Body Size, Weapon Use, and Natural Selection in the European Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic

Frayer, David W.

doi:10.1525/aa.1981.83.1.02a00040

Cited by 70 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…2005), the most important information can be yielded by skeletal material only. therefore, numerous authors have analysed relevant skeletal material to describe basic evolutionary trends over the upper palaeolithic/ neolithic transition and the origin of agriculture (e.g., Formicolla 1983;Formicolla, Franceschi 1996;Formicolla, giannecchini 1999;Frayer 1980;1981;1984;Frayer, Wolpoff 1985;holliday 1997;Jacobs 1985a;pinhasi 2004;pinhasi, von cramon-traubadel 2009;2012;ruff 1987;ruff et al 1984;1997;Vančata 1988;2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…the studies usually deal only with certain parts of the transition period. some researchers have concentrated their efforts on the upper palaeolithic/Mesolithic transition (e.g., Formicolla, giannecchini 1999;Frayer 1980;1981;1984;Frayer, Wolpoff 1985;holliday 1997;Jacobs 1985a;1985b), and as a result they were unable to analyse changes that occurred in the neolithic. others have limited their studies primarily to the Mesolithic and/or neolithic period (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…the majority of the studies are restricted to investigation of the length of long bones and/or certain basic measurements of the bones (e.g. Frayer 1980;1981;1984;Frayer, Wolpoff 1985;holliday 1997;Jacobs 1985a;1985b;ruff 1987;ruff et al 1984;Vančata 1993), and stature reconstruction (Formicolla 1983;Franceschi 1996;giannecchini 1999;Jacobs 1993). such studies can only deal with particular problems, but do not allow for the reconstruction of the most important ecological and life history parameters of an ancient population.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Transition to Agriculture in Central Europe: Body Size and Body Shape amongst the First Farmers

Piontek¹

2012

IANSA

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Transition to Agriculture in Central Europe: Body Size and Body Shape amongst the First Farmers

Piontek¹

2012

IANSA

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“…Sexual dimorphism could also result from natural selection acting di¡erentially on males and females when occupying di¡erent ecological niches, e.g. di¡erent foraging strategies (Frayer 1980(Frayer , 1981Brace & Ryan 1980). The`women's work hypothesis' (Holden & Mace 1999) suggests that sex-biased parental investment could be responsible for variation in sexual dimorphism: women would be taller, relative to men, in societies where women contribute more to food production because parents invest relatively more in their daughters, so that the growth of girls would not be compromised relative to that of boys (Holden & Mace 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human fertility variation, size-related obstetrical performance and the evolution of sexual stature dimorphism

Guégan

Teriokhin

Thomas

2000

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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In several animal sp ecies, change in sexual size dimorphism is a correlated response to selection on fecundity. In humans, di¡erent hypotheses have been proposed to explain the variation of sexual dimorphism in stature, but no consensus has yet emerged. In this paper, we evaluate from a theoretical and an empirical point of view the hypothesis that the extent of sexual dimorphism in human p opulations results from the interaction between fertility and size-related obstetric complications. We ¢rst developed an optimal evolutionary model based on extensive simulations and then we performed a comparative analysis for a total set of 38 countries worldwide. Our optimization modelling shows that size-related mortality factors do indeed have the potential to a¡ect the extent of sexual stature dimorphism. Comparative analysis using generalized linear modelling supports the idea that maternal death caused by deliveries and complications of pregnancy (a variable known to be size related) could be a key determinant explaining variation in sexual stature dimorphism across populations. We discuss our results in relation to other hypotheses on the evolution of sexual stature dimorphism in humans.

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“…Although the relationship between mechanical loading during life and bone strength is likely to be complex (17), there is much evidence that increased mechanical loading leads to increases in relative bone strength (18). Thus, diaphyseal skeletal gracilization in recent modern humans relative to earlier hominins generally has been attributed to a decrease in daily physical activity via technological and cultural innovations (6,10,(13)(14)(15)(19)(20)(21)(22).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent origin of low trabecular bone density in modern humans

Chirchir

Kivell

Ruff

et al. 2014

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

140

168

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Humans are unique, compared with our closest living relatives (chimpanzees) and early fossil hominins, in having an enlarged body size and lower limb joint surfaces in combination with a relatively gracile skeleton (i.e., lower bone mass for our body size). Some analyses have observed that in at least a few anatomical regions modern humans today appear to have relatively low trabecular density, but little is known about how that density varies throughout the human skeleton and across species or how and when the present trabecular patterns emerged over the course of human evolution. Here, we test the hypotheses that (i) recent modern humans have low trabecular density throughout the upper and lower limbs compared with other primate taxa and (ii) the reduction in trabecular density first occurred in early Homo erectus, consistent with the shift toward a modern human locomotor anatomy, or more recently in concert with diaphyseal gracilization in Holocene humans. We used peripheral quantitative CT and microtomography to measure trabecular bone of limb epiphyses (long bone articular ends) in modern humans and chimpanzees and in fossil hominins attributed to Australopithecus africanus, Paranthropus robustus/ early Homo from Swartkrans, Homo neanderthalensis, and early Homo sapiens. Results show that only recent modern humans have low trabecular density throughout the limb joints. Extinct hominins, including pre-Holocene Homo sapiens, retain the high levels seen in nonhuman primates. Thus, the low trabecular density of the recent modern human skeleton evolved late in our evolutionary history, potentially resulting from increased sedentism and reliance on technological and cultural innovations. trabecular bone | human evolution | gracilization | Homo sapiens | sedentism O bligate bipedalism-a defining feature of humans that distinguishes us from our closest living relatives, the African apes-has transformed the human skeleton. Among these unique features are long lower limbs with large joint surfaces. These large joint surfaces help distribute loads over a larger surface area and thus are better at resisting the high forces incurred during locomotion on two limbs instead of four (1-5). Early African Homo erectus at 1.8-1.5 Ma had enlarged lower limb joint surfaces (1, 3) and a larger stature (6) and body mass (7, 8) than many earlier hominins, and this pattern often is considered to reflect the emergence of a more modern human-like body plan (1, 3, 5, 6, 9; but also see ref. 7).Recent modern human (Holocene Homo sapiens) skeletons also appear to be gracile as compared with earlier hominins (10-14). Here, "gracilization" refers to the reduction in strength and bone mass relative to body mass inferred from osseous tissue and overall bone size and has been studied mainly using diaphyseal cortical bone cross-sections (10-16). Although the relationship between mechanical loading during life and bone strength is likely to be complex (17), there is much evidence that increased mechanical loading leads to increases in relative ...

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Body Size, Weapon Use, and Natural Selection in the European Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic

Cited by 70 publications

References 29 publications

Transition to Agriculture in Central Europe: Body Size and Body Shape amongst the First Farmers

Transition to Agriculture in Central Europe: Body Size and Body Shape amongst the First Farmers

Human fertility variation, size-related obstetrical performance and the evolution of sexual stature dimorphism

Recent origin of low trabecular bone density in modern humans

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