What is our identity as humans? – Part 1
Today I finished watching a BBC Documentary presented by Alice Roberts called “The Incredible Human Journey”. It shows mainly archaeological evidence for the theory of early human migrations out of Africa and subsequently around the world, arguing that all modern humans are descended from a small group of Homo sapiens that originally moved out of Africa. Each episode concerns a different continent, and the series features scenes filmed on location in each of the continents featured.
In the first episode, she visits some sites in Ethiopia and examines the lifestyle of the hunter gatherers. She mentions the theory of how genetics suggests that all non Africans are descended from a small group of modern humans who left Africa tens of thousands of years ago. In this part, she explains various theories as to how this small group might have moved further, and comes to a likely theory that they might have moved across the Red sea along the coast of the Arabian Peninsula.
In the second episode, Alice mentions that this small group went towards Siberia and were subject to severe cold. Visiting a camp of tribal reindeer-herders, she infers that the early humans also relied on animal herding for food and clothing.
She then visits China to gather the details for a theory that the Chinese are not at all descended from the Homo sapiens originating in Africa, but from a separate branch called Homo erectus. She mentions that some Chinese paleontologists feel that the physical characteristics in fossil skulls resemble current ones in modern Chinese. She then argues that the skull evidence is only subtle and as such cannot prove this. She then interviews an American paleontologist who believes that the ancient Chinese humans used bamboo instead of stone as tools thus explaining the absence of physical evidence in the form of sophisticated stone tools. Alice then interviews Chinese geneticist Jin Li, whose genetics studies prove that the Chinese are indeed descended from Africans like everyone else and not from Homo erectus.
In the third episode, she shows the routes of how some groups of Homo sapiens reached Europe. She mentions that this apparently happened in 2 waves. One from what is today the Middle East via Turkey into south Eastern Europe. The other one was from Siberia (mammoth hunters). These groups not only had to face challenges of weather and food but also another human species called Neanderthals which existed even before Homo sapiens landed on the continent. This episode of survival in Europe also shows what might have been crucially advantageous for Homo sapiens over the Neanderthals who had spread throughout Europe before they came along. The study points to the fact that they might have survived because they, unlike the Neanderthals, developed a shared identity even though they lived in geographically distant communities.
I will write about the rest in the next post.
Reference:
-> Documentary “The Incredible Human Journey”, by Alice Roberts
-> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredible_Human_Journey
In the first episode, she visits some sites in Ethiopia and examines the lifestyle of the hunter gatherers. She mentions the theory of how genetics suggests that all non Africans are descended from a small group of modern humans who left Africa tens of thousands of years ago. In this part, she explains various theories as to how this small group might have moved further, and comes to a likely theory that they might have moved across the Red sea along the coast of the Arabian Peninsula.
In the second episode, Alice mentions that this small group went towards Siberia and were subject to severe cold. Visiting a camp of tribal reindeer-herders, she infers that the early humans also relied on animal herding for food and clothing.
She then visits China to gather the details for a theory that the Chinese are not at all descended from the Homo sapiens originating in Africa, but from a separate branch called Homo erectus. She mentions that some Chinese paleontologists feel that the physical characteristics in fossil skulls resemble current ones in modern Chinese. She then argues that the skull evidence is only subtle and as such cannot prove this. She then interviews an American paleontologist who believes that the ancient Chinese humans used bamboo instead of stone as tools thus explaining the absence of physical evidence in the form of sophisticated stone tools. Alice then interviews Chinese geneticist Jin Li, whose genetics studies prove that the Chinese are indeed descended from Africans like everyone else and not from Homo erectus.
In the third episode, she shows the routes of how some groups of Homo sapiens reached Europe. She mentions that this apparently happened in 2 waves. One from what is today the Middle East via Turkey into south Eastern Europe. The other one was from Siberia (mammoth hunters). These groups not only had to face challenges of weather and food but also another human species called Neanderthals which existed even before Homo sapiens landed on the continent. This episode of survival in Europe also shows what might have been crucially advantageous for Homo sapiens over the Neanderthals who had spread throughout Europe before they came along. The study points to the fact that they might have survived because they, unlike the Neanderthals, developed a shared identity even though they lived in geographically distant communities.
I will write about the rest in the next post.
Reference:
-> Documentary “The Incredible Human Journey”, by Alice Roberts
-> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredible_Human_Journey
This is the second post where I have read about connections of our past with that of Africa.
ReplyDeleteVery informative post in all! Look forward to your continuation of this.
Cheers
Hiyaa
http://www.thedefinitivemeltingpot.com