🧐 Ancient Beat #137: A new human species, ancient emotions, and tool-wielding Homo naledi

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And welcome to issue #137 of Ancient Beat. Big one this week.

Here’s the latest ancient news. 👇

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🗞 Ancient News: Top 5

• Archaeology Breakthrough as New Human Species Discovered That Went Extinct 200,000 Years Ago — A newly-discovered human species now has a name: Homo juluensis. It was identified in China from the fossilized remains of 16 individuals. These early humans, who lived about 200,000 years ago, had large heads with craniums measuring up to 109 cubic inches — larger than both Neanderthals and modern humans. They also had distinct wide skulls and massive teeth. The remains were found at Xujiayao, alongside thousands of artifacts such as stone tools and processed animal bones, suggesting they were adept hunters. Evidence indicates they lived in small groups, likely crafting clothing from animal hides to survive the harsh glacial conditions of their time. Their diet included wild horses, whose entire bodies were utilized for sustenance and materials. Researchers found similarities between Homo juluensis and Denisovans, particularly in dental structure. This challenges the classification of Denisovans as a separate species, suggesting they might belong to Homo juluensis.

• Unique Ubaid Figurine Uncovered at the Bahra 1 Prehistoric Site — Archaeologists at Bahra 1 in Kuwait's Subiya region have unearthed a distinctive clay head figurine with an elongated skull, dating back to approximately 5500–4900 BCE. Ancient Aliens is gonna have a heyday with this one! 👽 This artifact is unprecedented in the Gulf area, prompting inquiries into its cultural significance. The site also revealed evidence of local pottery production, including imported Ubaid ware from Mesopotamia and locally made Coarse Red Ware (CRW). Notably, an unfired clay vessel indicates Bahra 1 as the Gulf's oldest known pottery production site. Also, archaeobotanical analysis found plant fragments in the pottery, identifying wild plants like reeds in the CRW and cultivated crops such as barley and wheat in the Ubaid ware, offering insights into the region's mid-6th millennium BCE flora.

• What the Hands of Homo Naledi Tell Us About Evolution and Behavior — The discovery of a nearly complete adult hand skeleton of Homo naledi in South Africa's Rising Star Cave offers insights into the species' development and behavior. Analysis of finger bone proportions indicates that prenatal growth patterns influenced anatomical features, with the structure suggesting manual dexterity comparable to tool-making hominins like Australopithecus sediba. The second-to-fourth digit ratio implied reduced prenatal androgen exposure, associated with lower aggression and increased social cooperation. These findings support the Human Self-Domestication Hypothesis, proposing that reduced aggression and enhanced cooperation were pivotal in human evolution. The hand's anatomy, featuring a long thumb and relatively shorter fingers, suggests H. naledi was capable of precision grips essential for tool use, although direct evidence of tool-making has yet to be found.

• Ancient Texts Reveal How Mesopotamian Humans Experienced Emotions in Their Bodies — This is a neat topic. Researchers analyzed approximately one million words from ancient Akkadian texts (934–612 BCE) to understand how Mesopotamians perceived emotions physically. They found that happiness was often associated with the liver, described using terms like 'open' or 'shining.' Anger was linked to the feet, contrasting with modern associations of anger with the upper body and hands. Love was connected to the liver, heart, and knees, showing both similarities and differences to contemporary experiences. These insights highlight the cultural specificity of emotional experiences and their bodily manifestations.

• Footprints Show Two Species Of Ancient Human Relatives Shared The Same Ground At The Same Time — If you’ve been following the Beat for a while, you’ll know that I have a fondness for ichnites — fossilized footprints. They just feel like such an intimate view into a particular moment in an individual’s life. Where were they going? What were they thinking about when they took that step? But before I nerd out too hard, here’s the scoop. Fossilized footprints discovered in Koobi Fora, Kenya, showed that Homo erectus and Paranthropus boisei coexisted approximately 1.5 million years ago. Found in dried mud near a lakeshore, the prints were preserved by sediment soon after they were made. Homo erectus had human-like anatomy, used stone tools, cooked with fire, and had a diverse diet including meat. This adaptable species persisted for over a million years beyond the time of the footprints. Paranthropus boisei was characterized by smaller brains, strong jaws, and large molars designed for grinding tough, fibrous plants. It went extinct within a few hundred thousand years, likely due to environmental shifts impacting its specialized diet. The footprints suggest distinct walking patterns for each species and provide the first evidence of their simultaneous presence in the same area.

• Genes, Rhythm, and Language: The Shared Foundations of Human Communication — Yeah, the Top 5 is actually the Top 6 this week. I wasn’t going to include this one, but it’s literally about ancient beats, so there was really no way around it. Recent research has uncovered significant genetic connections between rhythmic abilities and language-related traits, offering new insights into the evolution and biology of human communication. Long, complicated story short, genetic correlations between rhythm and language or reading-related traits suggest that our capacity for rhythm may be intertwined with language development. This research enhances our understanding of the shared foundations of music and language, two central aspects of human communication.

That’s it for the free Top 5 (or 6)! If you’re a free subscriber, sign up for the paid plan for another 31 discoveries and 8 recommended pieces of content covering the Nebra Sky Disc, brain evolution, non-hierarchical societies, and narcotics.

Until next time, thanks for joining me!

-James
Twitter: @jamesofthedrum

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🗞 Ancient News: Deep Dive