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Chapter 9
Archaic Homo Sapiens and the Middle Paleolithic
Chapter Outline
Who was “archaic” Homo sapiens? What was the culture of archaic homo
sapiens like? Who were the Neandertals and what
became of them?
Archaic Homo sapiens
Species with modern sized brains in skulls that retained ancestral features.
Descended from Homo erectus, transition took place between about 400,000 and 200,000 y.a.
Neandertals, the best known, lived in Europe and western Asia between about 200,000 and 35,000 y.a.
Culture of Archaic Homo sapiens
Made a variety of tools for special purposes.
Made objects for symbolic purposes. Engaged in ceremonial activities. Cared for the old and disabled.
Appearance of Homo sapiens
At sites in Europe, Africa, and East Asia, fossils have been found that date between 400,000 and 200,000 y.a.
These fossils show a mixture of traits of both H. erectus and H. sapiens.
Indicates an evolution from the older into the younger species.
Levalloisian Technique
Levalloisian Technique
Flake tools produced by this technique were found in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and China.
Could be a case of independent invention or the spread of ideas from one part of the world to another.
Invention of Hafting
Affixing small stone bifaces and flakes in handles of wood to make spears and knives.
Involved three components: handle, stone insert, and binding materials.
Regional stylistic and technological variants are clearly evident, suggesting emergence of distinct cultural traditions.
Skull of Classic Neandertals
Shift in Characteristics of Neandertal to Modern Features Between 40,000 and 30,000 years ago, we would
expect to find individuals with characteristics such as those of the Saint Césaire “Neandertal” (A) and the almost modern Cro-Magnon(B).
Upper Paleolithic and Aurignacian Industries
Archaic Homo sapiens
200,000 y.a. populations of archaic H.sapiens lived in all parts of the inhabited world.
The brains of archaic H. sapiens were no different in size and organization than our own.
Utilized culture as a means of adaptation to a greater extent than their predecessors.
They were capable of complex technology and sophisticated thought.
Mousterian Tradition
Named after the Neandertal site of Le Moustier, France.
Tools were lighter and smaller than the Levalloisian and included hand axes, flakes, scrapers, borers, wood shavers, and spears.
Mousterian peoples buried their dead, cared for the disabled, and made objects for symbolic purposes.
Archaic Homo sapiens AndModern Human Origins Multiregional Hypothesis - all
populations of archaic H. sapiens are easily derivable from earlier populations of H. erectus from the same regions.
“Eve” Hypothesis - transition from archaic to anatomically modern H. sapiens took place in one population, probably in Africa.
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