Body proportions in Late Pleistocene Europe and modern human origins

doi:10.1006/jhev.1996.0111

Journal of Human Evolution

Volume 32, Issue 5, May 1997, Pages 423-448

https://doi.org/10.1006/jhev.1996.0111 Get rights and content

Abstract

Body proportions covary with climate, apparently as the result of climatic selection. Ontogenetic research and migrant studies have demonstrated that body proportions are largely genetically controlled and are under low selective rates; thus studies of body form can provide evidence for evolutionarily short-term dispersals and/or gene flow. Following these observations, competing models of modern human origins yield different predictions concerning body proportion shifts in Late Pleistocene Europe. Replacement predicts that the earliest modern Europeans will possess “tropical” body proportions (assuming Africa is the center of origin), while Regional Continuity permits only minor shifts in body shape, due to climatic change and/or improved cultural buffering. This study tests these predictions via analyses of osteometric data reflective of trunk height and breadth, limb proportions and relative body mass for samples of Early Upper Paleolithic (EUP), Late Upper Paleolithic (LUP) and Mesolithic (MES) humans and 13 recent African and European populations. Results reveal a clear tendency for the EUP sample to cluster with recent Africans, while LUP and MES samples cluster with recent Europeans. These results refute the hypothesis of local continuity in Europe, and are consistent with an interpretation of elevated gene flow (and population dispersal?) from Africa, followed by subsequent climatic adaptation to colder conditions. These data do not, however, preclude the possibility of some (albeit small) contribution of genes from Neandertals to succeeding populations, as is postulated in Bräuer’s “Afro-European Sapiens” model.

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^☆: M. HildebrandD. M. BrambleK. F. LiemD. B. Wake

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Regular ArticleBody proportions in Late Pleistocene Europe and modern human origins☆

Abstract

J. hum. Evol.

Quat. Res

J. hum. Evol.

J. hum. Evol.

Quat. Res.

J. hum. Evol.

J. hum. Evol.

The fossil evidence for modern human origins in Africa: a revised view

Am. Anthropol

The Origin of Modern Humans and the Impact of Chronological Dating

Ecogeographical variation in the American robin (Turdus migratorius

The Auk

Body support, scaling, and allometry

Functional Vertebrate Morphology

The influence of physical conditions in the genesis of species

Rad. Rev.

Ratios, regression intercepts and the scaling of data

Syst. Zool.

Statistical properties of ratios

Syst. Zool.

Anthropometry of circumpolar populations

Climate, culture, and evolution

Hum. Biol.

Le gradient écologique du rapport poids/surface chez des groupes d'Israeliens d'origines différentes

Biométrie Hum

Ueber die Verhaltnisse der Warmeokonomie der thiere zu ihrer grosse

Gottinger Studien

Reply to White. Curr

Anthropol

A craniological approach to the origin of anatomically modernHomo sapiens

The evolution of modern humans: a comparison of the African and non-African evidence

Africa's place in the evolution of Homo sapiens

Continuity or Replacement: Controversies inHomo sapiens

The spearman and the archer—an essay on selection in body build

Am. Anthropol.

Skeletal reflections of increased mobility in the Central European Upper Paleolithio (Abstract)

Am. J. phys. Anthrop

The Origin of Races

Races: A Study of the Problems of Race Formation in Man

Distribution and variation in deer (GenusOdocoileus

California Fish Game

Climate and anthropometric variations in Europe and the Mediterranean area

Ann. Hum. Biol.

Canonical and principal components of shape

Biometrika

The effects of climate on growth

Ann. NY Acad. Sci.

Worldwide Variation in Human Growth

International Biological Programme 8

Femur/stature ratio and estimates of stature in mid- and late-Pleistocene fossil hominids

Am. J. phys. Anthrop

Neandertal mesosterna and noses: Implications for activity and biogeographical patterning (Abstract)

Am. J. phys. Anthrop.

Hindlimb skeletal allometry in Plio-Pleistocene hominids with special reference to AL-288-1 (“Lucy”)

Bull. Mém. Soc. d'Anthrop. Paris,

Body size, weapon use, and natural selection in the European Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic

Am. Anthropol.

Theories of modern human origins: The paleontological test

Am. Anthropol

The relationship of maturity rate to body size and body proportions in children and adults

Hum. Biol.

Migration and plasticity of physique in the Japanese–Americans of Hawaii

Am. J. phys. Anthrop

Bergmann's rule near the equator: Latitudinal clines in body size of an Andean passerine bird

Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S.A

A comparison of the physical growth and development of American-born and native Japanese children

Am. J. phys. Anthrop.

Étude de la croissance chez quelques enfants Esquimaux

L'Union Méd. du Can

Body weight, stature and sitting height: white and Negro youths 12–17 years, United States

Department of Health, Education and Welfare Publication, No. (HRA) 74-1608, Vital Health Statistics Series 11

The adaptive significance of intraspecific trends of variation in wing length and body size among bird species

Evolution

Heat and cold

Ann. Rev. Physiol

Number Cruncher Statistical System

Postcranial evidence of cold adaptation in European Neandertals

Am. J. phys. Anthrop

Regular Article
Body proportions in Late Pleistocene Europe and modern human origins☆