MORE RECENT HOMO FAMILY: Embrace Tolerance

bone needles

Recent discoveries have uncovered three more-recent Families of Homo who lived at the same time – Cro-Magnon, Neanderthal, and Denisovan – thereby making our view of ourselves more complex.  The mystery that these Families present to us is how they interacted with each other.  Did They ignore each other, make war with each other, or intermarry?  Did They even regard each other as Human?

            What modern scientists have uncovered in their DNA studies of modern humans was astonishing.  Many people of European ancestry have a small percentage of Neanderthal DNA in their genetic make-up.  Because the Neanderthals grew up in the cold climates of Europe, They were stocky and heavy-boned.  Migrating from Africa, Cro-Magnons were smaller and slighter.  Interbreeding with Neanderthals helped the Cro-Magnons to withstand the freezing cold.

            Meanwhile, the Denisovans left Africa about a million years after H. erectus did and half-million years before the Neanderthals appeared in Europe.  Living in Siberia, Denisovans used advanced tools such as bone needles.  However, what fossils remains of Them that we have were their very large teeth, which were similar to Australopithecus.  Migrating to South Asia and nearby Asian Islands, Denisovans also interbred with Cro-Magnons there.  Today, people in New Guinea and other islands carry Denisovan DNA in their genetic make-up.

            The picture that emerges is that though the majority of these Familes did not interact, some did, and regarded each other as Human. (Scientists claim that the ratio of inbreeding was about fifty Denisovans to every thousand Humans.) As we move forward in time, we see the grove of Humankind dwindling down one by one.  We modern humans may be all that is left, but we carry the Others inside of ourselves.  We can celebrate our ancient Ancestors by acknowledging their contribution to our well-being.  Since They chose to become a part of us, let us be true to our heritage and be tolerant of each other.

EARLY HOMO FAMILY: Discover Your Inner Fire

The next Family to come after these Earliest Humans, was the Homo family (of which H. sapiens (Modern Humans) is a later member), about 2.4 million years ago (mya) Meanwhile, the Families of the Earliest Humans - Australopithecus and Paranthropus lived near the Homo family.  However, these earlier Families had little interaction with the Homo Family.  About two mya, several distinctive members (who had larger brains than the previous Early Humans) of the Homo Family appeared – H. gautengensis, H. habilis, and H. rudolfensis.  With his larger teeth, H. guatengensis specialized in eating plants.  Slimmer H. habilis (“Handy Man”) could make simple stone tools, while stocker and heavier H. rudolfensis ate grass roots.  

            About 1.8 mya, H. ergaster and H. erectus of the Homo Family appeared.  These Early Humans developed a complex tool making culture, such as using hammer stones to break open nuts.  Furthermore because of the hot African climate, their bigger brains needed more cooling.  Therefore these Humans possessed more sweat glands and was less hairy.         

Then H. erectus did something remarkable:  She migrated out of Africa to Eurasia,   adapting to the new places with strange plants and animals.  Since the seasons in Eurasia were more pronounced and cooler, H. erectus was forced to become more inventive: She discovered fire.  From the evidence found in the campfires of Peking Man of Asia, H. erectus built and used fire about 1.8 mya.  This gave Her a means to cook food and keep warm, which meant that She could master the environment.

            The Early Homo Family urges us to leave the safety of our homes and venture out in the unknown.  They will show us how to meet the challenges of new ways of living.  With their help, we can discover our own inner fires, thereby changing our own lives.

EARLIEST HUMAN FAMILY: Honor Diversity

 EARLY HUMAN FAMILY

Long ago, the Earth was populated by many kinds of humans.  Today, we modern humans (Homo sapiens) are alone on the Earth (except perhaps for the “Hobbit” (H. floresiensis) of Indonesia). The development of Humankind from prehistory to modern times is like an orchard of fruit trees.  Some of the trees continuously bore fruit, while some of the other trees cross-pollinated with the fruit-bearing ones.  After a while some trees died off, while the other trees flourished wildly.  However, eventually all the trees died off out except for one (perhaps two) lone tree. 

            Tracing the Human line, back in time, is difficult, because the fossil records are incomplete.  Since it involves humans, we react to our history as we would with our own families. Like all families, our Early Human Family is full of quirky and long-lost people.  There are those relatives we would rather not think about, as well as those relatives who we are proud to be related to.  For example, consider the difference between Cro-Magnons (H. sapiens) and Neanderthals (H. neanderthalensis), in our Early Human Family, and how we react to each.

EARLIEST HUMAN FAMILY: Honor Diversity

            Four to two million years ago (mya), several Families of Early Humans roamed Africa.  As the climate became drier, the forests transformed into grasslands.  The Early Humans walked upright, but still regarded trees as their homes.  Walking upright gave Them an advantage because They could see various predators lurking in the grass. (One predator, Dinofelis (a saber-toothed cat) had often feasted on Early Humans.)

            The Earliest Families of Humans were Australopithecus, Kenyantropus, and Paranthropus.  They all could manipulate small objects, which would allow the next Family to make tools.  The most famous of these Earliest Families was Australopithecus.  “Lucy” (Au. Afarensis) was once thought to be the “missing link” between apes and humans.  The only Kenyantropus was K. platyops who was named for his flat face.  Meanwhile, Paranthropus, nicknamed “Nutcracker Man”, had strong jaws to eat nuts and hard plants.     However, only Australopithecus developed into Homo, the next Family of Early Humans.

Fred Spoor, a noted paleontologist stressed that, “East Africa was a crowded place with multiple species.” Imagine a world of different Families of Humans, with each with their own sphere of influence possessing special talents.  Simply because one Family seemed “less advanced” than another Family, did not mean that They could not survive at all. These Earliest Humans could successfully cope with the particular challenges in their lives.

These Earliest Humans show us that it is good to experiment, and to encourage diversity. Though some of Them died off, all of the Earliest Humans contributed to the whole of Humankind.  We need to honor the efforts of these Earliest People in becoming who we are today.