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The Origin Of Modern Human Form

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The modern form that humans take on today has an origin, but that origin still does not have a definitive answer. Many scholars continue to deliberate over the origin of the modern human form through two largely known origin theories. The two theories that are widely discussed include, Out of Africa and multiregional evolution theory. Commonly, the way these theories are differentiated is through geography, time-scale, and process (Stringer 67). These different elements of distinguishing origin theories has led to many misinterpretations and controversies of the major theories. There have been fairly recent clarifications on each theory, which helped to properly progress evidence for both in the right direction. However, there is not a firm conclusion to which theory is full proof in determining the origins of Homo sapiens. This paper will discuss the Out of Africa and multiregional theories in relation to modern human origin, along with providing evidence for both to determine if one theory is more valid than the other.
Moreover, the Out of Africa theory started with William W. Howells in 1976 and his “Noah’s Ark Hypothesis”, which essentially suggests, “a single origin, with populations migrating outward and diverging biologically, essentially by genetic drift (477).” His theory was later largely modified by Christopher Stringer in the 1980’s to what is now known as the Out of Africa model. There were other individuals involved in developing this theory with Stringer.

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