African
            <i>Homo erectus</i>
            : Old Radiometric Ages and Young Oldowan Assemblages in the Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia

Clark, Junebug; Heinzelin, Jean de; Schick, Kathy; Hart, William K.; White, Tim D.; WoldeGabriel, Giday; Walter, Robert C.; Suwa, Gen; Asfaw, Berhane; Vrba, Elisabeth S.; H.-Selassie, Y.

doi:10.1126/science.8009220

Cited by 177 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(11 reference statements)

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“…Generalized thickening of cortical bone is a well-known cranial and postcranial characteristic of all representatives of Pleistocene Homo, except H. sapiens, in which this trait is not reflected on the entire skeleton. The great cortical thickness of the Bodo humerus was noted by Clark et al (1994) as one of 70.8 ± 10.6 50.1 ± 9.4 20.0 ± 2.6 28.3 ± 2.1 40.8 ± 3.6 Aranda males (n = 71) 69.4 ± 9.7 47.4 ± 8.7 20.3 ± 3.4 29.5 ± 4.4 39.7 ± 5.7 San José (n = 45) 67.1 ± 9.6 -18.7 ± 2.1 28.0 ± 2.6 41.2 ± 3.4 San Pablo (n = 107) 63.4 ± 9.9 45.3 ± 11.1 18.5 ± 2.9 29.1 ± 2.6 41.4 ± 3.9 Hamann Todd (n = 63) 61.4 ± 9.6 44.6 ± 8.9 18.0 ± 2.5 29.7 ± 2.5 41.2 ± 3.8…”

Section: Comparative Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Bodo partial distal humerus (BOD-VP-1/2), one of the very few postcranial remains from the African Middle Pleistocene, was recovered in 1990 from the surface of the upper Bodo Sand Unit (Clark et al, 1994). It was found approximately 100 m north of the original Bodo cranium discovery at approximately the same stratigraphic horizon.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ar/ Ar ages, biostratigraphy, and tephrochronology indicate that the Pleistocene Bodo hominids are approximately 0.6 million years old (Renne, 2000). The age, stratigraphy, and archaeological assemblages of the site are discussed in Clark et al (1994) and de Heinzelin et al (2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A partial distal humerus from the Middle Pleistocene deposits at Bodo, Middle Awash, Ethiopia

Carretero

Haile‐Selassie

Rodríguez

et al. 2009

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The Bodo partial distal humerus with an approximate age of 0.6 million years is one of the very few postcranial remains from the African Middle Pleistocene. Despite its fragmentary status, comparisons of the Bodo humerus with other fossil hominid and modern human samples reveal some insights into African hominids of this time period. The Bodo partial humerus displays distal humeral features very common in the European Middle and Late Pleistocene hominids, such as a relatively wide olecranon fossa and relatively thin lateral and medial pillars adjacent to the fossa. In Africa, the postcranial fossils from the Middle and Late Pleistocene exhibit a surprising amount of morphological diversity. The presence of 'typically' Neandertal traits in some, but not all, Homo ergaster, H. Rhodesiensis, and early H. sapiens, together with the greater similarity of some African specimens than others to recent humans, highlights the problem of interpreting the anatomical variation that characterizes African fossil humans. An analysis of frequency-based patterning can help us understand this striking variation. Populations of Middle Pleistocene African hominids, such as the one represented by the Bodo specimen studied here, may have been variable, and their skeletons may have contained a mosaic of modern and non-modern human traits.

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Section: Comparative Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A partial distal humerus from the Middle Pleistocene deposits at Bodo, Middle Awash, Ethiopia

Carretero

Haile‐Selassie

Rodríguez

et al. 2009

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“…40 Ar/ 39 Ar measurements support this biochronology, and the evidence points to an age of about 600 thousand years (Ka) for the Bodo hominins. 8 It is apparent that Bodo is like Homo erectus in some features. The massive facial bones, projecting brow, low frontal with midline keeling, parietal angular torus, and thick vault give the specimen a pronounced archaic appearance.…”

Section: Morphology Of Key Specimensmentioning

confidence: 99%

Homo in the middle pleistocene: Hypodigms, variation, and species recognition

Rightmire

2008

Evolutionary Anthropology

170

140

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It is generally accepted that modern humans evolved in Africa. This consensus has emerged in the last two decades, as molecular evidence has been coupled with findings from paleontology and prehistory. Patterns of DNA variation in living populations, morphology of fossils, and archeological traces can all be read to show that our species has deep roots in Africa and began to disperse into other regions only late in the Pleistocene. There are still questions about the timing of these dispersals and the extent to which modern people replaced or exchanged genes with other, more archaic groups, but new problems are now coming more clearly into focus. These relate to the ancestry of Homo sapiens in the Middle Pleistocene. In this essay, I emphasize the evidence available from Middle Pleistocene localities in Africa and Europe, exploring variation among individuals, composition of hypodigms, species‐level taxonomy, and evolutionary relationships of the hominin populations. One obvious difficulty is that the fossils are scarce. For the most part, only incomplete crania are available from African localities. The record is more comprehensive for the Sima de los Huesos in Spain, but principally crania and jaws are known from other European sites. This means that skull traits and measurements must provide the basis for sorting individuals to groups and building differential diagnoses. For much of the material, dating is still poorly controlled, although a few of the most important assemblages can now be placed more securely within a Middle Pleistocene chronological framework. Despite these constraints, it is possible to point toward tentative solutions.

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“…Radiometric dates point to an age of ca. 600,000 years (1). The cranium as reconstructed consists of the face and parts of the braincase.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Middle and later Pleistocene hominins in Africa and Southwest Asia

Rightmire

2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

106

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Approximately 700,000 years ago, Homo erectus in Africa was giving way to populations with larger brains accompanied by structural adjustments to the vault, cranial base, and face. Such early Middle Pleistocene hominins were not anatomically modern. Their skulls display strong supraorbital tori above projecting faces, flattened frontals, and less parietal expansion than is the case for Homo sapiens. Postcranial remains seem also to have archaic features. Subsequently, some groups evolved advanced skeletal morphology, and by ca. 200,000 years ago, individuals more similar to recent humans are present in the African record. These fossils are associated with Middle Stone Age lithic assemblages and, in some cases, Acheulean tools. Crania from Herto in Ethiopia carry defleshing cutmarks and superficial scoring that may be indicative of mortuary practices. Despite these signs of behavioral innovation, neither the Herto hominins, nor others from Late Pleistocene sites such as Klasies River in southern Africa and Skhu l/Qafzeh in Israel, can be matched in living populations. Skulls are quite robust, and it is only after Ϸ35,000 years ago that people with more gracile, fully modern morphology make their appearance. Not surprisingly, many questions concerning this evolutionary history have been raised. Attention has centered on systematics of the mid-Pleistocene hominins, their paleobiology, and the timing of dispersals that spread H. sapiens out of Africa and across the Old World. In this report, I discuss structural changes characterizing the skulls from different time periods, possible regional differences in morphology, and the bearing of this evidence on recognizing distinct species.Homo heidelbergensis ͉ Homo sapiens ͉ human evolution ͉ skull morphology ͉ systematics

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African Homo erectus : Old Radiometric Ages and Young Oldowan Assemblages in the Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia

Cited by 177 publications

References 23 publications

A partial distal humerus from the Middle Pleistocene deposits at Bodo, Middle Awash, Ethiopia

A partial distal humerus from the Middle Pleistocene deposits at Bodo, Middle Awash, Ethiopia

Homo in the middle pleistocene: Hypodigms, variation, and species recognition

Middle and later Pleistocene hominins in Africa and Southwest Asia

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