Movatterモバイル変換

[0]ホーム
URL:

Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Advertisement

Nature
  • Letter
  • Published:

PleistoceneHomo sapiens from Middle Awash, Ethiopia

Naturevolume 423, pages742–747 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

The origin of anatomically modernHomo sapiens and the fate of Neanderthals have been fundamental questions in human evolutionary studies for over a century1,2,3,4. A key barrier to the resolution of these questions has been the lack of substantial and accurately dated African hominid fossils from between 100,000 and 300,000 years ago5. Here we describe fossilized hominid crania from Herto, Middle Awash, Ethiopia, that fill this gap and provide crucial evidence on the location, timing and contextual circumstances of the emergence ofHomo sapiens. Radioisotopically dated to between 160,000 and 154,000 years ago6, these new fossils predate classic Neanderthals and lack their derived features. The Herto hominids are morphologically and chronologically intermediate between archaic African fossils and later anatomically modern Late Pleistocene humans. They therefore represent the probable immediate ancestors of anatomically modern humans. Their anatomy and antiquity constitute strong evidence of modern-human emergence in Africa.

This is a preview of subscription content,access via your institution

Access options

Access through your institution

Subscription info for Japanese customers

We have a dedicated website for our Japanese customers. Please go tonatureasia.com to subscribe to this journal.

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

￥ 4,980

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: The Herto BOU-VP-16/1 adult cranium in lateral, frontal, three-quarter, posterior, superior and inferior views.
Figure 2: The Herto BOU-VP-16/5 child's cranium in frontal, lateral, posterior, three-quarter, superior and inferior views.
Figure 3: Univariate comparisons, by anatomical region and dimension, of BOU-VP-16/1 with Qafzeh 6, Kabwe, La Ferrassie, and modern (recent) human males.
Figure 4:a, Comparative analysis of the Herto BOU-VP-16/1 adult cranium.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Mbua, E. N.Patterns of Middle Pleistocene Hominid Evolution in Africa Dissertation, Univ. Hamburg, (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Stringer, C. B. Modern human origins: progress and prospects.Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B357, 563–579 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Howell, F. C. Paleo-demes, species clades, and extinctions in the Pleistocene hominin record.J. Anthropol. Res.55, 191–243 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Stringer, C. B. inThe Age of the Earth: From 4004 BC to AD 2002 (eds Lewis, C. L. E. & Knell, S. J.) 265–274, Geological Society of London, Spec. Publ. 190 (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Rightmire, G. P. inHumanity from African Naissance to Coming Millennia (eds Tobias, P. V., Raath, M. A., Moggi-Cecci, J. & Doyle, G. A.) 231–236 (Firenze Univ. Press, 2001)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Clark, J. D. et al. Stratigraphic, chronological and behavioural contexts of PleistoceneHomo sapiens from Middle Awash, Ethiopia.Nature423, 747–752 (2003)

    Article ADS CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Howells, W. W. Cranial variation in man.Pap. Peabody Mus. Archaeol. Ethnol.67, 1–259 (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Tillier, A.-M. inThe Evolution and Dispersal of Modern Humans in Asia (eds Akasawa, T., Aoki, K. & Kimura, T.) 15–28 (Hokusen-sha, Tokyo, 1992)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Arsuaga, J. L., Martínez, I., Gracia, A. & Lorenzo, C. The Sima de los Huesos crania (Sierra de Atapuerca Spain): A comparative study.J. Hum. Evol.33, 219–281 (1997)

    Article CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Lieberman, D. E., McBratney, B. M. & Krovits, G. The evolution and development of cranial form inHomo sapiens.Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA99, 1134–1139 (2002)

    Article ADS CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Sarich, V. M. inConceptual Issues in Modern Human Origins Research (eds Clark, G. A. & Willermet, C. M.) 392–412 (Aldine, New York, 1997)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Bräuer, G. inHumanity from African Naissance to Coming Millennia (eds Tobias, P. V., Raath, M. A., Moggi-Cecci, J. & Doyle, G. A.) 191–197 (Firenze Univ. Press, 2001)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Bräuer, G., (eds Mellars, P. & Stringer, C. B.) 123–154 (Edinburgh Univ. Press, 1989)

  14. Cann, R. Genetic clues to dispersal in human populations: Retracing the past from the present.Science291, 1742–1748 (2001)

    Article ADS CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Wolpoff, M. & Caspari, R. inConceptual Issues in Modern Human Origins Research (eds Clark, G. A. & Willermet, C. M.) 28–44 (Aldine, New York, 1997)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Hawks, J. D. & Wolpoff, M. H. The four faces of Eve: Hypothesis compatibility and human origins.Quat. Int.75, 41–50 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Wolpoff, M. H., Hawks, J., Frayer, D. & Hunley, K. Modern human ancestry at the peripheries: A test of the replacement theory.Science291, 293–297 (2001)

    Article ADS CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Templeton, A. R. Out of Africa again and again.Nature416, 45–51 (2002)

    Article ADS CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Underhill, P. A. et al. The phylogeography of Y chromosome binary haplotypes and the origins of modern human populations.Ann. Hum. Genet.65, 43–62 (2001)

    Article CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Ingman, M., Kaessmann, H., Pääbo, S. & Gyllensten, U. Mitochondrial genome variation and the origin of modern humans.Nature408, 703–713 (2000)

    Article ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. Haile-Selassie, Y. Late Miocene hominids from the Middle Awash, Ethiopia.Nature412, 178–181 (2001)

    Article ADS CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. White, T. D., Suwa, G. & Asfaw, B.Australopithecus ramidus, a new species of hominid from Aramis, Ethiopia.Nature371, 306–312 (1994)

    Article ADS CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Lovejoy, C. O., Meindl, R. S., Ohman, J. C., Heiple, K. G. & White, T. D. The Maka femur and its bearing on the antiquity of human walking: Applying contemporary concepts of morphogenesis to the human fossil record.Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.119, 97–133 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. White, T. D. et al. New discoveries ofAustralopithecus at Maka, Ethiopia.Nature366, 261–265 (1993)

    Article ADS CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Asfaw, B. et al.Australopithecus garhi: A new species of early hominid from Ethiopia.Science284, 629–635 (1999)

    Article ADS CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Asfaw, B. et al. Remains ofHomo erectus from Bouri, Middle Awash, Ethiopia.Nature416, 317–320 (2002)

    Article ADS  Google Scholar 

  27. Howells, W. W. Skull shapes and the map. Craniometric analyses in the dispersion of modernHomo.Pap. Peabody Mus. Archaeol. Ethnol.79, 1–189 (1989)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank A. Almquist, A. Asfaw, M. Asnake, T. Assebework, D. Brill, J. D. Clark, J. DeHeinzelin, A. Getty, Y. Haile-Selassie, B. Latimer, C. Pehlevan, K. Schick, S. Simpson, P. Snow and Y. Zeleka for fieldwork and analytical studies; J. L. Arsuaga, A. Gracia and N. Garcia for comparative metric data; C. O. Lovejoy for review; and F. Bibi, D. Brill, R. Cann, Y. Haile-Selassie, L. Hlusko, L. Jellema, R. Klein, J. Matternes and R. Paul for assistance. We thank the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, the Authority for Research and Conservation of the Cultural Heritage, and the National Museum of Ethiopia for permissions; the Afar Regional Government and the Afar people of the Middle Awash, particularly the Bouri–Modaitu community and H. Elema; and many other individuals for contributing to our efforts. This research was supported by the NSF (US) and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Integrative Biology and Laboratory for Human Evolutionary Studies, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720-3160, USA

    Tim D. White, David DeGusta & Henry Gilbert

  2. Rift Valley Research Service, P.O. Box 5717, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Berhane Asfaw

  3. Laboratory for Human Evolutionary Studies, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720-3160, USA

    Gary D. Richards & F. Clark Howell

  4. The University Museum, The University of Tokyo, 113-0033, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Gen Suwa

Authors
  1. Tim D. White
  2. Berhane Asfaw
  3. David DeGusta
  4. Henry Gilbert
  5. Gary D. Richards
  6. Gen Suwa
  7. F. Clark Howell

Corresponding author

Correspondence toTim D. White.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

White, T., Asfaw, B., DeGusta, D.et al. PleistoceneHomo sapiens from Middle Awash, Ethiopia.Nature423, 742–747 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01669

Download citation

This article is cited by

Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe

Associated content

Collection

100 years of Australopithecus

Out of Ethiopia

  • Chris Stringer
NatureNews & Views

Advertisement

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for theNature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox.Sign up for Nature Briefing
[8]ページ先頭
©2009-2026 Movatter.jp