ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the examinations of Pleistocene hominin anatomical change over time to a more ecological orientation and away from traditional historical concerns of ancestry and descent, as well as the uniqueness of human cognitive and cultural sophistication. It focuses on two of these dynamics: shifting body size and brain size. Body size has long been recognized as a biological characteristic with profound implications stemming from dynamics of metabolic energetics, climate, social organization, and other ecological variables. The chapter examines a few aspects of the robusticity phenomenon that may be relevant to the ecological issues. It discusses a few generalizations that deserve attention in light of the ecological dynamics. The chapter argues that correlated increases in hominin body size and brain size resulted from hominins living in low population densities and from foraging rich and reliable food resources. It shows that hominin brain size increased as foraging practices diversified, intensified, and took on greater strategic complexity.
