Sarah Covert

Homo Erectus and Homo Sapiens: Physical Differences, Cultural Similarities

Thursday, October 16, 2008-10-13

“Improved knowledge about the archaeological contexts for early human

fossils is an important step towards such an improved understanding of the behavioral

variability of early Homo sapiens.” Despite early assumptions by the scientific

community regarding the lower intelligence of Homo erectus, recent research reveals

striking commonalities between the species. The differences between Homo erectus and

Homo sapiens sapiens appear to have been mostly morphological. Culturally, the two

species followed many of the same hunting and shelter usage patterns, as well as

adopting similar technological innovations.

H. sapiens, the archaic version of the modern human, is a taller and lighter

hominin than its contemporary, H. erectus. The major difference between the two seems

to be the anatomy of the skull, although H. erectus had stronger, thicker bones throughout

the skeletal structure. Physiologically, H. erectus is diagnosed by the presence of “low

vaults, with the greatest width being towards the base of the cranium. There is a

substantial, essentially continuous, torus above the orbits, posterior to which there is

usually a well-marked sulcus. There is both a sagittal torus, and an angular torus that runs

towards the mastoid process. The occipital region is sharply-angulated, with a well-

marked supratoral sulcus” Other features include larger molars and a thicker skull The

outer cortical bone of the postcranial skeleton is generally thick, and the limb bones have

more robust shafts than is the case for modern humans. “The shafts of the femur and the

tibia are relatively flattened from front to back and from side to side, respectively, relative

to those of modern humans; this is referred to as platymeria and platycnemia,

respectively.” According to Wood, H. sapiens is characterized more by the verticality of

the rear cranial vault and larger cranial capacity. Both species were bipedal locomotors

with obligate proportions for habitually upright posture. H. sapiens shows a much lighter

skeletal structure with longer hands and “less robust bones.”(Wood, 2000)

The use of tools instead of brute strength which led to the lighter skeletal structure

of H. sapiens does not necessarily preclude the heavier, stronger H. erectus from having

taken advantage of tools. Scholars including the renowned Louis Leakey debated tool use

in H.erectus up to the mid-1970’s, when “unquestionably, Homo erectus specimens were

found at Chou Kou Tien, with a very primitive flake culture…its similarities lie with the

Tayacian which was associated with Homo sapiens.” Leakey’s findings show that the two

species had cultural and technological developments in common, the flake hand-axe in

particular. In the Acheulian period, around 1.5 million years ago, H. erectus was active in

the colder climates of Europe, which points to the use of tools and also fire, as campsites

show both the presence of ash and lithic products together with butchery and sleeping

areas. As Henry wrote in 2004, “Phytolith, use-wear, and lithic technologic evidence

indicate that the centrally located area was used for food preparation, cooking,

maintenance tasks, and mostly end-of-stream (i.e., retouching, refurbishing, and

maintenance) lithic processing. A large sandstone slab thought to have been used as an

anvil or table was found [at Tor Faraj].”

Both species show what may be evidence of group cooperation (beyond the

family unit) in coordination of big-game hunting strategies. Although speculation

regarding post-carnivore scavenging is common in the literature, butchery marks

discovered on bones of large game discovered near or in campsites show “an extremely
low frequency or absence of carnivore tooth marks and the low numbers of limb

epiphyses (with a particular paucity of epiphyses of upper and intermediate limbs,”

pointing toward hunting rather than hominin scavenging at sites containing fossils of

either species.

There is no way to know for sure if the small technological differences between

the populations resulted in a survival advantage for H. sapiens or if other factors led to

the disappearance of H. erectus. Behaviour seems to vary between populations by locale

almost as much as by species, and as the old saying goes, ‘context is everything.’

Examination of the fossil record and comparison of campsite details associated with

particular specimens reveals that from hunting techniques to hand-axes, many points of

advancement were covalent. Overall, the fossil record leads to the conclusion that H.

erectus and H. sapiens were culturally more alike than not.