Seven Steps in the Evolution of the Human Imagination

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
STEVEN MITHEN
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Change ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Brain Size ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Clear Picture ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Creative Imagination ◽  
African Apes ◽  
Ways Of Thinking ◽  
Forms Of Knowledge

The modern human is a product of six million years of evolution wherein it is assumed that the ancestor of man resembles that of a chimpanzee. This assumption is based on the similarities of the ape-like brain size and post-cranial characteristics of the earliest hominid species to chimpanzees. Whilst it is unclear whether chimpanzees share the same foresight and contemplation of alternatives as with humans, it is nevertheless clear that chimpanzees lack creative imagination — an aspect of modern human imagination that sets humanity apart from its hominid ancestors. Creative imagination pertains to the ability to combine different forms of knowledge and ways of thinking to form creative and novel ideas. This chapter discusses seven critical steps in the evolution of the human imagination. These steps provide a clear picture of the gradual emergence of creative imagination in humans from their primitive origins as Homo sapiens some 200,000 years ago. This chronological evolution of the imaginative mind of humans involves both biological and cultural change that began soon after the divergence of the two lineages that led to modern humans and African apes.

scholarly journals Recent origin of low trabecular bone density in modern humans

2014 ◽  
Vol 112 (2) ◽  
pp. 366-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Habiba Chirchir ◽  
Tracy L. Kivell ◽  
Christopher B. Ruff ◽  
Jean-Jacques Hublin ◽  
Kristian J. Carlson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Trabecular Bone ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Homo Erectus ◽  
Lower Limbs ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Human Skeleton ◽  
Trabecular Density ◽  
Fossil Hominins

Humans are unique, compared with our closest living relatives (chimpanzees) and early fossil hominins, in having an enlarged body size and lower limb joint surfaces in combination with a relatively gracile skeleton (i.e., lower bone mass for our body size). Some analyses have observed that in at least a few anatomical regions modern humans today appear to have relatively low trabecular density, but little is known about how that density varies throughout the human skeleton and across species or how and when the present trabecular patterns emerged over the course of human evolution. Here, we test the hypotheses that (i) recent modern humans have low trabecular density throughout the upper and lower limbs compared with other primate taxa and (ii) the reduction in trabecular density first occurred in early Homo erectus, consistent with the shift toward a modern human locomotor anatomy, or more recently in concert with diaphyseal gracilization in Holocene humans. We used peripheral quantitative CT and microtomography to measure trabecular bone of limb epiphyses (long bone articular ends) in modern humans and chimpanzees and in fossil hominins attributed to Australopithecus africanus, Paranthropus robustus/early Homo from Swartkrans, Homo neanderthalensis, and early Homo sapiens. Results show that only recent modern humans have low trabecular density throughout the limb joints. Extinct hominins, including pre-Holocene Homo sapiens, retain the high levels seen in nonhuman primates. Thus, the low trabecular density of the recent modern human skeleton evolved late in our evolutionary history, potentially resulting from increased sedentism and reliance on technological and cultural innovations.

scholarly journals An ecocultural model predicts Neanderthal extinction through competition with modern humans

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (8) ◽  
pp. 2134-2139 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Gilpin ◽  
Marcus W. Feldman ◽  
Kenichi Aoki
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Change ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Competitive Exclusion ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Volterra Model ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Interacting Species ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Cultural Competition

Archaeologists argue that the replacement of Neanderthals by modern humans was driven by interspecific competition due to a difference in culture level. To assess the cogency of this argument, we construct and analyze an interspecific cultural competition model based on the Lotka−Volterra model, which is widely used in ecology, but which incorporates the culture level of a species as a variable interacting with population size. We investigate the conditions under which a difference in culture level between cognitively equivalent species, or alternatively a difference in underlying learning ability, may produce competitive exclusion of a comparatively (although not absolutely) large local Neanderthal population by an initially smaller modern human population. We find, in particular, that this competitive exclusion is more likely to occur when population growth occurs on a shorter timescale than cultural change, or when the competition coefficients of the Lotka−Volterra model depend on the difference in the culture levels of the interacting species.

scholarly journals Midsagittal Brain Variation among Non-Human Primates: Insights into Evolutionary Expansion of the Human Precuneus

2017 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 255-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Sofia Pereira-Pedro ◽  
James K. Rilling ◽  
Xu Chen ◽  
Todd M. Preuss ◽  
Emiliano Bruner
Keyword(s):  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Brain Size ◽  
Anatomical Variation ◽  
General Pattern ◽  
Dorsal Surface ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Brain Morphology ◽  
Functional Region ◽  
Medial Side ◽  
Species Specific

The precuneus is a major element of the superior parietal lobule, positioned on the medial side of the hemisphere and reaching the dorsal surface of the brain. It is a crucial functional region for visuospatial integration, visual imagery, and body coordination. Previously, we argued that the precuneus expanded in recent human evolution, based on a combination of paleontological, comparative, and intraspecific evidence from fossil and modern human endocasts as well as from human and chimpanzee brains. The longitudinal proportions of this region are a major source of anatomical variation among adult humans and, being much larger in Homo sapiens, is the main characteristic differentiating human midsagittal brain morphology from that of our closest living primate relative, the chimpanzee. In the current shape analysis, we examine precuneus variation in non-human primates through landmark-based models, to evaluate the general pattern of variability in non-human primates, and to test whether precuneus proportions are influenced by allometric effects of brain size. Results show that precuneus proportions do not covary with brain size, and that the main difference between monkeys and apes involves a vertical expansion of the frontal and occipital regions in apes. Such differences might reflect differences in brain proportions or differences in cranial architecture. In this sample, precuneus variation is apparently not influenced by phylogenetic or allometric factors, but does vary consistently within species, at least in chimpanzees and macaques. This result further supports the hypothesis that precuneus expansion in modern humans is not merely a consequence of increasing brain size or of allometric scaling, but rather represents a species-specific morphological change in our lineage.

scholarly journals Evolution, revolution or saltation scenario for the emergence of modern cultures?

2011 ◽  
Vol 366 (1567) ◽  
pp. 1060-1069 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco d'Errico ◽  
Chris B. Stringer
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Change ◽  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Genetic Mutation ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
The Third ◽  
Anatomically Modern Humans ◽  
Modern Cognition ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
The Relationship

Crucial questions in the debate on the origin of quintessential human behaviours are whether modern cognition and associated innovations are unique to our species and whether they emerged abruptly, gradually or as the result of a discontinuous process. Three scenarios have been proposed to account for the origin of cultural modernity. The first argues that modern cognition is unique to our species and the consequence of a genetic mutation that took place approximately 50 ka in Africa among already evolved anatomically modern humans. The second posits that cultural modernity emerged gradually in Africa starting at least 200 ka in concert with the origin of our species on that continent. The third states that innovations indicative of modern cognition are not restricted to our species and appear and disappear in Africa and Eurasia between 200 and 40 ka before becoming fully consolidated. We evaluate these scenarios in the light of new evidence from Africa, Asia and Europe and explore the mechanisms that may have led to modern cultures. Such reflections will demonstrate the need for further inquiry into the relationship between climate and demographic/cultural change in order to better understand the mechanisms of cultural transmission at work in Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens populations.

Human Paleoneurology and the Evolution of the Parietal Cortex

2018 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 136-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emiliano Bruner
Keyword(s):  
Parietal Cortex ◽  
Posterior Parietal Cortex ◽  
Parietal Lobe ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Brain Size ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Spatial Models ◽  
Brain Anatomy ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Fossil Species

Paleoneurology deals with the study of brain anatomy in fossil species, as inferred from the morphology of their endocranial features. When compared with other living and extinct hominids, Homo sapiens is characterized by larger parietal bones and, according to the paleoneurological evidence, also by larger parietal lobes. The dorsal elements of the posterior parietal cortex (superior parietal lobules, precuneus, and intraparietal sulcus) may be involved in these morphological changes. This parietal expansion was also associated with an increase in the corresponding vascular networks, and possibly with increased heat loads. Only H. sapiens has a specific early ontogenetic stage in which brain form achieves such globular appearance. In adult modern humans, the precuneus displays remarkable variation, being largely responsible for the longitudinal parietal size. The precuneus is also much more expanded in modern humans than in chimpanzees. Parietal expansion is not influenced by brain size in fossil hominids or living primates. Therefore, our larger parietal cortex must be interpreted as a derived feature. Spatial models suggest that the dorsal and anterior areas of the precuneus might be involved in these derived morphological variations. These areas are crucial for visuospatial integration, and are sensitive to both genetic and environmental influences. This article reviews almost 20 years of my collaborations on human parietal lobe evolution, integrating functional craniology, paleoneurology, and evolutionary neuroanatomy.

scholarly journals The human genome reveals the evolution of Homo sapiens

2021 ◽  
Vol 134 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-45
Author(s):  
K. Schwartz ◽  
◽  
M. Sorokin ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Genome ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Genetic Research ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Homo Erectus ◽  
Max Planck ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Language Communication ◽  
History Of ◽  
Development Of Language

The evolution of modern humans began two and a half million years ago as Homo erectus. Several hundred thousand years ago, Neanderthals, Denisovans, and modern men Homo sapiens have been separated from the Homo erectus branch. Nevertheless, Homo sapiens is the only one that has survived to our days. The complex history of Homo is revealed by genetic research and comparison of the modern human genome with genes of Neanderthals and Denisovans. Svante Pääbo, a professor at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, made a significant contribution to these studies and decoded the genome of Neanderthals and Denisovans. Comparison of the genome of modern humans with the genes of Neanderthals and Denisovans made it possible to reveal the size of the population, the paths and times of migrations, interactions of various groups of ancient humans and their biological crossing. It was found that in Eurasia, modern man carries traces of Neanderthal genes, whereas in Asia and Oceania – Denisovan genes. According to anthropological research, the survival of Homo sapiens was driven by the cognitive revolution, which took place about seventy thousand years ago and included the development of language, communication and association in large groups.

Battle for the Stone Age

2018 ◽  
pp. 41-59
Author(s):  
Erika Lorraine Milam
Keyword(s):  
Family Structure ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Positive Feedback ◽  
Brain Size ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Bright Line

This chapter relates the story of how the discovery and spread of scientific knowledge regarding Stone-Age humans and their cultures profoundly changed understandings of anthropology at the time. In this version of the birth of human nature, an evolutionary leap had taken place through the tight interaction of several factors—increased brain size, bipedialism, family structure, a new ecology of life on the savannah, hunting and access to meat, and language—all caught in a maelstrom of positive feedback that resulted in the modern human. In the meantime, new fossil finds had revealed that Australopithecus, with a brain case about one-third the size of modern humans, appeared to use weapons and exhibited something that resembled proto-culture (both assertions were controversial). New primatological evidence, too, demonstrated that baboon and chimpanzee behavior were more complicated than anthropologists had previously thought possible. The former bright line between human and animal thus seemed more like a hazy stripe.

The Morphological and Behavioural Origins of Modern Humans

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Stringer
Keyword(s):  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Human Behaviour ◽  
Genetic Evidence ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
African Origin ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Speciation Event ◽  
Out Of Africa

This chapter provides an update on the speciation of modern Homo sapiens and the Out of Africa hypothesis. The majority of the fossil and genetic evidence favours an African origin for modern humans during the later part of the Middle Pleistocene (prior to 130,000 years ago), and one or more range expansions out of Africa after that date. However, a number of uncertainties remain. If there was a speciation event at the appearance of modern humans, what was its nature? Furthermore, did the evolution of modern human behaviour occur gradually or punctuationally? The discussion examines the difficulties faced in defining what is meant by ‘modern’ humans, and in reconstructing the morphological and behavioural origins of our species.

Ancient Digs and Modern Myths: The Age and Context of the Kent's Cavern 4 Maxilla and the EarliestHomo sapiensSpecimens in Europe

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 392-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark White ◽  
Paul Pettitt
Keyword(s):  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Taxonomic Status ◽  
Detailed Examination ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
Bayesian Modelling ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Human Presence ◽  
Human Fossil ◽  
Anatomically Modern Humans

Recent anatomical analyses of a human maxilla found in 1927 in the Vestibule at Kent's Cavern, Devon, UK, have been interpreted as confirming its taxonomic status asHomo sapiens, while Bayesian modelling of dated fauna apparently ‘associated’ with it has been interpreted as suggesting a calendar age for the maxilla of around 44,200–41,500 years BP, rendering it the earliest fossil evidence for modern human presence in Northern Europe. In this paper, we examine fully the circumstances of the maxilla's discovery, data not previously considered. Based mostly on archival and limited published materials, as well as knowledge of the cave's stratigraphy, we provide a detailed examination of the context of the maxilla and associated finds. We urge caution over using a small selected sample of fauna from an old and poorly executed excavation in Kent's Cavern to provide a radiocarbon stratigraphy and age for a human fossil that cannot be dated directly, and we suggest that the recent dating should be rejected. We place our evaluation in the wider context of the dating of European early anatomically modern humans.

scholarly journals Response to Comment on “The earliest modern humans outside Africa”

Science ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 362 (6413) ◽  
pp. eaat8964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Israel Hershkovitz ◽  
Mathieu Duval ◽  
Rainer Grün ◽  
Norbert Mercier ◽  
Helene Valladas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Uranium Series ◽  
Uranium Series Dating ◽  
Dating Methods ◽  
Out Of Africa ◽  
Numerical Dating

Our original claim, based on three independent numerical dating methods, of an age of ~185,000 years for the Misliya-1 modern human hemi-maxilla from Mount Carmel, Israel, is little affected by discounting uranium-series dating of adhering crusts. It confirms a much earlier out-of-Africa Homo sapiens expansion than previously suggested by the considerably younger (90,000 to 120,000 years) Skhul/Qafzeh hominins.

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