The term Archaic Homo sapiens refers generally to the earliest members of the species Homo sapiens, which consisted of the Neanderthals of Europe and the Middle East, the Neanderthal-like hominids of Africa and Asia, and the immediate ancestors of all these hominids. Human beings are defined variously in biological, spiritual, and cultural terms, or in combinations thereof. ... Binomial name Homo neanderthalensis King, 1864 The Neanderthal or Neandertal was a species of genus Homo (Homo neanderthalensis) that inhabited Europe and parts of western Asia from about 230,000 to 29,000 years ago (in the Middle Palaeolithic, early Stone Age). ... Europe forms the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... Genera Subfamily Ponginae Pongo - Orangutans Gigantopithecus (extinct) Sivapithecus (extinct) Subfamily Homininae Gorilla - Gorillas Pan - Chimpanzees Homo - Humans Paranthropus (extinct) Australopithecus (extinct) Sahelanthropus (extinct) Ardipithecus (extinct) Kenyanthropus (extinct) Pierolapithecus (extinct) (tentative) The Hominids (Hominidae) are a biological family which includes humans, extinct species of humanlike creatures and the other great apes... // Etymology World map showing Africa (geographically) The name Africa came into Western use through the Romans, who used the name Africa terra — land of the Afri (plural, or Afer singular) — for the northern part of the continent, as the province of Africa with its capital Carthage, corresponding to modern-day... World map showing Asia (geographically) Asia is the central and eastern part of Eurasia and worlds largest continent. ...

Archaic Homo sapiens lived durring the Mindel and Riss glacial periods of the Middle Pleistocene (300,000 to 30,000 B.P.). They were seemingly well adapted to different environmental stresses, as evidenced by the wide distribution of their tool and fossil remains. Their brains were larger than those of Homo erectus, and actually were comparable in size to those of modern humans. The Mindel is a river in Bavaria, southern Germany. ... The Riß is a small river in Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany. ... The Middle Pleistocene is the central part of the Pleistocene Epoch from about 780,000 YA to the penultimate cold pulse at about 125,000 YA. Millions of Years Categories: Graphical timelines | Geology stubs | Pleistocene ...

There is some debate about whether these archaic Homo sapiens should in fact be classified as Homo sapiens. Some anthropologists hold that although they do have some anatomical similarities, they are not in fact of the species sapiens. They suggest that these different groups of hominids, such as Homo heidelbergensis and Homo neanderthalensis should be designated as their own, separate species. Binomial name Homo heidelbergensis Schoetensack, 1908 Homo heidelbergensis (nicknamed Goliath) is an extinct species of the genus Homo and the common ancestor of both Neanderthal man (Homo neanderthalensis) and Cro-Magnon man (Homo sapiens). ... Binomial name Homo neanderthalensis King, 1864 The Neanderthal or Neandertal was a species of genus Homo (Homo neanderthalensis) that inhabited Europe and parts of western Asia from about 230,000 to 29,000 years ago (in the Middle Palaeolithic, early Stone Age). ...

Source: Kottak, Conrad Phillip. Windows on Humanity: A Concise Introduction to Anthropology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005.