Theresa Salopek
Evolution of Culture Midterm Essay
October 20, 2015
The Question of Our Origin: Two Opposing Theories
During ancient archaic times, several species existed in the Old World including Homo sapiens in Africa and the Middle East, Homo erectus inhabited Asia, and Homo neanderthalensis flourished throughout Europe. These species however, all lacked a cognitive flexibility which would destroy the blinding walls that blocked any connection between their multiple intelligences. All of science agrees that Homo erectus originated in Africa and expanded to Eurasia one million years ago. However, around 30,000 years ago, taxonomic diversity suddenly disappears and humans evolved into their modern form, signified by their fluent speech,
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Between 100,000 years ago and 30,000 years ago, when Homo sapiens were the only humankind left on Earth, a very critical period of time took place during our evolution towards modern man. The replacement theory suggests that as Homo sapiens left Africa they isolated themselves in terms of reproduction and evolved independently while spreading throughout the world and replacing all other human populations. One form of evidence for this theory comes out of genetic research which finds "genetic variation between populations of chimpanzees is enormously greater than differences between European, Asian, and African populations"(Johanson). This fact supports the idea that anatomically modern humans originated and evolved in Africa as one species and after migrating onward, they ultimately came to conquer the world. Also, Africans display a greater genetic variation in comparison to other populations, further supporting the idea that they were the first modern humans.
When classifying species, those assumed to share ancestors are categorized into one genus, based on similarities. Species are considered similar based on physical features and in some cases, their DNA sequences. The Out-of-Arica theory is also known as the Eve theory due to the fact that mitochondrial DNA is passed down only through the offspring 's mother, which preserves the family record. This record is influenced solely through mutations occurring at a steady rate, allowing molecular geneticists to
While his coworkers constructed his designs, what hobby did Bernini pursue? Answer Selected Answer: Correct Answer: Writing plays and designing stage sets Writing plays and designing stage sets
Homo erectus was first found in Africa and the fossilized remains dated 1.8 and 1.0 million years old. The Homo erectus traits are very similar toward the modern human traits. Homo erectus brain size was smaller than the Homo sapiens. Homo erectus had a brain size of approximately 650 cc and Homo sapiens had a brain size of approximately 1251
Chris stringer is the author of Lone Survivor How We Came to Be the Only Humans on Earth. Stringer covers a wide variety of topics in his book. He talks about the modern technology we have now that makes it easier to identify fossils, bones, dates, etc. He also mentions how the human gene became what it is today, the Homo sapien. Stringer argues that Homo sapiens did not originate in a single region of Africa. Instead, different populations coexisted across the continent with other species like Homo erectus, and they exchanged genes, tools and behavioral and survival traits before they migrated to Europe.
The Out-Africa-Theory that has been heavily sided with is the hypothesis that remains the most likely to have happened. Not only because that is the theory that has the most scientific evidence but also because that is were the remains of the oldest primate fossil on all seven continents have been found. Even though the recent evidence in Asia is very convincing, there is too much noteworthy evidence found in Africa that an not be ignored. Moreover, such a new theory is lacking a substantial amount of evidence and investigation in order for it to become convincing theory. This leads the scientific world to side with the fact that we have deeper-rooted ancestry in Africa.
The evolutionary of human living has taken place over millions of years of geological time. It has evolved millions of generations, and billions of individuals. The human evolution is not understandable completely yet. Evolutionary change within a population can take place at different time and different rates, which yield different consequences. This process still taking place in the natural selection and human evolution. One species may be merged to the new species or developed to the next stage of the same species. Homo Habilis, Homo Erectus, Homo Heidelbergensis, and Neanderthals were the close ancestors of modern human, which developed from Australopithecus afarensis.
The earliest stage of human evolution came to be found in Africa. Human history began about 7 million years ago and came from a descendant of the gorilla line. These early humans known as Homo erectus dispersed to different continents and started colonizations. Since every human being came from the same background it supports diamond’s theory that different human intellectuals wasn’t the cause of different advancements. As the inhabitants of Africa started to create new tools Europe and Asia began to follow this trend. As of some 400,000 years ago, Cro-Magnons in Europe developed modern skeletons, superior weapons, and other advanced cultural traits, a sign human evolution.
According to Diamond, Human ancestors moved to Eurasia around 1 to 2 million years ago and after human fossils began to resemble modern Homo sapiens and archaeologists called that period the Great Leap Forward. According to “Human Evolution and the Great Leap Forward - By Advocate De Waal Lubbe,” Scientists have estimated that humans branched off from their common ancestor, with chimpanzees, about 5-7 million years ago. Several species and subspecies of Homo evolved and are now extinct. These include Homo erectus, which inhabited Asia, and Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis, which inhabited Europe. Archaic Homo sapiens evolved between 400,000 and 250,000 years ago.
This chapter beings explaining the evolution of mankind. Prior to 11,000 BCE, all humans were equal. Due to our evolutionary past, we branched off from apes to humans and spread around the world. Nearly 4 million years ago, humans began their mark on earth in Africa. Jared Diamond compares human development on all seven continents about 13,000 years ago. Although many early humans were found primarily in Eurasia and Africa, over time they expanded and gained new territory. The early humans created tools as they evolved, and many became hunter and gatherers. Then, human history made a Great Leap Forward around 40,000 BCE. The Great Leap Forward was when the earliest humans created new technology and exciting innovations that did not exist previously
Evidence indicates Neanderthals and Modern humans shared a common African ancestor and split on the evolutionary tree between 500,000 to 200,000 years ago. Neanderthals developed in the cold and harsh environment of Europe and western Asia. With a lot of water locked up in the polar ice caps, Africa was experiencing a severe drought. This arid and dry environment is where modern human’s direct ancestor was living. These people’s bodies were a lot taller and weaker (to allow heat to escape) in comparison to the Neanderthals. This severe drought placed modern humans on the brink of extinction. However, when a species is dying out only the most inventive and resourceful survive, this causes the fitness of the remaining population to increase. In Europe the Neanderthals toughness allowed them to be very successful. In Africa the modern humans developed something the Neanderthals did not have, imagination. In Africa to survive it was necessary to think ahead and this allowed them to make the final step in becoming modern humans. Every previous human ancestor had been limited to the confines of their environment, but these ancestors eventually made their way out of Africa, and their imaginative behavior is illustrated in the drawings they left behind for others to find. After they left Africa they could have very well come into contact with the Neanderthals. Neanderthals became
According to physical evidence, and theories, scholars have concluded upon a whole hypothesis. Based on their knowledge and belief, modern humans diverged from Homo sapiens between 200,000 and 150,000 years ago specifically in Africa, that between 125,000 and 60,000 years ago members of Homo sapiens left Africa, and that these
Human origins, evolution, and diffusion are important for understanding the history of Africa. African historians take pride in the fact that Africa is most certainly the birthplace of humanity. There is evidence showing that humanity began in Africa by remains left behind by human groups and societies. They have retrieved fossils of living organisms, and even written records, like cave drawings. Dating back millions of years ago Africa provides the best time line of human development because other parts of the world do not have evidence dating back as far as in Africa. Where did humanity and human history begin? There are theories supporting both that, humans evolved from various parts of the world, and that humans rose in Africa then migrated to other parts of the world and continued to develop. The theory that has the most support is that humanity rose in Africa then moved to other regions of the world. Africa is indeed the home of humanity but because Africa is where humanity began they were not able to be at the top of the evolutionary ladder because their global location did not allow them to develop faster. Human history in general is difficult to understand but we can look at the past to learn more about where we came from and how our societies have developed.
The next species to appear were the Homo erectus which might have descended from Homo habilis. They were the first human whose fossils were found outside of Africa. They also had larger brain than the species before them. Homo sapiens sapiens came after the Homo Neanderthalensis; they are the only human species around. This could have been due to the result of increase brain sizes that allows more cognitive abilities that help them adapt to different environment changes and hence survive. Global evidence have been found of art, music, and culture and advanced tool making. In Mithen’s 3 phase of mind proposes that the shape of the Neanderthals’ frontal lobe was similar to the one of the modern Homo sapiens and this indicated that they were able to cope with complex cognitive functioning. Evidence for this could be explained using the phonological approach by Frank Gall (1758-1828).
Human evolution is the gradual process in which people, or Homo sapiens, originated from apelike ancestors. Scientific evidence, particularly in the form of fossils and secondary remains, show that the physical and behavioral traits shared by all people evolved over a period of approximately six million years. Humans are primates. Both genetic and physical similarities show that humans and the great apes (large apes) of Africa, chimpanzees (including bonobos, or so-called “pygmy chimpanzees”) and gorillas share a common ancestor that lived between 8 and 6 million years ago. The volume of fossils found in Africa suggests that most evolution occurred there and is likely the place of origin for early humans. This brings to fruition the “out of Africa” theory, also called the “single-origin hypothesis.”
There has been a great deal of heated debate for the last few decades about where modern Homo sapiens originated. From the battle grounds, two main theories emerged. One theory, labeled “Out-of-Africa” or “population replacement” explains that all modern Homo sapiens evolved from a common Homo erectus ancestor in Africa 100,000 years ago. The species began to spread and replace all other archaic human-like populations around 35,000 to 89,000 years ago. The rivaling opinion, entitled the “regional continuity” theory or “multiregional evolution” model refutes this theory and states modern humans evolved from various species of Homo erectus who interbred with others that lived in
Human evolution according to research started over 6 million years ago. The outcome of the evolution process is the current human beings. Scientific studies have revealed over the years a remarkable affinity between the chimpanzees/Apes and human beings. Even though this reality is not a definitive prove that human beings evolved from apes, it does show that the human beings are in one way or another related to other primates. Scientists suppose that the humans and the primates shared a common ancestor. The subject of what makes humans what they are and their origin has been the exclusive purpose leading to many scientific studies globally (Coolidge & Wynn, 2011). Studies believe that Africa was the origin of evolution millions of years ago. Fossil remains have been discovered in different parts of Africa as well as other regions of the world. Different hominins have been discovered around the world in the last 1 million years. Thus, the different discoveries have led to comparisons between the various species of hominins to clarify on their similarities as well as differences. This essay seeks to explain whether they were distinctively different species or regional versions of the same species.