Mid-Pleistocene Analysis

An example of a homo erectus is Turkana boy. Turkana boy is a 5’3” tall homo erectus. His remains were discovered by anthropologists Kenya. Turkana boy has smaller brains than humans but wider hips and longer arms than humans. Although he was similar to humans he was completely different. When scientists examined Turkana boy’s teeth they found out that he was only eight years old. This is completely different to humans who mature slower than human erectus. Although he grew faster his brain was less developed than human. Turkana boy’s growth is different to humans but similar to chimps. This shows that homo erectus had

Neanderthals, also known as Homo neanderthalensis, existed mainly in the time period known as the Middle Paleolithic in the regions of Europe and southwestern to central Asia. The Middle Paleolithic took place from about 200,000 years ago until around 45,000 years ago. However, the Neanderthals still existed for about 15,000 years after that. After the Middle Paleolithic, the Neanderthals existed alongside anatomically modern humans and most likely interbred with them. Although the species of Homo neanderthalensis became extinct around 25,000 years ago, their DNA is still present in humans today. Neanderthals are without a doubt the closest extinct human relatives to modern humans. The first Neanderthal fossil was not found until the year 1829. This discovery in Belgium would prove to be one of the most important archaeological findings in history. After several more of these findings occurred, we have been able to learn countless facts about Neanderthals. Scientists believe they had very short, stocky, and powerful bodies, along with very strong teeth and jaw bones and a surprisingly large brain. Neanderthals had the ability to walk bipedally as we do today, and it is believed that they matured much faster than modern humans. Dental fossil evidence shows that an eight year old Neanderthal possessed the same dental structure as that of a ten to twelve year old

Paleoanthropologist discover a skeleton of an 8 year old Neanderthals boy recovered from El Sidrón cave in Spain. Based on the skeleton, Dr.Rosas and his team studied the ancient Neanderthal remains and made an analysis of how the Neanderthal’s brain is different from modern day brain. The Neanderthal people’s brain are much larger but take longer time to grow.

It has been shown that the skull has the second greatest degree of sexual dimorphism with reported accuracies for sex determination as high as 77% (Stewart, 1979), 80-90% (Hanihara, 1959; Krogman, 1962; Cox and Mays, 2000) and even >95% (Baughan and Demirjian, 1978; Briggs, 1998; Franklin, Freedman and Milne, 2005; Kimmerle, Ross and Slice, 2008). However, it is thought that novice forensic anthropologists might report lower accuracies than these since, for example Stewart (1979) and Krogman (1962) had highly experienced participants analysing the skeletal remains. Moreover, some disagree that the skull is the second most sexually dimorphic and argue that certain postcranial measurements for example of the long bones, fare

The faces of hominids flatten out because their brow ridge and canine teeth got smaller and cranium got bigger. The Neanderthals have the largest brain case and was 55 cm, Homo sapiens the second largest with 48.5 cm and the flattest face. The A. africanus was the most protruding face with 129° and the brain case was 40 cm.

The skull proportion index conveys the proportional relationship between the face and the cranium. A larger index indicates a larger cranium in comparison to the face. The skull proportions of Homo sapiens, Homo neanderthalensis, and Homo erectus are relatively large, which are around 100. This suggests that Homos have large brain and cranium. Brain is associated with intelligence. Hence, homo can perform more complex activities, such as using sophisticated stone tools, cooking, and mashing food. Meanwhile, the skull proportions of Australopithecus afarensis and Paranthropus boisei are relative small. This suggests that Australopithecus afarensis and Paranthropus boisei have small brain and cranium. They can perform relatively simple activities, such as using basic stone tools, instead of sophisticated stone

homo habilis: is very much human structured face,smaller skull as it evolved,and less pushed in nose

Through the fossil record, scientists have been able to observe the changes among different homo genus, as they evolved over time becoming what we now know as the modern human (Fossil Record, 2015). The fossil record not only organizes the sequential generations that have changed over time to adapt better to their environments, but it also provides a time line to how homo sapiens came to exist (Fossil Record, 2015). Through careful analysis of the human fossil record, characteristics in the skull such as the brow ridge, brain size, cranial capacity, dentition, nasal cavity, eye sockets, mandible, and the cranial base are all characterizes, that both connect the three specimens Homo erectus, Neanderthals, and modern human, as well as, set them apart.

A longstanding view of human evolution holds that the first hominids to leave Africa did so with the help of bigger brains, longer legs and fancier tools than those of their predecessors. That scenario suffered a major blow a couple of years ago, however, when paleontologists working in Dmanisi, Georgia unearthed the oldest human remains yet found outside of Africa---two 1.7-million-year-old skulls belonging to early members of our genus, Homo--and discovered primitive tools alongside them. Now a new finding may topple another pillar of the theory. According to a report in the current issue of the journal Science,researchers working at the same site have recovered a third skull--one that housed a surprisingly small brain.

and Megyesi, M. S., (2004) studied gender and ethnic differences in bone architecture. One of the limitations of these models is that ethnic differences are not counted in femur geometry although these differences are less. Clark, J. M., et.al (1987) showed that there are big differences in the neck shaft angle, horizontal offset from person to person. Significant differences will femoral geometry (Crabtree, N., et al., 2000) (Greendale, G. A., et al., 2003). Khemachit, S. and Surasith, P. (2008) studied contour of the skull using two-dimesional image data where as Buranarugsa, and Mr. Houghton. P. (1981) studied contour of the skull with rectangular coordinates. Schenkar, R., et al. (1999) explained the application of advanced technologies to achieve physical models of the

By looking at the skulls’ and bones’ fragments that were discovered, Leori-Gourhan discovered that humans had erect postures long time ago (pg. 18). Once humans were able to stand upright, the hands are free with the brains developed that allow humans to create technology, which plays important roles in the development of human society (pg. 19). In other words, hands are the first tools that humans use as the technology. With the freedom of hands, humans are able to create other tools, such as spears, basketry, and woodwork, and to use their brains (pg. 133). In other words, as discussed in the lecture slide, “even the skeleton evolves through technological feedback and involvement of the body and the mind with the surrounding world, the mind is a byproduct of this body interaction.” The prehistoric culture started as the humans were able to stand upright with the liberation of hands. With the freedom of hands, humans are able to create more technological feedback to the surrounding world and that the brains began to evolve since humans have to understand and discover the tools that will make their lives easier. Leori-Gourhan claims that our brains have been developing since the use of hand till thousands of years ago when the Egyptians period (from recitation notes) that the development of the brain has stopped. The liberations of hands and

sapiens is larger than the skull and brain size of my species. My brain’s size is estimated from fossil skull fragments found in East Africa. The brains of H. sapiens are measured at 1130cc, whereas the estimates of my brain size based on brain case fragments is estimated to be 387-550cc. My brain is not only smaller but it is shaped more like a chimpanzee brain (Anton & Snodgrass, 2012, p. S484). Because brain size varies between A. afarensis and H. sapiens it is a very important distinquishing characteristic. There are other skull differences between my species and H. sapiens: I have no chin, whereas H. sapiens have a distinct chin. My forehead is low with a bony ridge over my eyes and my nose is flat when compared to the protruding nose of H. sapiens. (Bones Made, 2011). It’s likely a rearrangement of features as brain size increases in H.

This is because the cranial capacity is fairly easy to measure with an absolute brain size of 600cc being used as a defining feature of the genus Homo. However, some early Homo species had smaller brains than Australopiths (Morton, 2016), suggesting it may not be appropriate to consider cranial capacity alone, particularly as cranial fossil remains can be problematic when often found damaged. Endocranial casts can also be used to infer whether a species had developed spoken language, a feature used to distinguish Homo species. However, definitive evidence for the development of spoken language is poor and can’t be reliably interpreted from the appearance of endocranial casts (Wood & Collard, 1999). Tool use may also be connected with an increased cognitive ability and can be used to determine species within the genus Homo. However, stone tool deposits dating 2.6-2.3 million years old have been found in East Africa (Wood & Collard, 1999), linking them to later species of Australopiths, suggesting this may be an unreliable characteristic to use.

2013). When looking at brain sizes of the above species, the brain size of Homo habilis was larger than Australopithecids and the brain size of Homo georgicus indicates that there was no huge increase in Homo erectus, which is when the skull structure changed (width of skull was different). Due to the similarities between the two species (Homo habilis and erectus), I believe that it’s safe to presume that Homo georgicus was completely bipedal, had similar posture to that of Homo erectus, and similar habitats/climates. As mentioned above, there was a giant movement of early Homo species outside of Africa, which means that the three species would have had similar habitats/areas (Lordkipanidze et al. 2013). In regards to controversy, I (indirectly) concluded that Homo georgicus has become intertwined and combined with Homo erectus. Partially, I concluded this due to the lack of research on my hominid and through some readings (non-peer reviewed) that discussed early Homo

After heavy analyzation, one would soon learn that the archaeology information website is primarily focused on the evolution of the human body. The web source provides various selections to choose from, including: the human evolution summary, timeline, hall of skulls, and their perspectives. Likewise, the human evolution page describes the fossil hominids and their origins. The author recapitulates the hominid family, which consists of Homo, Australopithecus, and Ardipithecus. Correspondingly, the human evolution timeline page includes six distinct topics that follow a chronological story on how each option started from beginning to end. The first alternative focuses on the newest hominids, which are facts from the artist on what the hominids may have looked like. The next topic was based on the Ardipethecines, a specie that lived in a time period from about four and a half million years ago. Although there are four more choices available, the most interesting option was the Gracile Australopithecines. The Gracile Australopithecine appears to be a half human and half animal specie that lacks muscle and has a large jaw. In addition, the next page available on the archaeology source is the hall of skulls, which includes a precise description on ten distinct skulls. To sum up, the final selection accessible for viewers is the perspectives option. This choice allows the observer to see each of the author’s point of view on the information given.