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{{short description|Extinct relatives of modern humans}}File:Broken Hill Skull (Replica01).jpg|thumb|Homo rhodesiensis ("(Broken Hill Cranium]]"): dated to 324,000 to 274,000 years ago.){{Human timeline}}Archaic humans{{efn|There is no universal consensus on this terminology, and varieties of "archaic humans" are included under the binomial name of either H. sapiens or H. erectus by some authors.}} is a broad category denoting all species of the genus Homo that are not Homo sapiens (which are known as modern humans). Among the earliest modern human remains are those from Jebel Irhoud in Morocco (about 315 ka), Florisbad in South Africa (259 ka),JOURNAL, 27298468, 4920294, 2016, Stringer, C., The origin and evolution of Homo sapiens, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, 371, 1698, 20150237, 10.1098/rstb.2015.0237, JOURNAL, Hammond, Ashley S., Royer, Danielle F., Fleagle, John G., Jul 2017, The Omo-Kibish I pelvis, Journal of Human Evolution, 108, 199–219, 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.04.004, 1095-8606, 28552208, free, JOURNAL, White, Tim D., Tim White (anthropologist), Asfaw, B., DeGusta, D., Gilbert, H., Richards, G. D., Suwa, G., Howell, F. C., 2003, Pleistocene Homo sapiens from Middle Awash, Ethiopia, Nature (journal), Nature, 423, 6491, 742–747, 10.1038/nature01669, 12802332, 2003Natur.423..742W, 4432091, JOURNAL, Callaway, Ewan, Oldest Homo sapiens fossil claim rewrites our species' history,weblink 7 June 2017, Nature (journal), Nature, 10.1038/nature.2017.22114, 11 June 2017, NEWS,weblink Oldest Homo sapiens bones ever found shake foundations of the human story, Sample, Ian, The Guardian, 7 June 2017, 7 June 2017, JOURNAL, Hublin, Jean-Jacques, Ben-Ncer, Abdelouahed, Bailey, Shara E., Freidline, Sarah E., Neubauer, Simon, Skinner, Matthew M., Bergmann, Inga, Le Cabec, Adeline, Benazzi, Stefano, Harvati, Katerina, Gunz, Philipp, New fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco and the pan-African origin of Homo sapiens, Nature, 546, 7657, 2017, 289–292, 10.1038/nature22336, 28593953,weblink 2017Natur.546..289H, 256771372, and Omo-Kibish I (Omo I) in southern Ethiopia ({{circa}} 233 or 195 ka).JOURNAL, Vidal, Celine M., Lane, Christine S., Asfawrossen, Asrat, etal, Jan 2022, Age of the oldest known Homo sapiens from eastern Africa, Nature, 601, 7894, 579–583, 2022Natur.601..579V, 10.1038/s41586-021-04275-8, 8791829, 35022610, Some examples of archaic humans include H. antecessor (1200–770 ka), H. bodoensis (1200–300 ka), H. heidelbergensis (600–200 ka), Neanderthals (H. neanderthalensis; 430–40 ka),JOURNAL, 10.1073/pnas.0904119106, The origin of Neandertals, 2009, Hublin, J. J., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106, 38, 16022–16027, 19805257, 40485013, 2009PNAS..10616022H, 2752594, free, H. rhodesiensis (300–125 ka) and Denisovans (H. denisova; 285–52 ka),Most archaic humans had a brain size averaging 1,200 to 1,400 cubic centimeters, which overlaps with the range of modern humans. Notable exceptions include Homo naledi and Homo floresiensis, having cranial capacities of 465-610 and 380 cubic centimeters, respectively.Archaic humans are distinguished from anatomically modern humans by having a thick skull, prominent supraorbital ridges (brow ridges) and the lack of a prominent chin.BOOK,weblink Archaic homo sapiens, Dawkins, Richard Dawkins, The Ancestor's Tale, 2005, 978-0618619160, Mariner, Boston, registration,weblink BOOK,weblink Companion Encyclopedia of Archaeology, Graeme, Barker, 1999, Routledge, Google Books, 978-0415213295, Anatomically modern humans appeared around 300,000 years ago in Africa, and 70,000 years ago gradually supplanted the "archaic" human varieties. Non-modern varieties of Homo are certain to have survived until after 30,000 years ago, and perhaps until as recently as 12,000 years ago.{{efn|Which of these, if any, are included under the term "archaic human" is a matter of definition and varies among authors.}} According to recent genetic studies, modern humans may have bred with two or more groups of archaic humans, including Neanderthals and Denisovans.NEWS, Mitchell, Alanna, DNA Turning Human Story Into a Tell-All,weblink January 30, 2012, The New York Times, January 31, 2012, Other studies have cast doubt on admixture being the source of the shared genetic markers between archaic and modern humans, pointing to an ancestral origin of the traits which originated 500,000–800,000 years ago.NEWS, Telegraph Reporters, Neanderthals did not interbreed with humans, scientists find,weblinkweblink 2022-01-12, subscription, live, Telegraph.co.uk, 14 August 2012, en, {{cbignore}}NEWS,weblink Neanderthals 'unlikely to have interbred with human ancestors', Press Association, 4 February 2013, The Guardian, JOURNAL, 10.1016/j.gene.2013.06.005, 23872234, Neanderthal and Denisova genetic affinities with contemporary humans: Introgression versus common ancestral polymorphisms, Gene, 530, 1, 83–94, 2013, Lowery, Robert K., Uribe, Gabriel, Jimenez, Eric B., Weiss, Mark A., Herrera, Kristian J., Regueiro, Maria, Herrera, Rene J., In August 2023, scientists reported the discovery of an unknown ancient human hominin that may have lived 300,000 years ago in China.NEWS, Israely, Yogev, Remains found in China may belong to previously unknown human lineage - Scientists in eastern China examined a jawbone, fragments of a skull and various foot bones from a hominin that lived approximately 300,000 years ago; Findings suggest this particular lineage bears a closer resemblance to Homo sapiens, or modern-day humans,weblink 7 August 2023, YNet News, live,weblink 7 August 2023, 7 August 2023, JOURNAL, Wu, Xiujie, et al., Morphological and morphometric analyses of a late Middle Pleistocene hominin mandible from Hualongdong, China,weblink 1 September 2023, Journal of Human Evolution, 182, 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103411, 37531709, 260407114, live,weblink 7 August 2023, 7 August 2023,

Terminology and definition

The category archaic human lacks a single, agreed definition. According to one definition, Homo sapiens is a single species comprising several subspecies that include the archaics and modern humans. Under this definition, modern humans are referred to as Homo sapiens sapiens and archaics are also designated with the prefix "Homo sapiens". For example, the Neanderthals are Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, and Homo heidelbergensis is Homo sapiens heidelbergensis. Other taxonomists prefer not to consider archaics and modern humans as a single species but as several different species. In this case the standard taxonomy is used, i.e. Homo rhodesiensis, or Homo neanderthalensis.The evolutionary dividing lines that separate modern humans from archaic humans and archaic humans from Homo erectus are unclear. The earliest known fossils of anatomically modern humans such as the Omo remains from 233,000-195,000 years ago, Homo sapiens idaltu from 160,000 years ago, and Qafzeh remains from 90,000 years ago are recognizably modern humans. These early modern humans possess a number of archaic traits, such as moderate, but not prominent, brow ridges.

Brain size expansion

File:Sapiens neanderthal comparison.jpg|thumb|left|Anatomical comparison of the skulls of anatomically modern humans (left) and Homo neanderthalensisHomo neanderthalensisThe emergence of archaic humans is sometimes used as an example of punctuated equilibrium.JOURNAL, Schultz, S., Nelson, E., Dunbar, R., Aug 2012, Hominin cognitive evolution: identifying patterns and processes in the fossil and archaeological record, Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci., 367, 10.1098/rstb.2012.0115, 3385680, This occurs when a species undergoes significant biological evolution within a relatively short period. Subsequently, the species undergoes very little change for long periods until the next punctuation. The brain size of archaic humans expanded significantly from {{cvt|900|cm3|lk=on|abbr=on}} in erectus to {{cvt|1300|cm3}}. Since the peak of human brain size during the archaics, it has begun to decline.NEWS, Zyga, Lisa, Cro Magnon skull shows that our brains have shrunk,weblink 14 June 2017, phys.org, 15 March 2010,

Origin of language

Robin Dunbar has argued that archaic humans were the first to use language. Based on his analysis of the relationship between brain size and hominin group size, he concluded that because archaic humans had large brains, they must have lived in groups of over 120 individuals. Dunbar argues that it was not possible for hominins to live in such large groups without using language, otherwise there could be no group cohesion and the group would disintegrate. By comparison, chimpanzees live in smaller groups of up to 50 individuals.WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090626092650weblink">weblink dead, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, June 26, 2009, Cambridge Core, BOOK, Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language,weblink 1993, Dunbar, Robin Dunbar, 978-0674363366, Harvard University Press,

Fossils

{{Further|List of human evolution fossils}}{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

• Altamura Man
• Atapuerca Mountains, Sima de los Huesos
• Cro-magnon Man
• Dragon Man
• Kabwe skull
• Ndutu cranium
• Saldanha man
• Steinheim skull

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See also

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

• Dawn of Humanity (2015 PBS film)
• Early human migrations
• Evolution of human intelligence
• Human evolution
• Interbreeding between archaic and modern humans
• Middle Paleolithic
• Neanderthal extinction
• Recent African origin of modern humans
• Toba catastrophe theory

{{div col end}}

References

Footnotes{{notelist}}Citations{{reflist}}

External links

• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090816123716weblink">Early and Late "Archaic" Homo Sapiens and "Anatomically Modern" Homo Sapiens (archived 16 August 2009)
• Origins of Modern Humans: Multiregional or Out of Africa?
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090709125530weblink">Homo sapiens, Museum of Natural History (archived 9 July 2009)
• Human Timeline (Interactive) – Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History (August 2016).

{{Human Evolution}}{{Human genetics}}{{Apes}}{{Prehistoric technology}}

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