Posted on 01/23/2005 3:16:48 PM PST by blam
The mysterious end of Essex man
Archaeologists now believe two groups of early humans fought for dominance in ancient Britain - and the axe-wielders won
Robin McKie, science editor
Sunday January 23, 2005
The Observer
Divisions in British culture may be deeper than we thought. Scientists have discovered startling evidence that suggests different species of early humans may have fought to settle within our shores almost half a million years ago. They have found that two different groups - one wielding hand-axes, the other using Stone Age Stanley knives to slash and kill - could have been rivals for control of ancient Britain.
'The evidence is only tantalising, but it is intriguing,' said palaeontologist Chris Stringer, of the Natural History Museum, London. 'Certainly it suggests Britain may well have been multicultural 400,000 years ago.'
This new interpretation of our prehistory is based on the recent discovery of a site - by archaeologists working with engineers building the Channel Tunnel high-speed rail link at Ebbsfleet in Kent - that shows ancient hunters once chased a giant elephant into a bog in Kent, trapped it there and then cut it to pieces, eating its flesh raw.
Four hundred thousand years ago, Britain's climate was warm, there was a land link to the continent and animal life included lions, rhinos, buffalos, and a species of elephant, Palaeoloxodon antiquus - the Ebbsfleet elephant - which stood four metres high at its shoulders and weighed twice its modern African equivalent.
'There are other sites where we have found elephant remains in this country,' said Southampton University archaeologist Dr Francis Wenban Smith, who led the Ebbsfleet excavations. 'However, this is the first that has been found with stone tools and that looks as if it was hunted and butchered.'
But it is the nature of the tools used for this butchery that has raised scientific eyebrows. At other ancient sites around Britain, archaeologists have found hand axes: beautifully honed, fist-sized tools that were probably held like daggers and used to rip and stab prey by a species of human called Homo heidelbergensis.
But none was found at Ebbsfleet. Instead, there were remains of dozens of much smaller stone implements, made up of razor-sharp flakes and blades. 'They were like Stanley knives,' said Wenban Smith. 'They could have slashed and torn to devastating effect.' Only one other major site in Britain, plus a couple of smaller ones, has revealed this distinctive assemblage of smaller stone tools: at Clacton, in Essex. Until recently, scientists were unsure of the importance of this 'Clactonian' culture. Now they have found a second, major site, a discovery that could have profound ramifications.
'This is extremely important,' said Prof Stringer, director of the Ancient Human Occupation of Britain project, which is investigating how the British Isles were originally colonised. 'It certainly supports the idea that there was more than one ancient culture at this time.'
Cultural variation in a creature that relied on brute strength and little intelligence for survival is considered improbable by scientists, a point stressed by Michael Pitts, editor of British Archaeology. 'That hominids this ancient should express "cultural" variation would add a new perspective to the behaviour of creatures that many of us still think of as being nearer apes than humans,' he states in the current issue of the journal.
Instead, he argues that two completely different human species, each with its own culture, may have been slugging it out for conquest of our shores.
The trouble is that scientists are stymied by the paucity of remains of men and women from this period. They have lots of tools but only a shinbone, two teeth and some bits of skull from a human.
'At this time in Europe, Homo heidelbergensis was giving way or evolving into Neanderthals,' said Stringer. 'But there are hints gleaned from comparing bits of their bones and tools that we have found in Britain and the continent that there may be separate species of this creature: one that made hand-axes and one that did not. This is one of the big questions of human evolution studies today and a major focus for our work.'
As to who triumphed in Britain between the hand axe wielders and the Clactonians, scientists have established that the remains of the former are almost always found in more recent archaeological layers and appear to replace those of the Clactonians. In other words, the fate of the first Essex men was probably extinction.
Where did you hear that? (Some scientists think Neandertals never existed.) Tell us more.
"..There are some scientists who don't think Neanderthals really existed...."
The bones weren't there? They were there but not H. neandertalensis?
Can you cite a ref?
Dupe.
Haven't mastered posting yet.
I'll try to find it tomorrow. It was a show on one of the science programs, maybe Nova.
South Essex: Man dies in road smash
Brought to you by the Evening Echo
A motorist from Great Wakering has died in a road crash when his car collided head-on with another.
Luciano Giardino, 37, of Seaview Drive, was driving his Vauxhall Astra on the A130 at Barnston, Dunmow at 8.30am on Wednesday.
While driving from Chelmsford towards Dunmow his white Astra collided with a green Jaguar driven by a 57-year-old from Saffron Walden driven in the opposite direction.
Mr Giardino was certified dead at the scene.
The driver of the Jaguar was taken by ambulance to Broomfield Hospital with rib injuries.
Hidelbergenis and Homo Erectus are thought to be one and the same by many scientists. Because of the paucity of remains found, they cannot be sure,nor can they be sure that the remains are of the people who actually made the tools. Homo Erectus has been found over most of Europe, Asia and Africa. Remains have been found that date up to 10,000 years before present, side by side with Cro-magnan and Neanderthals. Homo Erectus has a skeleton that is human in every way,slightly smaller cranium, and dates back to about 500,000 years before present depending on who you are talking too. A Homo Erectus Skeleton found at Turkana, well here is a quote from a book about Archeology:
The most famous of the Homo erectus specimens found in Africa is the fossil of "Narikotome Homo erectus ," or the "Turkana Boy," which was found near Lake Turkana in Kenya. It is confirmed that the fossil was that of a 12-year-old boy, who would have been 1.83 meters tall in adolescence. The upright skeletal structure of the fossil is no different from that of modern man. The American paleoanthropologist Alan Walker said that he doubted that "the average pathologist could tell the difference between the fossil skeleton and that of a modern human."
So, many different takes on the remains found over the world and in England. If you find a part of a skull and some teeth you can hardly base a theory on them, or even really project how the species looked or were formed. This happens all too often and should be taken with a grain of salt. Until they find more remains, more bones, then they are just speculating as to what/who these people were.
Sorry if I rambled on here but I am fasinated about this subject and do a lot of reading on it. Thanks for letting me talk.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2902neanderthals.html
There's an argument whether Neanderthals were early humans or not human. It's always interesting when scientists disagree.
They were Homo...that's our genus.
I think the underlying question was if they could breed with H. sap, making them the same species.
The correct answer is we don't know yet.
"....It's always interesting when scientists disagree."
Normal state of affairs. It's interesting to us, too. That's how we make progress.
That's what makes science exciting.
What the H* is a stanley knife???
What I find interesting is what that FIRST generation of cro magnan did...it THOUGHT, drew pictures, marked its tools for ownership or craftsmanship, drew pictures on its bowls and other utensils, decorated itself with feathers and so on...and had awarenes of death.
There had to have been geniuses who really wondered "What the heck is it all about?"
There were the Michael Moores and Ted "Hic!" Kennedys too. Lol.
I'm sure there are.
There are many folks who still don't believe that Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.
The Democrats still think that they are in power.
Denial is rampant in the world -- relative morality's kissin' cousin.
A Gentleman's English Dictionary and Usage
Stanley knife
The 'Stanley' knife, known to Americans as the more prosaic 'Box Cutter', has become favoured for it's ability to cause horrific looking injuries and unpleasant scarring with little or no possibility of actual death.
Me too, thanks for the input. Read this book, Out Of Eden by Stephen Oppenheimer.
Read this: The Neanderthal Theory
The part I can't handle is that they seem to have decided that these people were incapable of developing independant and different technologies to accomplish similar tasks. I don't think they need to be different species to accomplish the same basic tasks using different technologies.
Oh I get it.
In general, these box cutters are manufactured by the STANLEY TOOL COMPANY and have "stanley" stamped on the side. Hence, they are called a stanley knife.
But what about all those screw drivers and plyers and measuring tapes out there that are also made by stanley? Do they also call those stanley screw drivers, stanley plyers, and stanley tapes?
"What the H* is a stanley knife???"
Something the early scientists used to defend themselves from ax wielding neanderthals.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.