1
Anthropology 0680
Introduction to Physical Anthropology
Summary 9
Homo neanderthalensis: e.g. first discovered mid-19th c [Feldhofer Grotto (calotte), Germany;
Gibraltar, Africa; Engis, Belgium]; typical crania: La Chapelle-aux-Saints, La Ferrassie, La
Quina, Shanidar, Amud, Biache (c. 150-160,000 yrs), Tabun (c. 38,000 yrs), St. Césaire (36,000
yrs); Zafarraya mandible and isolated teeth from Portugal (27,000 yrs); Columbeira, Figueira
Brava, and Salemas (Portugal, 28,000 yrs); thick cranial and postcranial bone; face on front of
cranium, and 3rd lower molar exposed; unique in brow ridge (uniformly thick, rolled, doublearched), protruding snout, puffy face (extensive maxillary sinus), internal nasal cavity structures,
pitted suprainiac depression, horizontal and uniformly thick occipital torus, long thumb, flat
finger tips, very elongate clavicle, stout limbs (except upper arm), short hind foot; similar
morphologies in occiput of Swanscombe (c. 300,000 yrs), Reilingen (mid-Pleistocene), and
Steinheim (c. 300,000 yrs) specimens, suggesting both a long history for this taxon and the
existence of various species that are closely related to it.
Atapuerca: site of Sima de los Huesos: c. 350,000 yrs; specimens Neanderthal related, but
different species. And site of Gran Dolina (c. 780,000 yrs), yielding lower face of youth that has
the incisura of the zygoma (indentation of the lower margin of the anterior cheekbone) like H.
sapies (but primitive?).
Homo heidelbergensis: thought to include such specimens as Arago (c. 350,000 yrs), Petralona
(250-500,000 yrs), Kabwe (?), Bodo (mid-Pleistocene); huge facial skeleton; distinctive brow
ridge (flat surface, thick in midline); recent research indicates that at least two different species
may be represented by specimens referred to this taxon.
2
Homo sapiens: earliest fossils (all c. 100,000 yrs) believed to include Skhul V, Qafzeh, Border
Cave; mandible, Klasies River Mouth; all mistakenly thought to have true chin (mental trigon)
and/or bipartite brow ridge; the Tighenif (Ternifine) mandibles (Algeria, c. 300,000 yrs) have a
some of the features of the human "chin;" younger specimens (e.g. Cro Magnon, Abri Pataud,
Barma Grande, Dolni Vestonice - 40-20,000 yrs) definitely H. sapiens.
Competing theories: Single Origin (also known as Eve or Out of Africa theory) vs Multiregional
Continuity: each tries to explain the evolution of modern human populational diversity.