Posted on 06/24/2007 6:39:42 PM PDT by blam
Rise of man theory ‘out by 400,000 years’
Dalya Alberge, Arts Correspondent
June 25, 2007
Our earliest ancestors gave up hunter-gathering and took to a settled life up to 400,000 years earlier than previously thought, according to controversial research.
The accepted timescale of Man’s evolution is being challenged by a German archaeologist who claims to have found evidence that Homo erectus — mankind’s early ancestor, who migrated from Africa to Asia and Europe — began living in settled communities long before the accepted time of 10,000 years ago.
The point at which settlement actually took place is the first critical stage in humanity’s cultural development.
Helmut Ziegert, of the Institute of Archaeology at Hamburg University, says that the evidence can be found at excavated sites in North and East Africa, in the remains of stone huts and tools created by upright man for fishing and butchery.
Professor Ziegert claims that the thousands of blades, scrapers, hand axes and other tools found at sites such as Budrinna, on the shore of the extinct Lake Fezzan in southwest Libya, and at Melka Konture, along the River Awash in Ethiopia, provide evidence of organised societies.
He believes that such sites show small communities of 40 or 50 people, with abundant water resources to exploit for constant harvests.
The implications for our knowledge of human evolution — and of our intellectual and social beginnings — are “profound” and a “staggering shift”, he said.
Professor Ziegert used potassium argon isotopic dating, stratigraphy and tool typology to compile his evidence. He will publish his findings this month in Minerva, the archaeology journal.
The news divided scholarly opinion yesterday.
Sean Kingsley, an archaeologist and the managing editor of Minerva, said: “This research is nothing less than a quantum leap in our understanding of Man’s intellectual and social history. For archaeology it’s as radical as finding life on Mars.
“As a veteran of over 81 archaeological surveys and excavations . . . Ziegert is nothing if not scientifically cautious, which makes the current revelation all the more exciting.”
But others were far from convinced. Paul Pettitt, senior lecturer in palaeolithic archaeology at the University of Sheffield, said: “Are they truly the remains of huts and not a natural phenomenon? Do they really date 400,000 years or are they much more recent? The site formation, age and implications are all questionable.”
He said that Homo erectus was a highly mobile hunter, that human remains can accumulate for a number of reasons and that the evidence to be published by Minerva does not indicate a year-round settlement.
Further scepticism was voiced by Paul Bahn, an archaeologist who specialises in the palaeolithic period. Although he believes that Homo erectus was quite advanced and capable of building durable structures, occasionally coming together in large groups, he remains to be convinced about settlements.
He said: “Homo erectus could have been there for a few days. He wouldn’t have carried the tools around. Inevitably, they accumulate. If hunter-gatherers found no cave or rock shelter, it makes sense that they might have built a shelter for a few days or seasonally. Just the fact that they’re made out of stone doesn’t mean they were permanent settlements.
Nick Barton, a lecturer in palaeolithic archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology at the University of Oxford, said: “No unequivocal dating evidence is presented except that based on the typology of the artefacts. It is entirely possible that the site represents a palimpsest of material spanning the palaeolithic to the neolithic.”
Homo erectus — a species that has been recognised since the late 19th century — lived from about 1.6 million to 200,000 years ago, ranging widely from Africa and Asia to parts of Europe. Most of the anatomical differences between Homo erectus and Homo sapiens relate to the skull and teeth, with the former having a jutting browridge, a wide nose and large teeth.
Professor Ziegert said: “The first archaeological revolution in fact was not triggered by anatomically ‘modern humans’ in the neolithic, or indeed in the technological and cultural revolution associated with the upper palaeolithic, but by Homo erectus, upright Man, an altogether different ancestral species making waves at the dawn of humanity.”
After decades of fieldwork, Professor Ziegert is convinced that future discoveries will uphold his conclusions. Under his direction, the University of Hamburg has scheduled a further programme of excavations at Budrinna and Melka Konture over the next four years.
1891
— The year in which evidence of Homo erectus was first discovered, in central Java, Indonesia
Me too on the monkey ancestors. That notion is even less likely than is a significant human contribution to global climate change — which puts it in the range of being hit by lightning every day for 50 years in succession.
I’ve never, however, been hung up on the time line. Given the history of both the translation and canonization of the Holy Book leaves me to conclude that literal translation of specific measurements of time and space are problematic and to me and really don’t add or subtract from the broader meaning. Others view it differently and that’s fine —
“Geological changes might have wiped out traces of earlier cultures. Just look at what two thousand years has done to Caesara Phillipi, present-day Banias in Israel. That’s from neglect, war, vandalism, and climatic wear-and tear. How much would remain of a Pompei-size city that was buried by volcanic ash 150,000 years ago? How much would remain of cities covered by the most recent ice-sheets? So I am open to a long pre-history of man.”
Not only that but I have a sneaking hunch that many of the early civilizations are off our coasts. Humans have always liked to live near the water, but coastlines have moved and ocean water levels raised so for example many ice age era towns would be buried under water on the plateu under water.
Not to mention the lack of bodies since mankind buries its dead.
Ah, the evos can’t get it together and agree. Not surprising.
There was an age before the present 2nd age and there will be a third age. The same earth and heaven but different ages.
Jeremiah 4:23 I beheld the earth, and , lo it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
24.I beheld the mountains, and lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly,
25.I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled,
26.I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord and by His fierce anger.
27.For thus hath the Lord said, "The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
28.for this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.
There were cities in that first age and God shook the earth and destroyed everything. That was the age of the dinosaurs. When you go to the last 1/2 of Genesis 1:2 we see the beginning of our present, 2nd, age - And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Our earth is millions or billions of years old but our present age began about 14,000 years ago, according to the Bible.
Well, this started off as a science thread.
no, the Bible does not talk of any other age but before Noah and after.
I wish he’d just stop beating around the bush and say what he thinks. ;’)
Isn't there a possibility that the two are compatible? If read with understanding the Bible agrees with scientist about the age of the earth. It does not agree with evolution however. Each species may adapt but it does not evolve from ape to man.
I didn't mean to interfere with your "science thread" it's just that I believe we can learn a great deal from both science and God.
I think of written language as a tool...a tool that wasn't needed until folks settled down and needed to record deeds, wills, mortgages...:) And when it did develop, my understanding is that only a relative handful of folks were literate. So it was like a tool that most people didn't need but a handful of times in their lives. (No books/ few books/...), so they hopped down to the Rent A Scholar Store and rented one, rather than invest in the time & expense to own it.
Multiple definitions of ‘harvest’:
There are places other than the Jeremiah verses. One of them is Peter. Look at the differences he gives:
11Peter 2:5. And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
There he referenced this age but in chapter 3 he tells us of the 1st age.
11Peter 3:5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6.Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7.But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
Our world didn't "perish" during Noah's flood. When God caused the overthrow it ended the first age, as described in Jeremiah 4:
25.I beheld, and lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
At Noah's flood there were men and birds. These were two different events and as Peter states, "for this they are willingly ignorant of."
My poor but lovely wife wakes up to that guy every morning.
I agree, and when the literate class lost the infrastructure, and/or their lives, the literacy fell apart. Examples of this include Old Elamite, Etruscan, as well as some long inscriptions or families of inscriptions which are complete mysteries (and due to the small sample, will probably remain that way).
No, you’re wrong.
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Just updating the GGG info, not sending a general distribution. |
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Note: this topic is from 6/24/2007. A re-ping. Thanks blam.
How did you get 10,000 years? Seems DNA evidence of 4 male ancestors, population growth size, etc. put current man at a bottleneck about 4K years ago - the same estimates for the flood. Prior to that is anybody’s guess. But the bible indicates civilization and large numbers of people before the flood/DNA bottleneck.
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