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Paige J, Perreault C. 3.3 million years of stone tool complexity suggests that cumulative culture began during the Middle Pleistocene. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2319175121. [PMID: 38885385 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2319175121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2023] [Accepted: 05/08/2024] [Indexed: 06/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Cumulative culture, the accumulation of modifications, innovations, and improvements over generations through social learning, is a key determinant of the behavioral diversity across Homo sapiens populations and their ability to adapt to varied ecological habitats. Generations of improvements, modifications, and lucky errors allow humans to use technologies and know-how well beyond what a single naive individual could invent independently within their lifetime. The human dependence on cumulative culture may have shaped the evolution of biological and behavioral traits in the hominin lineage, including brain size, body size, life history, sociality, subsistence, and ecological niche expansion. Yet, we do not know when, in the human career, our ancestors began to depend on cumulative culture. Here, we show that hominins likely relied on a derived form of cumulative culture by at least ~600 kya, a result in line with a growing body of existing evidence. We analyzed the complexity of stone tool manufacturing sequences over the last 3.3 My of the archaeological record. We then compare these to the achievable complexity without cumulative culture, which we estimate using nonhuman primate technologies and stone tool manufacturing experiments. We find that archaeological technologies become significantly more complex than expected in the absence of cumulative culture only after ~600 kya.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Paige
- Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211
| | - Charles Perreault
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281
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Mahoney P, McFarlane G, Taurozzi AJ, Madupe PP, O'Hara MC, Molopyane K, Cappellini E, Hawks J, Skinner MM, Berger L. Human-like enamel growth in Homo naledi. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2024; 184:e24893. [PMID: 38180115 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24893] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2023] [Revised: 11/12/2023] [Accepted: 12/14/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES A modern pattern (rate and duration) of dental development occurs relatively recently during human evolution. Given the temporal overlap of Homo naledi with the first appearance of fossil Homo sapiens in Africa, this small-bodied and small-brained hominin presents an opportunity to elucidate the evolution of enamel growth in the hominin clade. Here we conduct the first histological study of two permanent mandibular canines and one permanent maxillary first molar, representing three individuals attributed to H. naledi. We reconstruct the rate and duration of enamel growth and compare these findings to those reported for other fossil hominins and recent humans. MATERIALS AND METHODS Thin sections of each tooth were produced using standard histological methods. Daily and longer period incremental markings were measured to reconstruct enamel secretion and extension rates, Retzius periodicity, canine crown and molar cusp formation time. RESULTS Daily enamel secretion rates overlapped with those from recent hominins. Canine crown formation time is similar to that observed in recent Europeans but is longer than canine formation times reported for most other hominins including Australopithecus and H. neanderthalensis. The extended period of canine formation appears to be due to a relatively tall enamel crown and a sustained slow rate of enamel extension in the cervical portion of the crown. A Retzius periodicity of 11 days for the canines, and nine days for the molar, in H. naledi parallel results found in recent humans. An 11-day periodicity has not been reported for Late Pleistocene Homo (H. erectus, H. neanderthalensis) and is rarely found in Australopithecus and Paranthropus species. DISCUSSION Enamel growth of H. naledi is most similar to recent humans though comparative data are limited for most fossil hominin species. The high Retzius periodicity values do not follow expectations for a small-brained hominin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Mahoney
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Gina McFarlane
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Alberto J Taurozzi
- Section for GeoGenetics, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Palesa P Madupe
- Section for GeoGenetics, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
| | - Mackie C O'Hara
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Keneiloe Molopyane
- Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- The National Geographic Society, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - Enrico Cappellini
- Section for GeoGenetics, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - John Hawks
- Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
| | - Matthew M Skinner
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Lee Berger
- Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- The National Geographic Society, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
- The Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
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Hu R, Du B, Zhao L. Retzius periodicity in the Late Miocene hominoid Lufengpithecus lufengensis from Southwest China: Implications for dental development and life history. J Hum Evol 2023; 181:103400. [PMID: 37307694 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2022] [Revised: 05/13/2023] [Accepted: 05/13/2023] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Rong Hu
- Institute of Anthropology, School of Sociology and Anthropology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China
| | - Baopu Du
- Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100069, China
| | - Lingxia Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, 100044, China.
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Mahoney P, McFarlane G, Loch C, White S, Floyd B, Dunn EC, Pitfield R, Nava A, Guatelli-Steinberg D. Dental biorhythm is associated with adolescent weight gain. COMMUNICATIONS MEDICINE 2022; 2:99. [PMID: 36016726 PMCID: PMC9395425 DOI: 10.1038/s43856-022-00164-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2022] [Accepted: 07/26/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Evidence of a long-period biological rhythm present in mammalian hard tissue relates to species average body mass. Studies have just begun to investigate the role of this biorhythm in human physiology. Methods The biorhythm is calculated from naturally exfoliated primary molars for 61 adolescents. We determine if the timing relates to longitudinal measures of their weight, height, lower leg length and body mass collected over 14 months between September 2019 to October 2020. We use univariate and multivariate statistical analyses to isolate and identify relationships with the biorhythm. Results Participants with a faster biorhythm typically weigh less each month and gain significantly less weight and mass over 14-months, relative to those with a slower biorhythm. The biorhythm relates to sex differences in weight gain. Conclusions We identify a previously unknown factor that associates with the rapid change in body size that accompanies human adolescence. Our findings provide a basis from which to explore novel relationships between the biorhythm and weight-related health risks. The human body undergoes cyclic changes such as the daily cycle of sleeping and waking, and monthly menstruation. This study calculated one cycle that can be tracked through the growth of children’s milk teeth. The timing of the cycle in different children was compared to changes in body size that occurred when these children were in puberty. A link was seen between the children’s cycle and the weight they gained over 14-months. Adolescents with a faster cycle typically weighed less each month and gained less weight over 14 months compared to those with a slower cycle. Mahoney et al. calculate the long-term biorhythm of adolescents from primary molar teeth and examine the relationship with weight, height and mass. Faster biorhythms are associated with a lower weight, and reduced weight and mass gain during adolescence.
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Karaaslan H, Seckinger J, Almabrok A, Hu B, Dong H, Xia D, Dekyi T, Hogg RT, Zhou J, Bromage TG. Enamel multidien biological timing and body size variability among individuals of Chinese Han and Tibetan origins. Ann Hum Biol 2020; 48:23-29. [PMID: 32657156 DOI: 10.1080/03014460.2020.1785010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
AIMS To measure the number of days of enamel formation between periodic striae of Retzius growth lines, the Retzius periodicity (RP), and to compare this multi-day, or multidien rhythm, to body height and weight among people from Beijing, China and Lhasa, Tibet/China. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Subjects requiring dental extractions from clinics in Beijing, China (N = 338) and Lhasa, Tibet/China (N = 227) provided a tooth and body size information. Multiple observers examined histological sections of the teeth and recorded RP. RP values were statistically compared to body height and weight. RESULTS In Beijing and Lhasa samples, respectively, average height was 166.38 and 165.70 cm, average weight was 59.53 and 66.53 kg, and average RP was 7.47 and 7.69 d. Statistically significant differences were found between Beijing and Lhasa weight and RP means. Correlations for height and weight against RP were significant, but only comparatively strong for height. CONCLUSIONS Supporting the negative correlation presented in previous studies, RP is negatively associated with height and weight among a large intraspecific sample of people from Beijing and Lhasa. RP represents a metabolic-mediated multidien biological timing mechanism responsible for the rate of cell proliferation and maintenance of the body.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hakan Karaaslan
- Department of Endodontics, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.,Department of Biomaterials, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jeffrey Seckinger
- Department of Biomaterials, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, NY, USA
| | - Amel Almabrok
- Department of Biomaterials, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, NY, USA
| | - Bin Hu
- Department of Molecular Pathobiology, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, NY, USA
| | - Hui Dong
- Department of Integrated Emergency Dental Care and General Dentistry, Capital Medical University School of Stomatology, Beijing, PR China
| | - Dengsheng Xia
- Department of Integrated Emergency Dental Care and General Dentistry, Capital Medical University School of Stomatology, Beijing, PR China
| | - Tsering Dekyi
- Department of Stomatology, Tibetan Hospital of Traditional Tibetan Medicine, Lhasa, PR China
| | - Russell T Hogg
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL, USA
| | - Jian Zhou
- Department of Integrated Emergency Dental Care and General Dentistry, Capital Medical University School of Stomatology, Beijing, PR China
| | - Timothy G Bromage
- Department of Biomaterials, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, NY, USA.,Department of Molecular Pathobiology, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, NY, USA
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