Recent Discoveries and Perspectives in Human Evolution: Papers arising from 'Exploring Human Origins: Exciting Discoveries at the Start of the 21st Century' Manchester 2013 9781407313726, 9781407343341

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RECENT DISCOVERIES AND PERSPECTIVES IN HUMAN EVOLUTION

Dr Anek Ram Sankhyan earned his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees, and Ph.D. on the topic ‘Pleistocene hominins and associated findings bearing on the evolution of man in South Asia’ from Panjab University Chandigarh. He is presently a Visiting Fellow in the Anthropological Survey of India, where he served for over three decades as a physical anthropologist and palaeoanthropologist, and held the charge of the Palaeoanthropology Section at its Head Office. The focus of his researches have been in the Tertiary and Quaternary palaeontology, palaeoanthropology and prehistoric archaeology of the Siwalik Hills and the Central Narmada basin from where he reported rare hominoid and hominin fossil evidences and made a huge collection of the mammalian fossils and Palaeolithic artifacts housed at Kolkata and Dehra Dun. For exchanging palaeoanthropological knowledge Dr Sankhyan has travelled widely, especially in his long trip in May-June 2006 under the Gondwanaland Expedition covering the countries and prehistoric sites falling in the Great African Rift Valley. In July 2007 he was invited to the International Seminar on Southeast Asian Paleoanthropology, held in Indonesia, where he also visited the famous Homo erectus sites in Java and the Hobbit Liang Bua Cave on Flores Island. In early July 2009 he was invited to France by Henry de Lumley for a joint study and was shown various prehistoric laboratories, museums and cave sites, and soon after organized two conference panels on hominoid and hominin evolution in the 16th IUAES at Kunming, China. From there, he visited the Lufeng hominoid site and, from the IVVP at Beijing, the Zhoukoudian and Nihewan Basin sites. In August 2010 he got the opportunity under the SOSAA conference to visit Sri Lanka, and in July 2012 he founded the Palaeo Research Society to promote and popularize prehistoric researches and protect ancient heritage sites. In June 2014, he was invited to deliberate in a five-day international palaeoanthropological conference held at Tautavel in France. Over five dozen research papers– many in international journals of great impact– go to the credit of Dr Sankhyan. Besides, he has already edited four important conference volumes, viz., People of India: Himachal Pradesh (1996), Human Origins, Genome and People of India (2007), Asian Perspectives on Human Evolution (2009). In December 2014 he has submitted a book manuscript based on his Narmada findings, entitled ‘Indian Origins’ to the Anthropological Survey of India for publication.

SANKHYAN (Ed)

The present book entitled ‘Recent Discoveries and Perspectives in Human Evolution’ is the outcome of the International conference panel BH13 ‘Exploring Human Origins: Exciting Discoveries at the Start of the 21st Century’ organized by Dr A.R. Sankhyan under the auspices of the 17th IUAES in August 2013 at Manchester (U.K.). The scholars who attended the conference came from many countries and the contributions included here represent almost all continents. The book covers a wide range of topics of special interest to researchers in human evolution in the field of palaeoanthropology. They include new hominoid and hominin discoveries, ancient genomics, prehistoric archaeology, bio-stratigraphy, palaeoecology, palaeoenvironments, Palaeo-habitats, ancient cranial surgical practices across continents and archaeo-astronomy. There are special critical observations on the prehistoric Denisovans, on the origins of the Andaman pygmies and Indonesian Hobbits, on Indian prehistoric rock art and concerns for the biosphere reserves. Overall, it also attracts social and cultural historians and general readers interested in the evolvution of man and the expansion of humanity.

BAR S2719 2015

About the book

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Recent Discoveries and Perspectives in Human Evolution Papers arising from ‘Exploring Human Origins: Exciting Discoveries at the Start of the 21st Century’ Manchester 2013 Edited by

Anek R. Sankhyan

BAR International Series 2719 2015 11/05/2015 11:50:27

Recent Discoveries and Perspectives in Human Evolution Papers arising from ‘Exploring Human Origins: Exciting Discoveries at the Start of the 21st Century’ Manchester 2013 Edited by

Anek R. Sankhyan

BAR International Series 2719 2015

ISBN 9781407313726 paperback ISBN 9781407343341 e-format DOI https://doi.org/10.30861/9781407313726 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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PUBLISHING

Table of Contents List of Figures ...................................................................................................................... iii List of Tables ........................................................................................................................ vi Recent discoveries and perspectives in human evolution: Introduction ................................. 1 Anek R. SANKHYAN 1. A new juvenile cranium from Zhaotong City, Southwest China indicates complexity of hominoid evolution in Eastern Asia .......................................................... 7 Ji XUEPING, Deng CHENGLONG & Yu TENGSONG 2. Australopithecines shoulders: New remains for Old Debate .......................................... 11 Jean-Luc VOISIN 3. Hominin palaeoanthropology in Asia comes of age ....................................................... 23 Robin DENNELL 4. Pleistocene hominin fossil discoveries in India: implications for human evolution in South Asia ................................................................................. 41 Anek R. SANKHYAN 5. Geoarchaeological and environmental aspects of the Central Narma da alluvium ..................................................................................................................... 53 Satya DEV & Anek R. SANKHYAN 6. The role of Balkans in peopling of Europe: new evidence from Serbia ......................... 63 Mirjana ROKSANDIC 7. The role of landscapes in shaping hominin habitats in Africa ........................................ 69 Sally C. REYNOLDS 8. The Denisova Genome: an unexpected window into the past ........................................ 77 John HAWKS 9. Preliminary results on the first paleontological, anthropological and archaeological Pleistocene locality in Adrar, Mauritania ............................................... 81 Chérif Ousmane TOURE & Anne DAMBRICOURT MALASSE 10. The Orsang Man: a robust Homo sapiens in Central India with Asian Homo erectus features .......................................................................................... 87 Anne DAMBRICOURT MALASSE, Rachna RAJ & S. SHAH i

11. Geoarchaeology of the fluvial terraces of middle Tagus River, Central Portugal .............................................................................................................. 93 Satya DEV 12. Morphometrics of the frontal bone: a new method for measuring intracranial profiles .......................................................................................................................... 119 Yannick KORPAL 13. Discovery of two prehistoric sites at Galudih in east Singbhum, Jharkhand: a study in typo technology and geomorphology ........................................................... 131 Ratna BHATTACHARYA 14. Unbalanced endemic island faunas: are hominins the exception? ................................ 135 Anneke H. VAN HETEREN 15. Imaging Oldowan-Acheulian knappers: scope & limitations....................................... 141 Tanusree PANDIT & Anek R. SANKHYAN 16. Pleistocene beads and cognitive evolution ................................................................... 149 Robert G. BEDNARIK 17. The Andaman pygmy: origins and new adaptations .................................................... 161 Anek R. SANKHYAN & Ramesh SAHANI 18. Amazing Skills: practice of Trepanation around the world .......................................... 173 Alexandra COMŞA & Anek R. SANKHYAN 19. Decryption of ethnic identity of the white mummies in Tarim Basin, China ............... 183 Xinyan CHI 20. Identification of a breast cancer BRCA1 mutation in West Bengal, India ................... 193 Abhishikta GHOSH ROY, B.N. SARKAR, R. ROY & A.R. BANDOPADHYAY 21. Depleting biosphere reserves: traditional and modern concerns in India ..................... 199 Umesh KUMAR 22. Rock art in India: a data appraisal ................................................................................ 205 Somnath CHAKRAVERTY 23. Astronomical orientation of the Trepanned neolithic woman of Burzahom, Kashmir ........................................................................................................................ 219 Iharka SZÜCS-CSILLIK, Alexandra COMŞA & Anek R. SANKHYAN

ii

List of Figures Fig. 1.1. Zhaotong juvenile hominoid skull ........................................................................... 8 Fig. 1.2. Associated mammalian fossils ................................................................................. 8 Fig. 1.3. Hominoid skull in situ in the bed ............................................................................. 8 Fig. 1.4. Excavation for salvaging the fossil remains ............................................................. 8 Fig. 2.1. Chimpanzee and human clavicles in superior and in dorsal view .......................... 12 Fig. 2.2. Clavicles associated with a high scapula in regard to the thorax ........................... 12 Fig. 2.3. PCA of shoulder data (clavicle, scapula and humerus) .......................................... 17 Fig. 3.1. Out of Africa, as envisaged in the 1980s ............................................................... 24 Fig. 3.2. Out of Africa 1, as envisaged in 2013 .................................................................... 26 Fig. 3.3. Age and stratigraphic context of Early Palaeolithic sites in Tajikistan .................. 32 Fig. 4.1. Map of a portion of the Central Narmada valley around Hathnora ........................ 42 Fig. 4.2. Narmada calvarium in different views and compared............................................ 42 Fig. 4.3. a. Narmada right and left clavicles and 9th rib ...................................................... 44 Fig. 4.4. Narmada right and left clavicles compared with various hominins clavicles ........ 44 Fig. 4.5. Narmada and modern human left 9th ribs .............................................................. 45 Fig. 4.6. a. fossilised left humerus; b. left femur shaft portions from Netankheri ................ 45 Fig. 4.7. a. Excavations at U1 level of Hathnora hominin calvarium site ............................ 46 Fig. 4.8. a. The fossils and archaeological findings of the ‘large-bodied Acheulian............ 47 Fig. 5.1. The map of a portion of the study area in central Narmada basin .......................... 54 Fig. 5.2. Maximum weight, length and width of the cleavers in the sample ....................... 57 Fig. 6.1. a. The mandible from the site of Mala Balanica in Serbia ..................................... 64 Fig. 6.2. A new look at an old map ...................................................................................... 65 Fig. 7.1a & b. Tectonic Landscape Model ........................................................................... 70 Fig. 7.2a-c. An interpreted landscape around the Makapansgat fossil site ........................... 71 Fig. 7.3. Influence of Rifting in Ethiopia ............................................................................. 73 Fig. 7.4. The Eastern Arc Mountains of Kenya and Tanzania ............................................. 74 Fig. 9.1. Archaeological and geological localities................................................................ 82 Fig. 9.2. Yeslem III: flakes and core in the carbonated encrusting ...................................... 83 Fig. 9.3. Cast of the restored human fibula on both sides .................................................... 84 Fig. 9.4. Yeslem 3: first digging (2004) and excavation (2006)........................................... 84 Fig. 9.5. The large red dune bordering the Tarf Legrain and a geological section of the limit between the Cambro-Ordovician plateau and the desert Makteir .................... 85 Fig. 10.1. A: CT scan of Orsang calvarium.......................................................................... 88 Fig. 10.2 A: the sinus frontal in the glabellar area ............................................................... 89 iii

Fig. 11.1. Tagus river’s geographical division in Portuguese section .................................. 94 Fig. 11.2. Staircase of six fluvial terraces in the Vila Nova da Barquinha area ................... 94 Fig. 11.3. Geomorphological map of the study area ............................................................ 95 Fig. 11.4. Statistical formulae used in calculating the grain size parameters ....................... 98 Fig. 11.5. Lithostratigraphy at test trench 1 at Outeiro du Pedro ......................................... 99 Fig. 11.6. Lithostratigraphy at test trench 2 at Outeiro du Pedro ......................................... 99 Fig. 11.7. a. Bed rock and soil section at sondage 3............................................................. 99 Fig. 11.8. The lithostratigraphy of test trench 6 ................................................................. 101 Fig. 11.9. Section at Ortiga village near Fabric factory ..................................................... 101 Fig. 11.10. River terrace T4 section in the centre of Ortiga village ................................... 101 Fig. 11.11. Geomorphological map showing archaeological and river terrace sites .......... 104 Fig. 11.12. Lithostartigraphic unit and dates for the archaeological sites .......................... 104 Fig. 11.13. Archaeological site at Q3 (T4) terrac of Ribeira da Atalaia ............................. 105 Fig. 11.14. Middle section showing colluvial deposits ...................................................... 105 Fig. 11.15. Basal part of the section showing Miocene sediments and Lower terraces ..... 105 Fig. 11.16. The archaeological site of Ribeira da Atalaia .................................................. 106 Fig. 11.17. Base of T4 terrace ............................................................................................ 106 Fig. 11.18. T4 terrace on road opposite to the site Ribera da Atalaia................................. 107 Fig. 11.19. Lithotratigphy at Football field at Atalaia ........................................................ 107 Fig. 11.20. T4 terrace section opposite to the railway station ............................................ 108 Fig. 11.21-26. Grain size interpretation ............................................................................. 111 Fig. 12.1. Procrustes fits of 24 specimens of modern apes, human, archaic hominids and australopiths ........................................................................................................... 120 Fig. 12.2. Ellipses are drawn following endocranial mid-sagittal profile........................... 122 Fig. 12.3. Isolated frontal bones gives an endocranial ellipse ............................................ 124 Fig. 12.4. Statistical summary of the inclination ................................................................ 124 Fig. 12. 5. Metric traits of the frontal summarized in the figure ........................................ 125 Fig. 12.6. Frontal ellipse angle with the Frankfurt plane ................................................... 126 Fig. 14.1. The skeleton of LB1, type specimen of H. floresiensis...................................... 136 Fig. 14.2. Development curve of brachial index from intrauterine life to puberty ............. 137 Fig. 14.3. Boxplots of the orbital index of LB1 compared to other hominids .................... 139 Fig. 15.1. Scanning techniques and their application in understanding brain activation.... 142 Fig. 15.2. Brain activation in during Oldowan & Acheulean Stone tool knapping experiments .................................................................................................................. 143 Fig. 16.1. a. Some of the 325 Acheulian stone beads examined ........................................ 152 Fig. 16.2. a. The first three Acheulian beads found at El Greifa in Libya .......................... 154 Fig. 17.1. Distribution of four Andaman Pygmies during early 1800s and in 2004 ........... 162 Fig. 17.2. mtDNA trees of the Andaman Pygmy and ancient Indian populations ............. 164 Fig. 18.1. a. Multiple trepanations on Burzahom female skull at AnSI, Kolkata ............... 174 Fig. 18.2. a. The trepanned Harappa male Skull H-796/B at AnSI Kolkata....................... 174 Fig. 18.3. Prehistoric stone instruments ............................................................................. 176 Fig. 18.4. Largest trepanned hole found in a Romanian skull ............................................ 178 Fig. 18.5. Trepanation for a Roundel in Raklo ................................................................... 178 Fig. 18.6. a & b. Trepanations done for extracting multiple Roundels in Kunzig-Ost ....... 179 Fig. 18.7. a & b. Pseudo-trephination on skull No. 10 from Stoicani Cetǎțuie .................. 179 Fig. 18.8. Symbolic trephinations on different portions of the skull .................................. 180 Fig. 18.9. ? Social cranial fragment with trepanation in Buzǎu County ............................. 181 iv

Fig. 19.1. Outlook of Xiaohe Cemetery ............................................................................. 183 Fig. 19.2. Standing woods .................................................................................................. 184 Fig. 19.3. Vegetation of Xiaohe ......................................................................................... 184 Fig. 19.4. “7” in Xiaohe (1) ................................................................................................ 184 Fig. 19.5. “7” in Xiaohe (2) ................................................................................................ 184 Fig. 19.6. Sun Cemetery ..................................................................................................... 185 Fig. 19.7. 8 slots on standing wood .................................................................................... 185 Fig. 19.8. 12+1 in Xiaohe................................................................................................... 185 Fig. 19.9. Evolution of 七 .................................................................................................. 185 Fig. 19.10. The sundial ....................................................................................................... 186 Fig. 19.11. QMSHT ........................................................................................................... 186 Fig. 19.12. The evolution of 子 .......................................................................................... 186 Fig. 19.13. Male puppet ..................................................................................................... 186 Fig. 19.14. Earthly branches............................................................................................... 186 Fig. 19.15. Xiaohe Princess................................................................................................ 187 Fig. 19.16. White stones ..................................................................................................... 187 Fig. 19.17. Black paddle-shaped and red prismatic ............................................................ 187 Fig. 19.18. Hoopoe and its symbol in Xiaohe .................................................................... 188 Fig. 19.19. Fuxi and Nuwa ................................................................................................. 188 Fig. 19.20. Wooden penis................................................................................................... 188 Fig. 19.21. Bronze statues in Sanxingdui ........................................................................... 189 Fig. 19.22. Relics with number 7 ....................................................................................... 189 Fig. 19.23. Hoopoe in Sanxingdui...................................................................................... 189 Fig. 19.24. Dresses in Xiaohe & Sanxingdui ..................................................................... 190 Fig. 19.25. Skirts in Sanxingdui ......................................................................................... 190 Fig. 19.26. Map and coffins in Maiping and Xiaohe.......................................................... 190 Fig. 19.27. Towers of Qiang .............................................................................................. 191 Fig. 19.28. Sticks and branches inserted in cliff seam ....................................................... 191 Fig. 19.29. Girls’ dress of Qiang and Naxi ........................................................................ 191 Fig. 19.30. Ornaments with number 7 ................................................................................ 191 Fig. 19.31. Totem of Yi and Jino ....................................................................................... 192 Fig. 19.32. High-pointed hat and Phi felt ........................................................................... 192 Fig. 19.33. Peaked caps of Jino .......................................................................................... 192 Fig. 20.1. DNA sequencing of BRCA1 gene ..................................................................... 195 Fig. 21.1. Hierarchy of Biological Organization based on IIRS Report............................. 199 Fig. 21.2. Organic relation between man and nature .......................................................... 202 Fig. 22.1. Petroglyphs of Central India .............................................................................. 206 Fig. 22.2-3. Visual narratives of habitats, social interactions, and battle scenes ................ 211 Fig. 22.4. Non-figurative motifs in Pachmarhi and Ghatsila.............................................. 212 Fig. 23.1. Trepanned Burzahom skull and the re-sequencing of the trepanation process ................................................................................................. 221 Fig. 23.2. Azimuthal distribution at Burzahom Neolithic Site ........................................... 223 Fig. 23.3. Theoretical and estimated solar arc with skeleton azimuths .............................. 224

v

List of Tables Tab. 2.1. Absolute and relative clavicular length in apes, modern humans and some australopithecine clavicles .............................................................................................. 13 Tab. 2.2. Humeral torsion angles in extinct hominins and extant hominoids....................... 14 Tab. 2.3. Metric characteristics of A. sediba proximal humerus .......................................... 14 Tab. 2.4. Metric characteristics of MH2 scapula and other hominoids ................................ 15 Tab. 2.5. Shoulder architectures within genus Homo........................................................... 19 Tab. 3.1. Major Changes in the dating of key Palaeolithic and hominin sites ..................... 24 Tab. 4.1. The Midshaft Index of Narmada and other hominins/humans .............................. 46 Tab. 4.2. Metric comparison of the Narmada fossilized humerus and femur with modern mainland Indians and Chaurite Nicobari of Andaman-Nicobar Islands ............ 48 Tab. 9.1. Lithostratigraphy of Majabat al Kubraune, Tazazmout and El Beyyed and archaeological layers ...................................................................................................... 85 Tab. 10.1. Orsang skull measurements in millimeters ......................................................... 90 Tab. 11.1. Identification of the composition of the fraction