Human Origins

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Human Origins

• Unit 1 - Foundations

Theories on prehistory and early man constantly
change as new evidence comes to light. - Louis
Leakey, British paleoanthropologist
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OBJECTIVES

• Differentiate between myths and history regarding
  human origins.
• Identify human culture.
• Start thinking in a global perspective.
• Begin working with the habits of mind.

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Essential Questions

• How do paleoanthropologists interpret the past?
• What images of humankind are represented in the
  creation stories?
• What did Charles Darwins contribute to the field
  of paleoanthropology?

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Creation Myths
Myths interpretive stories of the past. Cannot
be verified historically. Deep moral message.

• Enuma Elish 2,000 BCE - Akkad in Mesopotamia
• Rigveda 1,000 BCE - India
• The Book of Genesis 1,400 1,600 BCE
  Mesopotamia

All oral tales passed down through generations
until finally written down
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Lets take a look at some creation myths!
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Enuma Elish - Mesopotamia

• Tiamat and Kingu revolt against the other
  Mesopotamian dieties.
• Mesopotamian dieties call upon Marduk for help.
• Marduk dismembers Tiamat and Kingu.
• Victorious gods made humans out of the blood of
  the defeated.

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Rigveda Hindu

• Emphasizes the mystical qualities of life and of
  human origins.
• Humans are part of nature.
• All humans are not equal.

• Caste system.
• The giant man, Purusha was dismembered by god.
• Indra and Agni came from his mouth.

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The Book of Genesis Jewish/Christian

• God created heaven and earth from nothing.
• Then god made light, darkness, water, dry land,
  plants, birds, fish, sun, moon, and stars.
• Humans are the final crowning achievement of
  gods creativity.
• Humans are special and were created in gods
  image.
• Humans rule over all other creatures.

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Edda Norse Creation

• Originally there was a chasm with fire on one
  side and ice on the other
• Where fire and ice combined the mist formed a
  giant named Ymir and a cow to feed him
• The cow fed by licking salty ice blocks until one
  day, a man named Buri appeared.

• Buris grandson Odin killed Ymir
• From Ymir's dead body, Odin created the world.
  Ymir's blood was the sea his flesh, the earth
  his skull, the sky his bones, the mountains etc
• Bors sons create man and woman from driftwood
  found on the beach

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Evolutionary Explanations

• By the mid 18th century an intellectual movement
  had begun.
• Scientific method called for direct observation.

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Darwin and Wallace
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Darwin and Wallace (2)

• Established the theory of biological evolution of
  species stating that similar species were in fact
  related to each other, not separate creations.

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Darwin Goes Solo!

• 1859 On the Origin of Species by Means of
  Natural Selection.
• The better adapted to survival an organism was,
  the greater chance it had of surviving and
  passing that trait on to offspring.
• Known as natural selection or survival of the
  fittest.

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problems

• It rejected the authority of religious texts.
• No Teleology Natural selection states that
  organisms survive because they are more fit,
  not because they are more special.do our lives
  have purpose?

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FOSSILS

• Fossils Rock!!

Appearing in the order in which they were
unearthed!!
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Early Humans

• Existence of humans and human-like creatures
  (HOMONIDS) traced to over 4 million years ago.

• Radiocarbon dating is used to date once living
  things
• DNA used to track changes over time

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Neanderthal 200,000 BCE

• The Missing Link 1856 CE Thomas Huxley.
• Could make a variety of tools.
• Survived in challenging environments.
• Maintained family bonds.
• Lived in groups.
• First to have ritual burials.
• Further studiesnot THE missing link

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Homo Erectus1,600,000 BCE The Worldwide
Wanderer

• The most widespread of all hominids (Africa,
  Europe, Asia,..etc)
• Java Man 1891 CE E. DuBois.
• Used fire for light and cooking.
• Beijing Man Chinese discovery
• Brain size keeps getting smaller

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Australopithecus Africanus4 M 1 M BCE

• 1924 medical student finds fossils in South
  Africa.
• 1959 Louis Leakey - Olduvai Gorge
  Australopithecus boisei Zinj -1.7 M.
• First hominid to walk upright.
• Studies now involve paleoanthropology, the study
  of the tools, species and plants included in the
  locale of each find

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Homo Habilis 2.5 M 1.5 M

• Louis and Mary Leakey Handy Man
• Lived side by side with Zinj.
• Hunter and scavenger.
• Features opposable thumbs, upright, and bipedal.
• First to make stone tools.
• Brain capacity 700 g

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Australopithecus Afarensis3.2 M 3.5 M

• Discovered by Johanson in 1974
• Hadar, Ethiopia
• Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
• 39 and 60 lbs.
• Human-like hands.
• No evidence of tools.
• Curved arms.
• Brain capacity 400 g

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The latestSahelanthropus tchadensis

• 2001 - Toumai
• Discovered in Chad
• Moves date of earliest hominid to 6-7 million
  years ago!

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Modern Man has only been around about 200,000 yrs
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The Debate over African Origins

• Multi-regionalists vs- Out of Africa
• Both sides agree that racial differences are
  simply adaptations to climate and are superficial

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Global Migration

• Reasons for migration dont change
• Push?
• Pull?

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The Genetic Record

• Differences and similarities in DNA proteins
  suggest similar ancestry.
• EXAMPLE Modern humans are 97 the same as
  chimpanzees
• We had a common ancestor until about 6 million
  yrs ago
• Tends to support the Out of Africa theory

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• the search continues.

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What happened to all of the other hominids?

• Defeated others via aggression, warfare, and
  plain murder.
• There was probably mating among species which
  created the new human.
• Homo sapiens sapiens filled the ecological niche
  and displaced the other hominids

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homo sapiens sapiens

• Modern humans who originated in Eastern Africa
• Came into contact with Neanderthals Homo
  Erectus were the only ones left after awhile

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homo sapiens sapiens

• Burst of creativity 100,000 years ago
• Homo sapiens sapiens developed symbolic
  expression, had spiritual beliefs (burial
  ceremonies), and creative artwork.

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HUMANS CREATE CULTURE

• By the time Homo sapiens had evolved, cultural
  creativity trumped biology as the default method
  for coping with nature.
• Humans began to want to control nature rather
  than to just survive within nature.

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The seven creative behaviors of Homo sapiens
sapiens

• Persistence
• Migration
• Base camps
• Improved tools / technology
• Art
• Language
• Domestication of plants and animals

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Key Stages in Human Development
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Changes in the Toolkit

• Presents clearest evidence of human development
• Homo habilis began cultural adaptations by
  developing simple tools
• 2.5 M 150,000 BCE hand-held axe.
• 250,000 BCE side scrapers and backed knives
  standardized size
• 40,000 BCE narrow blades of stone, and blades
  made from ivory, bone, and antler.

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Not All Tools are Created Equal

• Not always created for food or labor.
• EXAMPLE bone flute was made for musical
  entertainment high aesthetic value.

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Stone Ages, Etc.

• Paleolithic 2.5 million to 12,000 B.C.
• (Old Stone Age)
• Mesolithic 12,000 to 8,000 B.C.
• (Middle Stone Age)
• Neolithic 8,000 B.C. to 5,000 B.C.
• (New Stone Age)
• Bronze circa 4,000 B.C. to 1,500 B.C.
• Iron Age circa 1,500 to 550 B.C

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Language!

• No physical evidence for language development
• Language began as soon as brain was large enough?
• Brain had to be reorganized for language?
• Language promoted development of concepts and
  reflective thought

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Cave Art and Portable Art

• Evidence of creativity, group process, and
  sharing of information.
• Paintings of humans, cave stenciling, limestone
  engravings, rock paintings, Venus figures are
  most common.
• Why was cave art placed so deeply into the
  recesses of the cave?

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Increased Population and New Settlements

• Early groups competed with one another for food
  and resources
• Hunter-gatherer tribes averaged five hundred,
  divided into bands
• Each band needed 77 square miles of unfertile
  land or 7-8 square miles of fertile land
• Movement to small settlements took advantage of
  water resources

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From Hunter-gatherer to FarmerNeolithic
Revolution!

• Began settling for longer periods of time.
• Began experimenting with seeds and planting
  cereal crops
• Domesticated dogs and sheep.
• Pressure of population expansion.
• 8,000 BCE almost all humans hunted and gathered.
• 2,000 years ago almost all farmed.

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Why the shift to agriculture?
The Last Ice Age ended
Meat spoiled quickly In warm weather
Large game animals died out
Food became scarce
People relied on more plant foods for survival
Grow their own and live in permanent settlements
to protect their crops!
Domesticate their own animals!
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The Development of AgricultureEffects
Farming settlements grew into villages
Villages practiced division of labor, enabling
some workers to specialize in useful crafts and
develop new technology
Productivity rose
People acquired more goods
Life made relatively easier
Demand for goods led to an increase in trade
idea of private property
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The Growth of Cities

• That leads us into chapter two!!
• Primary legacy of early hominids
• migration, tools, grouping, language, art,
  farming, and the desire to control their
  environment.