Journal of Human Evolution

Majid, Zuraina, Johan Arif , A.R.Samsuddin, Nizam A., Aaron Lim, Mokhtar Saidin, Jeffrey Abdullah & Stephen Chia., 2005, GTK 1: A skeleton from Gua Teluk Kelelawar, Lenggong, dated 8,400 + 40 bp. In: The Perak man & other prehistoric skeletons of Malaysia, (ed. Zuraina Majid), University of Science Malaysia Press.

This study provides a detailed reconstruction of the paleoenvironmental conditions that prevailed during one of the periods of modern human migration out of Africa and their occupation of the Eastern Mediterranean-Levant during the Late Middle Paleolithic-Early Upper Paleolithic. Tracing the past vegetation and climate within the Eastern Mediterranean-Levant region is largely based on a southeastern Mediterranean marine pollen record covering the last 90 kyr (core MD-9509). The various palynomorphs were linked to distinct vegetation zones that were correlated to the two climate systems affecting the study area: the low-latitude monsoon system and the North Atlantic-Mediterranean climate system. The bioprovince palynological markers show that during the period between ~56 and 44 ka, which covers the early part of Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3), there was an increase in transportation of pollen from Nilotic origin and a rise in dinoflagellate cyst ratios. These changes coincided with maximum insolation values at 65 N, which led to an enhancement in Nile River discharge into the Eastern Medi-terranean following the intensification of the African monsoonal system. At the same time, the rise in Mediterranean arboreal pollen values (broadleaved, coniferous and deciduous temperate trees) is most likely driven by increased precipitation related to the intensification of the North Atlantic-Mediterranean climate system. The ~56e44 ka wet event coincides with Dansgaard-Oeschger interstadials 14 and 12 and with a warming phase in the Levant, as evidenced by the melting of permafrost along the higher elevations of Mount Hermon. We suggest that African modern humans were able to cross the harsher arid areas due to the intensification of the monsoonal system during the first part of MIS 3, and inhabit the Eastern Mediterranean-Levant region where climatic conditions were favorable (wetter and warmer), even in the currently semiarid/steppe regions.

This paper is a response to the attempts of archaeologists to address the mind and creativity of very early humans. It is proposed that such subjects should be best left to the neuroscientists and cognitive scientists. It is shown that the humanist constructs of 'modern mind' or 'modern behaviour' need to be replaced by testable propositions about theory of mind, consciousness and self-awareness.

This critique of the attempts of 'African Eve' advocates to rescue their doomed hypothesis is a response to a specific paper. Their rearguard arguments, seeking to salvage as much as possible of their refuted theory, are analysed and shown to be baseles. Their 'replacement theory' has been replaced with the autodomestication hypothesis, which in contrast explains every single major change from robust to gracile Homo sapiens: the latter descend from the former but belong to the same species.

The paleodietary traits of the horse population from Schöningen 13 II-4 were investigated through tooth mesowear and microwear analyses, as well as stable isotopic analyses. The mesowear pattern observed on the upper teeth indicates a low abrasion diet, i.e. an important amount of browse in the diet of the horses. The tooth microwear analysis and the isotopic data confirm that the horses from Schöningen 13 II-4 were mixed feeders, as many populations from other Pleistocene localities in Northern and Eastern Europe. Microwear also provides information on seasonal changes in the diet of the horses and offers the possibility to test hypotheses about the presence of one or several horse populations. Our analysis determined that the assemblage of horse remains from Schöningen 13 II-4 resulted from multiple accumulation events, accumulated over different period of time.

The first successful experimental crossing of the Wallace Line by means of a primitive raft without steering or sail is reported. Forming part of a long-term project of exploring the technology and use of the most archaic sea-going vessels, this experiment seeks to examine the minimum requirements of succeeding in crossing Lombok Strait, Indonesia. The first effective maritime colonization in human history is thought to have taken place there, leading to the subsequent hominid occupation of Flores about 850,000 years ago. The rationale and methodology of this replication experiment, which took place in January 2000, are discussed, and the implications of the principal findings are briefly considered. They are significant for the understanding of the technological, cultural and cognitive development of Pleistocene hominids.