ABSTRACT

What makes us human? Clearly, a number of evolved features distinguish us from our predecessors, yet there is a lack of agreement as to which anatomical traits precisely define early Homo sapiens. A series of African and Eurasian fossils are different from Homo erectus and yet are not clearly modern H. sapiens (Table 11-1). Some remains have large cranial capacities, approaching and even exceeding those of the average modern H. sapiens. Nevertheless, some are robustly built and have large faces, jaws, and teeth. In this chapter we refer to this group generally as “archaic Homo sapiens” to emphasize the continuing trends toward modern forms, but acknowledge that more specific taxonomic assignments of certain specimens or forms may one day more accurately reflect their phylogenetic relationships.