From whom did the first man originate? Why no one knows exactly how and when man appeared on Earth

13.10.2019

Man belongs to a group of animals called primates. Our earliest ancestors were small arboreal animals, a bit like modern tupai. They lived on Earth about 65 million years ago, during the era of the extinction of the dinosaurs. About 50 million years ago, more highly organized animals of the same type, such as monkeys, appeared. Over time, the development of some groups of primates took a special path, and this path led about 25 million years ago to the emergence of the first great apes.
Today, most of the 180 different species of primates live in typical or subtropical regions, but this has not always been the case. 50 million years ago, the climate on Earth was much warmer, and the ancestors of modern monkeys lived on a much larger territory. Their fossils have been found in the British Isles, in North America, and even far south, at the very tip South America. Chimpanzee-like creatures once lived in Europe and Asia. However, when the climate on Earth began to change, the primates that inhabited these territories gradually died out.

Modern tupai give us some idea of what early primates might have looked like.
Life in the trees.

Early primates quickly became adept poison dart frogs. To live in trees, you must first of all correctly judge the distance and cling firmly to the branches. The first problem is solved by forward-facing eyes: this gives the animal binocular vision. To solve the second problem, tenacious fingers are needed. Both of these properties are the most important features primates. They all have fingers
tsy on the hands are mobile, and the thumbs give proper tenacity. Some great apes, like humans, are also able to connect the tips of the thumb and forefinger, forming the letter "o". Such a grip is used for very subtle manipulations. More importantly, primates have evolved a large “thinking” part of the brain, which is in charge of coordinating vision and hand movements.

How it all began

Today there is only one kind of people: homo sapiens ("homo" in Latin "man", and "sapiens" - "thinking"). However, scientists today believe that since the appearance of the first hominids (humanoid animals) on Earth in different time there were several different types of such creatures. Between 15 and 7 million years ago, the Ramapithecus lived in Africa, Europe and Asia. They were ape-like animals about 1.2m tall, with a flat face and human-like teeth. Perhaps they spent part of their lives on the open plains, getting their food with sticks and stones. Ramapithecus is probably one of the first hominids, however, apparently, he was not our direct ancestor. Today, scientists find in it more similarities with orangutans.

Our closest living relatives are the great great apes. Gorillas and chimpanzees live in the forested regions of West and East Africa. Gibbons are found in the rainforests of Southeast Asia, and orangutans inhabit the humid jungles of Kalimantan and Sumatra. Of these, gibbons are the least human-like.
Very useful thumbs.

Why are thumbs needed? Have a friend attach your thumbs to your palms with duct tape so that you can't move them. Now try to take an object with one hand, say, a pencil or a cup. Or try to hold on to as many items as possible. You will quickly see how important it is for all these manipulations to have a thumb that is separated from all the others.

"Southern Monkeys" from Africa

One of the earliest fossil finds associated with the "ape-man" is the skull of a child. It was dug up in 1924 near Taung, in what is now Botswana. This skull had both simian and human features, and its owner was named "Australopithecine Afarensis". Since then, many other fossil remains of australopithecines ("southern monkeys") have been found. All findings indicate that the brain of these animals was not very large (about 500 cm "), and large molars served to grind plants and fruits. Australopithecus were undersized (about 1.2 m in height). " Some were of a dense and stocky build, others were fragile and graceful. Some scholars believe that they were
males and females of the same species. Some refer to them as various types australopithecines. "Southern monkeys" are the subject of much debate, and their origin is still unclear.

"Lucy", "southern monkey", found in 1974
These are some fragments of the bones of the skull of Sinanthropus - one of the "straightened people". Scientists managed to put these fragments together and restore the complete skull of Sinanthropus. It had a supraorbital fold, like apes, and a protruding jaw. A bony protrusion stretched along the upper part of the skull, and behind it there was a thickening in the form of a kind of ridge. Both the cranium and the brain of Sinanthropus are larger than those of homo habilis.
History of Lucy.

In 1974, the American anthropologist Doi Johansen made an outstanding discovery when he dug up the remains of a young female "southern monkey" in Ethiopia, just over 1 m tall. She was named "Lucy". The brain and teeth of "Lucy" were similar to those of a monkey, but she probably moved on her crooked legs in a straightened position. Before this discovery, scientists believed that "southern monkeys" lived on Earth about 2 million years ago. However, the age of the remains of "Lucy" was determined to be approximately 3-3.6 million years. This means that the "southern monkeys" appeared on the planet more than a million years earlier than previously thought.

"Handy Man"

At the very time when the "southern apes" roamed Africa, another group of homipids developed side by side with them. They appeared somewhat later, about 2 million years ago. These were already the first real people, or "habilides". Perhaps their ancestors are more slender Australopithecus. Homo haoilis ("handy man") was about the same height as the "southern monkeys", but had a larger brain - about 700 cm. "We know that the "handy man" used a whole set of tools, which included fragments of stones , cutting and chopping tools (like knives), scrapers, as well as "tools" for making new tools.

Lost Sinanthropus.

Sinanthropus is a kind of homo erectus. He lived in China about 500,000 years ago. In the 30s. 20th century scientists have discovered a rich collection of fossil remains of this ancient man in a cave near Beijing. In total, fragments of 45 skeletons were found, including pieces of 14 skulls, 14 lower jaws, 150 teeth, and bones of 14 children. In 1941, shortly before the war between America and Japan, it was decided to send these finds to America. Scientists did not want such a valuable cargo to fall into the hands of Japanese soldiers. However, the bones never arrived at their destination. They disappeared without a trace, but the way to the ship that was supposed to deliver them to safe place. The location of the remains of Sinanthropus 110 is unknown to this day.

Before you is a photograph of the skull of "Piltdown Man", discovered in Sussex, England, at the beginning of the 20th century. Today it is recognized as one of the greatest hoaxes in the history of science.
Neanderthals.

Even before the last "rectified people" disappeared from the face of the Earth, another kind of human beings appeared on it. Homo sapieps ("thinking man") first declared itself about 250,000 years ago. After another 180,000 years (that is, 70,000 years ago), Neanderthal man settled in Europe. Compared with their predecessors, the Neanderthals were larger in every respect, behind a wide, convex forehead, the brain was hidden, like that of a modern person - 1330 cm. "We know a lot about Neanderthals. They lived in the era of the great glaciation, so they had to wear clothes, made of animal skins, and to hide from the cold in the depths of the caves. Average duration the life of men was about 30 years, and women 23 years. Many of them suffered from arthritis. Most were right-handed. There are some indications that Neanderthals believed in an afterlife: they solemnly buried the dead and even laid flowers on their graves.

hunters of the ancients
Louis Leakey (1903-1972), Mary Leakey (b. 1913) and their son Richard (b. 1944) discovered many fossils of ancient people in the Oldowai Gorge in Tanzania. Their first important discovery was the discovery of Australopithecus, nicknamed the "Nutcracker". Subsequently, they discovered the first "handy man", and also found the remains of several "straightened people". Recently, Richard Leakey has been excavating in other parts of Africa.
These unique fossil prints were discovered by Mary Leakey in 1978 in Tanzania. Their age is estimated at 3.75 million years, and they were imprinted in a layer of volcanic mud and ash, which later hardened. The result was something like a "gypsum cast" of the feet of our distant ancestors who went out for a walk - a kind of prehistoric "family picnic".
The man who never was.

In 1912, at Piltdown in Sussex, England, several fragments of the skull and a broken jawbone of an ancient man were found. At that time, the find became a real sensation, but soon doubts began to overcome some experts. In 1953, the Piltdown bones were carefully examined to determine their age. The result was unexpected. It turned out that the jawbone belonged to a 500-year-old orangutan, and the skull belonged to an ordinary modern person. The bones were covered with a special coating, and the teeth were neatly filed to give them a prehistoric look. All this turned out to be a clever forgery. Piltdown Man entered the history of science as a hoax, exposed only 40 years after it took place. The "joker" himself was never found.

Head of a Neanderthal man.
A look into the future.

At first, human evolution was very slow. It took almost 7 million years that have passed since the appearance of our most ancient ancestors for humanity to reach the stage at which it learned to create the first rock paintings. But as soon as a "thinking man" firmly established himself on Earth, as everyone human abilities began to develop rapidly. For some 100,000 years separating us from the first rock paintings, man has become the dominant form of life on Earth. We even managed to leave our home planet and begin space exploration.
It is difficult to say what people will become after 10,000 years, but you can. uve-
to say that they will change a lot. In general, we have changed a lot over the past 400 years, and even since the beginning of this century. Today's soldier would hardly fit in the knight's armor of the 15th century. The average height of a medieval warrior was 16^ cm. Today, the average height of British military personnel is 172 cm. The current supermodel could not fit into the dress that her great-great-grandmother wore. Even if she managed to bring her waist to 45 cm, like her relative of the Victorian era, she would still be 30 cm taller! If our evolution continues in the same direction as it has been going so far, our faces will become more and more flat, and the lower jaw will become smaller. Our brain will become larger, and we ourselves, apparently, will grow up even more. Well, since many of us. prefer a sedentary lifestyle, it is possible that our, so to speak, the lower part of the body will also increase!
When the era of the great glaciation came to an end, modern people began to move to a new way of life. Over time, they began to establish settlements where large communities arose. The dawn of civilization was approaching. 10,000 years ago, there were only about 10 million people in the world. However, about 4000 years ago, their number began to increase rapidly. By 55 BC, when Julius Caesar invaded the British Isles, the population the globe reached 300 million people. Today it is already 4 billion and continues to grow.

"Southern monkeys" may have already used stones and bones as tools, but "skillful people" were the first to learn how to make these tools. A piece of stone, sandwiched between the thumb and all other fingers, served as a good cutting tool. The flatter stones were probably used to scrape meat from bones. Tools with sharp edges were made using stone chippers. Homo erectus invented more modern tools: they were made from fragments of flint. Even more subtle "tools" were created by Neanderthals. They processed flint fragments with the help of other stone tools, which they already held with two fingers - thumb and forefinger.
"Head up."

Recent studies have shown that our ancestors switched to upright walking, that is, walking on two legs, probably in order to not overheat. On the sultry African plains, 4 million years ago, walking on two legs gave them a number of advantages. To a man in a straightened position, the sun's rays fell vertically on his head, instead of "roasting" his back. Since the top of the head has much less sun exposure than the back, our ancestors must have been less likely to overheat. This means that they sweated less, and therefore, in order to survive, they needed less water. This allowed the ancient people to become "head and shoulders above" other animals in the struggle for existence.

This is how, according to scientists, our long-disappeared relatives looked like. As you can see, our ancestors gradually became taller and the further they went, the less they looked like monkeys.
Where should the hair be?

The transition to upright posture had other important consequences. For example, a bipedal animal no longer needed the thick coat of hair that protected other savannah dwellers from the relentless sunbeams that rained down on their backs. As a result, except for the hair that covered the part of the body of our ancestors most exposed to solar heat - namely the head - they turned into the notorious "naked monkeys."

beneficial coolness

Having started to move on two yogas, the ancient people, as it were, opened one more extremely important "evolutionary door". In a straight posture, a much larger part of the animal's body moves away from the red-hot soil, and therefore from the heat that it emits. As a consequence, the body and head, with the brain it contains, overheat much less than if they were located closer to the ground. A cool wind, usually 1-2 m above the ground, provided additional cooling of the body.
When scientists created powerful supercomputers, they had to equip them with a special cooling system. After all, large computers work very intensively and at the same time a huge amount of heat is released. It must be removed so that the computer does not overheat. The same thing happens with the brain. By moving upright, our ancestors moved their own brains to a cooler environment, and this, combined with a very effective "cooling system", allowed the brain to develop into a larger and more active brain.

The man who came in from the cold
On September 19, 1991, a 5300-year-old man returned to our world. Two tourists walking in the Austrian Alps suddenly came across the body of a man sticking out of the ice. Scraps of clothes were preserved on the body, shoes were on the legs, next to it were a quiver with two arrows, an ax, a flint for striking a fire, a small flint dagger, something like a bag or backpack, a set of needles and a lot of hunting equipment. The Iceman is the oldest corpse ever found. He lived on Earth almost 1,000 years before the Egyptians started building their pyramids, and 3,000 years before the first Romans.

The most ancient, reliable representatives of the human race are known about 2-2.5 ml. years ago. And a man appeared modern look 40-50 thousand years ago.

For many millions of years, human ancestors inhabited a limited area in eastern Africa. Here, on Lake Victoria, 18 million years ago lived a proconsul - our common ancestor with the great apes; here, more than 4 million years ago, the Afar Australopithecus, our upright ancestor, arose. Here the first representative of the genus Man spent his entire history - a skilled man who appeared more than 2 million years ago, and here 1.6 million years ago an upright man arose. Where our species - a reasonable person - began its journey is not known, but somewhere nearby.

The most ancient of the genus Homo is Homo habilis, or a skilled man, the first representatives of which appeared on Earth about 2 million years ago. Until that time, only Australopithecus probably existed. About 2.5 million years ago, a split occurred in the evolution of hominids, as a result of which massive australopithecines (a dead-end branch of evolution) and the genus Homo separated. In addition to the finds from the Olduvai Gorge, the so-called Rudolf man, Homo rudolfensis, whose skull was found in Kenya in 1972 in the area of Lake Rudolf (now Lake Turkana), as well as finds from Ethiopia and South Africa. The antiquity of these species is from 2.4 to 1.9 million years. It is assumed that these first people were the creators of the tools of the most ancient Olduvai (pebble) culture on Earth. There are finds that have not found a taxonomic definition and some of the researchers refer to Homo habilis, and the other part to groups of archanthropes ( ancient people), which replaced Homo habilis about 1.6-1.5 million years ago.

The group of archanthropes includes two main species. This is a species of Asian ancient people, Homo erectus, and its African version, a working man (Homo ergaster).

Time of appearance of sapiens

"There are judgments about three possible levels of sapiens lineage: early, middle and late (p. 97).

A more common opinion is about the Middle or Early Upper Pleistocene time of the appearance of the sapiens line. In this case, various forms appear as a probable ancestor in this case: either one of the late progressive erectus (Vertessellesch), or early archaic sapiens (Swanscombe), or early progressive Neanderthal (Ehringsdorf).

Finally, there is an opinion about the late origin of sapiens. In this case, the progressive Paleoanthropes of Palestine or even the "classic" Wurm Neanderthals are usually considered to be the ancestor. In favor of the latter point of view, both archaeological arguments (the continuity of the late Mousterian industry of "classical" Neanderthals and the Upper Paleolithic sapiens culture) and morphological arguments (for example, the Skhul type of people, who combine "Cro-Magnon" and "Neanderthal" features) are given.

However, it is known that "classical" Neanderthals were late forms of hominids that coexisted with the first sapiens neoanthropes. To resolve this contradiction, it is assumed that the rate of sapientation in this late short period of anthropogenesis accelerated significantly due to heterosis during displacements.

The processes of sapientation proceeded in different populations of paleoanthropes, but at different rates, and for a number of reasons (for example, habitat conditions) did not always reach the final stage.

Of course, individual features of the "sapient" complex could appear early, even in the Eopleistocene. The morphological variability of hominids is generally very wide, and repeated mutations probably played an important role in it, as in other primates.

Apparently, some features of the "sapient" complex could have arisen in the evolution of individual groups of hominids for a long time and repeatedly. And in this sense, we have the right to say that sapientation has deep roots, although the oldest true "sapiens are still not known until 0.1-0.07 million years ago" (pp. 97-99).

The spread of modern man

More ancient fossils have been found in Africa than on any of the other continents. So, in southern Ethiopia, they found Omo-I - an incomplete skull with many modern features, which is probably over 60,000 years old. At the mouth of the South African river Clasis, "modern" remains were found, whose age is 100 thousand years, and in the cave of the Border, a "modern" lower jaw was found 90 thousand years old.

Fossil skulls of 40,000 years ago, which are of a completely modern type, are found in various parts of Asia - from Israel to Java. They all have a chin protrusion or other distinctly "modern" features.

Humans first appeared in North America, probably between 70,000 and 12,000 years ago. During periods of the greatest cooling at this time, the sea receded and a wide land barrier of Beringia was formed, which is now flooded by the Bering Strait.

Fossil traces and fossil remains, the age of which has been established, indicate that modern man lived in Australia at least 40 thousand years ago.

Most likely, people first appeared here in the period from 55 to 45 thousand years ago, when the ocean level was 160 feet (50 m) lower than now, and many islands formed a single whole.

On this scale, the development of all the primitive people of the world is given, starting from the period when the first human-like hominids arose (5 million years ago) and up to 700 BC.

5,000,000-2,000,000 up to. AD

In Africa, the first tree-dwelling hominids appear.

2,000,000-250,000 up to. AD

Homo erectus appeared and settled in Asia and Europe.

250,000 – 120,000 up to. AD

In Africa - Homo sapiens - which are gradually moving north.

80,000 – 30,000 up to. AD

Neanderthals (cave dwellers) live in Europe.

50,000 – 25,000 up to. AD

Modern people are settled in Europe, Asia, Australia, America. Tools are made from bone and stone.

25,000 – 10,000 up to. AD

First round houses, drawings and carvings.

10,000 – 9,000 up to. AD

Climate change, end of the ice age.

9,000 – 7,000 up to. AD

The emergence of agriculture in certain regions of the world. Settlements in Syria, Palestine, Cyprus. Domesticated dog.

7,000 – 6,000 up to. AD

In the eastern Mediterranean, goats, sheep, and pigs are domesticated. Linen fabrics, ceramics are made, copper is used. The first cities are being built.

5,000 – 4,000 up to. AD

In Anatolia, copper and lead are processed. Domesticated horse, donkey. Near Gulf of Mexico maize is grown, in Peru - cotton, in China and India - rice.

4,000 - 3,000 up to. AD

Sumerian civilization. First writing. Products from gold, silver, lead. Irrigation. Sailing ships on the Nile and Euphrates. Stone temples and tombs in Malta and Europe.

3,000 – 2,000 up to. AD

The first pharaohs of Egypt, hieroglyphic writing. The chariot was invented in Mesopotamia. Rise of the Valley Civilization of India. Cotton fabrics. Methods for processing copper and making fabrics spread throughout Western Europe.

2000 - 1000 to. AD

Spread of bronze processing methods in Europe. Stonehenge completed.

1000 - 700 BC

Olmec culture in Mexico. The Celts settled in Central Europe, the British Isles. By 700 B.C. in Europe, the secret of iron processing was discovered. Prehistoric cultures develop in America and Africa.

Humans are the dominant species on the planet. The smartest of us are exploring space and providing answers to questions that were considered unanswerable 200-300 years ago. However, we still cannot solve the main mystery - the origin of homo sapiens. We offer to consider the most common theories of how a person appeared.

How did man appear on earth?

The question of the origin of man excited the minds of people in the primitive, ancient times and does not cease to excite modern scientists. Throughout history, many assumptions have been put forward - from myths to well-founded theories.

But, no matter how fantastic or quite reasonable hypotheses are proposed, all of them can be divided into three categories:

religious;
philosophical;
scientific.

The religious point of view in its concept is similar among many peoples of the world. There are many parallels that cannot be ignored. The view of religion on the emergence of man is based on an unshakable faith in God, and therefore does not require proof. AT scriptures it is said that this question is not worthy of attention, since the person himself was not present at his creation, therefore he cannot know anything.

Philosophical hypotheses are based on initial axioms, from which, as a result of reflection, an assumption arises. Philosophers distinguish the concept of "consciousness". According to them, this is what distinguishes us from animals. When exactly did it occur? Philosophers have been trying to solve this riddle for 2.5 thousand years.

Scientific research is based on the facts that scientists obtain during research and experimentation. Hypothetical assumptions are born from these data. They, in turn, are discarded or confirmed in the course of further observations. If the hypothesis is confirmed, it becomes a theory. Further, it is either confirmed or refuted. In the second case, new hypotheses are put forward, and so on, until an answer is found.

The main theory of the appearance of man

Since the end of the 19th century, scientists have adhered to the general theory of evolution, which underlies modern biology. According to this concept, all living organisms on Earth, including humans, appeared as a result of the adaptation of species to changing natural conditions. The weak die, the strong survive.

The author of the theory was Charles Darwin, who began working on the then-hypothesis in 1837. It took him twenty years to complete the project. Before the scientific meeting, he was supported by the eminent naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace. This is how Darwin's theory appeared, which later turned into a general evolutionary theory.

She explains that life on Earth began about 4 billion years ago. It happened in the ocean in the so-called primordial soup of the simplest proteins, molecules and chemical elements. Millions of years later, through random mutations, the first living cells appeared. Subsequently, they evolved into complex life forms.

However, this theory does not explain many things, for example, where did the genetic code come from in each cell, containing information for the development of the organism. It is also not clear how reptiles evolved into birds and mammals. Anthropologists and paleontologists have not found any remains of creatures with a similar body structure, and among modern animals there is no one like it.

Animal mutations under the influence environment Not unusual. Thus, laboratory rats raised in cold conditions produced offspring with denser fur. This explains the adaptability, but not the randomness of evolution. But even if we accept that life on the planet originated by chance, then it becomes even more difficult to explain the appearance of man.

In biology classes, they say that man belongs to the class of primates, in addition to monkeys. Therefore, our ancestors must be sought among them. This is also confirmed by DNA, which is more than 98% identical to the genetic code of a chimpanzee.

However, despite the discovered remains of Neanderthals, Cro-Magnons and Homo habilis, it is still not possible to find an intermediate link that would give reinforced concrete confirmation of the origin of Homo sapiens from ape-like people.

It is believed that modern man appeared in the south of the African continent and from there migrated around the world. But not everything is smooth here either. The age of the found remains of the first people in various, even the most remote, corners of the planet is almost identical. This means that the spread of man either happened very quickly, or people evolved simultaneously in all parts of the world. After this discovery, there were even more questions.

The origin of man: theories

Despite all the inconsistencies, the theory of the origin of man through evolution has the most evidence. But at the moment they are not enough. In the meantime, there is no one hundred percent confirmation, other theories have the right to exist. Let's look at a few of the most common:

intervention theory. Many believe that man appeared thanks to extraterrestrial intelligence. Some think that the first people were brought by aliens, others that the development of Homo sapiens is the result of genetic experiments on animals.

There is also an alternative opinion that people arrived on Earth from other galaxies, but over time they forgot about it. These theories are based on those found in different corners planets in ancient drawings depicting people worshiping creatures on aircraft.

The origin of man according to the Qur'an. According to Islamic beliefs, the Almighty Allah created man from earth and water. He gathered the earth from all corners of the universe, which was different color. That is why the descendants of the first man differ from each other.

Also, the Qur'an says that Adam was originally hollow and did not control himself. Seeing this, Allah breathed life into him. Man began to see and hear, speech and reason appeared. According to this theory, God created Adam as a perfect, complete being, so there was no need for him to evolve.

Humans are the offspring of the gods. According to some legends, the first people were real giants, from 3 to 7 meters tall. Giants appeared from the union of gods and angels. This theory is based on ancient images of bats and controversial finds of huge humanoid skeletons.

Over time, the gods stopped visiting the earth, and the giant people degenerated. Cryptobiologists are confident that most of the remains found are genuine and require careful study.

Aquatic theory. In the 1920s, the scientist Alistair Hardy hypothesized that the aquapithecus, an ape-like creature that lived in the aquatic environment, is a transitional link in the development of modern humans.

By this, the scientist explained why today's people have practically no hairline on the body. However, this theory has not received wide circulation and at the moment, seriously in scientific world not considered.

Despite the commitment of most scholars to evolutionary theory, the answer about the origin of man has not yet been found. Discussion of this issue sometimes develops into conflicts. However, no matter how heated the argument, in the end, the truth is born from it. Remember: it is not so important how a person appeared, where greater value has the kind of people we are now.

Let's try to uncover the geographical problem of anthropogenesis: on what continent did the first Intelligent Man originate? There is no consensus on this issue in world science.

Some scientists claim that Homo sapiens was formed in Africa, others - in the Himalayas, others - in Europe, and so on.

The process of transformation of a monkey (or rather a hominid) into a human is called anthropogenesis (from the Greek word "antropos" - man, "genesis" - occurrence, origin), or noogenesis (from the Greek "noos" - mind).

Where and when did a person appear on Earth: place and period of occurrence

The economic and social aspects of anthropogenesis are well studied: the evolution of mating and family relations; reasons for the formation of the team; the role of labor in the emergence of man; the emergence and evolution of speech, language, writing, religion; collective labor; division of labor within the family, within the tribe, and between tribes; ancient agriculture, the emergence of crafts, metallurgy; natural exchange, money, value; the emergence of private property, social classes, the state, and so on - dopinfo.ru.

Science has many brilliant achievements in many fields of knowledge. For example, radiophysics helps to determine the exact age of the bone remains of human ancestors and their stone tools, biochemistry can identify the degree of similarity of blood protein fractions in monkeys and humans.

However, world science still cannot accurately indicate the continent where the first Intelligent Man on Earth arose.

The geographical problem of noogenesis remains unresolved until now, despite the fact that sociologists, philosophers, archaeologists, anthropologists, ethnographers have accumulated a huge amount of information on this issue, but it has not been systematized.

Indeed, on what continent did the first Man originate? For a correct solution of the problem of the origin of the first Man, the following facts must be taken into account.

First of all, all ancient civilizations(Egypt, Ancient Greece, the Kingdom of Crete, the Sumerians, the Aztecs, the Mayans and the Olmecs, and all others) are in the northern hemisphere between 30 º and 50 º north longitude, located between the north pole and the equator.

Therefore, the first man arose on some continent of the northern hemisphere, and not the southern!

Secondly, cold is the only reason for the emergence of Reason and the first Thinking Man!

For the survival of an animal in a cold climate, body weight (like a mammoth), sharp teeth (like a tiger), speed of running (like a deer) will not help. Only the Mind will help to survive. The Rational Animal will hide from the cold wind in a tent made of skins, build a fire there, melt ice in a pot and get water, boil meat in boiling water. Only with the help of the Mind can one survive in a cold climate!

Thirdly The earth began to cool from the poles.

The mind arose on the cold continent Arctida, which quite recently (2 million years ago) became the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. Once upon a time North Pole The earth was occupied by a huge continent, which scientists call Arctida or Hyperborea - dopinfo.ru. This is the perfect place for hominids to suffer physically from the cold, where hunger and cold could force the animal to use intelligent activity to fight for survival.

Consequently, only Arctida can claim to be the continent where the first Intelligent Man could have arisen. The warm and “well-fed” African climate would never have forced the ancient hominins to strain their thoughts to the point of exhaustion in order to come up with a method of survival.

Test yourself

1. Where on Earth did the first human ancestors appear?
In Africa.

Why was one of the ancestors of man called a skilled man?
They knew how to make the simplest tools.

3. How does a reasonable person differ from the rest of his ancestors?
Homo sapiens differed from the nearest ancestor - Neanderthal - and other ancient people in the following features:
Structural transformations of the brain
Enlargement of the brain cavity and brain
Development of bipedal locomotion
Development of the prehensile hand
Descent of the larynx and hyoid bone
Reducing the size of the fangs
Reduction of most of the hairline.
He knew how to think, talk, and was distinguished by complex behavior.

How did man change the face of our planet?
He cultivated the land, cut down forests, tamed animals, built houses, then plants and factories, railways, highways. Basically, the impact of human activity on nature is negative.

5. How does a person seek to restore the wealth he has destroyed?
Creation of parks and reserves. Creation of the Red Book. Limiting the extraction and use of rare (dwindling/disappearing) resources, both minerals and living organisms

What significance for the development of mankind was such a feature of a person as the volume of the brain?
This was of great importance, because a second signaling system appeared, which was characterized by the appearance of speech and the systematic manufacture of tools, which actually made a man out of a monkey.

Explain why reserves are needed?
Reserve - a section of the territory (water area), where the entire natural complex is preserved in a natural state, and hunting is prohibited. In addition, any human economic activity is prohibited on the territory of the reserve, and the lands are forever withdrawn from any form of use.

How do schoolchildren of our country participate in the protection of rare species?
They helped save the lotus (collected seeds and distributed them to different lakes), ginseng and golden root, as well as other species.

Complete tasks

A. Tasks for comparison and explanation

compare a skilled man and a Cro-Magnon man
The Cro-Magnon brain had a large mass, taller, he knew how to make fire, speech, rituals, ceremonies, complex tools and jewelry appeared.

2. Explain how some plants and fungi from natural communities can serve as medicine for people
Many plants and fungi contain substances from which medicines are obtained.

Many plants are used in traditional medicine(St. John's wort, dandelion, sage, celandine, etc.) and mushrooms (fly agaric).

The first people on earth. Human history

Explain why people of all ages have a duty to protect the natural environment.
Nature must be protected so that we ourselves can live on earth. And not only us, but also our ancestors, children, grandchildren.

Nature feeds us, waters us, supplies us with everything we need. Yes, and how not to take care, if everything that surrounds us is very beautiful, pleases us every day. This is our planet and it is our duty to keep order on it.

B. choose the correct answer from the given statements.

The closest ancestor of modern humans is:
c) Cro-Magnon

2. A new stage in human development began when primitive people learned to make tools from:
c) stone

3. From what plants, at the behest of Peter 1, was the Livaulovskaya Grove near St. Petersburg grown?
b) larches.

Make up a word that contains the suggested letters in the given order.
1. a. reserve
B. man
B. security
2. a. australopithecine
B. afforestation
B. felling.

Where did man first appear?

Early human migrations

In addition to the finds from the Olduvai Gorge, the so-called Rudolf man, Homo rudolfensis, whose skull was found in Kenya in 1972 in the area of Lake Rudolf (now Lake Turkana), as well as finds from Ethiopia and South Africa. The antiquity of these species is from 2.4 to 1.9 million years. It is assumed that these first people were the creators of the tools of the most ancient Olduvai (pebble) culture on Earth. There are finds that have not found a taxonomic definition and some researchers refer to Homo habilis, and the other part to groups of archanthropes (the oldest people) who replaced Homo habilis about 1.6-1.5 million years ago.

The group of archanthropes includes two main species.

This is a species of Asian ancient people, Homo erectus, and its African version, a working man (Homo ergaster).

years ago, the Afar Australopithecus, our upright ancestor, arose. Here the first representative of the genus Man spent his entire history - a skilled man who appeared more than 2 million years ago, and here 1.6 million years ago an upright man arose. Where our species - a reasonable person - began its journey is not known, but somewhere nearby.

Place of formation of sapiens

"The processes of sapientation, as evidenced by paleoanthropological data, took place in various regions of the Old World, although at different speeds.

Various circumstances, environmental features, the specifics of the social structure of the population, etc., could play a role here. Thus, both hypotheses - the multiplicity of centers of sapientation (polycentrism) or its limitation to one fairly large territory (wide monocentrism) - have points of contact. It can be assumed that, so to speak, "outpacing" it took place in East Africa, Southeast Europe and the Middle East.

Now a lot of controversy is caused by the problem of the priority of Africa or Europe.

Judging by some data, sapiens could have appeared in the ancient ancestral home of mankind several tens of thousands of years earlier than in other territories. However, even if this hypothesis is accepted, it does not at all rule out the possibility that sapientation also took place in other parts of the Old World. Most supporters of polycentrism recognize a moderate number of centers of sapientation: from two ("dicentrism") to four or five.

True, the following consideration was also expressed: there could be as many centers of origin of sapiens as there were places of culture formation. Upper Paleolithic.

After all, the Mousterian culture is mainly associated with the Neanderthal, and the culture of the Upper Paleolithic - with sapiens.

However, there was no rigid connection between the stone inventory and the physical type, and there was apparently no insurmountable boundary between the Neanderthal and sapiens in cultural terms.

Polycentrism is also supported by the almost simultaneous appearance of sapiens at the turn of the Upper Paleolithic - about 40-35 thousand years ago, moreover, in such remote from each other, and sometimes even marginal areas, such as Indonesia (Nia on Kalimantan), Western Europe (Cro-Magnon, Hanofersand) or South Africa (Florisbad).

One of the most significant questions concerns the antiquity of the formation of the races of modern humanity - Negroid, Caucasoid and Mongoloid.

The great races of modern humanity themselves formed only in the post-Paleolithic time. That is, sapiens is older than races, the processes of sapientation and racial genesis coincided only partially, and the latter occurred already on a rather mixed basis.

The final stage of hominization - the process of sapientation - took mainly the last 100 thousand years.

years. During this period of anthropogenesis, significant changes occurred in the morphological organization, cognitive abilities, the rate of aging processes decreased, and life expectancy increased (p.

The spread of modern man

More ancient fossils have been found in Africa than on any of the other continents. So, in southern Ethiopia, they found Omo-I - an incomplete skull with many modern signs, whose age is probably more than 60 thousand years. At the mouth of the South African river Clasis, "modern" remains were found, whose age is 100 thousand years, and in the cave of the Border, a "modern" lower jaw was found 90 thousand years old.

Fossil skulls of 40,000 years ago, which are of a completely modern type, are found in various parts of Asia - from Israel to Java.

They all have a chin protrusion or other distinctly "modern" features.

Humans first appeared in North America, probably between 70,000 and 12,000 years ago.

During periods of the greatest cooling at this time, the sea receded and a wide land barrier of Beringia was formed, which is now flooded by the Bering Strait.

Fossil traces and fossils, whose age has been established, indicate that modern man lived in Australia at least 40 thousand years ago.

Most likely, people first appeared here in the period from 55 to 45 thousand years ago, when the ocean level was 160 feet (50 m) lower than now, and many islands formed a single whole.

On this scale, the development of all the primitive people of the world is given, starting from the period when the first human-like hominids arose (5 million years ago) and up to 700 BC.

5,000,000-2,000,000 up to.

In Africa, the first tree-dwelling hominids appear.

2,000,000-250,000 up to. AD

Homo erectus appeared and settled in Asia and Europe.

250,000 – 120,000 up to. AD

In Africa - Homo sapiens - which are gradually moving north.

80,000 – 30,000 up to. AD

Neanderthals (cave dwellers) live in Europe.

50,000 – 25,000 up to.

Modern people are settled in Europe, Asia, Australia, America. Tools are made from bone and stone.

25,000 – 10,000 up to. AD

The first round houses, drawings and carvings.

10,000 – 9,000 up to. AD

Climate change, end of the ice age.

9,000 – 7,000 up to. AD

The emergence of agriculture in certain regions of the world.

Settlements in Syria, Palestine, Cyprus. Domesticated dog.

7,000 – 6,000 up to. AD

In the eastern Mediterranean, goats, sheep, and pigs are domesticated. Linen fabrics, ceramics are made, copper is used. The first cities are being built.

5,000 – 4,000 up to. AD

In Anatolia, copper and lead are processed. Domesticated horse, donkey. Maize is grown in the Gulf of Mexico, cotton is grown in Peru, and rice is grown in China and India.

4,000 - 3,000 up to.

Sumerian civilization. First writing. Products from gold, silver, lead. Irrigation. Sailing ships on the Nile and Euphrates. Stone temples and tombs in Malta and Europe.

3,000 – 2,000 up to.

2000 - 1000 to. AD

Spread of bronze processing methods in Europe. Stonehenge completed.

1000 - 700 BC

Olmec culture in Mexico. The Celts settled in Central Europe, the British Isles.

By 700 B.C. in Europe, the secret of iron processing was discovered. Prehistoric cultures develop in America and Africa.

The evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin tells us about when man appeared on Earth. This point of view is generally accepted. among scientific researchers. Previously, people could not say exactly who created man. For thousands of years it was believed that humanity is the work of the gods, but the question of who created man is answered by evolution.

In contact with

First representatives

Man appeared in ancient times not at all in the likeness in which we can observe him now. The very first representative of our species looked more like an ape than a modern representative of human society. Some researchers believe that Australopithecus was the first man. Many criticize such assumptions, as it really is more similar to the lower class of primates. The next milestone in development after Australopithecus was homo habilis, or "handy man."

He walked on two legs, had a relatively straight posture. These people created the first tools to use them for getting food and building shelter. Modern archaeological discoveries have made it possible to establish the most accurate date when a skilled man appeared on Earth. This happened approximately 2.6 million years ago.

Attention! The first representatives of our species on Earth were relatively short in stature. If now the average height of an average person is about 1.7 meters, then a skilled person was no higher than 1.2 meters.

Place of residence

Researchers are trying to establish where was the first settlement of people. For many years it was believed that the human race originated in the territory Western Europe.

The main reason for this is the theory of Eurocentrism, which said that it was on the territory of Europe that powerful civilizations were created, and it was from here that progress began.

In the second half of the 20th century, archaeologists found the remains of that very skilled man on the territory of modern Tanzania, the so-called Afar Triangle.

It was there that key discoveries were made that shed light on the origin of mankind. Archaeologists have found tools made of stone next to human bones, which could well serve as a good tool for obtaining food.

In 1960, few people were in doubt. Archaeological finds also made it clear how a person developed, how, over time, the volume of his brain increased and intellectual activity improved.

As for the classification by period, the origin of mankind should be dated to the Cenozoic era, which began 65 million years ago. This period is referred to as the "era of new life", because it started immediately after the fall of a huge meteorite that destroyed the dinosaurs and most of the life on the planet.

evolution process

We learned where man came from and what the very first man on earth was called, but the evolution of our species did not stop there - even more amazing changes were coming.

Homo ergaster

Approximately 1.8 million years ago, homo habilis evolved into a working man, that is, homo ergaster. The size of the brain of this species is much larger than homo habilis. Scientists believe that it was homo ergaster who gained the opportunity to use colloquial speech.

Near the skeletons of homo ergaster, archaeologists have found traces of the first fires. Therefore, exactly this species first began to produce fire. In addition, a man working invented a hand axe.

Homo ergaster began to hunt animals more often, and up to this point, the first people on Earth were more likely to be gatherers and scavengers. Enough high level intelligence allowed them to gather in groups that began to go hunting - this significantly increased the chances of survival and a successful ending.

Homo erectus

Even the previous species of man began to colonize the planet. From the territory of Africa, the first people on Earth went to the territories of Western Europe and Asia. It was in the Far East that the remains of the next stage in the development of the human race were found - homo erectus or Homo erectus.

At this stage in the development of mankind, a typical representative of it had an average height of 1.4 m. Homo erectus no longer stooped, the campaign was straight. still in use stone tools. People collected roots and plants, hunted medium and small game.

Because the person in ancient time could not defend himself alone, the erectus began to stray into fairly large fore-communities, which numbered several dozen people. Erectus also first began to cook meat on a fire. At this stage of development, during the period of famine, a person resorted to cannibalism.

Between the erectus, for the first time, the beginnings of a relationship appeared, reminiscent of a permanent married couple, but promiscuous sexual relations took advantage. Archaeological finds have also confirmed that erectus looked after the wounded tribesmen and understood medicinal properties herbs.

Important! Perhaps even then there were people who were called shamans or healers.

Development of thinking

For a long time it was believed that Homo sapiens was the ancestor of the Neanderthal.

However, studies of the twentieth century proved that the Neanderthal was a dead end in Western Europe, and homo sapiens came from Africa. Moreover, it was he who exterminated and assimilated the Neanderthals.

Archaeologists have found that the first people with the rudiments of the mind appeared approximately 350-250 thousand years ago.

Initially, homo sapiens were nomads and gatherers, and only 15 thousand years ago they began:

learn agriculture,
make tools from bone
build permanent dwellings
establish small permanent settlements,
to sew clothes,
draw on cave walls.

10 thousand years ago, people communicated through speech, and gestures and facial expressions faded into the background.

At this stage of development, people first became create families and marry. Development Agriculture allowed to keep a part of the production, thanks to which it became possible to create classes, power and the ability to survive in adverse times.

Homo sapiens domesticated animals, which gave impetus to the development of animal husbandry. It also facilitated the process of obtaining food - it was not necessary to spend a huge amount of time and effort on hunting. At the same time, trade between the tribes also arose: some offered skins, while others offered beautiful shells or fish.