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
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.
timeline of modern humans, Homo sapiens, and how long they have been in existence. According to mainstream science, popular belief holds that the history of our species is confirmed to be confined to the past 12,000 years. This figure is a culmination based on what we know about evolution and what we have been able to gather through fossil analyzation and dating of artifacts as well as human remains. Although the subject of human antiquity, also referred to as human origins, does not prompt a great deal of debate there may actually be the need for some. A reexamination of the notion that humans have only existed a mere 12,000 years should be considered as there may be evidence to support a much greater antiquity of modern human life. Alternative researchers have offered up evidence of “forbidden archeology” that contradicts the mainstream beliefs of human origins, however these discoveries seem to have been swept under the scientific rug.
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.
One of the most astonishing things on earth is the human body. They consist of many organs that work together to maintain the person alive. The humans body composition is complex, but what was the origin? How did we become who we are today? These are the questions that intrigued me, and allowed me to understand how the human body evolved over the years. By the examination of our ancestors, and our body we will understand how we look today.
Chapter 7 revolves around beginnings of human research into the idea of evolution and an introduction of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. This chapter has given us, as students, more knowledge and insight into the topic of evolution. Since we were little kids, we always thought of evolution as the theory that establishes the link between humans and monkeys or that the phrase “Survival of the fittest” meant that the strongest always prevailed over the weak. However, this chapter has given us more detailed knowledge and background information about evolution, allowing us to lift these rumors and myths from our minds.
This chapter starts off by explaining the evolution of the first human ancestors, which originated around seven million years ago. Historians and scientists were able to conclude that the closest living relatives of humans are the gorilla, bonobo, and the chimpanzee. All humans from the start originated and evolved in Africa. Of the many evolutionary stages of humans, Homo erectus was the first to migrate outward into other areas. Neanderthals have constantly been portrayed as unintelligent, desolate, and inconsiderate creatures, from past and present points of perspective, but evidence from archeological digs show they essentially cared for their sick and buried their dead. "The Great Leap Forward" is what Jared Diamond calls the earliest signs or evidence of uniform tools, bone tools, jewelry, and much more. This great leap was estimated to be around 50,000 years ago. Around the same period, hominids began to spread to New Guinea and Australia. As hominids adapted to their new surroundings, large animal species were wiped out because they weren’t evolved to defend themselves against hominids and other predators. The extinction of many large animal species in Eurasia occurred shortly after
In this chapter, Diamond examines if humans on one continent had an advantage over others by examining the evolution and spread of humans to other continents. Diamond first examines human origin around 7 million years ago when a population of African apes evolved into some of the earliest humans. This evolutionary process occurred and remained in Africa until around 1.5 million years ago when Homo erectus spread beyond Africa. By about .5 million years ago, human populations had differentiated with Neanderthals in Europe, relatively modern structured humans in Africa, and humans different from both in East Asia. It wasn’t until 50,000 years ago when biologically and behaviorally modern humans ,the Cro-Magnons , appeared did humans advanced from crude stone tools to multipiece tools, sewn clothing, arts, and boats.
Humans have been on earth for five to seven million years. About the same time as human like apes first to walk on two legs. 2.5 years later they began to make to stone tools. Half a million years later they started moving to new places like Asia and Europe. But not all of our ancestors left Africa. The ones that stayed in Africa 130,000 years later had the brain the size of modern day humans. The question still remains when, where, and how they became functional humans. ''It's the hot issue, and we all have different positions,'' said Dr. John E. Yellen. Archaeologists think that humans started acting like modern humans about 40,000 years ago. Their theory is based off of when they found magnificent cave. Some archaeologists think that this
Evolutionary theory, perhaps the first thought is a horizontal line of a monkey walking through a five-step evolutionary process of becoming a human. Most people have a somewhat similar idea when they think about evolutionary theory. From what I have learned thus far in Archaeology is there is more to evolutionary theory than what one would have previously thought.
Human evolution is the process of change by which people originate from apelike ancestor. Behavior traits and scientific evidence show that people are originate from apelike ancestor. Humans first evolved in Africa, and much of human evolution occurred on that continent. The process of evolution involves a series of natural changes that cause species to arise, adapt to the environment, and become extinct. All African early hominids—small australopithecines as well as the very tall Homo erectus have absolute body breadths within the modern human tropical-subtropical range; variations in relative body linearity is due almost entirely to variations in stature (Ruff, 1991).All species have originated through the process of biological evolution. Scientists classify each species with a scientific name. For modern humans, they are classified as Homo sapiens. Physical and genetic similarities show that the modern human species, Homo sapiens, has a very close relationship with the apes.
The study of human prehistory provides a gap in time in which we could observe and compare past and present humans, because of this understanding of prehistory is not only relevant, but vital to study and observe the whole family tree of the modern human so that we can fully understand are existence. Reasons why is so important to study the hominin evolution is that biologically we are the same organism with a few adaption’s throughout the different evolutions. Our oldest organism dates back as far as 7 million years ago. As we excavate and discover more cave art, artifacts, and skeletal bodies of past ancestors, we learn and realize more about
Evolution is the change of an organism, over time the organism have change to be more adapted to the environment that they are surrounded in order to live. By evolve that mean that their structure will change, for an example, their skeleton structure however the ancestor skeleton structure are some what similar to the more recent organisms. For instant, fossil is a great example for evolution, fossil is the remains of organisms that use to be alive, when scientist examine the fossil they found that there are similarities between related living organism. There are other evidence for evolution which are homologous structures, analogous structures, and vestigial structures. Homologous is when it have a similar structure but different
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.”
Humans have existed on Earth for approximately 3.4 million years. The oldest known human ancestor is "Lucy," an Australopithecus. Over this extensive period of time, humans have evolved significantly. Homo Sapiens have grown from 3 to almost 6 feet (average), lost most of the body hair, became leaner and adapted to walking. Humans have come a long way, from Australopithecus to Homo sapiens, from living in trees to living in cities. Slowly, through hundreds of thousands of years, we mutated over and over again, natural selection ensuring that no destructive mutations continue. From the slow evolution, four distinctive species emerged and died out, each giving way to its ' descendant: Homo Habilis, Homo Erectus, Homo Sapiens Neanderthalesis, and Homo sapiens Sapiens.
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.