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Origins: The Story of the Emergence of Humans and Humanity in Africa
Oxbow In 2006 a new museum, the Origins Centre, was opened in Johannesburg to celebrate human origins in Africa and its rich cultural heritage. This book is the official publication accompanying the opening of the museum and provides a non-specialist introduction to human evolution in Africa, from pre-humans to modern humans, to the creative explosion that took palce throughout the Middle and Late Stone Age, and the rediscovery of Africa's past up until recent times. The short essays, though written by renowned scholars, are designed for a general readership.
168 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2010
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June 25, 2012
Mostly way above my head, but this book has confirmed my very scant bits of knowledge on this fascinating topic - especially the case for why (South) Africa is the 'cradle of mankind'. I wrongly thought this series of essays by the world's foremost paleontologists would be a layman's intro. The most interesting facts and bits:
1. Howieson's Poort - a term revered everywhere by these scientists, is a place I knew of (just west of Grahamstown) which is now a generic for Middle Stone Age tools of a certain sophistication. Ditto the term 'Stillbay' because that place has also yielded new insights recently.
2. On the way to the Whale Trail in Feb this year we nearly ended up first at Stillbaai, S Cape. That whole coastline has caves with important finds. (On the Trail we also met young archaelogists at Noetzie Bay). Blombos Cave's fossilised ochres and perforated shell necklace - evidence of earliest 'symbolical mediation'- are +-70000 years old, whereas Europe's most ancient cave art is dated at +-45,000years old.
3. CroMagnon man from Africa wiped out, rather than interbred with, Europe's less developed Neanderthals.
4. I attended a rivetting presentation by Himla Soodyall in 2011 which gave the genetic case for our 'recent' African evolution; she also contributes to this book. The 'African Eve' idea has arisen because of our mitochondrial DNA, which we can trace back to a single female ancestor who most probably lived in Africa 150K-200K years ago.
All very interesting, topical and daunting stuff! (This review is mostly just for me, so I can recall the most digestible bits.)
1. Howieson's Poort - a term revered everywhere by these scientists, is a place I knew of (just west of Grahamstown) which is now a generic for Middle Stone Age tools of a certain sophistication. Ditto the term 'Stillbay' because that place has also yielded new insights recently.
2. On the way to the Whale Trail in Feb this year we nearly ended up first at Stillbaai, S Cape. That whole coastline has caves with important finds. (On the Trail we also met young archaelogists at Noetzie Bay). Blombos Cave's fossilised ochres and perforated shell necklace - evidence of earliest 'symbolical mediation'- are +-70000 years old, whereas Europe's most ancient cave art is dated at +-45,000years old.
3. CroMagnon man from Africa wiped out, rather than interbred with, Europe's less developed Neanderthals.
4. I attended a rivetting presentation by Himla Soodyall in 2011 which gave the genetic case for our 'recent' African evolution; she also contributes to this book. The 'African Eve' idea has arisen because of our mitochondrial DNA, which we can trace back to a single female ancestor who most probably lived in Africa 150K-200K years ago.
All very interesting, topical and daunting stuff! (This review is mostly just for me, so I can recall the most digestible bits.)
Displaying 1 of 1 review