I review here the most important recent discoveries and changes in perception that are relevant to human evolutionary studies in Asia. The most important recent fossil discoveries are undoubtedly those of an early form of Homo erectus from Dmanisi, Georgia (1.75 Ma), and the late Pleistocene hobbit, H. floresiensis, from Flores, Indonesia. These apart, the most important changes have come about through the application of improved dating techniques to previous finds. These have considerably extended the time-depth of H. erectus in Asia, and in India, North China and SE Asia, it now extends back to at least 1.5 - 1.6 Ma. Major changes have also taken place in studies of recent human evolution in Asia. Although current archaeological, fossil human and genetic evidence indicates that our species dispersed across southern Asia between 40 and 60 ka, this process may have begun much earlier, and perhaps as early as the last interglacial. It is likely also considerably more complex that envisaged a few years ago because of genetic studies indicating that Neanderthals and H. sapiens in Eurasia (but not Africa) interbred, and thus all modern Eurasians contain some Neanderthal DNA. Additionally, analysis of the ancient DNA of a human phalange from Siberia indicates a sister population of "Denisovans" to Neanderthals that also contributed DNA to modern populations in Melanesia and SE Asia. Although several major gaps still exist in our understanding of human evolution in Asia, we are now beginning to glimpse its antiquity and complexity.

Professor ROBIN DENNELL: Key Paper. University of Sheffield, UK

email: r.dennell@sheffield.ac.uk

Le Gros Clark and Leakey (1950) described Proconsul major from Songhor (Kenya) 19-20 Ma, based on a partial mandible. Fossils subsequently discovered in Uganda show marked differences in dental and postcranial morphology from Proconsul prompting the erection of Ugandapithecus in 2000. This was criticised, which is why the discovery of a nearly complete skull of U. major in 2011 at Napak, Uganda, is crucial for the debate, especially because few hominoid skulls are known from the African Miocene. For the first time we can observe the cranial morphology of a gorilla-sized Early Miocene hominoid. It reveals major differences from Proconsul in projection and shape of the face, elongation of the skull, among other anatomical details. It is different from modern African ape skulls and will illuminate the evolution of the hominoid skull in the Miocene and provide comparisons with Eurasian ones. The post-cranial skeleton of Ugandapithecus indicates that it was an arboreal climber and exhibits some features close to modern African apes. Ugandapithecus enables us to understand the modalities of evolution of the skull in hominoids and will test the "Back to Africa" hypothesis of African ape/human origins. The Miocene has been overshadowed by discoveries in the Early Pliocene and Plio-Pleistocene, but the key to understanding hominid evolution lies in the Miocene.

Senut, B., Pickford, M., Gommery, D., & Kunimatsu, Y., 2000 - A new genus of Early Miocene hominoid from East Africa: Ugandapithecus major (Le Gros Clark & Leakey, 1950). C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, 331: 227-233.

BRIGITTE SENUT: Muséum National d'Histoire de la Terre, Département "Histoire de la Terre", UMR 7207 & GDRI 183 CNRS 8, rue Buffon 75005 Paris, France.

In the Tugen Hills, Kenya, occur sediments that are aged between 16.5 and 0 Ma. The deposits permit a view of the evolution of Miocene and Plio-Pleistocene biodiversity including hominids. The discovery of Orrorin tugenensis in deposits aged 6 Ma (Lukeino Formation) gave the impulse to other palaeontological teams to focus their efforts on deposits older than the Pliocene. Before 2000, it was generally accepted that hominids separated from the African apes during the Pliocene, an idea supported by and largely based on molecular biology and the known occurrence of fossils. It was also widely believed that the transition from quadrupedal ape to bipedal hominid took place in a savannah setting, the famous « savannah hypothesis » of human origins.

That the age of the dichotomy between great apes and hominids is greater than previously thought, is confirmed by other palaeontological teams. The morphological traits observed in Orrorin suggest that Australopithecines are not the direct ancestors of extant humans, but this is sill debated. Orrorin reveals that the bipedal hominid ancestor must have differed greatly from Pan, which implies a long period of independent evolution, and which raises doubts about the polarity of some features hitherto considered to be either derived or primitive.

The famous savannah hypothesis of human origins is refuted by the observation that the environment of the earliest known biped was humid and forested, confirmed by subsequent discoveries in Ethiopia in the Middle Awash.

Key words : Late Miocene, Kenya, Orrorin, Bipedalism, Palaeoenvironment, Savannah hypothesis

MARTIN PICKFORD : Collège de France, 75012, Paris

The site of Malapa has yielded a remarkable assemblage of early hominin remains attributed to the species Australopithecus sediba. This species of early hominin shows an unexpected mosaic of primitive and derived characters. While it has been proposed that Au. sediba might be a better potential candidate ancestor of the genus Homo than any previously discovered species of early hominin, its status as such has been questioned by some due to the perception that specimens of the genus have been found older than the c198 Ma date for sediba. This opinion however, does not take into account either the poor condition of these fossil specimens, nor the numerous problems with the criteria used to associate these largely isolated fragments with the genus Homo, nor the questionable provenance of these fossils. This argument also does not acknowledge that Malapa is almost certainly not the first chronological appearance of Au. sediba, it is only the first known fossil occurrence. Furthermore, some commentators have questioned the specific status of Au. sediba arguing that it does not exceed the variation of Au. africanus and is simply a "chronospecies". This opinion, however, does not take into account that Au. sediba differs from Au. africanus in both craniodental and postcranial characters to a greater degree than Au. africanus differs from Au. afarensis in these same characters. Au. sediba should therefore be considered a strong potential candidate ancestor of the genus Homo until better preserved specimens are discovered that would refute such a hypothesis.

LEE R. BERGER

The Institute for Human Evolution, School of GeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

Narmada valley is known since 1830s for unique co-occurrences of Quaternary mega-terrestrial fauna and Lower Palaeolithic implements in stratified contexts. But, the anticipated human fossil discoveries could only be made relatively recently. First came a partial calvaria [Sonakia Rec. GSI 113, 1984] followed by two clavicles and a 9th rib [Sankhyan, JHE 32, 1997; Cur. Sci. 88, 2005] from Hathnora, and most recently a femur and a humerus from another site, Netankheri. Recent detailed study by the author showed existence of two types of hominins in Narmada Valley.

The calvaria and the two clavicles including the rib represent two distinct archaic hominin populations now supported by the femur and the humerus. The femur, found in the lower (U1) boulder conglomerate bed in association with mega terrestrial fauna and large Acheulian handaxes, exhibits a mosaic robust morphology of H. erectus and H. neanderthalensis, also seen in the calvaria debated between H. erectus or archaic Homo sapiens or H. heidelbergensis such that both likely come from one 'large-bodied' robust hominin, H. heidelbergensis. The humerus, found between middle and upper (U2/U3) boulder conglomerate beds, comes from pre-YTA (~75 kya) strata in association with typical Mode 3 and Mode 4 implements including several unique bone tools discovered for the first time. It represents a 'short and stocky' late archaic/early modern Homo sapiens hitherto unknown in South Asia indicating continuity of the 'small-bodied' hominins, also attested by >60 kya genomic signatures.

ANEK R. SANKHYAN: Siwalik Bhawan, Ward No. 5, Near IPH, Ghumarwin, Bilaspur -174021(H.P.), India.

The Dongpo sites(40°09′53″N114°29′18″E) located in the middle of the Nihewan Basin in North China was discovered in 1999 and excavated in 2001 with a four sq m revealing typical fluvio-lacustrine sedimentary sequence. 32 stone artifacts and a few fragmentary bones were unearthed. The artifact assemblage includes cores, flakes, retouched tools and chunks of which 13 stone artifacts are noted to be made originally on high weathered rhyolite raw materials and supposed to be taken as an unusual technological behavior of the tool maker. The stone artifacts look not transported for long distance.

The main features of the artifacts may be summarized as: (1) Six kinds of raw material was utilized viz., rhyolite, chert, quartz, quartzose sandstone, slate and quartz diorite as are found in nearby gravel layer; the rhyolite predominates. (2) The flakes and chunks are most frequent among the 32 stone artifacts excavated. The others include one bigger core and 9 retouched tools. The retouched tools include scrapers, end scrapers, notched scrapers, hackle-scrapers and tongue-liked-scrapers. (3) The Dongpo lithic industry resembles many similar small tool industry of the Lower Paleolithic cultural tradition of North China, and the ESR ca. 321 ± 15 Ka date is typical to most Lower Paleolithic sites. (4) Dongpo is the first discovered Lower Paleolithic site in the middle part of the Nihewan Basin and the discovery is important for enriching information of Lower Paleolithic culture in Nihewan Basin and helpful to study the early human's technique and behavior.

Key words: Nihewan Basin, Dongpo Site, Lower Paleolithic, Stone Artifacts

LIU Yang1,2,3, HOU Ya-mei2,3, WEI Qi2

1. Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049;

2. Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044;

3. Joint Laboratory of Human Evolution and Archaeometry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044.

In 2006, a skull cap was discovered in Salkhit, Mongolia. The mixture of archaic and modern features led to various taxonomic affiliations. While no chronometric date is available yet, the fossil is considered to be of late Pleistocene based on biostratigraphy, and an important addition to understanding modern human origins and evolution in northeast Asia. Previous study associated Salkhit with archaic humans using metric and non-metric variables; however, subsequent discussions have associated Salkhit with modern humans ancestral to the first peoples of Americas. The recent replacement model for modern human origins predicts that Salkhit is a different species from archaic northeast Asians. In this paper, we ask if the amount of variation in the fossil sample of archaic and modern humans in northeast Asia is too much to be from a single species.

The fragmentary nature of the fossil data imposes methodological limitations to using traditional statistical methods. We use an alternative approach, STET, a method using the standard error of the coefficient from a linear regression model relating a pair of specimens. Using STET, Salkhit is compared with early moderns in Africa, in northeast Asia, and archaic humans in northeast Asia. Preliminary results fail to reject the null hypothesis that Salkhit and other moderns belong to the same species as the archaic humans in northeast Asia. Our findings do not support the hypothesis of modern humans as a new, recent species.

The research was supported by NSF 0803410 and NGS W35-08.

SANG-HEE LEE1 and SEONBOK YI2: 1Department of Anthropology, University of California at Riverside, USA; 2Department of Archaeology, Seoul National University, Korea.

Based on field data the present paper describes archaeological and geo-environmental processes at work in the alluvial deposits of Hoshangabad and Sehore area in central Narmada valley where we recognized three distinct stratigraphic formations- the Dhansi (Lower Pleistocene), Surajkund (Middle Pleistocene) and Baneta (Upper Pleistocene). These alluvial strata have yielded evidences of vertebrate fossils and Palaeolithic industries with palaeoenvironmental signatures. The geological observations indicate that the mottled palaeosols at Dhansi and Ganera represent carbonate precipitations in prolonged standing water conditions. Abundance of calcretes in Surajkund Fm owing to cementation of calcium carbonate represents a prominent feature in climatic zones where seasonal moisture deficit occurs and allows accumulations of calcium carbonate. The Surajkund Fm is the major contributor to the Lower Palaeolithic industry in the study area and its metrical analyses revealed general continuity of the Acheulian industry from 'middle' to 'late' types.

Besides archaeological data, the Surajkund Fm yielded numerous mammalian fossils; the second author and his associates excavated many in situ crania and mandibles of Equus, Elephas, Bos, Bubalus, Hexaprotodon, Stegodon and Rhinoceros. The bio-stratigraphy indicates Middle Pleistocene age and points to warm and humid conditions with seasonal pools. The Dhansi Fm at Bikori Budhni section yielded several flakes; the second author excavated a few at Nagwada as well. As the Dhansi/ Surajkund palaeomag contact is correlated with the Brunhes-Matuyama boundary the artifacts are expected to be of the Lower Pleistocene, but rolled down is possible as they are indistinguishable from those of the overlying Surajkund Fm.

1. SATYA DEV and 2. A.R. SANKHYAN: 1. Aarhus University, Denmark; 2. Anthropological Survey of India.

Systematic excavations of Mala Balanica Cave, Sićevo, (Serbia) have yielded a relatively well preserved semi-mandible (BH-1). To-date, this is the only specimen from the Balkan Peninsula dated to Middle Pleistocene (Mihailovic et al. 2011: ESHE, Leipzig, 71). The specimen consists of the left fragment of the mandibular body and all three molars. The primitive morphology of the mandibular body and the lack of derived Neandertal traits place this specimen on the primitive end of the Middle Pleistocene European hominin variation. Our suggestion that there could have been more than one lineage in the European Pleistocene record (Roksandic et al. 2011: JHE, 61, 185), was recently strengthened by the analysis of the Sima de los Huesos dentition (Martinon Torres et al. 2012: JHE, 62, 7). Here we examine dental traits of BH-1 in comparison with: Sima de los Huesos dentition which shows distinct Neandertal affinities; with the dentition of other penecontemporaneous European specimens including Mauer and Arago; and with contemporaneous specimens from Africa and Asia. We examine the role Balkan Peninsula - the only refugium that did not experience isolation - could have played in maintaining gene flow, and mechanisms that allowed primitive traits to remain persistent in the population over a long period of time.

MIRJANA ROKSANDIC: Department of Anthropology, University of Winnipeg 515 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, R3B 2E9, Canada.

Evolution on islands differs fundamentally from evolution on the mainland. Unbalanced endemic island faunas lack mammalian predators. Due to a different (or even absence of) predation pressure, evolution can take a course not normally taken on the mainland, resulting in tiny elephants, small hippos and artiodactyls with the strangest head ornaments.

This presentation describes possible mechanisms driving island evolution and how these influenced insular mammal morphology. There are several key adaptations, which are seen in most island dwarfs. Most importantly, there is a reduction in size. This reduction is most pronounced in the limbs, with additional adaptations for 'low-gear locomotion', which minimises energy expenditure during locomotion. Additionally, reversals to an ancestral state take place for specific features, which is caused by a functional change for those features associated with the decrease in size.

An assessment of the morphology of Homo floresiensis is made in with respect to these typical adaptations to determine whether island dwarfing from H. erectus offers a plausible explanation for H. floresiensis or whether it is more likely that H. floresiensis descended from an australopith-like hominin. The brain of H. floresiensis is relatively small to lower its energy requirements. Its legs are relatively short and robust and its pelvis relatively broad as an adaptation to 'low-gear locomotion'. Furthermore, H. floresiensis displays archaic wrist bone morphology. The parallelisms with other island animals are so striking that the most parsimonious solution seems that H. floresiensis evolved from H. erectus in an island environment.

Dr Anneke H. van Heteren Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity Naturalis Research Associate

An isolated cranium without face was recovered in 1999 on an old fluvial deposit of the Orsang River valley, a tributary of the Narmada River in western India. The skull refers to a brachycranial Homo sapiens, direct dating (AMS radiocarbon) gave an age of 4600 years B.P. In spite of the young age, the skull is significant for understanding the links between South Asian Homo erectus and robust Homo sapiens or "like-cromagnoid" populations still few known in Continental Asia. The most interesting features observed are 1) a well-developed torus angularis in the posterior part, visible on the Early Pleistocene Eurasian species (H. georgicus, H. erectus, H. antecessor) only, then on the Asian Upper Pleistocene Homo erectus, 2) a well-developed supramastoid crest and 3) a very broad frontal sinus in the broken glabellar area (20 mm). On the other hand the greatest width is located in the lower part of the cranium (temporal). CT-scan images show no pneumatization of the mastoid process as in Homo erectus, but an internal convexity of the temporal bone corresponding to the temporal lobe and a strong ossification of the coronal suture not visible on the external face of the frontal bone. All together, these features give evidence of an important endocrine activity, and a genetic continuity between late Asian Homo erectus and ancestor of Orsang man, suggesting an Asian "cromagnoid" stadium in the hominization evolutionary process.

A. DAMBRICOURT MALASSÉ1*, L.S Chamyal2**, Rachna Raj2, D. M. Maurya2, N. Juyal 3, S. Bhandari2, R. K. Pant3 and S. Shah4: 1. UMR 7194 CNRS, Department of Prehistory, National Museum of Natural History, Institut de Paléontologie Humain, Paris, France. 2. Department of Geology, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, India. 3. Physical Research Laboratory, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, India. 4. Centre for Diagnostic & Therapeutic Radiology Services, Vadodara, India. *Corresponding author. ** Corresponding author.

Alto Ribatejo is a region of central Portugal that extends along the Middle Portuguese Tejo River. Six river terraces have been recognised for the Tejo River in the Portuguese sector. The aim of the present research is to record the fluvial potential of the river at the lower terraces (T6/alluvial plain) and the middle terrace (T4), as well as to discover the archaeological potential in these sites. The present study brings very interesting results. Five main stratigraphical units were identified in the lower terraces; the second unit, which comprises boulders, cobbles, pebbles and some lithic artifacts, is identified as terrace T6. This terrace may belong to a late phase of the Upper Pleistocene. Three main stratigraphical units have been identified in T4. T4 is extremely significant, because it contains the earliest records of human occupation, which are dated to OIS 7 - 9. The sedimentological analysis evidenced that T4 was deposited during temperate climatic conditions. On the basis of spatial analysis and geological context of the archaeological artifacts, they are divided into three categories. The first category groups the Lower Palaeolithic artifacts from the T4 terrace. The second category of artifacts recorded from the T6 at Outeiro du Pedro, thought to belong to the Upper Pleistocene. The third category is constituted of artifacts which were recorded as surface finds at various localities. Typologically and morphologically, they are very similar to artifacts from the Middle/Lower Palaeolithic and the Bronze Age.

DEV, S.:Department of Archaeology, Aarhus University, Denmark.

Here I briefly review palaeoenvironmental evidence from sites repeatedly used by hominins in eastern and southern Africa, such as Sterkfontein (Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng, South Africa). Common 'mosaic' habitat reconstructions involve the presence of a lake or river setting, with a combination of forest or woodland with savannah grasslands in close spatial proximity. The Tectonic Landscape Model (Bailey et al. 2011 & Reynolds, et al., 2011) is a new hominin habitat model which explains why certain sites appeared to have been repeatedly used by our ancestors for over millions of years. Specific geomorphological processes, such as tectonic faulting, have created complex topography and thereby encouraged heterogeneous habitats to form, and sustained such features through time. The Plio-Pleistocene is characterised by several key climatic transitions that could have presented unique challenges for hominins and other fauna. Therefore, a more complete appreciation of how geomorphological processes affecting landscapes, surface water and vegetation is critical to the characterisation of hominin niches and also for adaptive strategies employed by our ancestors to past climatic changes. Interestingly, the use of complex topography used by hominins may explain the aspects of their postcranial anatomy, diets and possible dispersal routes followed by them.

Bailey, G.N.; Reynolds, S.C. and King G. C. P. (2011). Tectonic geomorphology and hominin landscapes: models, methods and hypotheses. Journal of Human Evolution. 60(3):257-280.

Reynolds, S.C.; Bailey, G. and King G. C. P. (2011). Landscapes and their relation to hominin habitats: case studies from Australopithecus sites in eastern and southern Africa. Journal of Human Evolution 60(3):281-298.

SALLY C. REYNOLDS: Institute for Human Evolution, University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa) and School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University (United Kingdom). Email<

This article is based on surface and partly on excavated findings discovered at Galudih - Mahulia (GLD: site 1) and Chandrarekha (CRH: site 2) in Jharkhand State of India in very rich stratigraphic sections studied. This stratigraphic succession reveals a true picture about the relationship between geomorphology & typo-technology of artifacts, and the order of succession shows climatic fluctuations during Middle to Late Pleistocene.

The two sites are located in a natural geographical setting and have yielded different types of tools made on different rock raw material, mainly quartzite pebbles, but quartz, mica, quartzite and basalt as well. We can note a change in the nature and pattern of the soil with stratigraphic variations due to the erosional activities of the Subarnarekha River.. Primary laterite was present on the hill tops and due to erosion; it is converted into secondary laterite. A succession of dry and wet periods during the Pleistocene can be recognized from the sequence of deposits. Step-like formations are observed throughout and stratigraphy shows layers of calcified bed, kankar, hard sandy soil and lateritic soil from bottom to top. The findings prove that there was continuity in tool industry from chopper-biface to flake to flake-blade industry, followed by a rich microlithic industry. The evolving tool types and different techniques used by the Pleistocene ancestors during the prehistory indicates continuous intellectual development and human evolution in this part of eastern India.

RATNA BHATTACHARYA: Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Bangabasi College, Kolkata -700009, India.

The recovery of whole genome evidence has begun to provide new evidence about the biology and dynamics of ancient populations. Denisova Cave, in the Altai Mountains of Russia, has produced several skeletal fragments with ancient DNA evidence, including one complete genome at high coverage. This individual represents a population previously unknown to science. Dating to roughly 50,000 years ago, the genome has approximately the same genetic difference from contemporary Africans as did Neandertals, but was quite distinct from them also. Here, I discuss the functional insights that have come from the Denisova genome, including details about the immune system, pigmentation, and genes involved in brain development. We can demonstrate that the Denisovans contributed some genes of important phenotypic effect to later populations, including genes related to immunity, while other genes exhibit distinctive changes in Denisovans that are not shared in living human samples. Today, people in island Southeast Asia including New Guinea, the Philippines, and Aboriginal Australians trace up to five percent of their ancestry to the ancient Denisovan population. I discuss the dynamics of this population, including its relationship with Neandertals and the subsequent population movements and interactions in East and Southeast Asia that may explain the present distribution of Denisovan ancestry.

DR. JOHN HAWKS: Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin—Madison, 5240 Social Science Building, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706-1393 USA. Emailjhawks@wisc.edu.

The resolution of evolutionary relationships amongst Pleistocene Hominin populations has until recently depended on the extent to which it is possible to distinguish between different evolutionary species, and to infer ancestral relationships between them, from the limited physical evidence of the fossil record. Recent developments in ancient DNA methodology and phylogenetic dating have provided the means to establish an independent chronology for the divergence of those species for which sufficient genetic data exists. The precision and accuracy of the phylogenetic dates over an inter-specific timescale, however, can be influenced by a number of factors, including the neutrality of the genetic data used in the analysis, the impact of mutational saturation, and the nature of the calibrations used for the molecular clock. Here, we compare phylogenetic dating results for: an Out-of-Africa migration of humans during the late Pleistocene; the MRCA of humans; MRCA of Neanderthals; MCRA of the species ancestral to humans and Neanderthals; MRCA of Neanderthals and Denisovans. These were obtained using a variety of calibrations and different data partitions applied to multiple data sets, both single and multi-locus, in order to identify the most consistent and reliable dates. The resulting chronology is discussed with reference to hypotheses that human populations moving out of Africa interbred with both Neanderthals, and later with Denisovans in Southeast Asia. The consistency of dates obtained for key phases in Hominin evolution indicate that a reliable and independent timescale is achievable by phylogenetic dating, provided that the appropriate methodology is employed.

Phillip Endicott1, Martyna Molak2, Simon Ho2

1Musée de l'Homme, Paris ; 2University of Sydney, Australia

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of women's death all over the world including India. It accounts for 23% of all cancers among women, and is the second most common cancer overall when both sexes are considered together. Though low in prevalence, a high geographical variation is seen in germline mutations of BRCA1 gene, epidemiological studies indicate that BRCA1 mutation carriers have a lifetime risk of breast cancer that is on the order of 60 - 80%. There have been only a few reports from Asia, and none from West Bengal. Interestingly, there is also a significant difference in the incidence of breast cancer between urban and rural population of India and it also varies among various religious groups. These differences in breast cancer incidence in India have been mainly attributed to socio-cultural and environmental factors but no information is available on genetic factors. A total of 110 patients and 122 controls (without any family history of breast cancer) have been analysed for BRCA1 econ 13 by PCR amplification and then by direct sequencing. A novel (Pro1430Ser) variant was identified among 18 patients and 2 controls. Identification of the novel mutation may help in developing a database for a given population, which will be useful in detection and early prognosis of the disease.

ABHISHIKTA GHOSH ROY1, R. ROY2, B. N. SARKAR1 and A. R. BANDOPADHYAY3

1Anthropological Survey of India, Res: 137C, K.P. Mukherjee Road, CMC Housing, Flat - B/12, Kolkata-700008; 2Cancer Centre Welfare Home and Research Institute; 3Department of Anthropology, Calcutta University, India

The discovery of the skeletal remains of Homo floresiensis, and associated cultural evidence, at Liang Bua cave in 2003 and 2004 created both excitement and controversy within the anthropological community. This small-bodied and small-brained biped appeared to have survived in isolation on Flores, along with Stegodon, until they both became extinct ~18,000 years ago. Retaining anatomical features reminiscent of australopiths, it was hailed as the second most important scientific discovery in the world in 2004, by the American Academy of Science, surpassed only by the evidence for water on Mars. Nevertheless it was instantly dismissed by small but vocal group of sceptics. Following a path frequented by critics of other hominin species, like the Neanderthals, there were allusions to Piltdown-like forgery, pathological skeletal development, falsification of results, faulty methodology, and accusations of pecuniary motivation. After a decade of debate, scientific publication, and intense media scrutiny, what can now be said with any confidence about H. floresiensis, and what are the implications for models of the origin, evolution and dispersion of the human linage? Has recent research supported the original interpretation of H. floresiensis as an insular island dwarfed descendant of H. erectus, or does it seem more likely that there is a closer relationship with Pliocene African hominins? Is there any evidence supporting the speculation that H. floresiensis was actually a modern human with a developmental disorder? This presentation will attempt to answer these questions, and add flesh to this enigmatic species, through a survey of published and continuing research.

PETER BROWN: Palaeoanthropology, University of New England Armidale, NSW 2351 Australia. Email

Among all the evidence archaeology is capable of providing about the cognitive evolution of hominins, beads and pendants are perhaps the most instructive. Other reportedly symbolic remains can in many cases be challenged, but perforated objects that are too small or too fragile to have served as pulling handles or similar can be safely described as beads. Several hundred such specimens have been excavated from Lower Palaeolithic strata in Libya, Israel, Austria, France and England. In many cases specific microwear has been detected on them that indicates that they were worn threaded onto string for prolonged periods of time. Their study and replicative experimentation have also provided empirical information about their technology, how they were made. But their most important scientific testimony is what they can tell us about the cognition of their makers and wearers. Beads and pendants demand self-awareness and a theory of mind in their users, as well as complex meanings of individual status, and research has shown that concepts of perfection were clearly involved in their production of use. The same applies to the oldest currently known rock art, located in India, which suggests that Lower Palaeolithic humans had developed relatively sophisticated cultural practices and advanced cognition several hundred millennia ago. This finding, confirmed by several others, shows that the hitherto dominant model of cultural evolution during the second half of the Pleistocene must be false, and that essentially modern human behaviour did not appear in the last third of the Late Pleistocene, but much earlier, during the Middle Pleistocene period.

ROBERT BEDNARIK, IFRAO, AUSTRALIA

Lots of relics were unearthed in Xiaohe with figures 7 and 12+1, which were symbols of + and ♀ meaning resurrection and hope of life.

The bottomless coffins were womb-like with bunches of small branches bond on their top to represent his/her children. Wooden rods like trunks and leaves before coffins signified penises and vulvas, showed life producing process.

The oracle of figure 7 was +, figure to describe life cycles in HuangDiNeiJing. It was originated from Big Dipper consisting of 7 bright stars. The seventh in earthly stems, called noon (Wu), meant sexual intercourse. The figure 12+1 represented the first stem, called son (Zi), whose oracle was ♀ in which a fruit on crucifix stood for result of Wu, offspring of sexual activities.

In Xiaohe, the female were decorated with bird feathers to show they belonged to bird-tribe, and the male were decorated with earrings and snakes of 7 heads, which showed people in Xiaohe married with snake-tribe in Sichuan Basin where lots of relics, such as bronze kneeling statues with a 7-head snake and female apparels engraved on some rituals same as apparels of steeple-hats and pointed-valenkis in Xiaohe, were unearthed.

In Maiping ruins, Sichuan, a tribe head in bottomless coffin was with white features decorated 7-earrings on ears. Now there are folk customs erecting small branches to pledge for offspring and wearing steeple dresses in funerals.

Historic documents recorded that the fief of Emperor Huang's grandson, An, located in the west, where his offspring founded Parthian.

In recent years some scholars like Stout et al., 2011 and Faisal et al., 2010 have used fMRI, PET, MRI scanning techniques in experiments on 'naïve' and 'expert' knappers and equated the observed differences in activation of the brain parts with brain developments in Oldowan and Acheulean hominins. Their conclusions emerged at three level: (1) The Oldowan technology impacted primary motor and somatosensory cortices, superior parietal lobule, cerebellum and fusiform gyrus of right inferior temporal lobe of brain. (2) the mode I resulted bilateral activation in primary somatosensory and motor cortex and visual processing area as well as inferior parietal lobule. (3) the 'naïve' knappers revealed activation on ventral, lateral and dorsal visual areas, whereas the 'experts' knappers showed on the broadmann area 19.

However, laboratory experiments on modern humans may not be n exact proxy for the Oldowan or Acheulean hominins over million years ago. They were constrained by a multitude of selective pressures of predation, ecological setting, the availability of diet owing to seasonality, availability of the stone tool raw material- its quality, hardness and softness, and besides hominin's own morphological idiosyncrasy- the body form, sexual dimorphism, manual dexterity, i.e., the size of the thumb and its opposability for holding the objects, the stone hammer, etc. Other than H.habilis and H. erectus, we need to evaluate such results from bio-cultural aspects of the tiny Homo floresiensis hobbit with exceptional complexity of stone tool making, the large robust Paranthropus robustus and the small Australopithecus afarensis having body, diet and culture contrasts. In fact, brain activation and evolution is very complex phenomenon.

Faisal, A., Stout, D., Appel, J. and Bradley, B. (2010). The Manipulative Complexity of Lower Paleolithic Stone Toolmaking. PLoS ONE 5(11): e13718. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013718

Stout, D. (2011) Stone tool making and the evolution of human culture and cognition. Philos. Trans. R Soc. London, B, 366, 1050-1059.

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Ms.Tanusree Pandit (tanusree2@gmail.com) & Dr. Anek R. Sankhyan (arsankhyan@gmail.com) ex-Anthropologist, Anthropological Survey of India, 27, J. L. Nehru Road, Kolkata-700016, India & President Palaeo Research Society, Ghumarwin (H.P.)-174021, India.