Chapter 11The Origin and
Dispersal of Modern Humans
Chapter Outline Approaches to Understanding Modern
Human Origins The Earliest Discoveries of Modern
Humans Something New and Different Technology and Art in the Upper
Paleolithic Summary of Upper Paleolithic Culture
Homo sapiens sapiens All contemporary populations are placed in the
subspecies Homo sapiens sapiens. Most paleoanthropologists agree that several
fossil forms, dating as far back as 100,000 y.a., should be included in the same subspecies.
Recently discovered fossils from Africa are clearly H. sapiens, but show minor differences from living people and could be described as “near-modern.”
Questions About the Origin and Dispersal of H. sapiens sapiens When did H. sapiens sapiens first appear? Where did the transition take place?
In one region or several? What was the pace of evolutionary change?
How fast did the transition occur? How did the dispersal of H. sapiens sapiens to
other areas of the Old World take place?
Theories of Human Origins Complete Replacement Model Regional Continuity Model Partial Replacement Model
Complete Replacement Model (Recent African Evolution) Developed by British paleoanthropologists
Christopher Stringer and Peter Andrews. Proposes anatomically modern populations
arose in Africa in the last 200,000 years. They migrated from Africa, completely replacing
populations in Europe and Asia. Does not account for the transition from archaic
H. sapiens to modern H. sapiens anywhere except Africa.
Partial Replacement Model Proposed by Günter Bräuer of the
University of Hamburg. Postulates the earliest dates for African
modern Homo sapiens at over 100,000 y.a.
Partial Replacement Model Initial dispersal of H. sapiens sapiens from
South Africa was influenced by environmental conditions.
Moving into Eurasia, modern humans hybridized with resident groups, eventually replacing them.
The disappearance of archaic humans was due to hybridization and replacement.
Regional Continuity Model(Multiregional Evolution) Associated with paleoanthropologist
Milford Wolpoff of the University of Michigan.
Populations in Europe, Asia, and Africa continued evolutionary development from archaic H. sapiens to anatomically modern humans.
The Regional Continuity Model(Multiregional Evolution) Question: How did modern humans evolve in
different continents and end up so physically and genetically similar?
Explanation: Due to gene flow between archaic
populations, modern humans are not a separate species.
Earlier modern H. sapiens did not originate exclusively in Africa.
Early Homo sapiens Discoveries From Africa and the Near East
Site Dates (y.a.)
Human Remains Comments
Qafzeh(Israel)
110,000 20 individuals (minimum)
Large sample; variability in
expression of modern traits
Skhu-l(Israel)
115,000 10 individuals (minimum)
Earliest evidence of modern H. sapiens
outside of Africa
Early Homo sapiens Discoveries From Africa and the Near East
SiteDates (y.a.)
Human Remains Comments
Omo-Kibish (Ethiopia)
120,000–80,000?
Cranium and
postcranial remains
Second individual shows fewer modern traits
Klasies River Mouth (South Africa)
120,000?Several
individuals; fragmentary
Perhaps earliest modern H.
sapiens in Africa
Early Modern Homo sapiens Discoveries - Europe, Asia, Australia
SiteDates (y.a.)
Human Remains Comments
Abrigo do Lagar 24,500
4 y.o. child’s
skeletonShows mixture of traits
Velho(Portugal) Interpreted as evidence
of hybridization
Cro-Magnon(France)
30,000 8 individuals
Famous site of early modern H. sapiens;
variability in expression of modern traits
Early Modern Homo sapiens Discoveries - Europe, Asia, Australia
Site Dates (y.a.)
Human Remains Comments
Ordos(Mongolia,
China)50,000 1 individual
Perhaps earliest evidence of H. sapiens in Asia
Kow Swamp
(Australia)
14,000-9,000
More than 40 individuals(all ages)
Very robust individuals
Lake Mungo
(Australia)60,000- 30,000
3 individuals, one
cremation
Date is controversial; recent extraction and
analysis of DNA
Techniques for Dating Middle and Upper Pleistocene Sites
Technique Physical Basis Examples of Use
Uranium series
Radioactive decay of short-lived
uranium isotopes
Date limestone formations; estimate age of Jinniushan site in China and Ngandong site in
Java
Thermoluminescence (TL)
Accumulation of electrons in certain crystals released
during heating
Date ancient flint tools; provide key dates for the Qafzeh site
Electron spin resonance
(ESR)Measurement of trapped electrons
Date dental enamel; corroborate dating various sites
in Israel, Java, South Africa, and Australia
The New World Ancestors of Native Americans reached
the New World through migration over the Bering Land Bridge over many millennia.
Debates continue, but at present, the only direct evidence of hominids in the New World date to about 12,000 y.a.
Anatomically modern Homo sapiens and Homo floresiensis
The Upper Paleolithic Cultural period began in western Europe
approximately 40,000 years ago. Industries based on tool technologies:
1. Chatelperronian2. Aurignacian3. Gravettian4. Solutrean5. Magdalenian
Upper Paleolithic Tools (a) Burin. A very
common Upper Paleolithic tool.
(b) Solutrean blade. This is the best-known work of the Solutrean tradition. Solutrean stonework
is considered the most highly developed of any Upper Paleolithic industry.
Cultural Periods of the European Upper Paleolithic
Upper Paleolithic (beginnings) Cultural Periods
17,00021,00027,00040,000
Magdalenian SolutreanGravettian
AurignacianChatelperronian
MiddlePaleolithic Mousterian
Cave Art Majority from southwestern France and
northern Spain. Grotte Chauvet
Dating has placed the cave painting during the Aurignacian period more than 30,000 y.a.
Images include stylized dots, human handprints and animal representations.
Among traces are dozens of footprints on the cave floor produced by bears and humans.
Africa Rock art is found in southern Africa dating to
between 28,000 and 19,000 y.a. Personal adornment dates back to 38,000 y.a.
in the form of beads made from ostrich shells. Excavations in the Katanda area show
remarkable bone craftsmanship. Intricate bone tools resembling harpoons
were made from the ribs of large mammals.
Quick Quiz
1. Which of the following is NOT one of the hypotheses explaining the origins and dispersal of anatomically modern humans?
a) the partial replacement modelb) the regional continuity modelc) the regional replacement modeld) the complete replacement model
Answer: c The regional replacement model is
NOT one of the hypotheses explaining the origins and dispersal of anatomically modern humans.
2. Scientists are fairly clear on when anatomically modern Homo sapiens first appeared. True False
Answer: False Scientists are not fairly clear on when
anatomically modern Homo sapiens first appeared.
3. The _________________ holds that anatomically modern populations arose in Africa within the last 200,000 years, migrated out and replaced populations in Europe and Asia. They did not interbreed because they were a separate species.
Answer: Complete Replacement Model3. The Complete Replacement Model
holds that anatomically modern populations arose in Africa within the last 200,000 years, migrated out and replaced populations in Europe and Asia. They did not interbreed because they were a separate species.
4. The model also known as "Recent African Evolution" is based on the origin of modern humansa) in Africa and their interbreeding with
local African populations.b) in Africa and their replacement of local
populations in Europe and Asia.c) in China and their relatively recent
evolution in Africa.d) simultaneously in Africa and China.
Answer: b The model also known as "Recent
African Evolution" is based on the origin of modern humans in Africa and their replacement of local populations in Europe and Asia.