Why We Study Human Origins
by Randall Susman
Calliope: Exploring World History
Article Summary:
People question why humans evolved, when we evolved, where did we originate? Why was it us who survived, and not the early humans(early hominids)? Why are we so special and different? The article we read in class helped me understand more about human origins.
For a long time there were theories on human origins, but they were based on cultures, religion, people’s beliefs, but now it is based on science, on evidence that is real and can be trusted. In order to understand our ancestors better than today, scientists compare anatomy and behavior of living animals to extinct animals (animals who don’t exist anymore). Most theories about human origins were developed by religion influence. In most of the cases, these theories don't have concrete evidence. However in 1800s an English man Charles Darwin shared his thoughts about how plants and animals have changed (evolved) over time. That is how theory of Evolution was created. This theory was not very well accepted by the people who had religious beliefs, they had an impression that Huxley's theory talks against theirs. He believed that African apes look like humans more than monkeys do, his theory was used by scientists all over the world. He thought that apes look like monkeys on the outside but on the inside (their whole bone structure) they are actually more like humans. Once they went out to dig, they couldn't find hominid fossils, which meant they don't have evidence to support their information. But after a while of digging they came across their first hominid fossil in South Africa by Raymond Dart in 1925. This was the first evidence to explain human evolution and start to prove Darwin and Huxley’s theories.
Fossils give us information about our ancestors and the physical change they went through over time. They also tell us about the changes in behavior of our ancestors. Scientists and archaeologists continued to dig in Africa and have found more fossils and stone tools, which means even more proof. From all of the fossils archeologist collected, Susman explains that some believed “our earliest ancestors were tree-dwelling apes, or four-legged knuckle-walkers, or even bipeds that lived in water.” People had different thoughts about our earliest ancestors because they didn’t have all of the fossil records. Stone tools meant that our ancestors hunted for food.
In my peace of work, I was trying to explain to you why humans evolved, when we evolved and where did we originate? I hope that I helped you understand all of these questions, and that you know a little bit more about how humans came to be.
For a long time there were theories on human origins, but they were based on cultures, religion, people’s beliefs, but now it is based on science, on evidence that is real and can be trusted. In order to understand our ancestors better than today, scientists compare anatomy and behavior of living animals to extinct animals (animals who don’t exist anymore). Most theories about human origins were developed by religion influence. In most of the cases, these theories don't have concrete evidence. However in 1800s an English man Charles Darwin shared his thoughts about how plants and animals have changed (evolved) over time. That is how theory of Evolution was created. This theory was not very well accepted by the people who had religious beliefs, they had an impression that Huxley's theory talks against theirs. He believed that African apes look like humans more than monkeys do, his theory was used by scientists all over the world. He thought that apes look like monkeys on the outside but on the inside (their whole bone structure) they are actually more like humans. Once they went out to dig, they couldn't find hominid fossils, which meant they don't have evidence to support their information. But after a while of digging they came across their first hominid fossil in South Africa by Raymond Dart in 1925. This was the first evidence to explain human evolution and start to prove Darwin and Huxley’s theories.
Fossils give us information about our ancestors and the physical change they went through over time. They also tell us about the changes in behavior of our ancestors. Scientists and archaeologists continued to dig in Africa and have found more fossils and stone tools, which means even more proof. From all of the fossils archeologist collected, Susman explains that some believed “our earliest ancestors were tree-dwelling apes, or four-legged knuckle-walkers, or even bipeds that lived in water.” People had different thoughts about our earliest ancestors because they didn’t have all of the fossil records. Stone tools meant that our ancestors hunted for food.
In my peace of work, I was trying to explain to you why humans evolved, when we evolved and where did we originate? I hope that I helped you understand all of these questions, and that you know a little bit more about how humans came to be.
Susman, Randall. "Why We Study Human Origins." Calliope: Exploring World History Sept. 1999: 4-5. Print.
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