Download or read book A Climate Model Study of the Role of Global Climate in the Late Pleistocene Migration of Anatomically Modern Humans Out of Africa written by Shannon Leigh Carto and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: According to the "Out-of-Africa 2" theory of human evolution all living humans today descend from a group of Anatomically Modern Homo sapiens or Anatomically Modem Humans that evolved in Africa 200,000 years ago and subsequently migrated out of Africa and spread into the rest of the World around 100,000 years. As a result an interest has developed in establishing a concrete theory of the factors that compelled and/or motivated our ancestors to venture out of their African origins at this time. Interestingly, the Earth's Last Glacial Cycle also dates from this period--stretching from 115,000 to 10,000 years ago. Current paleoclimate evidence suggests that the climatic repercussions of this glacial cycle in Africa resulted in a shift towards a drier and somewhat cooler climate state and the fragmentation of the formerly extensive forested African landscape. As a result, theories of early human migration have cited African climate change during the late Pleistocene as a determinant; however, the mechanisms responsible for the development of hyper-arid conditions in Africa at this time have remained unresolved. Although, past global climate change has been ascribed to changes in radiative forcing and changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide, recent paleoclimate studies have revealed that African climate is sensitive to changes in SSTs in the Atlantic, as it appears that subtropical Africa was more arid when North Atlantic sea surface temperatures (SSTs) were cold during glacial periods. The forcing mechanism believed to be responsible for the development of these cold SSTs are the so-called Heinrich Events that are documented as massive surges of icebergs (from high-latitude ice sheets) into the North Atlantic Ocean during high-latitude glaciations. These Heinrich events resulted in the release of large quantities of freshwater into the North Atlantic, which in turn led to a weakening on the global ocean thermohaline circulation and widespread cooling throughout the region. In particular, marine sediment records from the Nordic Sea document a widespread cooling and ice-rafting event that occurred around 105 kya, known as Heinrich event 9. In order to investigate the climate processes responsible for promoting cooler and drier conditions in Africa during the migration event of AMH (around 100 kya) I used the University of Victoria Earth System Climate Model (UVic ESCM) to conduct two climate model experiments that compared the global-scale response of climate at 105 kya, in particular the Atlantic Ocean and the African climate system, to: 1) orbitally-controlled solar radiation and atmospheric carbon dioxide forcing appropriate for 105 kya and 2) the combined effect of orbitally-controlled solar radiation and atmospheric carbon dioxide at 105 kya, and North Atlantic freshwater forcing ...

Download or read book Climate Model Study of the Role of Global Climate in the Late Pleistocene Migration of Anatomically Modern Humans Out of Africa written by and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: According to the "Out-of-Africa 2" theory of human evolution all living humans today descend from a group of Anatomically Modern Homo sapiens or Anatomically Modem Humans that evolved in Africa 200,000 years ago and subsequently migrated out of Africa and spread into the rest of the World around 100,000 years. As a result an interest has developed in establishing a concrete theory of the factors that compelled and/or motivated our ancestors to venture out of their African origins at this time. Interestingly, the Earth's Last Glacial Cycle also dates from this period--stretching from 115,000 to 10,000 years ago. Current paleoclimate evidence suggests that the climatic repercussions of this glacial cycle in Africa resulted in a shift towards a drier and somewhat cooler climate state and the fragmentation of the formerly extensive forested African landscape. As a result, theories of early human migration have cited African climate change during the late Pleistocene as a determinant; however, the mechanisms responsible for the development of hyper-arid conditions in Africa at this time have remained unresolved. Although, past global climate change has been ascribed to changes in radiative forcing and changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide, recent paleoclimate studies have revealed that African climate is sensitive to changes in SSTs in the Atlantic, as it appears that subtropical Africa was more arid when North Atlantic sea surface temperatures (SSTs) were cold during glacial periods. The forcing mechanism believed to be responsible for the development of these cold SSTs are the so-called Heinrich Events that are documented as massive surges of icebergs (from high-latitude ice sheets) into the North Atlantic Ocean during high-latitude glaciations. These Heinrich events resulted in the release of large quantities of freshwater into the North Atlantic, which in turn led to a weakening on the global ocean thermohaline circulation and widespread cooling throughout the region.

Download or read book A Climate Model Study of the Role of Global Climate in the Late Pleistocene Migration of Anatomically Modern Humans Out of Africa written by Shannon Leigh Carto and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: According to the "Out-of-Africa 2" theory of human evolution all living humans today descend from a group of Anatomically Modern Homo sapiens or Anatomically Modem Humans that evolved in Africa 200,000 years ago and subsequently migrated out of Africa and spread into the rest of the World around 100,000 years. As a result an interest has developed in establishing a concrete theory of the factors that compelled and/or motivated our ancestors to venture out of their African origins at this time. Interestingly, the Earth's Last Glacial Cycle also dates from this period--stretching from 115,000 to 10,000 years ago. Current paleoclimate evidence suggests that the climatic repercussions of this glacial cycle in Africa resulted in a shift towards a drier and somewhat cooler climate state and the fragmentation of the formerly extensive forested African landscape. As a result, theories of early human migration have cited African climate change during the late Pleistocene as a determinant; however, the mechanisms responsible for the development of hyper-arid conditions in Africa at this time have remained unresolved.Although, past global climate change has been ascribed to changes in radiative forcing and changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide, recent paleoclimate studies have revealed that African climate is sensitive to changes in SSTs in the Atlantic, as it appears that subtropical Africa was more arid when North Atlantic sea surface temperatures (SSTs) were cold during glacial periods. The forcing mechanism believed to be responsible for the development of these cold SSTs are the so-called Heinrich Events that are documented as massive surges of icebergs (from high-latitude ice sheets) into the North Atlantic Ocean during high-latitude glaciations. These Heinrich events resulted in the release of large quantities of freshwater into the North Atlantic, which in turn led to a weakening on the global ocean thermohaline circulation and widespread cooling throughout the region. In particular, marine sediment records from the Nordic Sea document a widespread cooling and ice-rafting event that occurred around 105 kya, known as Heinrich event 9.In order to investigate the climate processes responsible for promoting cooler and drier conditions in Africa during the migration event of AMH (around 100 kya) I used the University of Victoria Earth System Climate Model (UVic ESCM) to conduct two climate model experiments that compared the global-scale response of climate at 105 kya, in particular the Atlantic Ocean and the African climate system, to: 1) orbitally-controlled solar radiation and atmospheric carbon dioxide forcing appropriate for 105 kya and 2) the combined effect of orbitally-controlled solar radiation and atmospheric carbon dioxide at 105 kya, and North Atlantic freshwater forcing ...

Download or read book Understanding Climate s Influence on Human Evolution written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2010-04-17 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The hominin fossil record documents a history of critical evolutionary events that have ultimately shaped and defined what it means to be human, including the origins of bipedalism; the emergence of our genus Homo; the first use of stone tools; increases in brain size; and the emergence of Homo sapiens, tools, and culture. The Earth's geological record suggests that some evolutionary events were coincident with substantial changes in African and Eurasian climate, raising the possibility that critical junctures in human evolution and behavioral development may have been affected by the environmental characteristics of the areas where hominins evolved. Understanding Climate's Change on Human Evolution explores the opportunities of using scientific research to improve our understanding of how climate may have helped shape our species. Improved climate records for specific regions will be required before it is possible to evaluate how critical resources for hominins, especially water and vegetation, would have been distributed on the landscape during key intervals of hominin history. Existing records contain substantial temporal gaps. The book's initiatives are presented in two major research themes: first, determining the impacts of climate change and climate variability on human evolution and dispersal; and second, integrating climate modeling, environmental records, and biotic responses. Understanding Climate's Change on Human Evolution suggests a new scientific program for international climate and human evolution studies that involve an exploration initiative to locate new fossil sites and to broaden the geographic and temporal sampling of the fossil and archeological record; a comprehensive and integrative scientific drilling program in lakes, lake bed outcrops, and ocean basins surrounding the regions where hominins evolved and a major investment in climate modeling experiments for key time intervals and regions that are critical to understanding human evolution.

Download or read book The Early Modern Human from Tianyuan Cave China written by Hong Shang and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2010-06-18 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For more than a century, scientists have returned time and again to the issue of modern human emergence-the when and where of the evolutionary process and the human behavioral and biological dynamics involved. The 2003 discovery of a human partial skeleton at Tianyuandong (Tianyuan Cave) excited worldwide interest. The first human skeleton from the region to be directly radiocarbon-dated (to 40,000 years before present), its geological age places it close to the time period during which modern humans became permanently established across the Old World (between 50,000 and 35,000 years ago). Through detailed description and interpretation of the most complete early modern human skeleton from eastern Asia, The Early Modern Human from Tianyan Cave, China, addresses long-term questions about the ancestry of modern humans in eastern Asia and the nature of the changes in human behavior with the emergence of modern human biology. This book is a detailed, paleontological and paleobiological presentation of this skeleton, its context, and its implications. By providing basic information for this important human fossil, offering inferences concerning the population processes involved in modern human emergence in eastern Eurasia, and by raising questions concerning the adaptations of these early modern human hunter-gatherers, The Early Modern Human from Tianyuan Cave, China will take its place as a core contribution to the study of modern human emergence.

Download or read book Pleistocene Archaeology written by Rintaro Ono and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2020-12 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents an overview of recent research in the field of Pleistocene Archaeology around the world. The main topics of this book are: (1) human migrations, particularly by Homo sapiens who have migrated into most regions of the world and settled in different environments, (2) the development of human technology from early to archaic hominins and Homo sapiens, and (3) human adaptation to new environments and responses to environmental changes caused by climate changes during the Pleistocene. With such perspectives in mind, this book contains a total of nine insightful and stimulating chapters on these topics, in which human history during the time of the Pleistocene is reviewed and discussed.

Download or read book Climate Change in Prehistory written by William James Burroughs and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-06-13 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How did humankind deal with the extreme challenges of the last Ice Age? How have the relatively benign post-Ice Age conditions affected the evolution and spread of humanity across the globe? By setting our genetic history in the context of climate change during prehistory, the origin of many features of our modern world are identified and presented in this illuminating book. It reviews the aspects of our physiology and intellectual development that have been influenced by climatic factors, and how features of our lives - diet, language and the domestication of animals - are also the product of the climate in which we evolved. In short: climate change in prehistory has in many ways made us what we are today. Climate Change in Prehistory weaves together studies of the climate with anthropological, archaeological and historical studies, and will fascinate all those interested in the effects of climate on human development and history.

Download or read book The Journey of Modern Humans from Africa to Europe written by Thomas Litt and published by . This book was released on 2021-12-07 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The authors shed new light on the time frame and pathways used by Homo sapiens on its journey from Africa to Europe and provides new insights into the intricate interplay of culture and environment during the past 200,000 years. The new findings also take into account the paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental history of East, North-East and North-West Africa, the Middle East, South-East and Central Europe as well as the Iberian Peninsula. The book is a compilation of the key results of a multidisciplinary research project (CRC 806, funded by the German Research Foundation DFG) which studied the dispersal of anatomical modern humans from Africa to Europe. The findings presented here are based on a wealth of new data of recent, intensive studies of archaeological sites, lake sediments and Loess archives which were dated using radiocarbon, luminescence, Uranium/Thorium and paleomagnetic methods. Models based on recent ethnological findings from Africa sharpen our understanding of the possible mixing of societies in the past. Moreover, complex algorithms such as the "Human Dispersal Model" which describes the expansion of hunter-gatherer societies and population development are presented for South-Eastern to Central Europe between 45,000 and 25,000 years ago. Last but not least, educational theories, teaching material and an Open Educational Resource are presented to facilitate the integration of the results from CRC 806 into school-class lectures and to foster competencies in argumentation and comparison. The data presented in this volume are a valuable reference for experts in archaeology, geosciences, anthropology and ethnology including life-science students and academics. The book may be used as a textbook for graduate and undergraduate students, for interested school teachers and the public. It should be attractive and relevant to all readers interested in understanding the pre-history of our own species, their migration routes and motivation to migrate, triggered by complex interactions of their culture and environment.

Download or read book Master s Theses Directories written by and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Education, arts and social sciences, natural and technical sciences in the United States and Canada".

Download or read book Humans at the End of the Ice Age written by Lawrence Guy Straus and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Humans at the End of the Ice Age chronicles and explores the significance of the variety of cultural responses to the global environmental changes at the last glacial-interglacial boundary. Contributions address the nature and consequences of the global climate changes accompanying the end of the Pleistocene epoch-detailing the nature, speed, and magnitude of the human adaptations that culminated in the development of food production in many parts of the world. The text is aided by vital maps, chronological tables, and charts.

Download or read book An Individual based Comparative Advantage Model written by Ronald F. Smith and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 459 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anthropologists continue to debate the grounds for the survival of anatomically modern humans and the demise of the Neanderthals. One important distinction between the two groups may be the level of economic cooperation. I present a model for quantifying the benefits of within-group economic cooperation by examining all facets of productive, economic activity critical to survival in the fluctuating climate of Europe at the time of the transition from Neanderthals to Early Modern humans. The model's decision making engine is based on David Ricardo's Law of Comparative Advantage. Data from the prehistoric archaeological and physical anthropological records define the main economic parameters of the model: group size, task repertoire, and individual skill variation. Settlement patterns for both groups are based on individual site data, climate, and periods of occupation. Climate records, derived from ice-cores, terrestrial cores, and paleoclimate reconstructions define the climatic input for the model. The model presented here covers new ground in that it addresses within-group individual skills across all tasks critical to survival, and not just foraging. It addresses the impact on individual and group survival, and it illustrates the importance of diversity and cooperation in stressful, climatic situations. The archaeological data suggests that early modern humans performed a wider range of activities and tasks, congregated in larger groups, and possibly had a more diverse range of skills than Neanderthals. The model shows that all members of the group benefit when each task is assigned to that individual most proficient in the performance of that task, and when the resulting outputs are equitably distributed among the group members: the benefits achieved through cooperation by the early moderns are in the range of 17-19%, and by Neanderthals in the range of 11-13%. Settlement patterns in Europe indicate that early moderns moved into higher latitudes and colder zones than Neanderthals, despite the fact that severe and abrupt climate swings occurred during this period. This implies that economic cooperative behavior might have been an important adaptive response to the deteriorating climate of the time, and that such behavior enabled the modern humans to out-survive the Neanderthals.

Download or read book Statistical Downscaling and Bias Correction for Climate Research written by Douglas Maraun and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-01-18 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive and practical guide, providing technical background and user context for researchers, graduate students, practitioners and decision makers. This book presents the main approaches and describes their underlying assumptions, skill and limitations. Guidelines for the application of downscaling and the use of downscaled information in practice complete the volume.

Download or read book In the Light of Evolution written by National Academy of Sciences and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Arthur M. Sackler Colloquia of the National Academy of Sciences address scientific topics of broad and current interest, cutting across the boundaries of traditional disciplines. Each year, four or five such colloquia are scheduled, typically two days in length and international in scope. Colloquia are organized by a member of the Academy, often with the assistance of an organizing committee, and feature presentations by leading scientists in the field and discussions with a hundred or more researchers with an interest in the topic. Colloquia presentations are recorded and posted on the National Academy of Sciences Sackler colloquia website and published on CD-ROM. These Colloquia are made possible by a generous gift from Mrs. Jill Sackler, in memory of her husband, Arthur M. Sackler.

Download or read book The Lithic Assemblages of Qafzeh Cave written by Erella Hovers and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2009-06-09 with total page 379 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents the first comprehensive description of the lithic assemblages from Qafzeh Cave, one of only two Middle Paleolithic sites in the Levant that has yielded multiple burials of early anatomically modern Homo sapiens (AMHs). The record from this region raises the question of possible long-term temporal overlap between early AMHs and Neanderthals. For this reason, Qafzeh has long been one of the pivotal sites in debates on the origins of AMHs and in attempts to compare and contrast the two species' adaptations and behavior. Although the hominin fossils from the site were published years ago, until now the associated archaeological assemblages were incompletely described, often leading to conflicting interpretations. This monograph includes a thorough technological analysis of the lithic assemblages, incorporated in their geological and sedimentological contexts. This description serves as a springboard for regional comparisons as well as a more general discussion about Middle Paleolithic behavior, which is relevant to important and as yet unresolved questions on the origins of "modern" behavior patterns. The volume includes a wide-ranging and up-to-date bibliography that provides the middle-range for discussing the ecological context and behavioral complexity of the Middle Paleolithic period, and ends with some thought-provoking conclusions about the dynamic human interactions that existed in the region during this time.

Download or read book The Emergence of Modern Humans written by and published by . This book was released on 1990-05-31 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book African Genesis written by Sally C. Reynolds and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-03-29 with total page 599 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book reviews key themes and developments in palaeoanthropology, exploring their impact on our understanding of human origins in Africa.

Download or read book The Pleistocene Era written by Charles River and published by . This book was released on 2020-12-12 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading The Pleistocene spans a period from around 2.5 million years ago (mya) to just over 12,000 years ago, and it was an epoch of enormous change on Earth, mainly characterized by climate changes involving fluctuations between periods of extreme heat and long periods of glaciation. This period is commonly known as the Ice Age despite the fact there were actually a number of separate periods of cold. Along with the climate challenges, this was also the period that saw the development of modern humans. The origin of our ancient ancestors is still a matter of debate amongst paleontologists, and classification systems for early hominoids are constantly being updated as new discoveries are made. What is generally agreed upon is the species Homo sapiens belong to the order primates and the sub-order anthropoids. Within the anthropoids sub-order, humans belong to the family hominids, which also includes other animals such as the orangutan and the great apes. Drilling down even further, humans belong to a sub-group of hominids known as hominin. The sub-group hominin includes humans, as well as chimpanzees and gorillas. Discoveries have revealed more than twenty species of the genus Homo, all of which appeared during the Pleistocene Epoch, and all but Homo sapiens became extinct during the same period. The challenge is understanding which of these groups are predecessors to Homo sapiens and which are separate groups that died out leaving no current representation. Not knowing this information makes it difficult to determine neat classification and establish precisely when hominins separated from the rest of the non-hominin primates. It is generally accepted that hominoids and the first hominins evolved in what is now Africa. Somewhere around 7 mya, the common hominoid lineage split into two distinct evolutionary lines: the ancestors of modern chimpanzees and those of modern humans. Around 2.5 mya, a new genus of hominin appeared. Homo had larger brains than their predecessors as well as smaller jaws and teeth. The very first stone tools date to this period when there were a number of different hominin species. The very first true humans, Homo erectus, appeared around 2 mya. These new creatures could hardly have chosen a more difficult time to appear. In addition to facing the challenges of simply surviving in a generally hostile environment, the world was about to enter a period of convulsive climatic change. The new humans would face drought and extreme heat, as well as long periods of cooling where glaciers spread across the surface of the planet, but they survived, and by the time the Pleistocene Epoch ended around 12,000 years ago, Homo sapiens had become one of the most significant species on the planet. The Pleistocene Era: The History of the Ice Age and the Dawn of Modern Humans looks at the development of the era, what life on Earth was like, and the origins of archaic humans. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Pleistocene like never before.