Final answer:
Archaic Homo sapiens is considered a wastebasket taxon because it includes a range of hominin fossils with divergent features, making it difficult to classify them into a single species.
Step-by-step explanation:
We call Archaic Homo sapiens a wastebasket taxon because the various fossils show a wide array of divergent features and don't fit neatly into a single species concept. The term 'wastebasket taxon' is used here to describe a category that includes diverse hominin groups that do not have a precise classification due to their wide-ranging physical characteristics. These groups consist of species such as Homo antecessor and Homo heidelbergensis, which show a mixture of traits and are considered transitional between H. erectus and modern Homo sapiens.
Such fossils are important for understanding the evolution of hominins, as they often display varied traits that overlap with both earlier species like H. erectus and later species including Neanderthals and modern humans. Archaic Homo species are generally grouped into Early Archaic (800-250 KYA) and Late Archaic (300-30 KYA). These fossils are crucial for piecing together human evolution and provide insights into our prehistoric past, despite the challenges they present to paleoanthropologists due to their varied and overlapping characteristics.