Homo erectus anatomy & culture

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University of Toronto, Mississauga *

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Anthropology

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Oct 30, 2023

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Chapter 5 (not many on the ,9 and 10 and chapter 8 (from 191 onwards) for quiz!!!! Homo erectus 1. 1st hominin species to exist outside of Africa 2. an African origin 3. an impressive longevity (1.8 million yrs ago to 200 thousand yrs ago 4. Extensive geographical spread t/o Old World (first one found outside of Africa) 5. Any question before homo erectus is found in Africa First Find: • Eugene Dubois, 1891 • Trinil, Java • Femur • Pithecanthropus erectus • JAVA SITES (1.8 mya – 500,000 ya) ZHOUKOUDIAN, China (600 – 400 kya) • Gunnar Andersson • Pei Wenshong • Davidson Black • Franz Weinreich (made casts of all of the fossils) • Best collection of 600,000 – 300,000 yr old hominids ever found • Minimum 40 individuals – adult male, female & subadults • 1000cc aver  100,000 artifacts East African H. erectus (h.ergaster) • Nariokotome, West Turkana • 1984 Kamoya Kimeu • WT 15000 ( Nariokotome boy) • 1.6 mya • Boy approx. 12 y.o. • Stature 5’3” • Postcranial similar to modern humans • 880 cc (if he was an adult he would have been 1,000cc) • most complete and tells us a lot about Homo erectus because of this. • Grassile and lanky Issues at Turkana – h. ergaster or h. erectus? Large amount of variation Too large for one species? Groves & Mazak (1975) African specimens (Ergaster) • Bones thinner • Smaller brow ridges Asian specimens (Erectus) • Shorter & stockier • Larger brow ridges 2. Temporal relationships • inconsistencies in the chronological transition of morphological changes from h. habilis to h. ergaster to h. erectus General Characteristics of Homo erectus Cranial anatomy

Chapter 5 (not many on the ,9 and 10 and chapter 8 (from 191 onwards) for quiz!!!! • 780 – 1225 cc • ( 1000 cc average) • Wide at base from behind • Low cranial vault • Sagittal keel • Nuchal torus • Supraorbital torus • Robust jaw • Teeth larger than modern human, but smaller than h. habilis Homo erectus postcranial anatomy • Postcranial skeleton similar to modern humans • Robust limb bones • Conical rib cage (shaped like a cone) • Narrow hips • Stature: human range • < sex dimorphism than h. habilis • not capable of intricate oral communication (proto-language with short mono syllabus sounds that convey communications) H. erectus in Europe or Northern Africa? Dmanisi, Georgia • North of the Levantine Corridor • Approx 1.8 mya • 5 individuals • Average 650 cc Homo georgicus or erectus? (Gabounia et. al., 2002) • Skull vault elongated, narrow, low • From behind skull widest at base • Sagittal keel • Postorbital constriction • Supraorbital torus Differences from Homo erectus • small face • More prognathic • Reminiscent of early homo Homo erectus culture Transition from Oldowan to Acheulean @ Olduvai Egaster evolved directly from early homo due to tool technology Transition form one tool technology (one strata with oldowan and acheulean to just acheulian) Three stage transition (Mary Leakey, 1975) 1. Increased sophistication in Oldowan - Protobiface 2. Coexistence of Oldowan & Acheulea 3. Disappearance of Oldowan & further development of Acheulean Diversified function - Symbolism? Punctuated transition (not gradual) (Issac 1969) ACHEULEAN TOOL TRADITION 1 st appeared 1.7 mya in East Africa Spreads to Middle East & Europe 750,000 ya

Chapter 5 (not many on the ,9 and 10 and chapter 8 (from 191 onwards) for quiz!!!! HANDAXE (biface) • pear shaped/pointed • First fully conceived implements • Significant step in conceptualization • More standardized form TOOL DIVERSIFICATION CLEAVERS - Handaxes with a straight cutting edge • Butcher meat, chopping, breaking bones FLAKE TOOLS • Strike a flint core with hammerstone Retouched to make A. side scraper B. point C. end scraper D. burin SOFT HAMMER PERCUSSION (baton) LATE ACHEULEAN: NEW TECHNIQUE Involved using a bone or antler punch to hit the edge of the flint core producing shallow flake scars Longevity of Acheulean tool tradition • originated in Africa - approx 1.7 mya • Disappeared about 250,000 ya • Middle East (Ubeidiya, Israel) - 1 mya • Europe - 500,000 – 600,000 ya • NE Pakistan - 400,000 – 730,000 ya The CHOPPING TOOL TRADITION • developed by H. erectus in ASIA • 460,000 – 230,000 ya • More reminiscent of Oldowan • Probably grew out of Oldowan • Large choppers with jagged edges • Zhoukoudian NO acheulean sites in Far east (China) and SE Asia – WHY ? (they have a chopping tool more like olderwan) 1 Different resources available for tool making (i.e. bamboo) (Pope, 1993) 2 Movius line: divides the acheulean and non acheulean regions (Hallam Movius, 1948) a. Bose site, Southern China (Yamei et al., 2000) - bifaces b. Challenges Movius hypothesis 3 Different functional requirements(Schick & Toth, 1993) 4 The new dates from Java (1.8 mya) place homo erectus in SE Asia @ least 100,000 years - BEFORE the advent of the Acheulean in Africa 5 Regional variation within China(Shen & Qi, 2004) 6 Lack of suitable raw stone 7 Maybe they used bamboo as they have a nice cutting and fracturing quality. Didn’t need to make stone tools like the rest of us mortals. 8 Didn’t need large butchering tools as there diet wasn’t the same (more rabbits than other types of animals) Other Accomplishments of homo erectus

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Chapter 5 (not many on the ,9 and 10 and chapter 8 (from 191 onwards) for quiz!!!! 1. FIRE? (controlled use is a key cultural advancement) • Evidence : 1.6-1.5 mya • Koobi Fora & Chesowanja, Kenya? • Swartkrans, S Africa? • Hearths? o Zhoukoudian 670,000 – 410,000 o Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel 790,000 ya 2. Homo erectus diet • Scavengers • Zhoukoudian • Boaz & Ciochon (2004) • Binford & Stone (1986) • Increased meat consumption: o Higher energy foods (over plants) o Easily digestible o Need less food and smaller digestive organs o Requires less digestive effort than earlier hominins o Provided plenty of energy for their expanding brains 3. Communication • speech and language? • Protolanguage with rudimentary words but no grammatical rules • Terrence Deacon (1997) communicated symbolically in short phrases Conteenders hominoids and hominines – listeb to rec Alveolar prognathism Epiphyseal fusion