Chapter 12: Modern Homo sapiens
- Page ID
- 177714
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- 12.1: Defining Modernity
- What defines a modern Homo sapiens when compared to an archaic Homo sapiens, like the ones in the previous chapter? Modern humans, like you and me, have a set of derived traits that are not seen in archaic humans or any other hominin. However, as with other transitions in hominin evolution, such as increasing brain size and bipedal ability, modern traits do not appear fully formed or all at once.
- 12.2: First Africa, Then the World
- What enabled modern Homo sapiens to expand its range further in 300,000 years than Homo erectus did in 1.5 million years? The key is the set of derived biological traits from the last section. The gracile frame and neurological anatomy allowed modern humans to survive and even flourish in the vastly different environments they encountered. Based on multiple types of evidence, the source of all of these modern humans, including all of us today, was Africa.
- 12.3: Distant Relations
- As the modern human population grew beyond Africa, they interbred with the archaic Homo sapiens who were already there, descendants of the Homo erectus populations before them. Building evidence suggests a complex connection between archaic and modern humans. This section describes the evidence showing that three Homo sapiens groups interbred with one another: modern Homo sapiens and two archaic groups, the Neanderthals and the Denisovans.
- 12.4: The Chain Reaction of Agriculture
- While it may be hard to imagine today, for most of our species’ existence we were nomadic: moving through the landscape without a singular home. Instead of a refrigerator or pantry stocked with food, we procured nutrition and other resources as needed based on what was available in the environment. Instead of collecting and displaying stuff, we kept our possessions at a minimum for mobility.
- 12.5: End of Chapter Review
- Discussion questions and key term definitions.