From: Glenn Morton (glenn.morton@btinternet.com)
Date: Sun Aug 25 2002 - 22:29:04 EDT
The question of when hominid became Man is one that has facinated me for a
long time. Each new discovery pushes back the date for rather interesting
behaviors among ancient hominids--activities which were believed to require
higher intelligence are continually found earlier and earlier. We also see
a gradual improvement in technology over the past 2 million years making it
difficult to cite some particular point in the anthropological record as
being the point at which mankind suddenly appeared. Indeed, the difference
in technology between 21st century peoples and the technologically most
primitive people merely 200 years ago is stark. To claim that technology or
some particular piece of durable technology marks humanity would exclude
many we know are among the family of Man. Such technologies as toolmaking,
art, creativity, speed of technological change, and many other items have
been claimed to be the mark of man. Each in their turn has fallen as an
indicator because we find earlier hominids (whom we prefer not to call
human) engaged in such behavior or because we find that other animals do it.
Last Fall there was a discovery at Dmanisi, Georgia, which once again
knocked down a preconception of the abilities of earlier hominids and has
the implications of altering the definition of Homo sapiens. In this
particular case, most outside of anthropology will not fully understand the
full force of the argument so I will try to explain.
The hominid record is populated by species which display anatomical
differences. These are australopithecus, H. habilis, H. rudolfensis etc. The
current view is that Homo erectus was the first hominid with the technology
and physical abilities to enable them to leave Africa. The physical ability
included long legs and the intelligence to adapt to varied climate. Indeed
H. erectus is found over a wide area of the the Old World almost
simultaneously. That along with the fact that all earlier hominids had
been found only in Africa gave rise to the idea that they didn't have the
intelligence or ability to travel outside of Africa..
The discovery at Dmanisi has shattered this view for a variety of reasons.
The latest National Geographic has an article on the discovery. The new
skull resembles H. habilis more than erectus. THere are two facts which are
amazing about this. First, he is found outside of Africa and secondly, he is
found in the same strata as two H. erectus skulls. It is believed that they
were a population. Obviously, something that resembles an habilis, found
outside of Africa, implies that they were smarter than previously believed.
Gore writes:
ìThe face of the newest Dmanisi skull suggests something far more primitive.
As reconstructed here, it resembled chimplike Homo habilis, a 2.5-to
1.6-million-year-old hominid with long arms and short legsóproportions some
have thought better suited for life in the trees than trekking from Africa.
It had a thin brow, a small nose, and a brain less than half as large as a
modern humanís.î Rick Gore, ìThe First Pioneer?:Profile of a Trailblazer,î
National Geographic, August 2002, No page number 3rd page of article
ìAnd the tiny brain of the Dmanisi skull? Scientists may be forced to
reexamine the connection between brain size and intelligence. ëThereís no
reason to downgrade these early Georgians on the IQ scale,í says Philip
Rightmire. ëThey took a long hike, and they made it.í Maybe, says Rightmire,
brain size by itself doesnít matter, and Iís instead the ratio of gray
matter to the rest of the body that determines intelligence. In other words,
these small-brained humans might have done more with less.î Rick Gore, ìThe
First Pioneer? National Geographic, August 2002, No page number 9th page of
article
ìThe new find at Dmanisi complicates most models for Homo erectus using its
brave new brain to march into Eurasia. Homo erectus in Java and China was
heavier and more robust than it was in Africa. Moreover, Asian erectus did
not have hand axes. So, itís possible that Dmanisi stock somewhere in Asia
and then moved back to Africa. Maybe there were multiple migrations back and
forth.î Rick Gore, ìThe First Pioneer? National Geographic, August 2002, No
page number 9th page of article
Concerning this population, Gore writes that it suggests that there aren't
as many species as the some anthropologists believe. He says:
ìFossils from as many as six individuals have been discovered in the same
1.8-1.7-million-year-old layer of sediment at Dmanisi since 1991. They seem
to belong to the same species, even though they range in size from
gargantuan (a well worn mandible, below center) to relatively small (the new
skull, above center). If individuals this varied could belong to the same
species, then the most common version of the Homo family tree (top) may have
to be redrawn. Perhaps all species after Homo habilis should be lumped
together as two variable species. Homo erectus and H. sapiens.î Rick Gore,
ìThe First Pioneer?: Boning up on a New Genealogy?,î National Geographic,
August 2002, No page number 4th page of article
This could simplify taxonomy
ìThe new find at Dmanisi complicates most models for Homo erectus using its
brave new brain to march into Eurasia. Homo erectus in Java and China was
heavier and more robust than it was in Africa. Moreover, Asian erectus did
not have hand axes. So, itís possible that Dmanisi stock somewhere in Asia
and then moved back to Africa. Maybe there were multiple migrations back and
forth.î Rick Gore, ìThe First Pioneer? National Geographic, August 2002, No
page number 9th page of article
If there was migration back and forth, from Asia back into Africa, then that
is the perfect description of multiregionalism. Gore further writes:
ìMaybe, suggests Milford Wolpoff of the University of
Michigan, we should
scrap the idea of Homo erectus entirely and simply say that everything after
Homo habilis is Homo sapiens. The remarkable variability of the specimens
found at Dmanisi may support this radical revision of Homoís genealogy.î
Rick Gore, ìThe First Pioneer? National Geographic, August 2002, No page
number 9th page of article
People should realize that there is a perfect gradational series between H.
erectus and modern humans. The only real changes are in the skull. Below
the neck, H. erectus was almost exactly like us--only minor differences.
Thus, if this new data is carried to its logical conclusion, we may be in
the same species as hominids 2.5 million years ago.
Many Christian apologists are simply burying their heads in the sand when it
comes to anthropological data or worse, they are ignoring the data
altogether. We act as if only our morphology is worthy of being called human
and that is a mistake many of our ancestors made when they first found that
there were a different looking group of people inhabiting the New World. It
took 3 papal encyclicals granting humanity to the Indians before many took
it seriously. We simply like to exclude those who look different when in
fact they may not be different.
glenn
see http://www.glenn.morton.btinternet.co.uk/dmd.htm
for lots of creation/evolution information
anthropology/geology/paleontology/theology\
personal stories of struggle
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