PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY:

SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCES
Mra Lyme F. Correche
MAT- SOC SCI
Physical Anthropology Defined
• branch of anthropology concerned with
the origin, evolution, and diversity of
people. Physical anthropologists work
broadly on three major sets of problems:
human and nonhuman primate evolution,
human variation and its significance, and
the biological bases of human behavior.
 Evidences of Evolution
• Scientists have discovered a wealth of
evidence concerning human evolution,
and this evidence comes in many forms.
Thousands of human fossils enable
researchers and students to study the
changes that occurred in brain and body
size, locomotion, diet, and other aspects
regarding the way of life of early human
species over the past 6 million years..
• Millions of stone tools, figurines and
paintings, footprints, and other traces of
human behavior in the prehistoric record
tell about where and how early humans
lived and when certain technological
innovations were invented.
 Sahelanthropus Tchadensis
Time Range: Sometime between 7 and 6 million years ago
Geographic Range: West-Central Africa (Chad)
Summary:
While this species, one of the earliest human species, had a
chimpanzee-sized brain, it walked upright on two legs and
had smaller canines like other early humans.
 Orrorin Tugenensis
• Time Range:
Sometime between 6.2 and 5.8 million years ago
• Geographic Range:
Eastern Africa (Tugen Hills, central Kenya)
• Summary:
Two femur (upper leg) bones from this species show it walked upright,
but other parts of the skeleton show apelike features, including long,
curved finger bones useful for strong grasping and movement through
trees, and apelike canine and premolar teeth.
 Ardipithecus kadabba
• Time Range:
Between about 5.8 and 5.2 million years ago
• Geographic Range:
Eastern Africa (Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia)
• Summary:
Originally considered to be a subspecies of Ardipithecus
ramidus, subsequent discoveries of teeth showing more primitive features led
researchers to elevate Ardipithecus kadabba to a separate species. Evidence
that it lived in more closed, wooded areas helps demonstrate that upright
walking did not evolve in an open savanna environment.
 Ardipithecus ramidus
• Time Range:
About 4.4 million years ago
• Geographic Range:
Eastern Africa (Middle Awash and Gona, Ethiopia)
• Summary:
Evidence from the pelvis and limbs of the female partial skeleton “Ardi”,
announced in 2009, shows that this species walked upright, but her
opposable big toes helped her climb trees. A good sample of canine teeth
indicates very little size difference between males and females.
 Australopithecus anamensis
• Time Range:
About 4.2 to 3.8 million years ago
• Geographic Range:
Eastern Africa (Lake Turkana, Kenya and Middle Awash, Ethiopia)
• Summary:
The upper end of the tibia (shin bone) of this species shows an expanded
area of bone, indicative of regular bipedal walking - support of body weight on
one knee at the time. This species lived in riverine woodlands and gallery
forest habitats.
 Australopithecus afarensis
• Time Range:
Between about 3.85 and 2.95 million years ago
• Geographic Range:
Eastern Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania)
• Summary:
This species, to which the ‘Lucy’ skeleton belongs, has apelike proportions of
the face and braincase and strong arms with curved fingers adapted to
climbing trees, but small canine teeth and a body that stood and walked
upright on arched feet. These adaptations helped it survive during times of
dramatic climate fluctuations.
 Kenyanthropus platyops
• Time Range:
About 3.5 million years ago
• Geographic Range:
Eastern Africa (West Turkana, Kenya)
• Summary:
Kenyanthropus platyops inhabited Eastern Africa at the same time as Lucy’s
species Australopithecus afarensis, and could represent a closer branch to
modern humans than Lucy’s on the evolutionary tree. Before the discovery of
the only known skull of this species in 1999, the earliest fossil evidence
known for a flat-faced early human, a significant shift in skull structure, was
around 2 million years ago.
 Australopithecus africanus
• Time Range:
About 3.3 to 2.1 million years ago
• Geographic Range:
Southern Africa (South Africa)
• Summary:
Discovered in 1924, this was the first early human species to be found on the
continent of Africa. Members of this species were mostly vegetarian, with a
diet similar to modern chimpanzees consisting of fruit, vegetables, nuts,
seeds, and eggs. Based on microscopic wear on their molar teeth we know
they ate tough foods
 Paranthropus aethiopicus
• Time Range:
About 2.7 to 2.3 million years ago
• Geographic Range:
Eastern Africa (Turkana basin of northern Kenya, southern Ethiopia)
• Summary:
The bony ridge (sagittal crest) on the midline of the top of the skull in this
species indicates huge chewing muscles, with a strong emphasis on the
muscles that connect toward the back of the crest and created strong
chewing forces on the front teeth. It is likely to be the ancestor of
Paranthropus boisei.
 Australopithecus garhi
• Time Range:
• About 2.5 million years ago
• Geographic Range:
• Eastern Africa (the site of Bouri, Middle Awash, Ethiopia)
• Summary:
• This species has large teeth and a face similar to Australopithecus
afarensis, but some dental features more similar to Homo. The associated
fragmentary skeleton indicates a longer femur (compared to
other Australopithecus specimens, like ‘Lucy’) even though long, powerful
arms were maintained. This suggests a change toward longer strides
during bipedal walking.
 Homo habilis
• Time Range:
• 2.4 million to 1.4 million years ago
• Geographic Range:
• Eastern and Southern Africa
• Summary:
• Its name, which means ‘handy man’, was given because when it was
discovered at Olduvai Gorge in the early 1960s, this species was
thought to represent the first stone toolmaker. Currently, the oldest
stone tools are dated slightly older than the oldest evidence of the
genus Homo.
 Paranthropus boisei
• Time Range:
• About 2.3 to 1.2 million years ago
• Geographic Range:
• Eastern Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi)
• Summary:
• Members of this species had a bony ridge (sagittal crest) on the midline of the top
of the skull. This crest anchored the large chewing muscles from the top and side
of the braincase to the lower jaw, and thus moved the massive jaw up and down.
The force was focused on the large molars and premolars. For most of its time
range, members of this species lived alongside Homo erectus in East Africa;
sometimes they were even found at the same sites.
 Australopithecus sediba
• Time Range:
• Between 1.977 and 1.98 million years ago
• Geographic Range:
• Southern Africa (South Africa
 Homo Rudolfensis
• Time Range:
• About 1.9 million to 1.8 million years ago
• Geographic Range:
• Eastern Africa (northern Kenya, possibly northern Tanzania and Malawi)
• Summary:
• Originally considered to be H. habilis, the ways in which H. rudolfensis differs is its
larger braincase, longer face, and larger molar and premolar teeth. There is one
really good fossil of this species, KNM-ER 1470 from Koobi Fora, Kenya. Its
braincase size is 775 cubic centimeters, which is considerably above the upper
end of H. habilisbraincase size. At least one other braincase from the same region
also shows such a large cranial capacity.
 Homo erectus
• Time Range:
• Between about 1.89 million and 110,000 years ago
• Geographic Range:
• Northern, Eastern, and Southern Africa; Western Asia (Dmanisi, Republic of
Georgia); East Asia (China and Indonesia)
• Summary:
• This species is commonly known as Homo erectus, but some of the oldest African
specimens are thought to represent a related species, Homo ergaster. There is
evidence that individuals of Homo erectus were the first early humans to make
hearths, to eat significant amount of animal meat and bone marrow, and to care
for the old and weak. It was the longest-lived species on our family tree, surviving
more than nine times as long as our own species.
 Paranthropus robustus
• Time Range:
• About 1.8 to 1.2 million years ago
• Geographic Range:
• Southern Africa (South Africa)
• Summary:
• Members of this species had a bony ridge (sagittal crest) on the
midline of the top of its skull and a massive face, both adaptations
for chewing tough food. Although often called a ‘robust
australopithecine’, it is now known that ‘robust’ refers solely to its
tooth and face size, not to its body size.
 Homo heidelbergensis
• Time Range:
• About 700,000 to 200,000 years ago
• Geographic Range:
• Europe; possibly Asia (China); Africa (eastern and southern)
• Summary:
• These were the first early humans to venture into the cold latitudes of Europe,
where there is evidence that they were the first species to build shelters and hunt
big game animals with wooden spears. European populations of this species were
the direct ancestors of the Neanderthals, while African populations likely gave rise
to our species. The African fossils are considered by some researchers distinct
enough to place in a different species, Homo rhodesiensis.
 Homo floresiensis
• Time Range:
• About 100,000 – 50,000 years ago
• Geographic Range:
• Asia (Indonesia)
• Summary:
• This early human species is one that went extinct very recently; it coexisted with
humans during the entire duration of its known time range. It is the smallest known
species in our genus, Homo, with a brain size about one third of ours. This
extremely small size earned the species the nickname "hobbit." These early
humans may have evolved a much smaller size than their ancestors due to the
scarcity of resources on the island (island dwarfing, seen in some other
mammals).
 Homo neanderthalensis
• Time Range:
• About 400,000 - 40,000 years ago
• Geographic Range:
• Europe and southwestern to central Asia
• Summary:
• Defining features of the skull of this species include the large middle part of the
face, angled cheek bones, and a huge nose for humidifying and warming cold, dry
air. Their bodies were also shaped for heat conservation, with shorter limb
extremities. Neanderthals were the first early humans to wear clothing, necessary
since they lived in glacial environments. They may have been the first early human
species to have language, bury their dead, and exhibit symbolic behavior.
 Homo naledi
• Time Range:
• 335,000 - 236,000 years ago
• Geographic Range:
• South Africa
 Homo sapiens
• Time Range:
• About 300,000 years ago to present
• Geographic Range:
• Evolved in Africa, now worldwide
• Summary:
• Fossils and genetics evidence shows that our species, Homo
sapiens, evolved in Africa about 300,000 years ago and began to
spread out from there by at least 100,000 years ago. We now live in
all parts of the world, and are the sole surviving species left in our
once diverse family tree.
Major Milestones in Human Evolution

• Becoming Bipedal- 6 million years ago

• Mostly bipedal- 4 million years ago

• Dawn of technology- 2.6 million years ago

• Control of Fire- 800,000 years ago

Major Milestones in Human Evolution

• Rapid increase in brain size

From 800,000–200,000 years ago

• Agriculture- 12, 000 years ago

Behavioral Evidences
(Footprints)

• Footprints from Koobi Fora, Kenya

• Date of discovery: 2007
• Discovered by: Jack Harris, Brian
Richmond, David Braun
• Species:
• Site: Ileret, Koobi Fora, Kenya
Behavioral Evidences
(Footprints)

• Laetoli Footprint Trails

• Date of discovery: 1978
• Discovered by: Mary Leakey and Paul
Abell
• Species:
• Site: Laetoli, Tanzania
Early Stone Age Tools
Early Stone Age Tools
Middle Stone Age Tools
Later Stone Age Tools
Tools in Getting Food

Stone Tools

Butchered Animal Bones

Tools in Getting Food

Katandra Harpoon Point

Wooden Thrusting Spear

Tools for Carrying Objects

Jomon Pot (Oldest Pottery)

Pottery Fragment
Hearths and Shelters

Terra Amata Shelter Fire-Altered Stone

Tools Used in Recording Information
Tools Used in Recording Information
Art and Music

Figurines Musical Instrument

Jewelry Rock Art

Art and Music

Figurines Musical Instrument

Jewelry Rock Art

Archaeological Discoveries in the Philippines

Pots in Leta-Leta Cave Laguna Copper Plate

Callao Man bone Manunggul Jar

Archaeological Discoveries in the Philippines

Gold Death Mark of Oton

Bolinao Skull

Tabon Man fossil