Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 39 (3) 2011

Annotation:  The Origin of Anatomically Modern Humans and their Behavior in Africa and Eurasia Newly Discovered Yarmukian and Wadi Rabah Sites in the Southern Jordan Valley and the Desert Fringe Periodization of Bronze Age Cultures in the Ob–Irtysh Forest-Steppe: The Stratigraphic Position of E Early Iron Age Burials in Southeastern Zhetysu: The Geoarchaeological Evidence Stratigraphy and Relative Chronology of the Neolithic Assemblages at the Koksharovsky Kholm Sanctua Pazyryk Burial at Khankarinsky Dol in the Northwestern Altai On the Origins of Nomadism in the Asian Steppes Medieval Sanctuary at Eshmess Cave in the Pechora Urals “Priest’s Staff” from Fort Nadym of the 16th–17th Centuries Wooden Pectoral Cross from a Burial at the Spassky Necropolis of the 18th Century in Irkutsk Latticed Petroglyphs of Mount Kalbak-Tash, Gorny Altai Food Symbolism in the Context of Komi (Zyrians) Wedding Rituals Zheltuga Republic: The Case of Social Development at the Chinese-Russian Border The Dentition of the Alakul People, with Reference to their Origin   

The Origin of Anatomically Modern Humans and their Behavior in Africa and Eurasia

A.P. Derevianko.

In the four preceding publications in this journal (Vol. 38 Nos. 3 and 4, 2010, and Vol. 39 Nos. 1 and 2, 2011), based on a vast database, three scenarios (models) of parallel in situ transition from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic in Africa and Eurasia were suggested. In this article, the origins of anatomically modern humans and modern behavior in the Upper Pleistocene are analyzed. In both Africa and Eurasia, three models of cultural transition were accompanied by multiregional origins of anatomically modern humans 200–40 ka BP. As a result, the polytipic species Homo sapiens sapiens sensu lato originated from four subspecies: Homo sapiens africanensis (Africa), Homo sapiens neanderthalensis (Europe), Homo sapiens orientalensis (East and Southeast Asia), and Homo sapiens altaiensis (Southern Siberia and Central Asia).

Keywords: Modern behavior, symbolism, Homo erectus.