THE MULTIREGIONAL MODEL OF MODERN HUMAN ORIGINS - A REASSESSMENT OF ITS MORPHOLOGICAL BASIS

The Multiregional Model of modern human origins predicts that a group of features, recognized as characterizing the evolution of regional populations from their archaic regional ancestors, will consistently show higher incidence in those regions. This model also predicts that regional morphological patterns are stable, reflecting absence of geographical isolation. In order to test these assumptions, the incidence and distribution of the regional features proposed to characterize the evolution of Chinese and Javanese Homo erectus into modern Chinese and Australian aborigines respectively were examined. The material studied were five recent populations and a fossil sample of anatomically modern Homo sapiens from the sites of Afalou and Taforalt. For this, a scoring system of grades was developed, so as to allow quantification and statistical testing. These analyses showed first, that although the majority of the features studied present a regional pattern, this pattern does not always correspond to that proposed by the model; and second, that some of these features occur in other populations with a higher frequency. Furthermore, the lack of special resemblance between the North African fossils and recent Africans suggest high levels of population differentiation. These results indicate that these features do not support a multiregional origin, giving further support to the existing fossil, chronological and genetic evidence for a single African origin of all modern humans. © 1994 Academic Press. All rights reserved.