time it takes for half of the original amount of an unstable isotope of an element to decay into more stable forms

5730 years (carbon 14)

• early apes exhibiting the y-5 molar patterns but monkey-like postcranial skeletons.  
• small bodied compared to modern ape
• Molar evidence suggests that the monkey and ape lineage diverge about 25 mya.

variant forms of an element that differ based on their atomic weights and numbers of neutrons in the nucleus.

Both stable and unstable (radioactive) isotopes exist in nature

Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (1990)

requires federal agencies that receive federal funding to return native american cultural items to respective peoples.

cultural items: funerary objects, sacred.

before death

cradle boarded skull (as infant)

GTS - categories of time into which earth's history is visually divided by geologists and paleontologists: eras, periods, epochs

EONS: precambrian (before animals) and phraneiozoic 

ERAS: Mesozoic (248-65 mya) and Cenezoic (65 mya)

found Australopithecus Afarensis (Lucy)

• about 12 years old
• relatively complete skeleton found in 1984 kenya
• increased body size
• big brain (900 cc)-most brain growth occurred after birth

• Washington 1996 (accidental discovery)
• all major bones were found but in several pieces 
• very old 9000 yr old man
• could be first human in new world (native american?)

• discovered in 1991 Otzal alpes on italy and austria border by german tourists
• 3300 BC body
• health: 45 yrs old, 84lbs, 5'5'' (had whipworm-parasite)
• material culture:cloak,elaborate, tools: scraper, drill, flint flake, bone arrow
• Cause of death: arrowhead in sholder- blood loss? blow to head?

• preserved humans found in sphagum bogs
• retained skin & internal organs due to unusual conditions of preservation
• location: northern europe, great britian, ireland
• evidence of violence: brutally killed,stabbed, blugeoned

radiometric dating: chronometric dating techniques that use radioactive decay of isotopes to estimate age

chronometric dating: techniques that estimate the age of an object in absolute terms thru the use of a natural clock such as radioactive tree ring growth

Primate Evolution

(early)

• primates evolved during cenozoic
• adaptive radiation of placental mammals - 65mya
• mammals radiate into the regions left vacant by extinct dinos.
• questionable plesiadapiforms

primate evolution (2)

(paleocene epoch)

• 65-55 mya
• plesiadapiforms
• lots of diversity
• not considered true primates
• prognathic face
• diastema
• eyes on side of head
• no post-orbital bar
• claws instead of nails

Primate Evolution (3)

Eocene Epoch

• warmer climates 
• replacement of archaic mammals by modern orders of placental mammals
• first true primates evolved in the eocene

adapids: lemur like

Omomyids: tarsier like

first monkeys

Eosimias

• tarsiers sized
• base of anthropoid radiation

• Africa 
• earliest dental ape

• ancestor of gibbon
• found in europe

• Asia(india)
• modern descendants=Orangutan

• Europe
• Tripod bipedalism
• no descendants

• big foot
• asia

• Greece
• ancestor of gorilla

Bipedalism

(challenges, bio. modifications towards biped. and problems?)

Challenges: balance;support of internal organs

Bio adaptions toward biped.:

• foramen magnum(hole where spine enters brain) pushed forward directly under skull 
• spinal cord now attaches to head at the bottom of the skull 
• vertebral column (s-shaped in humans) quadrepedals have c-shape
• pelvis (widening and shortening compared to primates) bowl shaped
• femur angled in toward knee
• feet in-line for balance

larger brain does not equal greater intelligence

• finding food-need to remember areas of food 
• social grouping:complex social relationships require complex brain
• language: comprehension and perception of speech

• oldest
• CHAD 2001
• large browridge
• non-functioning cp3 complex
• not biped.

• "millennium man"
• small teeth
• thick enamel
• not biped.

• Not biped.

Australopithecus Anamensis

(all australopithecus = biped.)

• u-shaped dental arcade
• distinct cp3 complex
• thicker enamel
• **1st definitely bipedal hominid

• "lucy" found by donald johanson
• cranium and teeth
• sagittal crest present to attach chewing muscles
• small bodysize
• compound temperal crest present
• u-shaped dental arcade
• no cp3 complex
• curved phalanges
• long arms
• bipedal

• flat face
• small molar

• prominent prognathism
• sagittal crest
• large canine
• possible tool use
• bipedal

• SOUTH AFRICA
• raymond dart
• taung child 2-4 yrs old
• less progranthic
• small anterior teeth
• bipedal
• gracile

• Robust
• small brow
• sagittal crest 
• dished face with flared zygomatics
• extreme post-orbital constriction
• bipedal

• robust characteristics
• small body
• bipedal

• South Africa *
• robust characteristics
• bipedal
• no tool use for all robust australopithecus

• 1st found with tools
• long arms but short
• oldowen stone tool industry (simple)
• small anterior dentition

•  osteodontokeratic culture
• south african cave sites: evidence for osteodontokeratic culture

• set 1: Basal hominids (6-4.4 mya) small brains, biped?,primative dentition
• set 2: Early Australopithecines (4.2-3 mya) small brains, large teeth, bipedal w/some arborealism
• set 3: Late Australopithecines( 2.5-1.4 mya) robust forms (definitely don't link to humans) 
• set 4: Early homo (2.4-1.8 mya)

• larger brain than h. hablis similiar to humans
• larger body size

• 1st hominid to leave Africa
• Eugene Dubois
• little prognathism
• very tall (allen's rule)
• Nariokotome boy
• ACHEULEAN tool industry

• thin cranial bones
• small brain
• less pronounced brow ridge
• acheulean tool industry

• Europe
• less prognathic
• tall, muscular
• achelean tool industry

• less prognathic
• tall
• large browridges
• sharing many modern characteristics
• cannabilistic *
• oldowon like/ acheulean tool industry

• material culture and early anatomical humans 
• europe middle east
• more midface prognathism
• worn dentition
• short, robust skeleton
• retrolmolar gap
• taurodon molars
• cannabalistic
• mouserian/chatelperronian tool industry
• juxtamastoid eminence:ridge of bone next to mastoid process (bone in neandertals larger than mastoid process itself)

• found many subadults
• similar growth rates to modern humans

controlled v oportunistic

controlled=ability to start and sustain fire

oportunistic= use of fire when started by someone else or nature ex. lightening fire

uses: warmth;cooking;fire-hardening tool shaft;stone tool construction/protection from predators;lights

• systematic hunting: foresightm planning, group hunting
• heavy reliance on meat
• confrontational scavenging: fight off large predators to gain access to significant amounts of meat that they killed
• passive scavanging: creep up to decomposing carcasses for a few scraps of meat and fat?
• probably did a combo of these

modern humans evolved from population throughout europe asia and africa. significant gene flow between populations maintained by the single human species

evidence: shovel-shaped incisors present in H. erectus. populations are present in east asian pop. today

grave goods

symbolic?

tool industry characterized by simple usually unifacial core and flake tools

cores: raw material source from which flakes are removed

flakes: stone fragments struck from a core, thought to have been primary tools of the oldowan

• age
• height
• sec
• ancestry
• trama
• pathology
• facial reconstruction
• animal or human?

• stone tool industry (more advanced)
• early and middle pleistopcene characterized by the presence of bifacial hand axes and cleavers
• made by a number of homo species, including homo erectus and early homo sapiens

style of prodominetly flint tools associated with neadertals

middle paleolithic 

complete replacement theory

[recent African origin]

modern humans(h. sapiens) evolved in one geographic location (africa & middle east) and replaced populations throughout europe and asia. modern humans were genetically isolated from their hominid ancestors.

no gene flow between h. sapiens and h. erectus