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Craniofacial feminization, social tolerance, and the origins of behavioral modernity

Publication ,  Journal Article
Cieri, RL; Churchill, SE; Franciscus, RG; Tan, J; Hare, B
Published in: Current Anthropology
January 1, 2014

The past 200,000 years of human cultural evolution have witnessed the persistent establishment of behaviors involving innovation, planning depth, and abstract and symbolic thought, or what has been called "behavioral modernity." Demographic models based on increased human population density from the late Pleistocene onward have been increasingly invoked to understand the emergence of behavioral modernity. However, high levels of social tolerance, as seen among living humans, are a necessary prerequisite to life at higher population densities and to the kinds of cooperative cultural behaviors essential to these demographic models. Here we provide data on craniofacial feminization (reduction in average brow ridge projection and shortening of the upper facial skeleton) in Homo sapiens from the Middle Pleistocene to recent times. We argue that temporal changes in human craniofacial morphology reflect reductions in average androgen reactivity (lower levels of adult circulating testosterone or reduced androgen receptor densities), which in turn reflect the evolution of enhanced social tolerance since the Middle Pleistocene. © 2014 by The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. All rights reserved.

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Published In

Current Anthropology

DOI

ISSN

0011-3204

Publication Date

January 1, 2014

Volume

55

Issue

4

Start / End Page

419 / 443

Related Subject Headings

  • Anthropology
  • 4401 Anthropology
  • 4301 Archaeology
  • 2101 Archaeology
  • 1801 Law
  • 1601 Anthropology
 

Citation

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Cieri, R. L., Churchill, S. E., Franciscus, R. G., Tan, J., & Hare, B. (2014). Craniofacial feminization, social tolerance, and the origins of behavioral modernity. Current Anthropology, 55(4), 419–443. https://doi.org/10.1086/677209
Cieri, R. L., S. E. Churchill, R. G. Franciscus, J. Tan, and B. Hare. “Craniofacial feminization, social tolerance, and the origins of behavioral modernity.” Current Anthropology 55, no. 4 (January 1, 2014): 419–43. https://doi.org/10.1086/677209.
Cieri RL, Churchill SE, Franciscus RG, Tan J, Hare B. Craniofacial feminization, social tolerance, and the origins of behavioral modernity. Current Anthropology. 2014 Jan 1;55(4):419–43.
Cieri, R. L., et al. “Craniofacial feminization, social tolerance, and the origins of behavioral modernity.” Current Anthropology, vol. 55, no. 4, Jan. 2014, pp. 419–43. Scopus, doi:10.1086/677209.
Cieri RL, Churchill SE, Franciscus RG, Tan J, Hare B. Craniofacial feminization, social tolerance, and the origins of behavioral modernity. Current Anthropology. 2014 Jan 1;55(4):419–443.
Journal cover image

Published In

Current Anthropology

DOI

ISSN

0011-3204

Publication Date

January 1, 2014

Volume

55

Issue

4

Start / End Page

419 / 443

Related Subject Headings

  • Anthropology
  • 4401 Anthropology
  • 4301 Archaeology
  • 2101 Archaeology
  • 1801 Law
  • 1601 Anthropology