Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vi
PART ONE: HUMAN EVOLUTION IN
PERSPECTIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Unit 1: Our Place in Nature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Unit 2: Human Evolution as Narrative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Unit 3: Historical Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Unit 4: Modern Evolutionary Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Unit 5: The Physical Context of Evolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Unit 6: Extinction and Patterns of Evolution . . . . . . . . . . . .30
PART TWO: BACKGROUND TO HUMAN
EVOLUTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
Unit 7: Dating Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
Unit 8: Systematics: Morphological and Molecular . . . . . . .45
Unit 9: Science of Burial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
Unit 10: Primate Heritage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
PART THREE: HUMANS AS ANIMALS . . . . . . . . . . . .67
Unit 11: Bodies, Size, and Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Unit 12: Bodies, Brains, and Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
Unit 13: Bodies, Behavior, and Social Structure . . . . . . . . .80
Unit 14: Nonhuman Models of Early Hominins . . . . . . . . . .87
PART FOUR: HOMININ BEGINNINGS . . . . . . . . . . . .93
Unit 15: Ape and Human Relations: Morphological and
Molecular Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
Unit 16: Origin of the Hominoidea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103
Unit 17: Origin of Bipedalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109
Unit 18: Jaws and Teeth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116
Unit 19: The Earliest Hominins: a History of
Discoveries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121
PART FIVE: THE HOMININ ADAPTATION . . . . . .129
Unit 20: The Australopithecines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131
Unit 21: Early Homo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .140
Unit 22: Hominin Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146
Unit 23: Early Tool Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151
PART SIX: HOMO ERECTUS: BIOLOGY AND
BEHAVIOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157
Unit 24: The Changing Position of Homo erectus . . . . . . . . .159
Unit 25: New Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166
Unit 26: Hunter or Scavenger? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170
PART SEVEN: THE ORIGIN OF MODERN
HUMANS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177
Unit 27: The Neanderthal Enigma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179
Unit 28: Anatomical Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187
Unit 29: Genetic Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200
Unit 30: Archeological Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208
PART EIGHT: THE HUMAN MILIEU . . . . . . . . . . . . .215
Unit 31: Evolution of the Brain, Intelligence, and
Consciousness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .217
Unit 32: The Evolution of Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .222
Unit 33: Art in Prehistory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .229
PART NINE: NEW WORLDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .237
Unit 34: The Americas and Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239
Unit 35: The Origin of Agriculture and the First
Villagers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .247
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .253
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .257
PREFACE
The pattern of treatment of issues in this new edition follows
that established with the fourth edition; nevertheless there
are important changes. For instance, in the preface to the
previous edition I wrote, “The five years since the third edition
of Human Evolution: An Illustrated Introduction have been
an extraordinarily productive time for paleoanthropology,”
not least because of the number of new species of early
humans that had been discovered. The same can be said of the
period between the fourth and fifth editions. Since 1999 four
new species of hominin have been announced. (Hominin is
the term now used for members of the human family.)
Of the four new species, three have been assigned to new
genera. Two of them are older than anything known previously,
dated at 6 to 7 million years old. One of them was
found in Chad, rather than in East Africa. And another,
Kenyanthropus platyops (3.5 million years old, from Kenya),
has the kind of flat face that was thought to have arisen much
later in hominin history. Clearly, hominin history is turning
out to be much more complex than previously assumed.
Description and discussion of these finds represents one of
the major changes from the fourth edition, which involves a
thorough reorganization of units dealing with this period.
The origin of modern humans continues to be a major
topic in paleoanthropology, as Curtis Marean and Jessica
Thompson noted in their report of the 2002 meeting of the
Paleoanthropology Society.* The debate over the mode of
the origin of modern humansawas it a single, recent origin
or global and gradualacontinues, but new genetic evidence
adds further support to the notion of a single, recent origin.
Some of this evidence comes in the form of mitochondrial
DNA analysis of a Neanderthal specimen from the northern
Caucasus. The announcement, in mid-2003, of a 160,000-
year-old specimen of early Homo sapiens from Ethiopia also
strengthens the argument for a single, recent origin, in
Africa. Becoming more center stage in discussions over
modern human origins, however, is the evolution of modern
human behavior. Was it recent and dramatic, or more gradual,
with deeper roots? Evidence for the latter is growing. All
these aspects of the debate are updated in this edition in what
remains a strong contribution to Human Evolution.
The trend continues in paleoanthropology from viewing
human evolution as having occurred under special circumstances
to accepting humans as animals and having evolved
in ways similar to other animals. Humans are special in many
ways, of course, but this specialness is a feature that emerges
relatively late in our evolutionary history. This is recognized
here in discussions of life-history factors and the impact of
body size and shape.
Many new finds and insights are included in this new edition,
including, among others, the redating of an important
specimen in Australia, at Lake Mungo. Previously thought to
be 25,000 years old, the Lake Mungo cranium is now shown
to be 42,000 years old, and tools at a nearby site are close to
50,000 years old, establishing a relatively early occupation of
the continent. Another important change is the realization
that Homo ergaster may not, after all, have experienced prolonged
infancy. That change in human development appears
to have occurred later in the lineage. And Morris Goodman
continues to tweak paleoanthropologists’ tails by suggesting
that both humans and chimpanzees be placed in the same
genus, Homo.
Obviously, paleoanthropology continues to be a healthy,
robust science, embracing new facts and reinterpretations
in the search for the pattern of human history. As always,
however, it is worth remembering that when the subject of
scientific scrutiny is ourselves and how we came to be who
we are, subjectivity is a constant trap. As I noted in the previous
edition, “Armed with this knowledge, the student is
better prepared to assess what is being said in one debate or
another in the science.”
Christopher Ruff, Ian Tattersall, and Alan Walker were
kind enough to comment on new material in the book. The
responsibility for the final product is, of course, mine.
Roger Lewin
Cambridge, Massachusetts
No comments:
Post a Comment