Early Hominid Behavior
Australopithecine/Paranthropus
Early Human Behavior
Evidence in South Africa
– Swartkrans
– Kromdraii
– Sterkfontain
Swartkrans, South Africa
Swartkrans has provided the largest sample
(more than 126 individuals) of the fossil hominid
known as Paranthropus robustus.
This hominid is only found in South Africa,
becoming extinct around one million years ago.
Also, Swartkrans contributed the first evidence
for the co-existence of two different types of
hominds, Homo erectus and Paranthropus
robustus.
Swartkrans, South Africa
This was the first indication to the scientific
community that hominid evolution did not occur
in a linear fashion from one species to the next,
to eventually us, Homo sapiens.
Instead, it demonstrated that human evolution
proceeded in a more bushy arrangement, with a
number of different species adapting to different
environments at different times. Some of these
"experiments" in human evolution succeeded
and some failed, with subsequent extinction.
Importance of Swartkrans
The first and earliest evidence for the controlled
use of fire found anywhere at approximately
one million years ago.
It is believed that the hominid which was
responsible for this had the cognitive ability to
take a burning log back from a naturally caused
fire, a veld fire, back to the cave, but that it did
not have the cognitive ability to make one itself.
Nonetheless, this is still a profound step forward
for our ancestors.
Digging for termites
Modified bones from Swartkrans and
Sterkfontein in South Africa represent the
oldest known bone tools.
They were used by Australopithecus
robustus to dig into termite mounds.
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/98/4/1358
Digging for termites
"While a rump steak
yields 322 calories per
100 grams and cod fish
74, termites provide
560 calories per 100
grams."
http://www.trussel.com/prehist/news239.htm
Excavations at Swartkrans
http://www.cast.uark.edu/local/swartkrans3d/thesis_web4.html
GIS 3D Model of Swartkrans
http://www.cast.uark.edu/local/swartkrans3d/thesis_web16.html
Excavated fossils from Swartkrans
http://www.cast.uark.edu/local/swartkrans3d/thesis_web21.html
Kromdraai, South Africa
Kromdraai is a much smaller site than either
Sterkfontein or Swartkrans, but nevertheless
has contributed its own pieces to the puzzle of
human evolution.
There are actually two sites lying almost next to
each other.
– Kromdraai A has yielded an incredible wealth of
fossil animals, including extinct saber-toothed cats,
extinct monkeys and baboons, extinct hyaenas and
extinct antelopes.
– Kromdraai B produced the first Paranthropus
robustus fossil the world had ever seen.
Kromdraai, South Africa
Also found at Kromdraai:
– 50 specimens of Paranthropus robustus.
– The first specimen of robustus ever
discovered , found in 1938.
– A wealth and diversity of extinct animals
– More than 100 stone tools.
Sterkfontein, South Africa
The first fossils at Sterkfontein came to light as
early as 1936 and were the first adult
Australopithecines or, more specifically,
Australopithecus africanus.
This species existed only in South Africa
between 3,2- and 2,6-million years ago and was
a very early hominid (ie, a species that belongs
in our family, the Hominidae).
Sterkfontein has fossil deposits dating back to
almost 3,5-million years ago, providing a wealth
of information about the different hominid
species that existed in the two million year
interval up to 1,5-million years ago.
Important finds at Sterkfontein
The first adult Australopithecine,
Australopithecus africanus, that the world had
ever seen, discovered in 1936.
The most complete skull of Australopithecus
africanus, or commonly and affectionately
known as Mrs Ples, found in 1947.
The first partial skeleton of any early hominid
ever found, known only as Sts 14. It was found
in 1947 and demonstrated without a doubt that
these early hominids walked upright, or
bipedally.
Also at Sterkfontain
The first find of a fossil of our genus, Homo, or
more specifically Homo habilis, found in 1976.
The geologically earliest record of any hominid
in South Africa at close to 3,5-million years ago.
500 fossil specimens of Australopithecus
africanus, including both adults and children.
This is a remarkable sample -- enabling
scientists to study a population of hominids,
instead of just a single fossil.
Sterkfontein
http://www.palaeotours.com/sites.htm
Australopithecus africanus
“Mrs. Ples”
Hunters vs. Scavengers
Dart’s “Osteodontokeratic” Culture
– Osteo=Bone
– Donto=Teeth
– Keratic=Horn
C.K. Brain’s later interpretation
Dart and the “Taung Baby”
In 1924, Raymond Dart, an Australian anatomy
professor at the University of Witerwatersrand in
Johannesburg, South Africa, obtained a fossil skull that
had been blasted out of a nearby limestone quarry at
Taung .
It took him 73 days to chisel the skull free from its
surrounding stone matrix and ultimately 4 years of spare
time to free the jaw and the fossilized brain. However,
long before then,
Dart recognized the importance of this find. In 1925 he
named it Australopithecus africanus (literally "southern
ape from Africa"). Because of its small size, he called it
the "Taung baby." In fact, it was a child of 3-4 years
old.
Osteodontokeratic Culture
Dart also concluded from his
analysis of the site of
Makapansgat that these
creatures had had what he
called an "osteodontokeratic"
(bone, tooth and horn)
culture, and argued that they
were savage hunters and
bloodthirsty killers whose
violent tendencies had left
their mark in human
behavior.
Osteodontokeratic
BONE
TEETH
HORN
“Man the Hunter”
Now anthropologists are reconsidering traditional theories
about the importance of male hunting, of meat and of the
so-called nuclear family in human evolution.
Instead, a renewed look at archaeological records and
observations of a contemporary hunting and gathering tribe
in East Africa suggest the key roles in nourishing the
evolution of people's ancestors may have been played by
females — mothers and grandmothers.
Meanwhile, male hunting was likely more about elevating
one's social status than providing for the family,
researchers say.
Click here to read more:
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DailyNews/grandmothers030114.html
C.K. Brain-Reinterpretation
Bones, teeth and horns not those of
animals killed by humans.
Humans the hunted rather than the
hunters.
The Hunters or the Hunted? C.K. Brain
1981
Leopard Predation
Makapansgat
Early Human Behavior
Scavengers, not Hunters!
Bones at early sites have tool marks on top
of animal tooth marks.
Humans and Chimpanzees
Besides, chimpanzees hunt-why did they
not evolve as much as we did??
Click here for more on this subject: Chimp
the Hunter
Thus, we need to be careful about our
biases when interpreting the
archaeological record.
Red Colobus monkey predation by
Chimpanzees
http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~stanford/meat.jpeg
So, Early Australopithecine/Paranthropus
behavior was like what?
Small groups
Utilized caves for shelter in South Africa
May have used bone tools for digging
termites out of mounds.
Could have hunted small animals.
Most food was probably plants.
Were more often the hunted, rather than
the hunter.