ANTHR 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: Brain Size, Cranial Vault, Upper Paleolithic
Document Summary
Average cranial capacity is ~ 1330 cc. Modern homo sapiens first evolved in africa. As they spread into other parts of the world they replaced other hominid populations, including neanderthals without interbreeding. Replaced because of superior technology and culture. Hypothesis ii: regional continuity model (mainly rejected) Modern humans evolved out of regional populations in different parts of the old world (neanderthals, homo erectus in asia, and. Gene flow between these populations allowed for mixing of genes so speciation could not occur. As they spread to other parts of the world they intermixed with other already present populations. Commonalities with neanderthals in anatomy and culture suggest some interaction. But, modern humans would have genetically swamped other hominids, including neanderthal, and overwhelmed their dna. So it would be hard to find other hominid dna because it is so overshadowed by modern human dna. We have modern h. s. s. in africa by 100,000 ya. We have some intermediate fossils by ~100,000-200,000 ya.
