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The Dry Bones Speak

2. The Dry Bones Speak Human Origins in Myth and History Early Myths
“Myth” is an interpretative story with a moral message that cannot be verified historically
One of earliest myths is Enuma Elish (Mesopotamia), dating to approximately 2000 B.C.E.
Rigveda (India) dates to 1000 B.C.E.
Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible
All define creation and the role of people

4. The Dry Bones Speak Human Origins in Myth and History
The Evolutionary Explanation
Drawn from direct observations from the 18th century
Relied on the scientific method
The most influential theorists were Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace
Rejected the simultaneous creation of all species in favor of the cumulative creation of species, which reflected natural selection

5. Human ancestors. Fossil remains of the earliest direct human ancestors, Australopithecus and Homo habilis, dating from 1 million to 5 million years ago, have been found only in tropical Africa. The unique soil and climatic conditions there have preserved the fossils. Homo erectus remains, from 1.5 million years ago, are the earliest to be found outside Africa. They, along with Homo sapiens, have been found throughout Eurasia.

6. The Dry Bones Speak The Evolutionary Explanation The New Challenges
Changes in species not the result of a grand teleological design with ethical goals but that reflected improved ability to survive and reproduce
Newer organisms that were simply “fit” to survive
These organisms evolved from earlier forms of life rather than as the result of a separate creation
Darwin’s The Descent of Man cements evolutionary explanation in 1871

7. The Dry Bones Speak Fossils and Fossil Hunters
The Puzzling Neanderthals
Found in 1856, they were identified as the missing link between humans and ape ancestors
Research suggests Neanderthals made tools and adapted to changing climates
May also have been cannibals
More discoveries showed that Neanderthals were not the missing link

8. The Dry Bones Speak Fossils and Fossil Hunters
Homo Erectus: A Worldwide Wanderer
Earliest discoveries of this species were in Java and China
Similarities among archaeological finds led to the designation of homo erectus
Few initial ideas of the relationship among the finds led early experts to regard each find as a separate species

11. The Dry Bones Speak Fossils and Fossil Hunters
The Search Shifts to Africa
Louis Leakey made a major breakthrough in understanding based on skeletal findings in the Olduvai Gorge in East Africa (after 1959)
Studies now involve paleoanthropology, the study of the tools, species and plants included in the locale of each find

12. The Dry Bones Speak Fossils and Fossil Hunters Homo habilis
Name means “handy person”
Existed 1.5 million to 2.5 million years ago
Possessed opposable thumbs
Walked in upright position

13. The Dry Bones Speak Fossils and Fossil Hunters
Australopithecus afarensis was discovered in 1974 by Donald Johnson; the first find was named “Lucy” and dates to 3.2 million years ago
Ardipithecus ramidus was discovered in 1994; the skeleton dates to 4.4 million years ago
Recent discovery of “Toumai” moves date of earliest hominid to 6-7 million years ago.

14. The Dry Bones Speak Fossils and Fossil Hunters
Debate Over African Origins
Multiregionalists argue that Homo sapiens evolved after emigration of Homo erectus out of Africa
Out-of-Africa proponents believe Homo sapiens evolved in Africa and then migrated to rest of world
Both sides agree that racial differences are simply adaptations to climate and are superficial

15. The candelabra, or multiregional, model
The candelabra, or multiregional, model. This suggests that Homo erectus emigrated from Africa throughout Europe and Asia and developed into Homo sapiens separately in all three regions. Some interbreeding did take place.

16. The Noah’s Ark model. This suggests that Homo erectus did emigrate from Africa, but then died out everywhere else. The evolution to Homo sapiens took place only among those that remained in Africa—who later emigrated to Europe and Asia.

17. The human “bush.” Popular thought usually imagines a straight-line development from apes to humans, but anthropologists speak of a human “bush,” a variety of interacting and inter-breeding species that finally produced Homo sapiens. Most anthropological models see Ardipithecus ramidus and Australopithecus afarensis as the first steps in the branching-apart of humans from apes about 5 million years ago. One line of further evolution led toward modern Homo sapiens. All the other hominid forms, those in our own line and those in other lines, subsequently became extinct.

18. The Dry Bones Speak Fossils and Fossil Hunters
Reading the Genetic Record
Study of genetics rather than fossils largely supports Out-of-Africa theorists
Genetic dating suggests that humans, gorillas and chimpanzees shared common ancestors until 5-7 million years ago

19. The Dry Bones Speak Fossils and Fossil Hunters
The Theory of Scientific Revolution
Thomas Kuhn’s theory of normal science and paradigm shift fits well with developing understanding of evolution
The paradigm shift was Darwin’s theory of evolution
Subsequent paleoanthropological findings represent additions achieved through “normal science”

22. The Dry Bones Speak Humans Create Culture
Biological Evolution and Cultural Creativity
Homo habilis began cultural adaptations by developing simple tools
Additional developments of tools, rituals, art, language, settlements and concepts mean that today culture is more important than biology in determining how humans cope with nature
Cultural evolution may have been encouraged by biology due to brain development

23. The Dry Bones Speak Humans Create Culture
Biological Evolution and Cultural Creativity
Cultural transmission tied to infant need for long-term nurturing
Burst of creativity 100,000 years ago has led scientists to identify today’s people as Homo sapiens sapiens
This new subspecies is distinctive for its symbolic expression that is spiritual and cultural in nature

24. The Dry Bones Speak Humans Create Culture How Did Humans Survive?
Three explanations for success of Homo sapiens sapiens success over other hominids
Aggression, warfare and murder
Mating and reproduction
Success in competition for ecological niches

25. Early humans in the Ice Age
Early humans in the Ice Age. By 20,000 years ago, when ice covered much of Europe and much of Canada, virtually the whole world (except Polynesia) had been colonized. Early humans were able to spread north because water frozen into ice sheets reduced sea levels so much that land bridges appeared, linking most major areas. The cold was intense, and the migrants’ survival depended on their ability to stitch together animal hides into primitive clothing, control fire, and hunt large mammals.

26. The Dry Bones Speak Humans Create Culture Global Migration
Modern humans spread out from Africa to Europe and Asia between 90,000 and 120,000 years ago
Migrations were stimulated by climate change
Ice ages lowered water levels and made migration easier

27. The colonization of the Pacific
The colonization of the Pacific. The land bridges of the last Ice Age enabled early humans to spread south from China to Java and Borneo. There some knowledge of navigation was required to cross the Banda Sea to New Guinea and Australia. The most spectacular voyages were undertaken by the Polynesians, who journeyed hundreds and thousands of miles by canoe into the uncharted Pacific waters.

28. The Dry Bones Speak Humans Create Culture
Increased Population and New Settlements
Early groups competed with one another for ecological niches
Hunter-gatherer tribes probably averaged five hundred, divided into nineteen bands
Each band needed 7-8 square miles of fertile or 77 square miles of unfertile land
Movement to small settlements took advantage of water resources

29. The Dry Bones Speak Humans Create Culture Language and Communication
No physical evidence for language development
Language began as soon as brain was large enough?
Brain had to be reorganized for language?
Language is both a biological and cultural development
Language promoted development of concepts and reflective thought

30. The Dry Bones Speak Humans Create Culture
Agriculture: From Hunter-Gatherer to Farmer
Began as experimentation with plants near settlements
Humans had ability to farm 12,000-17,000 years ago
Permanent sources of food were crucial to decision to farm
Population pressure may have added to impetus
Actual use of extensive agriculture began 10,000 years ago

31. The Dry Bones Speak Prehistory: What Difference Does It Make?
Myth and Science are partners in this analysis
Analysis is an example of “normal science” in action
Legacies of this period include a) migration; b) tools; c) formation of ever larger groups; d) communication through language; e) self-expression through art; and f) shifting between acceptance and attempted control of nature

32. Early tools. Many of the earliest human tools were crafted from stone and show increasing sophistication. The “tool kits” shown here are named for the four different locations in which they were found. At first, humans simply chipped away at stone until edges and points were exposed. Later they began to carve the stone to meet more specific needs. The development took 100,000 years.

33. Typical Ban Po dwelling

34. Farming in China. Evidence of the earliest established agriculture in east Asia is found in the arid but fertile regions of north central China, along the central reaches of the Huang He (Yellow River). Villages such as Ban Po grew up on the floodplain, rich in alluvial and loess deposits, where drought-resistant plants such as millet could be cultivated.