Becoming Human; Last Human Standing 4/10/12

-replaced by modern humans (neanderthal)
-remains of a 100,000 year old child found
-N. Spain archeological mine
expose ancient human habitation
-entrance to caves--pit of bones
found fragments, thought that there were skeletons
around 30 complete skeletons half a million years old
-evidence that the pit with the bones meant it was ceremonial
hand axe, cortz=believed it was an offering and a symbol
-homo heidelbergensis
-neanderthal fossils; modern humans descended from primitive form
-missing link between us and the apes?
-neanderthal physical similarities like us humans
did they think and act like us?
- Mers valley in Belgium gives us the reason; neanderthal child
jaw bone of a young boy, 100,00 years old
fragments of teeth; almost a complete mouth; put together his life
woodland and valley was his home
learning from his father to become a hunter
-germany leipzig; discovering the jaw
-about 11 or 12 years old; teeth can tell you how old
- child died around 8 years old
- grew up quicker, much less time for brain growth and learning
- less intelligent?
- evidence from skulls: endocasts (impressions in skulls tells us the information)
front of the brain is similar to ours what else?
-neanderthal brain temporal and parietal lobe are smaller than ours
sign of limited thinking powers
-diet
all exclusively meat eaters
no fish
-technology
no throwing spears or arrows
knives, tips of spears
close to prey to kill them=hunting risky
male skeletons have multiple fractures
-lives were tough and short
-skeletons tell they don't live beyond 30
-lasted almost 400,00 years
-25,000 years ago vanished
-Africa; droughts turned the area into deserts
-ancient population crashes; bottle neck effect
-lack of human diversity in DNA, wiped out
-few individuals make it through the bottle neck, but missing most of the population
-all people from earth are descendants from a small population in Africa
-hunting for shell fish
gathering berries
-stone tools
long thin blades
heating it improved it's duration
-stone tools aren't just cutting things but carrying information about the owner(s)
-shells with holes, believed to use them as necklaces, wearing ornaments and painting their bodies
-culture is the storehouse of our complex ways of thinking
"pass it on to our children like we do our genes"
-evolution will increase