Homo heidelbergensis

13-5 Homo heidelbergensis

Although scientists classify Homo heidelbergenesis (800 ka – 200 ka) as a chronospecies (gradual development) along the line of development of modern humans, they occupy an important position in evolutionary history (Figure 13-17). Scientists think that Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis evolved from Homo heidelbergenesis. Although it is controversial, there is probably evidence of Homo heidelbergensis 800 ka. Their brains were in the range of 1250 cc, which is in the lower range of Homo sapiens brains.

Figure 13-17. Cast of Sima de los Huesos Skull 5 ("Miguelón") at the Natural History Museum, London. CC BY-SA 2.0

Figure 13-18. Homo heidelbergensis hand axe from Boxgrove England. Credit: Midnightblueowl. Used here per CC BY-SA 3.0

Homo heidelbergenesis expanded on the hunting and tool making and weapons construction of Homo erectus. They invented spears with stone points. The spears were heavier at the point, as with modern javelin construction. This enabled throwing the spears long distance. There is evidence of remains of rhinoceroses, hippos, horses, and elephants in their camps, which demonstrates their intelligence as well as the quality of their weapons.

They developed Late Acheulean hand axes (500 ka), which are thinner and more symmetrical that previous tools (Figure 13-18). They were formed by striking with a soft hammer and were formed on a platform.

Fossils from the Middle Pleistocene aren’t in layers that are below thousands of feet of deposited strata, as in the Paleozoic or Mesozoic, but they are near the surface as one would expect with archaic humans that lived hundreds of thousands of years ago. The most important Middle Pleistocene fossil location with Homo heidelbergensis and Homo neanderthalensis fossils is Sima de los Huesos at Atapuerca (Figure 13-19) in Spain, which has remains of 28 Homo heidelbergensis individuals at least 350 ka. It is located at Atapuerca where there are many levels representing the sequence of the Middle Pleistocene. Upper layers have Neanderthal fossils. DNA analysis from bones at the site indicate that humans diverged from Neanderthals 800 ka, long before the evolution of Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis. Thus, they both must have evolved from different Homo erectus ancestral species. DNA analysis from the site also indicates that Homo heidelbergensis is closer to Denisovans than Neanderthals. As scientists continue to conduct DNA analysis of ancient bones, they will improve the understanding of human evolution during the Middle Pleistocene.

Figure 13-19. Excavations at Gran Dolina, Atapuerca, a Homo heidelbergensis camp. Woman at bottom of image in red shirt is below Homo heidelbergensis period (780 ka). Upper layer with most people is TD-10 layer, which has Homo heidelbergensis camp. Credit: Mario Modesto Mata. Used here per CC BY-SA 3.0

Homo heidelbergensis (Figure 13-20) had a protruding brow and sloped forehead like Homo erectus. This protruding brow would continue in Neanderthals, but it was lost in Homo sapiens.

Figure 13-20. Homo heidelbergensis, Sima de los Huesos Cranium 5, Atapuerca. Natural History Museum, London. Credit: Rafiki Sykes. Used here per CC BY-SA 2.0.

Figure 13‑14. Neanderthal fossil sites in Europe and the Middle East. Credit: Alexrk2. Used here per CC BY-SA 3.0.

Figure 13‑15. Neanderthal and human skulls. Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Credit: hairymuseummatt. Used here per CC BY-SA 2.0.

The presence of the human hyoid bone, throat architecture and DNA (FoxP2 protein) required for speech indicates that they might have had a language. [2] Earlier Homo species did not have these characteristics. [3] They made shelters, symbolic and ornamental objects, and left flowers or other mementos on graves. Many Neanderthal sites have awls, which indicates that Neanderthals probably wore animal skin as clothing. They might have even made primitive flutes: a flutelike object was found in a fire pits dated 45 ka. Some Neanderthal fossils show signs of sickness and disabilities, which means they cared for the disabled.

Figure 13‑16. Production of points & spearheads from a flint stone core, Levallois technique, Mousterian culture, Tabun Cave, Israel, 250,000–50,000 BP. Israel Museum. Credit: Gary Todd. Public domain.

Neanderthals were the first to attach stone points to wooden spears. Homo heidelbergensis and early Neanderthals initially adopted the Achuelean tools of Homo erectus. With their larger brains and better hand-eye coordination, Neanderthals increased tool complexity in their Mousterian tool industry; however, they demonstrated a superior method rather than better hand-eye coordination with their manufacture of Levalois points (Figure 13‑16). They shaped a larger rock around a prepared core and then broke the core from the larger stone.

Although DNA analysis indicates that they descended from different Homo erectus ancestors 800,000 years ago, Homo sapiens and Neanderthals interbred when humans left Africa 50,000 years ago. Europeans acquired their light skin and flaxen hair suitable for northern cold climates from Neanderthals, which had evolved to live in this climate for hundreds of thousands of years.. In general, Neanderthals vanished from Europe and the Middle East when Homo sapiens expanded into those regions.

References

[1] José-Miguel Carreteroa, Laura Rodrígueza, Rebeca García-Gonzáleza, Juan-Luis Arsuagab, Asier Gómez-Olivenciad, Carlos Lorenzob, et al., Stature estimation from complete long bones in the Middle Pleistocene humans from the Sima de los Huesos, Sierra de Atapuerca (Spain), Journal of Human Evolution (2012), 62(2): 242–255.

[2] D’Anastasio R, Wroe S, Tuniz C, Mancini L, Cesana DT, et al. (2013) Micro-Biomechanics of the Kebara 2 Hyoid and Its Implications for Speech in Neanderthals. PLoS ONE 8(12): e82261. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0082261

[3] Ed Young, Surprise! 20 Percent of Neanderthal Genome Lives On in Modern Humans, Scientists Find, National Geographic, January 29, 2014. Accessed at http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140129-neanderthal-genes-genetics-migration-africa-eurasian-science/

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Figure 6-13. Homo heidelbergensis forensic facial reconstruction. Credit: Cicero Moraes. Used here per CC BY-SA 3.0

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