Where, When, and Why Hominins Became Human

The paper is devoted to an important stage of human evolution: the “African springboard” to sapientation, which occurred between 350 and 70 kya. This stage formed the social, cognitive, and creative potential that led to the Upper Palaeolithic Revolution in Western Eurasia. During this period, African hominins, descendants of Heidelbergians, underwent a series of aromorphoses that led to the acquisition of traits that further accelerated their evolution. The main driver of sapientation was the “paleoclimatic pump,” or the alternation of dry and wet periods. This alternation led to periods of depopulation and demographic growth, forcing hominins to migrate constantly. Consequently, clashes between groups increased in frequency, contributing to the intensification of cultural innovation and gene exchange. The article discusses the criteria, causes, and timing of the formation of full-fledged human behavior. Arguments in favor of the significance of intergroup alliances are presented. Sustained peaceful relations and negotiation were only possible with the development of new abilities, including “leading messages”, distracted thinking, supragroup normativity, rituals, and long-term commitments. Alliances between groups involved establishing new rules of behavior that limited intragroup violence and extended cooperative norms to members of other groups. Multiple lines of evidence support the widespread exchange and diffusion of technology that began 145 to 60 kya. Two “bottlenecks” around 150 and 75 kya marked milestones in the growing advantage and dominance of Homo sapiens

Alternation (linguistics · Diversity (politics · Dominance (genetics · Human evolution · Negotiation · Order (exchange · Language and cultural evolution · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Primate Behavior and Ecology