hypocone. This morphology can be found in a less pronounced degree in the European early and middle Pleistocene populations, and reaches its maximum expression with the H. neanderthalensis lineage. In contrast, modern humans retain the primitive morphology with a square occlusal polygon associated with a round external outline.