Final answer:
Between H. erectus/ergaster and modern humans, the term 'archaic Homo sapiens' encompasses a variety of Homo species that display intermediate characteristics and have contributed to human evolution.
Step-by-step explanation:
Between H. erectus/ergaster and us, there is a profusion of types of Homo referred to as the archaic Homo sapiens in the genus Homo. The genus Homo, including species like Homo erectus and Homo ergaster, originated about two million years ago. Homo erectus is commonly recognized as an ancestor that evolved around 1.9 million years ago in East Africa and later gave rise to other species within the Homo lineage.
Homo ergaster, which had an essentially modern form and significantly less sexual dimorphism compared to earlier hominins, is thought to be one of the first Homo species to migrate out of Africa, giving rise to Homo erectus. The latter made its way as far as Indonesia and had a significant impact on our evolution. There is an ongoing debate among scientists whether to consider Homo ergaster and Homo erectus as two distinct species, as their differences are mainly geographical and anatomical differences are relatively minimal.
Archaic Homo sapiens, which evolved from H. erectus starting about 500,000 years ago, include species such as Homo heidelbergensis, Homo rhodesiensis, and Homo neanderthalensis. These species are characterized by larger brain sizes akin to modern humans, but with distinct structural differences, such as a prominent brow ridge and a receding chin.