The Improbable Primate
Page 20
core xii, 55, 67, 133, 145–6
Middle Pleistocene aridity 69–70
northern xi–xii, 64–6, 76–7, 78, 96, 106
northern glaciations 110
overlap of rain chaser/Neanderthal populations 105–6
as site of human origin 55, 147
southern xi, 77–8, 83–4, 90–4, 106, 108–11, 112
Middle East 105, 109
aridification 70, 90
erectus 55, 62–3
Natufians 147, 149
Neanderthal extinctions 97–8
Milton, Katherine 1
Miocene, Middle 1–10
emergence of C4 grasses 17
forest primates 1–4, 6–8, 10–11
modernity xv–xvi molluscs 60, 63, 101–2
monitor lizards 16, 60
monk seals 101, 148
Morgan, Elaine 13
Mumbwa Caves, central Africa 94
Murray-Darling Basin, Australia 142–4, 147
population containment 149
Nariokotome Boy 41, 43–4
Natufian people, Middle East 147, 149
natural selection 37, 47, 48, 52, 84, 85
Nature 41
Neanderthals (Homo sapiens neanderthalis) xi, 81, 85, 87, 90, 95–107, 109, 112, 123–4, 129, 151
altitude movement with climate change 119
coastal sites 92, 100–2
commitment to small-scale territories 106–7
considered separate species ix
contact with Denisovans 117
contact with rain chasers 105–6
extinction patterns 97–8
factors important for survival 99–102
genetic legacy ix, 81, 111, 121
genetic mixing of populations 102
geographical range 96–7
habitat 102–4, 121–2
hind limb anatomy 106
last populations 97, 98–9, 107, 121–3
as lineage of Homo sapiens x, xiv, xviii
mountain launchpad into Eurasia 116–20
muscular build xii–xiv, 106–7
sedentary lifestyle 148–9
seen as cognitively inferior xvi
split from Homo sapiens sapiens 81
spread into Europe via central Asia 112
use of wooden implements xv
Neanderthals and Modern Humans (Finlayson) 78
New Guinea Highlands 151
Niah Cave, Borneo 124–5, 133, 151
nomadic lifestyles:
Australian dessert 138–44, 146
and geographical expansion 150
and reciprocity 144, 146
North Africa 67
aridification and climate fluctuation 70, 77, 90–1
erectus 63–4
Middle Pleistocene 77
rain chasers 87, 90–2, 93
North America 130, 147–8
Nubians 90–1
Ohalo, Sea of Galilee 147
Oldowan technology 52, 63, 64–5, 66, 67, 70, 71, 71 Fig. 4, 151, 170n
Olorgesailie, Kenyan Rift Valley 72–3
open treeless grasslands 33–4, 35
orang-utans (Pongo) 25
ostriches 67
otters 15
Oued Djebanna, Algeria 91
Out-of-Africa/Out-of-Africa 2 models x, xi, 55, 108–10, 134
Pacific coast of America 147–8
Pakefield, Suffolk 76
Panxian Dadong, China 77–8
Paranthropus 29, 33–4, 35, 42
diet 34
distribution 33
extinction 34
habitat 33–4
height 44
moving towards life on the ground 37
rocky places 37
start of line 36
Paranthropus bosei 34
Paranthropus robustus 34
Pavlov, Czech Republic 147
Persian Gulf 55
Peru 150
Petraglia, Mike 124
phytoliths 31, 162n
pigs 16, 46, 63
Pinnacle Point, South Africa 92, 102
Pleistocene 130, 142
Late 130
Middle xvii, 69–82
Pliocene 10, 130
emergence of C4 grasses 17
population genetics xi
predators 50–1
attraction of seasonally-flooded areas 21
patchily distributed resources and movement in groups 4–7
primates 52
behaviour around water 24–5
bonding with natal area 146
brain expansion 3–4
brain function in forest contexts 1–4
coming down to the ground 8–9
effects of food density on behaviour 6–8
group living 6–8, 12–13
Miocene forest 1–4, 6–8, 10–11, 146
predisposition for culture 12–13
protein supplements for fruit-based diets 3, 12–13, 40
transition from tropical rainforest to tropical seasonal forest 21–2
proboscis monkeys (Nasalis) 24
Puritjarra Rock Shelter, Australia 134–5, 145, 147
Pyrenees 5–6, 106
pythons 15
Radcliffe-Brown, Alfred 142
rain chasers (southern Middle Earth lineage) 83–95, 96, 105, 106–7
‘Africa viewpoint’ 108–9
brain size 84, 85, 94
cultural and genetic interchange with Neanderthals 81, 90, 105, 121–2
as desert dwellers 132–6, 144
as endurance runner and long-distance walker 83, 85, 111, 122
Eurasian open habitat 122–3
expansion into Australia 111, 122–3, 125, 133–6
expansion into Eurasia 120–1
expansion into south-east Asia 111–12, 123–5, 135
global expansion 108–33
hunting mobile prey 89, 121
lightweight build 83, 85, 94, 105, 106–7, 122
mobility 94, 105
overlapping with Neanderthals 105–6
physical appearance 85–6
population isolation and re-contact 86, 110
southern sites 130
split from Neanderthals 81
supposed arrival time 200 thousand years ago 86
technological innovation 87–90, 94, 105, 121, 122
rain front tracking 87–8, 137
rainforests 144
as barriers 111
expansion 61, 68, 115–16, 125
human alteration, Niah Cave 124–5, 133
Miocene 1–4, 6–8, 10–11, 59
shrinking/opening up 21–2, 43, 60, 80, 111, 130
Ramidus (Ardipithecus ramidus) 32, 37, 59
diet 17, 25, 157n
facultative bipedalism 17, 23–4, 160n
habitat 17–19, 21, 22–5
opportunism 25–6
reciprocity and sharing 144, 146
Reed, K. 33–4
reindeer xv, 121, 147
rhinos 63, 65, 66, 67, 91
rocky places 37–9, 72, 77, 82, 135, 142
erectus 62, 75
Neanderthals and 103, 104, 122, 148
rain chasers 92–3
in works of art 152
Roebroeks, W. 55, 67
sabre-tooth cats 16, 66
Sahara Desert 93, 110, 130, 135
alternating wet-dry conditions 79
expansion 79, 90–1 Sahelanthropus 37, 59, 79
salmon 147–8
savannah/aquatic dichotomy 26
savannah/grassland 13, 31, 94, 143
corridors 112
open 9, 26, 34, 36, 60–1, 67, 77
wooded 15–16, 17, 22, 36, 37, 64
Savannahstan 55, 67
Schöningen, Germany xv
Science xviii, 16
sea crossings 61–2, 68, 125, 133
seals 92, 101, 148
seasonal flooding 18–21, 25
sedentary lifestyles 147–9
and geographi
cal expansion 150
and resource predictability 147–9
Sel’ungur, Kyrgyzstan 77
Serpent’s Glen, Australia 134
sexual dimorphism 17, 44
shellfish 91, 93, 101
Siberia 96, 106, 112, 119
Sima de Elephante, Spain 64–5
sociability, Mardu peoples 141
sources and sinks model 78, 112, 128–9
South Africa 33, 35, 67
aridification 70
cave dwelling 92–3
coastal site exploitation 92, 101, 102
spread of Middle Pleistocene humans with Acheulian technology 70–2
south-East Asia xii, 41, 59–62, 77, 111, 133
altitude movement in response to water shortage 77–8, 113
coastal site exploitation 75, 92
Denisovans 112, 115–18, 123
effects of cooling and drying 60–1, 77–8
effects of warming 61
erectus xii, 41, 54, 59–62, 80
impact of Toba Volcano 124
Middle Pleistocene 75, 77–8, 80
rain chaser expansion into 111, 123–5
rainforest barriers 111
rainforest expansion 61, 68
as source (pump) area 78, 111–17
Trinil site, Java 59–61
very early colonization 111
Spain see Iberian Peninsula
spear-throwers, Mardu 139
spider monkeys 3, 154n
Stewart, J. R. 110
stone tools 87
earliest known 39–40
Flores 61
Neanderthal 148
typological classification drawbacks xiv
see also Acheulian technology; Oldowan technology
storks 14, 60
Strait of Gibraltar 4–5, 64, 68, 99
Stringer, C. B. 110
swamp monkeys (Allenopithecus) 24
Syria 118
Systematics and the Origin of Species from the Viewpoint of a Zoologist (Mayr) vii
Taforalt, Morocco 91
territoriality 142, 146–7
and genetic isolation 143–4
Neanderthals 149
and violence 143, 144, 146, 149
tigers 60
tits 4
Toba Volcano eruption 124, 133
Tonkinson, Robert 136
tools:
composite technology 89–90, 105, 109, 121
hafted 88, 89, 106
lightweight and portable 87–8, 94, 120
Mardu toolkit xiv–xv, 139–40
projectile technology 120, 122
small 93
see also Acheulian technology; Oldowan technology; stone tools
tortoises 16
Toumaï (Sahelanthropus tchadensis) 13–16
diet 25
habitat 13–16, 21, 22–5
opportunism 25–6
trading networks 92
tree sloths 3
Trinil, Java 59–61
Turkey 98, 118
turtles 15, 19, 42, 60, 63
Ubeidiya 63, 151
UNESCO habitat definitions 22
Vanguard Cave, Gibraltar 101
visual discrimination, in forest canopy 2
vultures 5 Fig. 2, 5–6, 50, 51
water
and beginnings of agriculture 151
centrality to Mardu people 137
and choice of Acheulian/Oldowan technology 64–5, 70–2
in Central Australia 134
coastal areas as source of fresh 93, 100
as evolutionary driver xii–xiv, xvii, 37, 47, 49, 52, 58, 59, 84–5, 125–31
importance to hominids and early humans 29, 32, 36–8, 79, 82, 93–4, 103
inbuilt knowledge about sources 58, 85
links to Himalayan launchpad model 113–118
Mardu maximization of resources 137, 140–1
and Neanderthal survival 100, 103
necessity to human sites 125–30
Paranthropus habitat 33, 34
and population density, Australia 135–6
primate behaviour around 24–5
predictability of supply, and sedentary lifestyle 149
reliability and population expansion 149–50
scarcity and seasonality 43
seasonal flooding 14–15, 19–21
and territorial vs. nomadic lifestyles 146, 149
water buffalo 91
water shortage 36–7, 84–5
and altitude movements 78, 115–18
and Acheulian technology 58–9, 70–1, 87–8, 89
Barbary macaque response 27–8
human adaptation to extreme 142
impact on Neanderthals 103, 104–5
and increased mobility 37, 38, 47, 49
increasing after 400 thousand years ago 83–4
and isolation of human populations 79–80
lightness of build advantages 83–4
Middle Pleistocene 77–8
and Neanderthal extinction, Middle East 98
seasonal, as consequence of climate change 36–7, 43, 47
Water Optimization Hypothesis 125–30
water/trees/open spaces 22–5, 23 Fig. 3, 38, 42, 42–3
Australia 135, 142
australopithecines 29–30, 33–4, 35, 36
changes in distribution 72–3
early hominid habitats 22–5
erectus 60–1, 62, 63–4, 72–3, 75, 77
in landscape paintings 152
habitat management to produce 124–5, 133, 151–2
Neanderthal habitat 103–4, 106, 121–2
Puritjarra 135
re-creation in parks 152
water/treeless open spaces 122–3
weather prediction 140
wetlands 15, 18–19, 34, 38, 62–3, 66–7, 75, 143
coastal 61, 68
permanent vs. seasonal 64–6
productivity 21–2
reduction 36
White, Tim 17–18, 19, 22, 23–4
wild boar 25
as scavengers 20–1
Wolpoff, Milford ix, x, 86–7
wood, working of 73
wooden tools xiv–xv, 39
woolly mammoths xv
Wrangham, Richard 74
Yuanmou Basin, China 67
Zagros Mountains, Iran 106, 118, 119, 120, 123