Sociology and Anthropology: the FAMILY TREE of MAN
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Cebu Normal University COLLEGE OF NURSING Osmeña Boulevard, Cebu City Sociology and Anthropology: THE FAMILY TREE OF MAN Australopithecus Homo Erectus Javanensis (Java Man) Homo Erectus Pekinensis (Peking Man) Neanderthal Man Andales, Elisha Gine Nuez, Willy Angelie ALjaberi, Khamis Fahad BSN IV The Family Tree of Man Human evolution is the evolutionary process leading up to the appearance of modern humans. While it began with the last common ancestor of all life, the topic usually covers only the evolutionary history of primates, in particular the genus Homo, and the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct species of hominids (or "great apes"). The study of human evolution involves many scientific disciplines, including physical anthropology, primatology, archaeology, embryology and genetics. A number of theories exist about the evolution of man, one of which is Charles Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection. In this theory, Darwin noted that individual members of a species differ from one another physically. For instance, in a given population, some animals may have longer limbs than others. These variations are, of course, dependent upon the demands placed on the organism by its environment. Moreover, it enhances the animal’s chance of producing offsprings that survive. In effect, with each generation, the better adapt members of a population increase in number at the expense of less favored individuals. In the process too, the species as a whole change (Plog, 1980.13). This theory tends to explain not only gradual change within the species but also the appearance of new species. In addition, the theory states that adaptation to different environmental circumstances accounts for great variety of species observable in nature. The Darwinist claim holds that modern man evolved from some kind of ape-like creature. During this alleged evolutionary process, which is supposed to have started from 5 to 6 million years ago, it is claimed that there existed some transitional forms between modern man and his ancestors. Australopithecus The term Austral refers to “southern ape” and not to Australia. There are two recognized species of Australopithecus: Robustus and Africanus. Australopithecus Africanus was discovered by Raymond Dart. The first evidence was a “child’s head embedded in the rock of a South African limestone quarry at Taung”. The specimen was sent by Dart at a nearby medical school. His findings were: the brain was hardly larger than an ape’s, yet the face was extraordinarily human, and forms all indications the creature had actually stood erect. Dart was so proud of this discovery, christened it Australopithecus Africanus and announces to the world that at last the missing link had been found. While he received raves from the press he was severely criticized by his fellow scientists. The Taung child was a chimpanzee. Downhearted and discouraged, he went back to Africa. Other evidences found later indicated that its skeletal structure was small; it was about 50-90 pounds and it stood and ran on its hind legs. They were not tree dwellers because they were believed to be bipedal. They were also meat eater and therefore, they cause the suspicion that they used weapons in a patterned way-not stone tools but perhaps clubs of bone. Australopithecus Robustus was discovered by Robert Broom, a Scottish paleontologist. The specie was found to be heavier and weighted about 100-150n pounds; hence the name Robustus. The Robustus were believed to be vegetarian, with a diet of root and stalks because of the crest of bone atop their skull which meant the presence of massive chewing muscles. Authorities consider this specie to have existed 2 million years ago. It was consider younger than Africanus and the last of extinct Australopithecus line. Similarities and Differences between Africanus and Robustus AFRICANUS ROBUSTUS Bipedal Bipedal Smaller pelvis Larger pelvis Fast mover Slow mover Adapt to fairly dry climates More adaptable to streams and lakes Carnivorous Vegetarians Homo Erectus Javanensis (Java Man) Eugene Dubois, the discoverer of the Java Man, was confident that the skull, thighbone, and five teeth found by his crew in 1890 were those of the missing link between man and ape. Dubois named it Pithecanthropus Erectus because it was an upright ape man. This label was accepted until 1950s when Ernst Mayr, a systematist did a taxonomic restudy of the specimen and consider it as an Erectus rather that a javanese. The Java Man was found in the valley of the Solo river near Trinil in Central Java. In the mid-1930s, through the systematic study of G.H.R. Koenigswald, other fossil remains of Java man were recovered, reinforcing and validating Dubois findings. The brain capacity of a Java Man is placed approximately between 775-975 cc. Incidentally, the main brain capacity of modern man is 1,500 cc for a male and 1,450 cc for the female. These figures, however, do not indicate that men are more intelligent than women; they only demonstrate that men’s brain is larger because their body is bulkier. No stone or bone artifacts recovered in direct association with the remains of Java man. Patjitan, a stone-flake industry, is known to exist on the upper portions of the Trinil beds in Java. Heavy scrapers or chopping tools with U shape edges such as those which characterizes adzes. No indications that they were good hunters. They lived in the open; they had not mastered the use of fire. Homo Erectus Pekinensis (Peking Man) Was called Pekinensis because its remain were recovered from Chuokoutien Cave, about 40 miles from Peking. Scientists were in agreement that the Peking man had at least four characteristics that surpassed those of the Java man, considered as more advanced than its predecessors. Had larger cranial capacity, had fire, which one reason he could live in caves; he had better tools and weapons; had seems to have had penchant for eating. morphological structure of Peking man appears to be quite different from the Java man. Peking man’s cranial capacity was 850-1300 ccwith mean of about 1075 cc. Peking men surpassed the great apes and the Australophitecus because of their relative isolation; they developed “highly peculiar osteological characteristics” The Peking man dined n venison and had knowledge of fire. They probably were “fire stealers”. Fire appeared to be very significant in the Pekinensis adaptation to environment where they were found. though they had knwolegde of fire, he had not utilize his knowledge to improve his tools and weapons. It is also conjectured they used wooden weapons. Peking man was likewise believed to have practice cannibalism Anthropologist classify three kinds of cannibalism according to dominant motivations. * Ritualistic and incorporative- this kind does not necessarily involve ingestion For instance , among the Ilongot headhunters of Nueva Vizcaya, the idea is to secure the head, which contains the soul stuff; this incorporate d the soul of the slayers through ritualistic transference . The actual cannibalistic ingestion took place because of the idea that the victims had special qualities which the feaster may incorporate into his persons by eating the bodily substance. * Gustatory- because the feaster believed that the human flesh was delicious and good. This was found to be sporadically practices in Oceania and some parts of Africa, particularly Congo tribes. * Motivated by the desire to survive- Evidently, in times of famine and starvation, the human flesh can help people survive when no other food is to be found. It was evident he ate human brains and marrow of long bones of fellowman. Apart from Java men, Solo and Wadjak men considered contemporaries of modern men, were also recovered. The remains placed between 150,000-300,000 years ago. They had brain capacities about 1,150-1,300 cc, their skeletal structure showed certain characteristics to those earlier men. They possessed large bridges, sloping foreheads, and thick skulls. The Solo men are considered to be descendants of Phitecanthropines found in earlier deposits of Java and China. Wadjak men are the other advanced from early men found in Java. They were named after the site where their remains discovered bu Eugne Dubois in 1891, who did not report his findings until 1920. They were found to be more physically advanced than Solo men and their brain capacities ranged from 1, 500 to 1, 600 cc for Wadjak I and II. They were having more developed forehead and noses. In Philippines, the other ahnd, the most dramatic find is that Tabon Cave man. Through carbon - 14 analysis, the discoverer Robert Fox dated the remains 22,000-30,000 years ago. The stone tool technology of the Tabon Cave dwellers can be calssified as belonging to the Paleolithic Period. Most of the tools are made from highly selected stone materials like the chert, a crypocrystalline quartz, which were abundant in nearby river and streams. The shaping of tools by the earliest men, from the Australopithecus to the Neanderthal man, suggests that they possessed not only creativity and ingenuity but also coordination between mind and the hand. Neanderthal Man The remains found in Europe. It was believed to have roamed the area between 100,000-30,000 years ago. Marcelin Boule stereotyped the species as a bent, shuffling brute. He misinterpreted the arthritis-deformed specimens unearthed in 1908 has been classified as the contemporary of modern man and is, therefore, Homo Sapiens, because his cranial capability has been placed at 1, 600 cc. had a concept of living and dying, in as much they buried the dead. Living in caves is an indication that they had conscious concept of protecting themselves from animals that roamed around. The caves also found crude drawings, indicating sympathetic magic, that the picture on the wall can be recreated in real life.