A Story of Us

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley Newson ◽  
Peter Richerson
Keyword(s):  
Human Evolution ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Evolutionary Path ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Science Book ◽  
Early Humans ◽  
Last Ice Age ◽  
New Evidence

It’s time for a new story of our origins. One reason is that there a great deal of new evidence about what humans are like and the conditions that shaped human evolution. Another is that the thinking on human evolution has shifted. Evolutionists recognize that humans are very different from other animals, and they have been working to explain the different evolutionary path that humans took. There are still many gaps in the story, but this book describes seven points in our ancestors’ tale and explains the evidence behind these descriptions. The story begins seven million years ago, with the life of our ape ancestors, which were also the ancestors of today’s chimpanzees and bonobos. The second point is three million years ago with an ape that walked upright and lived outside the forest. Then follows a description of the life of early humans who lived one and a half million years ago. At the fourth point, 100,000 years ago, humans lived in Africa who were physically very similar to modern humans. The fifth is 30,000 years ago, during the last ice age, when our ancestors had evolved more complex cultures. The sixth is the period of accelerating cultural evolution that began as the planet started to recover from this ice age. Finally, beginning in the 1700s, there is the transformational period we are in now, which we call “modern times.” The style of this book is unusual for a science book because it has narrative sections that illustrate the lives of our ancestors and the problems they faced.

scholarly journals Y-Chromosome Evidence for a Northward Migration of Modern Humans into Eastern Asia during the Last Ice Age

1999 ◽  
Vol 65 (6) ◽  
pp. 1718-1724 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bing Su ◽  
Junhua Xiao ◽  
Peter Underhill ◽  
Ranjan Deka ◽  
Weiling Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Y Chromosome ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Eastern Asia ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Last Ice Age

scholarly journals The transition to foraging for dense and predictable resources and its impact on the evolution of modern humans

2016 ◽  
Vol 371 (1698) ◽  
pp. 20150239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Curtis W. Marean
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Evolution ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Major Transitions ◽  
Rivers And Lakes ◽  
Broad Spectrum Revolution ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Empirical Record

Scientists have identified a series of milestones in the evolution of the human food quest that are anticipated to have had far-reaching impacts on biological, behavioural and cultural evolution: the inclusion of substantial portions of meat, the broad spectrum revolution and the transition to food production. The foraging shift to dense and predictable resources is another key milestone that had consequential impacts on the later part of human evolution. The theory of economic defendability predicts that this shift had an important consequence—elevated levels of intergroup territoriality and conflict. In this paper, this theory is integrated with a well-established general theory of hunter–gatherer adaptations and is used to make predictions for the sequence of appearance of several evolved traits of modern humans. The distribution of dense and predictable resources in Africa is reviewed and found to occur only in aquatic contexts (coasts, rivers and lakes). The palaeoanthropological empirical record contains recurrent evidence for a shift to the exploitation of dense and predictable resources by 110 000 years ago, and the first known occurrence is in a marine coastal context in South Africa. Some theory predicts that this elevated conflict would have provided the conditions for selection for the hyperprosocial behaviours unique to modern humans. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Major transitions in human evolution’.

The Palaeoecology of South Central Anatolia at the end of the Pleistocene and the beginning of the Holocene

1970 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 119-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold R. Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Food Production ◽  
Ecological Study ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Central Anatolia ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
South Central ◽  
Last Ice Age ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Considerable Body

The origins of agriculture and domestication have long been identified, in theory, with the beginning of permanent settlements; the beginning of the Early Neolithic Period is known, in fact, to be synchronous with the ending of the Last Ice Age. To some scholars, fact and theory have suggested that this synchronism implies a causal relationship between certain assumed climatic changes and the beginnings of food production; for others, this synchronism is not more than a misleading coincidence. It is not the purpose of the writer to discuss the validity of these assumptions except to indicate that opinion seems to be hardening that food production may have had a more complicated and lengthy history than these assumptions suggest. There has grown up over the last 25 years a considerable body of literature expressing the most varied opinion about the causes for the origins of food production, and its variety has not narrowed with the emergence of new evidence. In my opinion, the basis for the solution of this problem will be derived essentially from palaeoecological analyses of selected areas and regions in various parts of the world, and not only in the Near East. This paper is intended to open such a study for the region of south central Anatolia. As might be expected in an ecological study, the evidence derives from a number of disciplines, and, accordingly, several colleagues have contributed to the formulation of the suggested ecological pattern. That pattern itself, however, is the responsibility of the writer.

scholarly journals Quantifying the potential causes of Neanderthal extinction: abrupt climate change versus competition and interbreeding

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel Timmermann
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Homo Erectus ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Abrupt Climate Change ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Climatic Environment ◽  
Anatomically Modern Humans ◽  
Last Ice Age

Anatomically Modern Humans are the sole survivor of a group of hominins that inhabited our planet during the last ice age and that included, among others, Homo neanderthalensis, Homo denisova, and Homo erectus. Whether previous hominin extinctions were triggered by external factors, such as abrupt climate change, volcanic eruptions or whether competition and interbreeding played major roles in their demise still remains unresolved. Here I present a spatially resolved numerical hominin dispersal model (HDM) with empirically constrained key parameters that simulates the migration and interaction of Anatomically Modern Humans and Neanderthals in the rapidly varying climatic environment of the last ice age. The model simulations document that rapid temperature and vegetation changes associated with Dansgaard-Oeschger events were not major drivers of global Neanderthal extinction between 50-35 thousand years ago, but played important roles regionally, in particular over northern Europe. According to a series of parameter sensitivity experiments conducted with the HDM, a realistic extinction of the Neanderthal population can only be simulated when Homo sapiens is chosen to be considerably more effective in exploiting scarce glacial food resources as compared to Neanderthals.

scholarly journals ATLANTIS IN SPAIN V

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 138
Author(s):  
S.P Papamarinopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Archaeological Survey ◽  
Urban Centre ◽  
North West ◽  
Recent Interest ◽  
12Th Century ◽  
Historical Text ◽  
Last Ice Age ◽  
New Evidence

Following strictly Plato’s information we reach Iberia and there we discovered the basic geomorphological characteristics of a horseshow shape flat and elongated basin which is surrounded by mountains. The basin reaches the Atlantic Ocean. This valley is Andalusia and it was missed by Herodotus and Hecateus, who lived a century earlier than Plato, and constructed North West Europe’s map. The Iberian civilization is reflected in the Greek myths prior to Plato too. Atlantis’ catastrophe in the shape of the concentric scheme’s, being in Iberia’s coast, was realized by earthquakes and a tsunami. The discovery of the very first Mycenaean vase’s fragment, in Guadalquivir’s estuary by Spanish archaeologists in 1990, offered the first archaeological evidence that the prehistoric Greeks had visited Atlantis after all before the 12th century B.C. The recent interest of the Spanish Archaeological Survey in Andalusia initiated because it has been proved geologically that the region had not been submerged since the last ice age. New evidence suggests that the waters may have receded in time for the Iberians in the period Tartesssos to build an urban centre, which was later destroyed by earthquakes and a tsunami as Plato describes in Timaeos and Critias for this region. Although platonic Atlantis could not be considered, as Thucydides would prefer, a historical text but it cannot be considered as a single paramyth either since some parts of his text have been proved already. It can be considered as a genuine myth containing a true prehistoric kernel covered firstly by a layer of inventions produced by transmitting people, the story, from generation to generation between the actual occurrence of the event within the 12th century B.C. and Solon’s 6th century B.C. who recorded it and then of the 4th century B.C. when Plato wrote down. Atlantis is also covered by a platonic paramythical layer full of mathematics and musicological information which is recognized and can be removed liberating the genuine myth’s kernel from the platonic intervention.

9. The future of human evolution

2019 ◽  
pp. 120-126
Author(s):  
Bernard Wood
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Biology ◽  
Human Evolution ◽  
New Taxa ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Imaging Techniques ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Fossil Evidence ◽  
The Future ◽  
New Locations ◽  
New Evidence

What are the next few decades likely to bring in terms of new evidence about human evolution? Are modern humans still evolving, and if so, what changes are we likely to see? ‘The future of human evolution’ considers both of these questions. It explains that researchers will continue to look for additional fossil evidence, at existing fossil sites as well as in new locations. Both will provide valuable evidence. It considers the chances of finding new taxa and how more evidence can be squeezed out of the existing fossil record through improved molecular biology and imaging techniques. Finally, it looks at contemporary human evolution and what is likely to influence the future of our species.

scholarly journals Arctic Ocean stratification set by sea level and freshwater inputs since the last ice age

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesse R. Farmer ◽  
Daniel M. Sigman ◽  
Julie Granger ◽  
Ona M. Underwood ◽  
François Fripiat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Surface Waters ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Bering Strait ◽  
Central Arctic Ocean ◽  
Phytoplankton Productivity ◽  
Nitrate Consumption ◽  
Western Arctic ◽  
Last Ice Age

AbstractSalinity-driven density stratification of the upper Arctic Ocean isolates sea-ice cover and cold, nutrient-poor surface waters from underlying warmer, nutrient-rich waters. Recently, stratification has strengthened in the western Arctic but has weakened in the eastern Arctic; it is unknown if these trends will continue. Here we present foraminifera-bound nitrogen isotopes from Arctic Ocean sediments since 35,000 years ago to reconstruct past changes in nutrient sources and the degree of nutrient consumption in surface waters, the latter reflecting stratification. During the last ice age and early deglaciation, the Arctic was dominated by Atlantic-sourced nitrate and incomplete nitrate consumption, indicating weaker stratification. Starting at 11,000 years ago in the western Arctic, there is a clear isotopic signal of Pacific-sourced nitrate and complete nitrate consumption associated with the flooding of the Bering Strait. These changes reveal that the strong stratification of the western Arctic relies on low-salinity inflow through the Bering Strait. In the central Arctic, nitrate consumption was complete during the early Holocene, then declined after 5,000 years ago as summer insolation decreased. This sequence suggests that precipitation and riverine freshwater fluxes control the stratification of the central Arctic Ocean. Based on these findings, ongoing warming will cause strong stratification to expand into the central Arctic, slowing the nutrient supply to surface waters and thus limiting future phytoplankton productivity.

scholarly journals Latin America in Global History: An Historiographic Overview

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (60) ◽  
pp. 253-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Olstein
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
New World ◽  
World History ◽  
The Other ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Global History ◽  
The World ◽  
Last Ice Age ◽  
Great Divergence

Abstract World history can be arranged into three major regional divergences: the 'Greatest Divergence' starting at the end of the last Ice Age (ca. 15,000 years ago) and isolating the Old and the New Worlds from one another till 1500; the 'Great Divergence' bifurcating the paths of Europe and Afro-Asia since 1500; and the 'American Divergence' which divided the fortunes of New World societies from 1500 onwards. Accordingly, all world regions have confronted two divergences: one disassociating the fates of the Old and New Worlds, and the other within either the Old or the New World. Latin America is in the uneasy position that in both divergences it ended up on the 'losing side.' As a result, a contentious historiography of Latin America evolved from the very moment that it was incorporated into the wider world. Three basic attitudes toward the place of Latin America in global history have since emerged and developed: admiration for the major impact that the emergence on Latin America on the world scene imprinted on global history; hostility and disdain over Latin America since it entered the world scene; direct rejection of and head on confrontation in reaction the former. This paper examines each of these three attitudes in five periods: the 'long sixteenth century' (1492-1650); the 'age of crisis' (1650-1780); 'the long nineteenth century' (1780-1914); 'the short twentieth century' (1914-1991); and 'contemporary globalization' (1991 onwards).

Group Selection in the Evolution of Religion: Genetic Evolution or Cultural Evolution?

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 235-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taylor Davis
Keyword(s):  
Human Evolution ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Group Selection ◽  
Genetic Group ◽  
Genetic Evolution ◽  
Psychological Traits ◽  
Religious Psychology ◽  
Religious Evolution ◽  
The Relationship

In the scientific literature on religious evolution, two competing theories appeal to group selection to explain the relationship between religious belief and altruism, or costly, prosocial behavior. Both theories agree that group selection plays an important role in cultural evolution, affecting psychological traits that individuals acquire through social learning. They disagree, however, about whether group selection has also played a role in genetic evolution, affecting traits that are inherited genetically. Recently, Jonathan Haidt has defended the most fully developed account based on genetic group selection, and I argue here that problems with this account reveal good reasons to doubt that genetic group selection has played any important role in human evolution at all. Thus, considering the role of group selection in religious evolution is important not just because of what it reveals about religious psychology and religious evolution, but also because of what it reveals about the role of group selection in human evolution more generally.

Evidence for a large surface ablation zone in central East Antarctica during the last Ice Age

2003 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin J. Siegert ◽  
Richard C. A. Hindmarsh ◽  
Gordon S. Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Internal Layers ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Glacial Ice ◽  
Ice Surface ◽  
Ice Flows ◽  
Last Ice Age ◽  
The Hill

AbstractInternal isochronous ice sheet layers, recorded by airborne ice-penetrating radar, were measured along an ice flowline across a large (>1 km high) subglacial hill in the foreground of the Transantarctic Mountains. The layers, dated through an existing stratigraphic link with the Vostok ice core, converge with the ice surface as ice flows over the hill without noticeable change to their separation with each other or the ice base. A two-dimensional ice flow model that calculates isochrons and particle flowpaths and accounts for ice flow over the hill under steady-state conditions requires net ablation (via sublimation) over the stoss face for the predicted isochrons to match the measured internal layers. Satellite remote sensing data show no sign of exposed ancient ice at this site, however. Given the lack of exposed glacial ice, surface balance conditions must have changed recently from the net ablation that is predicted at this site for the last 85,000 years to accumulation.

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