BIOCULTURAL INTERACTION ANL THE MECHANISM OF MOSAIC EVOLUTION IN THE EMERGENCE OR MODERN MORPHOLOGY

''Modern'' human form results from reduction in both craniofacial and postcranial Middle Pleistocene levels of robustness. In a classic manifestation of mosaic evolution, these reductions began at different times and proceeded at different rates in different places. They were produced by mutations acting alone when particular cultural developments eased the forces of selection. The separate regional appearances of obligatory cooking and projectile use late in the Middle Pleistocene produced separate and predictable manifestations of morphological reduction. There is no common ''modern'' configuration, and no single geographic locale was responsible for the various aspects of reduction that contribute to ''modern'' morphology.