What For You Is The Human Spark

In the quest to explain human origins it is necessary to find a species that bridges modern man (Homo sapiens) with the apes. To fill this gap evolutionists have set forth Homo erectus, who lived approximately 400,000 to 1.6 million years ago (Johanson and Shreeve1989). Although the distinctions are somewhat vague, below the neck, Homo sapiens and Homo erectus are practically Identical and Homo erectus was responsible for pioneering the use of standard tools (such as the hand axe), big-game hunting, and the use of fire (Johanson and Shreeve1989).

Back in the Stone Age, the early man created tools to help them do everyday tasks they needed to survive. In document #2, figure 2 shows a variety of tools and weapons created by early man such as bows, arrows, and spear throwers and so on. The materials needed to make these include bones, antlers, and teeth because they were durable. Some types of tools that early man made was sharper blades for hunting, fishhooks for fishing, and needles for sewing. In document #5, a picture shows a group of people doing tasks to help out with the community. One woman is crafting fur/skin into clothes, another woman is taking care of a child and the men are hunting for food. Without tools, these tasks would take a longer time to accomplish and would be even harder to do. Depending on the group, the cultures could be different, which could effect on how they make a

These stone tool might have served as a chopper, useful in cutting wood, cracking nuts, or breaking open bones for their marrow.One advance was the development of composite tools, like the spear.To maintain a successful Hunting/Gathering economy, these early modern humans had to be mobile. That is, they had to be able to relocate often and quickly. Hunter/Gatherers could not afford to gather possessions. They had no pack animals to help them carry loads

According to “Decoding Neanderthals’ they were consider primitive; without language and art or a high level of thinking. These species hunted by brute force with a simple stone tool. Also, that their intellect cannot be associated or compared with modern humans because their behavior was too way primitive. They began to disappear 40,000 years ago as modern humans came on the scene, stated by “Decoding Neanderthals” documentary movie. However, according to the genetic evidence shows a mysterious presence related with the modern humans genes. Neanderthal’s psychical features demonstrate some facts that these Homo species possessed intelligence. For example, big noses, bulky physiques-adaptation to cold, shorter than Homo sapiens, but bones were thicker, oblique forehead and heavy eyebrows. Also, often Neanderthal’s craniums are larger than modern humans. They had larger ankle joint, elbow joint and shorter forearm, broader ribcage and lower cranium. They were the most advanced group of primates, except modern humans. Neanderthals weren’t fewer intelligent than modern people; they had clothes and had some kind of language. Neanderthal living space showed complex use of the instrument, abstract thoughts and speech, burial of their dead and manufactured primitive art objects. Some stereotypes against these species are that they had limited stone tools and no art or personal ornaments; therefore they seemed less advanced than modern humans. Also, stereotyping their intelligence

The most recent ancestor to the modern human, Homo neanderthalensis existed between 300,000 and 35,000 years ago. Originating in Africa, ancestors of the early Neanderthals migrated northwards almost 800,000 years ago. These migrants colonized much of the Old World with the majority based in Europe and small groups scattered throughout the Middle East and Asia. Historically, the Neanderthals were among the most resiliant creatures to exist on Earth. As a population, they thrived during the European ice age 40,000 years ago. This ice age enveloped the majority of Northern and Central Europe and due to their physique were the Neanderthals were able to surive. Physcially, the Neanderthals were larger and more muscular than today’s human

It's widely agreed by scientists that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens (modern man) are different species. However, it's thought that 1.5 - 2.1% of DNA from anyone born outside of Africa is Neanderthal which means that they co-existed and interbred with our Homo sapien ancestors approximately 35,000 years ago. Researchers say, the only human ancestors who didn't interbreed with Neanderthals were sub-Saharan Africans. Neanderthals typically lived in Europe and Asia up until approximately 33,000 BC when they are said to have become extinct. They lived during the Ice Age and can be considered as early cave men who are likely to have been covered in hair and had an ape like appearance very similar to the conventional perception of Bigfoot. Their eyes and brains were larger than those of Homo sapiens but they were sophisticated enough to carry tools, make fire and bury their dead. One scientific explanation as to why the Neanderthals died out is climate change, More likely, they were unable to compete with the better adapted early humans who either killed them, took over their land or interbred with them and they were absorbed into our

The upbringing of Neanderthal children is believed by some scientists to have been harsh. High activity levels and frequent periods of scarcity form part of the basis for this interpretation. However, such trials in childhood may not be distinctive from the normal experiences of early modern human children, or those of hunter-gatherers in particularly cold environments. There is a crucial distinction to be made between a harsh childhood and a childhood lived in a harsh environment. Anatomical analyses of Neanderthal long bones have revealed that survival depended on adapting to high levels of activity and a rugged terrain. However, there is little to distinguish Neanderthal physical stamina from that of early modern humans. Both populations

The Neanderthals lived in areas ranging from Western Europe through central Asia from about 200,000 to between 36,000 and 24,000 years ago. The Neanderthals lived in groups of 30 to 50 individuals, they invented many of the tool types that were to be perfected by fully sapient peoples, they had weapons adequate to deal with both the cave lion and cave bear, they used body paint, buried their dead. Neanderthal Man survived through the Ice Age. They are thought to have had fire. Neanderthals lived side by side with modern humans for over 10,000 years.

If Neanderthals did in fact comport themselves in ways once thought to distinguish anatomically modern humans and enable the latter’s rise to world domination, that similarity makes the Neanderthals’ decline and eventual extinction all the more mystifying. One theory is that H. sapiens had a broader variety of tools that may have enhanced their ability to forage. When they brought their superior technology with them out of Africa and into Eurasia, they were thus better able to exploit the environment more effectively than the resident Neanderthals could. Still, the arrival of H. sapiens did not equal an instant demise for Neanderthals. The latest attempt to track their decline, carried out by Thomas Higham of Oxford and his colleagues, applied

They were found in Africa 600-200kya, Asia 200-130kya, and European 800-200kya. They had big cranial capacity. They were using Acheulean tools. They led to the development of Neanderthal, the closed ancestor of modern human. They occupied the continents from 130-30kya. There fossils were excavated in Neander Valley, Germany in 1856 by C. Fuhlrott. Their cranial and postcranial features were close to the modern human. They had thin cranial bone, which the capacity was about 1500cc; barrel-chested; and short distal limb segment. Neanderthal climate had changed significantly to cold weather. According to Bergmann’s and Allen’s rule, populations living in cold climates tend to have larger body (trunk) sizes and shorter extremities than those living in warm regions (“Human Biological Adaptability: Adapting to Climate Extremes”). Neanderthals developed Mousterian Tool Industry with greater variety of more standardized tool type. The high quality raw material was occasionally used. They used tools for cutting plant material, meat, scraping hides, and sharping tools. Sometimes, shaped bone was used as raw material. Those tools were stable over time and space. There are some new evidences that the Neanderthal had showed the artistic expression. At more than 39,000 years old, the etchings rival in age the oldest cave art in Europe — and they are the first to be unquestionably done by a Neanderthal (Rodríguez-Vidal, J. et

While the production of tools can be done by other primates, such as chimpanzees, it is nowhere near as complex as man-made tools. Other primates repurpose objects without actually creating anything. Humans can create advanced tools and use them for multiple purposes. The most basic stone tools have been dated to 2.3 million years ago in Lokalalei, Kenya. Humans started hunting large animals with wooden spears around 500,000 years ago.

In the film, Neanderthals on Trial, numerous questions are presented regarding where Neanderthals fit into our evolutionary history. Were they ancestors to modern humans or were they an evolutionary dead end? Are they physically similar enough to be considered humans? Did their level of intelligence match ours or was it inferior? The film provides information on the evidence found to support their assumptions about who the Neanderthals were. There is debate between those who believe Neanderthals were a different species and those who believe they are a subspecies of humans. Despite some anthropologists believing the Neanderthals are not a species of humans, there is evidence supporting that they are, through DNA analysis, as well as analysis of cranial features, stone tools, and behavior, as depicted in the film.

Throughout the documentary “Decoding Neanderthals” there was a push of research to push the human view of Neanderthals. Over the year’s research showed that we coexisted with Neanderthals and out beat their species. Many believed that Neanderthals where like the stereotypical unintelligent and wild caveman. With new technology, enhanced research, and the exposing documentary “Decoding Neanderthals” pushed the boundaries of these past ideologies. Through this we have learned how intelligent, symbolic, and closely related this species is to homo-sapiens species. This research proved that the Neanderthal may have not became extent due to in ability to create weapons but, due to inter breading with humans

The first Neanderthal fossils found in Europe, a fragmented child’s cranium in Belgium in 1830, and an adult cranium in Gibraltar, were not immediately recognized as a divergent kind of human. Only in 1856 after a partial skeleton was found in a cave in the Neander Valley in Germany it became clear that these fossils belonged to an extinct human and our closest evolutionary relative (Hublin and Pääbo, 2006). Since then, questions about their relationship with modern humans have been fiercely debated between anthropologists. But what attracts most interest from scientists and popular media is the possibility of hybridization between Neanderthals and modern humans if, in other words, they were a genetically different specie or a

Homo habilis is thought to have mastered the Lower Paleolithic Olduwan tool set which used stone flakes. These stone flakes were more advanced than any tools previously used, and gave H. habilis the edge it needed to prosper in hostile environments previously too formidable for primates.