The DOI matches its Crossref record; 170 of the 170 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
An evolutionary anthropological perspective on modern human origins.
Open accessAbstract
Modern humans are an anomaly in evolution, and the final key features occurred late in human evolution. Ultimate explanations for this evolutionary trajectory are best attained through synthetic studies that integrate genetics, biological anthropology, and archaeology, all resting firmly in the field of evolutionary anthropology. These fields of endeavor typically operate in relative isolation. This synthetic overview identifies the three pillars of human uniqueness: an evolved advanced cognition, hyperprosociality, and psychology for social learning. These properties are foundational for cumulative culture, the dominant adaptation of our species. Although the Homo line evolved in the direction of advancing cognition, the evidence shows that only modern humans evolved extreme levels of prosociality and social learning; this review offers an explanation. These three traits were in place ∼200–100 ka and produced a creature capable of extraordinary social and technological structures, but one that was also empowered to make war in large groups with advanced weapons. The advance out of Africa and the annihilation of other hominin taxa, and many unprepared megafauna, were assured.
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“Marean (2015) developed a version of this hypothesis that suggested why selection in favor of cooperation was more intense in the origin of H. sapiens than in other Homo. He pointed to increasing exploitation of dense and predictable food resources, leading to higher population density, and more aggressive defense of territories.”
From Hypotheses for the Evolution of Reduced Reactive Aggression in the Context of Human Self-Domestication (2019) · cites this paper as Marean, 2015
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“Marean (2015) developed a similar scenario.”
From Hypotheses for the Evolution of Reduced Reactive Aggression in the Context of Human Self-Domestication (2019) · cites this paper as Marean, 2015
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Cites
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Cited by
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Mattison, S. M., Smith, E. A., Shenk, M. K., & Cochrane, E. E. (2016) · Evolutionary Anthropology Issues News and Reviews · doi:10.1002/evan.21491 · Cited by 213
Marean, C. W. (2016) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2015.0239 · Cited by 163
Roebroeks, W., & Soressi, M. (2016) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1521269113 · Cited by 126
Humans thrived in South Africa through the Toba eruption about 74,000 years ago
Smith, E. I., Jacobs, Z. L., Johnsen, R., Ren, M., Fisher, E. C., Oestmo, S., Wilkins, J., Harris, J. A., Karkanas, P., Fitch, S., et al. (2018) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature25967 · Cited by 128
Evidence for close-range hunting by last interglacial Neanderthals
Gaudzinski‐Windheuser, S., Noack, E. S., Pop, E., Herbst, C., Pfleging, J., Buchli, J., Jacob, A., Enzmann, F., Kindler, L., Йовита, Р., et al. (2018) · Nature Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1038/s41559-018-0596-1 · Cited by 113
Metadata
- Authors
- Marean, C. W.
- Affiliations
- Arizona State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Marean, Curtis W.
- ORCID
- Marean, Curtis W.
- Venue
- Annual Review of Anthropology
- Publisher
- Annual Reviews
- Published
- 2015-10-21
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 533-556
- ISSN
- 0084-6570 (ISSN-L)
- 1545-4290
- OpenAlex
- W2109990105
- Cited by
- 135
- References
- 170
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 6
- FWCI
- 12.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Annual Review of Anthropology (publishedVersion)
- Nelson Mandela University Research Repository (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
- Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Language and cultural evolution
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Keywords
- modern human origins, human evolution, social learning, cumulative culture, Homo, Out of Africa, hominin extinction, megafaunal extinction
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