How old is Homo Sapiens actually? "Homo sapiens": how man actually came about

Difficulties of classification

There would seem to be no problem in classifying the species of animal known as Homo sapiens sapiens (reasonable man) should not arise. It would seem, what could be simpler? It belongs to the chordates (subphylum vertebrates), to the class of mammals, to the order of primates (humanoids). In more detail, his family is hominids. So, his race is human, his species is intelligent. But the question arises: how is it different from others? At least from the same Neanderthals? Were extinct species of humans really that unintelligent? Can a Neanderthal be called a distant but direct ancestor of man of our time? Or maybe these two species existed in parallel? Did they interbreed and produce joint offspring? Until work is done to study the genome of these mysterious Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, there will be no answer to this question.

Where did the Homo sapiens species originate?

Most scientists believe that the common ancestor of all people, both modern and extinct Neanderthals, appeared in Africa. There, during the Miocene era (this is approximately six or seven million years ago), a group of species separated from hominids, which subsequently evolved to the genus Homo . First of all, the basis for this point of view was the discovery of the oldest remains of a man called Australopithecus. But soon other finds were discovered ancient people- Sinanthropa (in China) and Homo heidelbergensis (in Europe). Were these varieties of the same genus?

Were they all ancestors of modern humans or dead-end branches of evolution? One way or another, Homo sapiens appeared much later - forty or forty-five thousand years ago, during the Paleolithic. And the revolutionary difference between homo sapiens and other hominids that move on their hind limbs was that he made tools. His ancestors, however, like some modern monkeys, only used improvised means.

Secrets of the family tree

Even 50 years ago, they taught in school that Homo sapiens descended from Neanderthals. He was often represented as a hairy half-animal, with a sloping skull and protruding jaw. And Homo Neanderthals, in turn, evolved from Pithecanthropus. his Soviet science depicted almost like a monkey: on half-bent legs, completely covered with hair. But if with this oldest ancestor Everything is more or less clear, but the relationship between Homo sapiens sapiens and Neanderthals is much more complicated. It turns out that both of these species existed for some time at the same time and even in the same territories. Thus, the hypothesis of the origin of Homo sapiens from Neanderthals requires additional evidence.

Did Homo neanderthalensis belong to the Homo sapiens species?

A more thorough study of the burials of this species showed that the Neanderthal was completely upright. In addition, these people had articulate speech, tools (stone chisels), religious cults (including funeral ones), and primitive art (jewelry). However, he was distinguished from modern man a number of features. For example, the absence of a chin protrusion, which suggests that the speech of such people was not sufficiently developed. The findings confirm the following facts: Neanderthal man arose one hundred and fifty thousand years ago and flourished until 35-30 thousand years BC. That is, this happened at a time when the species “Homo sapiens sapiens” had already appeared and clearly formed. The “Neanderthal” completely disappeared only during the era of the last glaciation (Wurmsky). What was the cause of his death (after all, the change climatic conditions affected only Europe), it’s hard to say. Perhaps the legend of Cain and Abel has deeper roots?

Homo sapiens, or Homo sapiens, has undergone many changes since its inception - both in the structure of the body and in social and spiritual development.

The emergence of people who had a modern physical appearance (type) and changed occurred in the Late Paleolithic. Their skeletons were first discovered in the Cro-Magnon Grotto in France, so people of this type were called Cro-Magnons. It was they who were characterized by a complex of all the main physiological characteristics, which are also typical for us. Compared to that of Neanderthals, they reached high level. Scientists consider the Cro-Magnons to be our direct ancestors.

For some time, this type of people existed simultaneously with the Neanderthals, who later died, since only the Cro-Magnons were sufficiently adapted to the conditions environment. It is with them stone tools labor goes out of use, and they are replaced by more skillfully crafted ones made from bone and horn. In addition, there is more types These tools - all kinds of drills, scrapers, harpoons and needles appear. This makes people more independent of climatic conditions and allows them to explore new territories. Homo sapiens also changes his behavior towards elders, a connection appears between generations - continuity of traditions, transfer of experience and knowledge.

To summarize the above, we can highlight the main aspects of the formation of the species Homo sapiens:

1. spiritual and psychological development which leads to self-knowledge and development abstract thinking. As a consequence, the emergence of art, as evidenced by cave drawings and paintings;
2. pronunciation of articulate sounds (the origin of speech);
3. thirst for knowledge to pass it on to their fellow tribesmen;
4. creation of new, more advanced tools;
5. which made it possible to tame (domesticate) wild animals and cultivate plants.

These events became important milestone in the development of man. It was they who allowed him not to depend on his environment and

even exercise control over some of its aspects. Homo sapiens continues to undergo changes, the most important of which becomes

Taking advantage of modern civilization, progress, man is still trying to establish power over the forces of nature: changing the flow of rivers, draining swamps, populating territories where life was previously impossible.

According to modern classification, the species “Homo sapiens” is divided into 2 subspecies - “Homo Idaltu” and “Human” This division into subspecies appeared after the discovery in 1997 of remains that had some similarities with the skeleton of modern humans anatomical features, in particular - the size of the skull.

According to scientific data, Homo sapiens appeared 70-60 thousand years ago, and during all this time of his existence as a species, he improved under the influence only of social forces, because no changes were found in the anatomical and physiological structure.

Sometimes it just begins to irritate when official science is silent or does not provide rational explanations for obvious facts. For example, how old species Homo Sapiens? Wikipedia officially provides data that “Comparison of mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms and dating of fossils allows us to conclude that Homo sapiens in the female line (from “Mitochondrial Eve” - a group of women who had the same Mitochondrial DNA in a species population of about 10-20 thousand individuals) appeared about 200,000 years ago,” and: “In 2003, remains were described that were approximately 160,000 years old (Pleistocene). The anatomical differences between the specimens prompted researchers to identify a new subspecies, Homo sapiens idaltu (“Elder”).”. That is, official science, if you believe the links provided in Wikipedia, now believes that the species Homo Sapiens is at least 160 - 200 thousand years old. But, at the same time, in the same Wikipedia, in the section “Cro-Magnon Man” (the closest ancestor of man), absolutely crazy data is given: "Cro-Magnons (French Homme de Cro-Magnon) are the early representatives of modern humans in Europe and partly beyond its borders, who lived 40-10 thousand years ago (Upper Paleolithic period)". Moreover, these figures are given not only in Wikipedia links, but also in many other sources, including foreign languages. I checked it myself. So they were completely stunned there or what? This even contradicts Darwin’s theory, so beloved by official science! Homo Sapiens has been around for about 200,000 years, but its closest ancestor, Homme de Cro-Magnon, is only 40,000 years old?! This has given rise to serious controversy today. on the forum thread on LJ MGER with user ryslav66 .
Moreover, such incidents happen all the time in our science. The reason is that many facts are either simply hushed up by official science or not fully systematized. Well, just a couple of days ago the material came out "Ancient pyramids discovered at the bottom of a lake in China." So the approximate age of those once above-ground structures is from 5,000 to 12,000 BC. Official science still cannot (or does not want) to explain how it happened that there are temple buildings of the same type in almost all corners Globe: from South America to Japan.
The same is true with the origin of man. Now there are many reliably studied artifacts that directly indicate that the species Homo Sapiens is not even 200,000 years old, as scientists have already begun to admit, but at least more than one million. Moreover, no one really knows how much. There are some absolutely sensational finds. Here is a link to a fully scientifically verified list of such artifacts: "The main human sites in the Paleolithic". Here, there is also interesting scientific material on the same topic: “Is man really three million years old?”. Also in the material "Who are the Cro-Magnons" Interesting data is also provided: "In Eastern and South Africa The roots of the Cro-Magnons can be traced back to earlier eras: they may have lived as early as 1.6 million years ago (archanthropic boy from Kenya). It is assumed that the ancestors of the Cro-Magnons - "proto-Cro-Magnons" - penetrated into the Middle East and Southern Europe during the last glaciation, about 100 thousand years ago."
There is also a whole list of recorded and, accordingly, genuine artifacts, which official science also stubbornly continues to hush up. There are materials on this topic: "10 Most Mysterious Ancient Artifacts" And "ARTIFACTS OF ANCIENTITY".
All the above materials can again testify to only one thing - we simply do not know our history. Answers to the questions of how old our species, our civilization really are, and whether there were other civilizations on Earth millions of years ago cannot now be given. The only thing that can be asserted so far is that official science, often on many of these issues, gets off with simply nonsense in conclusions, dates and conclusions... It would seem, why???!

The question of how old the human race is: seven thousand, two hundred thousand, two million or a billion is still open. There are several versions. Let's look at the main ones.

Young “homo sapiens” (200-340 thousand years)

If we talk about the species homo sapiens, that is, “reasonable man,” he is relatively young. Official science gives it about 200 thousand years. This conclusion was made based on a study of mitochondrial DNA and famous skulls from Ethiopia. The latter were found in 1997 during excavations near the Ethiopian village of Herto. These were the remains of a man and a child, whose age was at least 160 thousand years. Today, these are the most ancient representatives of Homo sapiens known to us. Scientists have dubbed them homo sapiens idaltu, or "oldest intelligent man."

Around the same time, maybe a little earlier (200 thousand years ago), the ancestor of all modern people- “mitrochondria Eve”. Every living person has its mitochondria (a set of genes transmitted only through the female line). However, this does not mean that she was the first woman on earth. It’s just that in the course of evolution, it was her descendants who were most fortunate. By the way, “Adam,” whose Y chromosome is present in every man today, is comparatively younger than “Eve.” It is believed that he lived about 140 thousand years ago.

However, all this data is inaccurate and inconclusive. Science is based only on what it has, and more ancient representatives of homo sapiens have not yet been found. But Adam's age has recently been revised, which could add another 140 thousand years to the age of humanity. A recent study of the genes of one African-American man, Albert Perry, and 11 other villagers in Cameroon showed that they had a more “ancient” Y chromosome, which was once passed on to his descendants by a man who lived approximately 340 thousand years ago.

"Homo" – 2.5 million years

“Homo sapiens” is a young species, but the genus “Homo” itself, from which it comes, is much older. Not to mention their predecessors - Australopithecus, who were the first to stand on both legs and begin to use fire. But if the latter still had too many features in common with monkeys, then the most ancient representatives the genus “Homo” - homo habilis (skillful man) were already similar to people.

Its representative, or rather its skull, was found in 1960 in the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania along with bones saber tooth tiger. Perhaps he fell victim to a predator. It was later established that the remains belonged to a teenager who lived about 2.5 million years ago. Its brain was more massive than that of typical australopithecines, its pelvis allowed it to move calmly on two legs, and its legs themselves were only suitable for walking upright.

Subsequently, the sensational discovery was complemented by an equally sensational discovery - homo habilis himself made tools for labor and hunting, carefully selecting materials for them, going to great distances from sites for them. This was found out due to the fact that all his weapons were made of quartz, which was not found near the places of residence of the first person. It was homo habilis who created the first - Olduvai archaeological culture, with which the Paleolithic or Stone Age began.

Scientific creationism (from 7500 years ago)

As you know, the theory of evolution is not considered fully proven. Its main competitor was and remains creationism, according to which both all life on Earth and the world as a whole were created by a Supreme Intelligence, the Creator or God. There is also scientific creationism, whose followers point to scientific confirmation of what is said in the Book of Genesis. They reject the long chain of evolution, arguing that there were no transitional links, all living forms on earth were created complete. And they lived for a long time together: people, dinosaurs, mammals. Until the flood, traces of which, according to them, we still find today - this is the great canyon in America, dinosaur bones and other fossils.

Creationists do not have a consensus on the age of humanity and the world, although they all rely on the first three chapters of the first Book of Genesis on this issue. So-called “young earth creationism” takes them literally, insisting that the entire world was created by God in 6 days, about 7,500 years ago. Followers of “Old Earth Creationism” believe that God’s activity cannot be measured by human standards. One “day” of creation may not mean a day, millions or even billions of years. Thus, it is almost impossible to determine the real age of the earth and humanity in particular. Relatively speaking, this is the period from 4.6 billion years (when, according to the scientific version, planet earth was born) to 7500 years ago.

Neanderthals [The History of Failed Humanity] Vishnyatsky Leonid Borisovich

Homeland of homo sapiens

Homeland of homo sapiens

With all the diversity of views on the problem of the origin of homo sapiens (Fig. 11.1), all proposed options for its solution can be reduced to two main opposing theories, which were briefly discussed in Chapter 3. According to one of them, monocentric, the place of origin of people of modern anatomical type there was some rather limited territorial region, from where they subsequently settled throughout the planet, gradually displacing, destroying or assimilating the hominid populations that preceded them in different places. Most often, East Africa is considered as such a region, and the corresponding theory of the emergence and spread of homo sapiens is called the “African exodus” theory. The opposite position is taken by researchers who defend the so-called “multiregional” - polycentric - theory, according to which the evolutionary formation of homo sapiens occurred everywhere, that is, in Africa, Asia, and Europe, on a local basis, but with more or less widespread exchange genes between populations of these regions. Although the dispute between monocentrists and polycentrists, which has a long history, is still not over, the initiative is now clearly in the hands of supporters of the theory of the African origin of homo sapiens, and their opponents have to give up one position after another.

Rice. 11.1. Possible origin scenarios Homo sapiens: A- the candelabra hypothesis, which assumes independent evolution in Europe, Asia and Africa from local hominids; b- a multiregional hypothesis that differs from the first by recognizing the exchange of genes between populations different regions; V- the hypothesis of complete replacement, according to which our species originally appeared in Africa, from where it subsequently spread throughout the planet, displacing the forms of hominids that preceded it in other regions and without mixing with them; G- assimilation hypothesis, which differs from the complete replacement hypothesis by recognizing partial hybridization between sapiens and the indigenous populations of Europe and Asia

First, fossil anthropological materials clearly indicate that people of a modern or very close to such physical type appeared in East Africa already at the end of the Middle Pleistocene, that is, much earlier than anywhere else. The oldest currently known anthropological find attributed to homo sapiens is the skull of Omo 1 (Fig. 11.2), discovered in 1967 near the northern coast of Lake. Turkana (Ethiopia). Its age, judging by the available absolute dating and a number of other data, ranges from 190 to 200 thousand years ago. The well-preserved frontal and, especially, occipital bones of this skull are anatomically quite modern, as are the remains of the bones of the facial skeleton. A fairly developed chin protuberance is recorded. According to the conclusion of many anthropologists who studied this find, the skull of Omo 1, as well as the known parts of the postcranial skeleton of the same individual, do not bear signs that go beyond the usual range of variability for homo sapiens.

Rice. 11.2. Omo 1 skull is the oldest of all anthropological finds attributed to homo sapiens

In general, three skulls found not so long ago at the Kherto site in Middle Awash, also in Ethiopia, are very close in structure to the finds from Omo. One of them has reached us almost entirely (except lower jaw), the preservation of the other two is also quite good. The age of these skulls ranges from 154 to 160 thousand years. In general, despite the presence of a number of primitive features, the morphology of the skulls from Kherto allows us to consider their owners as ancient representatives modern form person. The remains of people of a modern or very similar anatomical type comparable in age were discovered at a number of other East African sites, for example in the Mumba Grotto (Tanzania) and the Dire Dawa Cave (Ethiopia). Thus, a number of well-studied and fairly reliably dated anthropological finds from East Africa indicates that people who did not differ or differed little anatomically from the current inhabitants of the Earth lived in this region 150–200 thousand years ago.

Rice. 11.3. Some links in the evolutionary line believed to have led to the appearance of the species Homo sapiens: 1 - Bodo, 2 - Broken Hill, 3 - Latoli, 4 - Omo 1, 5 - Border

Secondly, of all the continents, only Africa is known a large number of remains of hominids of a transitional nature, allowing at least general outline to trace the process of transformation of local homo erectus into people of a modern anatomical type. It is believed that the immediate predecessors and ancestors of the first homo sapiens in Africa could be hominids represented by skulls such as Singa (Sudan), Florisbad (South Africa), Ileret (Kenya) and a number of other finds. They date back to the second half of the Middle Pleistocene. Skulls from Broken Hill (Zambia), Ndutu (Tanzania), Bodo (Ethiopia) and a number of other samples are considered as somewhat earlier links in this line of evolution (Fig. 11.3). All African hominids, anatomically and chronologically intermediate between Homo erectus and Homo sapiens, are sometimes classified together with their European and Asian contemporaries as Homo heidelbergensis, and sometimes included in special types, the earlier of which is called homo rhodesiensis ( Homo rhodesiensis), and the later Homo Helmei ( Homo helmei).

Thirdly, genetic data, according to most experts in this field, also point to Africa as the most likely initial center for the formation of the species Homo sapiens. It is no coincidence that the greatest genetic diversity among modern human populations is observed there, and as we move away from Africa, this diversity decreases more and more. This is how it should be if the theory of the “African exodus” is correct: after all, the populations of homo sapiens, which were the first to leave their ancestral home and settled somewhere in the vicinity of it, “captured” only part of the species gene pool on the way, those groups that then branched off from them and moved even further - only part of part and so on.

Finally, fourthly, the skeleton of the first European homo sapiens is characterized by a number of features that are typical of inhabitants of the tropics and hot subtropics, but not of high latitudes. This has already been discussed in Chapter 4 (see Fig. 4.3–4.5). This picture agrees well with the theory of the African origin of people of modern anatomical type.