‘Homo sapiens’: who are we? Essential traits of our species

Authors

  • Eudald Carbonell Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES). He is a professor at the Rovira i Virgili University (URV) in Tarragona (Spain). Atapuerca Foundation.
  • José María Bermúdez de Castro National Research Centre on Human Evolution (CENIEH), in Burgos (Spain).
  • Robert Sala Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES), Rovira i Virgili University (URV) in Tarragona (Spain).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.8.9481

Keywords:

hominisation, humanisation, singularity, tools, language, complexity, species

Abstract

In this text we analyse the traits, from their genesis, that constitute current human beings with the objective of characterising the biological and cultural evolution of humanity within the evolutionary framework of our genus. Paleoanthropologists organise our differential traits within the animal kingdom hierarchically: the ability to manufacture a wide range of tools and control fire, language, funeral rituals, etc. However, whether these increases in complexity occurred only in our species or if it is a process which other species have also undergone, or will undergo, remains to be explored.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Eudald Carbonell, Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES). He is a professor at the Rovira i Virgili University (URV) in Tarragona (Spain). Atapuerca Foundation.

Researcher at the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES). He is a professor at the Rovira i Virgili University (URV) in Tarragona (Spain). General manager of the Atapuerca Foundation, and specialist prehistorian in human evolution and lithic technology.

José María Bermúdez de Castro, National Research Centre on Human Evolution (CENIEH), in Burgos (Spain).

Head of Research of the Department of Palaeoanthropology at the National Research Centre on Human Evolution (CENIEH), in Burgos (Spain) and Vice-President of the Atapuerca Foundation. He is a biologist specialised in human evolution and dentition.

Robert Sala, Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES), Rovira i Virgili University (URV) in Tarragona (Spain).

Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES), Rovira i Virgili University (URV) in Tarragona (Spain). He is a prehistorian specialised in lithic technology, especially in tracing the use of Palaeolithic tools.

References

Agustí, J., & Carbonell, E. (2013). L’evolució sense sentit. Barcelona: Empúries.

Arsuaga, J. L., Martínez, I., Gracia, A., Carretero, J. M., & Carbonell, E. (1993). Three new human skulls from the Sima de los Huesos Middle Pleistocene site in Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain. Nature, 362, 534–537. doi: 10.1038/362534a0

Bermúdez de Castro, J. M., Arsuaga, J. L., Carbonell, E., Rosas, A., Martínez, I., & Mosquera, M. (1997). A hominid from the Lower Pleistocene of Atapuerca, Spain: Possible ancestor to Neanderthals and modern humans. Science, 276(5317), 1392–1395. doi: 10.1126/science.276.5317.1392 

Bermúdez de Castro, J. M., Martinón-Torres, M., Martín-Francés, L., Modesto-Mata, M., Martínez de Pinillos, M., García, C., & Carbonell, E. (2017). Homo antecessor: The state of the art eighteen years later. Quaternary International, 433, 22–31. doi: 10.1016/j.quaint.2015.03.049

Carbonell, E., Mosquera, M., Ollé, A., Rodríguez, X. P., Sala, R., Vergès, J. M., … Bermúdez de Castro, J. M. (2003). Les premiers comportements funéraires auraient-ils pris place à Atapuerca, il y a 350 000 ans? L’Anthropologie, 107(1), 1–14. doi: 10.1016/S0003-5521(03)00002-5

Chomsky, N. (1985). El conocimiento del lenguaje. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.

D’Errico, F., & Nowell, A. (2000). A new look at the Berekhat Ram figurine: Implications for the origins of symbolism. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 10, 123–167. doi: 10.1017/S0959774300000056

Gillespie, R. (2002). Dating the first Australians. Radiocarbon, 44, 455–472. doi: 10.1017/S0033822200031830

James, S., Dennell, R., Gilbert, A., Lewis, H., Gowlett, J., Lynch, T., ... James, S. (1989). Hominid use of fire in the Lower and Middle Pleistocene: A review of the evidence [and comments and replies]. Current Anthropology, 30(1), 1–26.

Krause, J., Fu, Q., Good, J. M., Viola, B., Shunkov, M. V., Derevianko, A. P., & Pääbo, S. (2010). The complete mitochondrial DNA genome of an un­known hominin from southern Siberia. Nature, 464, 894–897. doi: 10.1038/nature08976

Krause, J., Lalueza-Fox, C., Orlando, L., Enard, W., Green, R. E., Burbano, H. A., … Pääbo, S. (2007). The derived FOXP2 variant of modern humans was shared with neandertals. Current Biology, 17(21), 1908–1912. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.10.008

Martínez, I., Rosa, M., Arsuaga, J.-L., Jarabo, P., Quam, R., Lorenzo, C., … Carbonell, E. (2004). Auditory capacities in Middle Pleistocene humans from the Sierra de Atapuerca in Spain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 101(27), 9976–9981. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0403595101 

Pettitt, P. B. (2002). The Neanderthal dead: Exploring mortuary variability in Middle Paleolithic Eurasia. Before Farming, 1(4), 1–17. doi: 10.3828/bfarm.2002.1.4

Shea, J. J., Fleagle, J. G., Brown, F. W., Assefa, Z., Feibel, C. & McDou­gall, I. (2002). Archaeological reconnaissance of the Omo Kibish Formation, Ethiopia. Journal of Human Evolution, 42, A33–A34.

Thieme, E. (1997). Lower Paleolithic hunting spears from Germany. Nature, 385, 807–810. doi: 10.1038/385807a0

White, T. D., Asfaw, B., DeGusta, D., Gilbert, H., Richards, G. D., Gary. D., … Clark Howell, F. (2003). Pleistocene Homo sapiens from Middle Awash, Ethiopia. Nature, 423, 742–747. doi: 10.1038/nature01669

Whitfield, J. (2008). Evolución. El gen del “lenguaje”, FOXP2, parece esencial para la vocalización animal. Investigación y Ciencia, 379, 10–11.

Downloads

Published

2018-06-05

How to Cite

Carbonell, E., Bermúdez de Castro, J. M., & Sala, R. (2018). ‘Homo sapiens’: who are we? Essential traits of our species. Metode Science Studies Journal, (8), 107–113. https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.8.9481
Metrics
Views/Downloads
  • Abstract
    2198
  • PDF
    1196

Issue

Making science: A multitude of perspectives (2018)

Section

Sapiens. In the path of the human being

License

All the documents in the OJS platform are open access and property of their respective authors.

Authors publishing in the journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors keep the rights and guarantee Metode Science Studies Journal the right to be the first publication of the document, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of authorship and publication in the journal.
  2. Authors are allowed and encouraged to spread their work through electronic means using personal or institutional websites (institutional open archives, personal websites or professional and academic networks profiles) once the text has been published.

Metrics