early human behavior

8/2/2019 Early Human Behavior

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Early Hominid BehaviorAustralopithecine/Paranthropus


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Early Human Behavior

Evidence in South Africa

Swartkrans

Kromdraii

Sterkfontain


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Swartkrans, South Africa

Swartkrans has provided the largest sample(more than 126 individuals) of the fossil hominidknown as Paranthropus robustus.

This hominid is only found in South Africa,becoming extinct around one million years ago.

Also, Swartkrans contributed the first evidencefor the co-existence of two different types of

hominds, Homo erectusand Paranthropusrobustus.


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Swartkrans, South Africa

This was the first indication to the scientificcommunity that hominid evolution did not occurin a linear fashion from one species to the next,

to eventually us, Homo sapiens.Instead, it demonstrated that human evolutionproceeded in a more bushy arrangement, with anumber of different species adapting to different

environments at different times. Some of these"experiments" in human evolution succeededand some failed, with subsequent extinction.


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Importance of Swartkrans

The first and earliest evidence for the controlleduse of fire found anywhere at approximatelyone million years ago.

It is believed that the hominid which wasresponsible for this had the cognitive ability totake a burning log back from a naturally causedfire, a veld fire, back to the cave, but that it didnot have the cognitive ability to make one itself.

Nonetheless, this is still a profound step forwardfor our ancestors.


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Digging for termites

Modified bones from Swartkrans andSterkfontein in South Africa represent theoldest known bone tools.

They were used by Australopithecusrobustusto dig into termite mounds.

http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/98/4/1358


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Digging for termites

http://www.trussel.com/prehist/news239.htm

"While a rump steakyields 322 calories per100 grams and cod fish

74, termites provide560 calories per 100grams."


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Excavations at Swartkrans

http://www.cast.uark.edu/local/swartkrans3d/thesis_web4.html


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GIS 3D Model of Swartkrans



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Excavated fossils from Swartkrans



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Kromdraai, South Africa

Kromdraai is a much smaller site than eitherSterkfontein or Swartkrans, but neverthelesshas contributed its own pieces to the puzzle ofhuman evolution.

There are actually two sites lying almost next toeach 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

robustusfossil the world had ever seen.


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Kromdraai, South Africa

Also found at Kromdraai:

50 specimens of Paranthropusrobustus.

The first specimen of robustuseverdiscovered , found in 1938.

A wealth and diversity of extinct animals

More than 100 stone tools.


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Sterkfontein, South Africa

The first fossils at Sterkfontein came to light asearly as 1936 and were the first adultAustralopithecines or, more specifically,Australopithecus africanus.

This species existed only in South Africabetween 3,2- and 2,6-million years ago and wasa very early hominid (ie, a species that belongsin our family, the Hominidae).

Sterkfontein has fossil deposits dating back toalmost 3,5-million years ago, providing a wealthof information about the different hominidspecies that existed in the two million yearinterval up to 1,5-million years ago.


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Important finds at Sterkfontein

The first adult Australopithecine,Australopithecus africanus, that the world hadever seen, discovered in 1936.The most complete skull of Australopithecus

africanus, or commonly and affectionatelyknown as Mrs Ples, found in 1947.The first partial skeleton of any early hominidever found, known only as Sts 14. It was found

in 1947 and demonstrated without a doubt thatthese early hominids walked upright, orbipedally.


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Also at Sterkfontain

The first find of a fossil of our genus, Homo, ormore 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 Australopithecusafricanus, including both adults and children.This is a remarkable sample -- enabling

scientists to study a population of hominids,instead of just a single fossil.


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Sterkfontein

http://www.palaeotours.com/sites.htm


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Australopithecus africanusMrs. Ples


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Hunters vs. Scavengers

Darts Osteodontokeratic Culture

Osteo=Bone

Donto=Teeth

Keratic=Horn

C.K. Brains later interpretation


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Dart and the Taung BabyIn 1924, Raymond Dart, an Australian anatomyprofessor at the University of Witerwatersrand inJohannesburg, South Africa, obtained a fossil skull thathad been blasted out of a nearby limestone quarry atTaung .It took him 73 days to chisel the skull free from itssurrounding 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 henamed it Australopithecus africanus (literally "southernape from Africa"). Because of its small size, he called it

the "Taung baby." In fact, it was a child of 3-4 yearsold.
http://anthro.palomar.edu/hominid/sounds/Australopithecus_africanus.mp3http://anthro.palomar.edu/hominid/sounds/Taung.mp3


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Osteodontokeratic Culture

Dart also concluded from hisanalysis of the site ofMakapansgat that these

creatures had had what hecalled an "osteodontokeratic"(bone, tooth and horn)culture, and argued that theywere savage hunters and

bloodthirsty killers whoseviolent tendencies had lefttheir mark in humanbehavior.


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Osteodontokeratic

BONE

TEETH

HORN


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Man the Hunter

Now anthropologists are reconsidering traditional theoriesabout the importance of male hunting, of meat and of theso-called nuclear family in human evolution.Instead, a renewed look at archaeological records andobservations of a contemporary hunting and gathering tribein East Africa suggest the key roles in nourishing theevolution of people's ancestors may have been played byfemales mothers and grandmothers.Meanwhile, male hunting was likely more about elevatingone's social status than providing for the family,

researchers say.

Click here to read more:http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DailyNews/grandmothers030114.html
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DailyNews/grandmother030114.htmlhttp://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DailyNews/grandmother030114.html


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C.K. Brain-Reinterpretation

Bones, teeth and horns not those ofanimals killed by humans.

Humans the hunted rather than thehunters.

The Hunters or the Hunted? C.K. Brain

1981


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Leopard Predation


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Makapansgat


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Early Human Behavior

Scavengers, not Hunters!Bones at early sites have tool marks on topof animal tooth marks.


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Humans and Chimpanzees

Besides, chimpanzees hunt-why did theynot evolve as much as we did??

Click here for more on this subject: Chimpthe Hunter

Thus, we need to be careful about ourbiases when interpreting the

archaeological record.
http://www.sciencenews.org/sn_edpik/b_1.htmhttp://www.sciencenews.org/sn_edpik/b_1.htmhttp://www.sciencenews.org/sn_edpik/b_1.htmhttp://www.sciencenews.org/sn_edpik/b_1.htm


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Red Colobus monkey predation by

Chimpanzees

http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~stanford/meat.jpeg


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So, Early Australopithecine/Paranthropusbehavior was like what?

Small groups

Utilized caves for shelter in South Africa

May have used bone tools for diggingtermites out of mounds.

Could have hunted small animals.

Most food was probably plants.Were more often the hunted, rather thanthe hunter.

early human behavior

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