The dual origin of modern humanity.
Living Homo sapiens can define itself using both behavioral and anatomical uniquenesses. But is this possible when looking backward? Using a strict morphological definition, Homo sapiens can probably be traced back in the fossil record to about 150 kyr ago, which fits well with molecular estimates for the ancestor of all living human populations. However, activities reliably indicating established symbolic cognition can be recognized in the archaeological record only back to under 100 kyr ago. Since it is probable that the potential for symbolic cognition was born in the genetic/structural alterations that also gave rise to the distinctive morphological entity Homo sapiens, it appears that the expression of the human symbolic cognitive potential had to await, for many millennia, the >>discovery<< of that potential through a cultural rather than a biological stimulus. Most plausibly, this stimulus was the invention of language. Modern human symbolic cognition is not an extrapolation of pre-existing evolutionary trends, suggesting that Homo sapiens is not biologically >>fine-tuned<< for any specific behavior patterns.
Tattersall
Ian
I
Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York 10024, USA. iant@amnh.org
D000818:Animals; D001106:Archaeology; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003071:Cognition; D005580:Fossils; D015186:Hominidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D012886:Skull / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D013561:Symbolism