Archaic Homo sapiens (B.C.E.400¸000 TO 130¸000 years ago)
Homo erectus has long been considered the single human form to have lived on earth between about 1.8 million and 400¸000 years ago. However¸ this all embracing classification dates from the days when scholars thought of human evolution in more linear terms. They linked anatomically primitive features such as heavy brow ridges and bun–shaped skull–caps¸ which are indeed common to various Homo erectus fossils from Africa¸ Asia¸ and Europe. Specialized features¸ such as the massive faces found in Asia individuals¸ may be in fact evidence for geography defined forms¸ only one of which evolved into Homo sapiens¸ anatomically modern humans. This branching view see Homo erectus as an adaptive radiation of hominids after 1.9 million years ago¸with only a small part of this evolution resulting in the emergence of Homo sapiens.
Between 400¸000 and 130¸000 years ago¸ Homo erectus¸ was evolving toward more modern forms of humans throughout the Old World. Fossils fragments from Africa¸ Asia¸ and Europe display both erectus–like traits¸ and sapians–like traits¸ sufficient for them to be classified under the general label archaic Homo sapiens.These anatomical advances take several forms. Brain capacities are larger¸ the sides of the skull are wider¸ and the rear of the cranium is now more rounded. Human skeletons become less robust and molar teeth are smaller.
These general trends occur in African fossils¸ such as the well–known¸ massive Broken Hill skull from Kabwe¸ Zambia¸ in central Africa. They are found in China too, where both archaic and sapiens traits appear, traits that Chinese anthropologists also claim appear in modern populations there. In Europe¸ too¸ fossil remains dating to this long period display a mosaic of erectus and sapiens features. However¸the fossils from each continent differ considerably. European fossils¸ for example¸ often appear somewhat more robust than those from Asia. Everywhere¸ however¸ brain sizes increases gradually and skull shapes become rounder. In Asia and Africa¸ the changes seem to have a trend toward modern sapiens¸ whereas the Europeans fossils are evolving toward a Neanderthal form. This evolutionary trend toward more modern anatomy appears everywhere¸ but it was only one continent¸ Africa¸ that Homo erectus gave rise to modern Homo sapiens. In other words¸ the pattern of human evolution based on the adaptive radiation seen with the australopithecines hundreds of thousands of years earlier persisted into much later prehistory.
