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timing of growth spurts in Neanderthals
Title
The timing of growth spurts in Neanderthals.
Creator
Lupo, Amy C., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
Abstract/Description
The timing of skeletal growth spurts in modern humans is unique among mammals. In modern humans, peak growth occurs after puberty during the adolescent period, whereas large-bodied non-human primates exhibit an earlier juvenile growth spurt. Based on limited data, previous researchers have suggested that Neanderthals experienced a late, modern human-like adolescent growth spurt. In this study, I examined the timing of stature and facial growth spurts in Neanderthals to test the hypothesis...
Show moreThe timing of skeletal growth spurts in modern humans is unique among mammals. In modern humans, peak growth occurs after puberty during the adolescent period, whereas large-bodied non-human primates exhibit an earlier juvenile growth spurt. Based on limited data, previous researchers have suggested that Neanderthals experienced a late, modern human-like adolescent growth spurt. In this study, I examined the timing of stature and facial growth spurts in Neanderthals to test the hypothesis that Neanderthals grew like modern humans. In order to assess the timing of Neanderthal growth spurts, I plotted a non-human primate regression estimate of age at puberty onto Neanderthal stature and mandibular velocity growth curves. The mandibular growth curve exhibits a discernible growth spurt after puberty, reminiscent of the modern human adolescent growth spurt. Future research on additional regions of the skeleton is necessary to further refine this estimate for the timing of Neanderthal growth spurts.
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Date Issued
2010
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/1930487
Subject Headings
Neanderthal race, Human evolution, Fossil hominids, Anthropometry, Physical anthropology
Format
Document (PDF)
Paranthropus face
Title
The Paranthropus face: examining a developmental model.
Creator
Burdelsky, Brittany A., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
Abstract/Description
The Paranthropus head is characterized by features traditionally thought to be related to heavy chewing. McCollum [Science 284 (1999) : 301-305] proposed that palatal thickening is a response to developmental integration between the mandibular ramus, oral and nasal functional matrices, and the vomer, which inserts onto the premaxilla in Paranthropus and causes the palate to thicken instead of rotate during vertical expansion. I tested whether palate thickness increases as a byproduct of...
Show moreThe Paranthropus head is characterized by features traditionally thought to be related to heavy chewing. McCollum [Science 284 (1999) : 301-305] proposed that palatal thickening is a response to developmental integration between the mandibular ramus, oral and nasal functional matrices, and the vomer, which inserts onto the premaxilla in Paranthropus and causes the palate to thicken instead of rotate during vertical expansion. I tested whether palate thickness increases as a byproduct of differential increases in the sizes of the oral and nasal functional matrices compared to growth in the mandibular ramus. To do so, I collected 3D volume and landmark data from computed tomography (CT) scans of extant (Homo sapiens, Pan troglodytes, Gorilla gorilla, Pongo pygmaeus) and extinct taxa (Australopithecus and Paranthropus), and tested counterpart relationships for bones in the cranium using scaling analyses. Results suggest that developmental constraints related to growth counterpart relationships in the skulll are unlikely to affect palate thickness in the genus Paranthropus.
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Date Issued
2012
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3358331
Subject Headings
Physical anthropology, Fossil hominids, Craniology, Human evolution, Evolutionary genetics
Format
Document (PDF)
Cranial morphology of European Upper Paleolithic hominins and other Pleistocene populations
Title
Cranial morphology of European Upper Paleolithic hominins and other Pleistocene populations.
Creator
Constantino, Paul J., Florida Atlantic University, Broadfield, Douglas C.
Abstract/Description
The cranial morphology of European Upper Paleolithic hominins is analyzed and compared with crania from other populations including other Late Pleistocene groups, Neanderthals, and modern Holocene populations. The results of distance, cluster and principal component analyses as well as univariate tests indicate that the European Upper Paleolithic is most similar to other Late Pleistocene populations and to modern Europeans. Combined with the calculated degree of variation in each group, the...
Show moreThe cranial morphology of European Upper Paleolithic hominins is analyzed and compared with crania from other populations including other Late Pleistocene groups, Neanderthals, and modern Holocene populations. The results of distance, cluster and principal component analyses as well as univariate tests indicate that the European Upper Paleolithic is most similar to other Late Pleistocene populations and to modern Europeans. Combined with the calculated degree of variation in each group, the evidence points to continuity from the Late Pleistocene to Holocene populations, but not from Neanderthals to the Upper Paleolithic. These results lend support to the Recent African Origin hypothesis which suggests that anatomically modern Homo sapiens evolved from a common ancestor which did not include Neanderthals.
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Date Issued
2002
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12925
Subject Headings
Fossil hominids--Craniology, Paleolithic period--Europe
Format
Document (PDF)
Experimental archaeology and hominid evolution: establishing a methodology for determining handedness in lithic materials as a proxy for cognitive evolution
Title
Experimental archaeology and hominid evolution: establishing a methodology for determining handedness in lithic materials as a proxy for cognitive evolution.
Creator
Ruck, Lana, Broadfield, Douglas C., Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
Abstract/Description
Human handedness is likely related to brain lateralization and major cognitive innovations in human evolution. Identifying handedness in the archaeological record is, therefore, an important step in understanding our cognitive evolution. This thesis reports on experiments in identifying knapper handedness in lithic debitage. I conducted a blind study on flakes (n=631) from Acheulean handaxes replicated by right- and left-handed flintknappers. Several flake characteristics significantly...
Show moreHuman handedness is likely related to brain lateralization and major cognitive innovations in human evolution. Identifying handedness in the archaeological record is, therefore, an important step in understanding our cognitive evolution. This thesis reports on experiments in identifying knapper handedness in lithic debitage. I conducted a blind study on flakes (n=631) from Acheulean handaxes replicated by right- and left-handed flintknappers. Several flake characteristics significantly indicated handedness, with a binary logistic regression correctly predicting handedness for 71.7% of the flakes. However, other characteristics were not associated with handedness. This is a result of personal knapping styles, as additional analyses show that individual knappers associate with some attributes better than handedness does. Continued work on these methodologies will enable analysis of Paleolithic assemblages in the future, with the ultimate goal of tracking population-level hominid handedness rates through time and using them as a proxy for cognitive evolution and language acquisition.
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Date Issued
2014
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004325, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004325
Subject Headings
Archaeology, Brain -- Evolution, Cerebral dominance, Cognition and culture, Flintknapping, Fossil hominids, Human evolution, Laterality
Format
Document (PDF)
Investigation into the presence of purported lineage continuity in Australasia
Title
Investigation into the presence of purported lineage continuity in Australasia.
Creator
Ferdinando, Peter., Florida Atlantic University, Broadfield, Douglas C.
Abstract/Description
The debate concerning the appearance of modern humans is currently divided into proponents for Multiregional continuity and advocates for a Replacement of all archaic hominin populations by a single, African source. Australasia has been touted as the test evidence for continuity. Utilizing a review of the purported morphological basis of this continuity, it is clear that the proposed unique Australasian features are primitive retentions from Homo erectus. However, African-derived modern...
Show moreThe debate concerning the appearance of modern humans is currently divided into proponents for Multiregional continuity and advocates for a Replacement of all archaic hominin populations by a single, African source. Australasia has been touted as the test evidence for continuity. Utilizing a review of the purported morphological basis of this continuity, it is clear that the proposed unique Australasian features are primitive retentions from Homo erectus. However, African-derived modern humans lack these traits. Consequently, the only group from where these features could be acquired is Indonesian Homo erectus. Henceforth, there appears to be a combination of a discrete African origin for the modern Homo sapiens morphology and limited interbreeding that generates the archaic features present in modern human fossil specimens from Australia. It would seems probable that the interactions of Homo sapiens and Homo erectus in Indonesia may have paralleled those of modern humans and the Neanderthals in Europe.
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Date Issued
2002
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12915
Subject Headings
Human beings--Origin., Human evolution--Australasia., Homo erectus--Indonesia., Fossil hominids.
Format
Document (PDF)
Formal variation in lithic projectile armatures
Title
Formal variation in lithic projectile armatures: re-interpreting points from Tabun Cave, Israel.
Creator
Leslie, David E., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
Abstract/Description
Lithic projectile armatures represent a significant innovation over thrusted spears in the subsistence strategies of hominins. Previous researchers have disagreed over the timing of the appearance of projectile weapons in the archaeological record (Brooks 2006; Shea 2006). To discover when projectile technology first appears in the Levant, I have compared tip cross-sectional areas, weights, and tip penetrating angles (three variables useful for discriminating between projectile and thrusting...
Show moreLithic projectile armatures represent a significant innovation over thrusted spears in the subsistence strategies of hominins. Previous researchers have disagreed over the timing of the appearance of projectile weapons in the archaeological record (Brooks 2006; Shea 2006). To discover when projectile technology first appears in the Levant, I have compared tip cross-sectional areas, weights, and tip penetrating angles (three variables useful for discriminating between projectile and thrusting weapons) of pointed Blades, Levallois points, and Mousterian points with analogs from known and suspected chipped stone projectile points. Results indicate that pointed Blades from Tabun and Skhul caves are statistically indistinguishable from other suspected projectile point types. Levallois and Mousterian points from Tabun and Skhul are also statistically indistinguishable from suspected projectile types when the lower halves of the populations are compared. Consequently, I conclude that points from Tabun and Skhul caves fall within the known and suspected range of variation of projectile point morphology.
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Date Issued
2008
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/172670
Subject Headings
Tools, Prehistoric, Analysis, Stone implements, Classification, Projectile points, Analysis, Paleoanthropology, Excavations (Archaeology), Fossil hominids
Format
Document (PDF)