So far the evidence that we have in the world points to Africa as the Cradle of Humankind. George Abungu, Director-General of the National Museums of Kenya. Most of the available scientific evidence suggests Africa was the continent in which human life began. W e can however never be absolutely sure. There is always the possibility of fossil discoveries being made in another part of the world, which could make us believe otherwise. Researchers believe that members of the human family - hominids - and African apes once had a common ancestor ,perhaps as recently as 5 to 10 million years ago. At some stage the hominids split of f from the apes and began to develop one of the first and perhaps most important human characteristics - the ability to walk upright. The earliest ancestors of humankind are known as Australopithecines - commonly known as ape men. The first example of Australopithecus was found in 1925 in a limestone cave near T aung, in South Africa, by the anthropologist Raymond Dart. He found the skull of a six year old creature with an ape-like appearance but human characteristics. Australopithecines were small, with long arms, prominent skulls and small brains and retained the ability to climb trees. In 1997 an Australopithecus skull and skeleton was found in a cave in Sterkfontein north of Johannesburg. It is thought to be around 3.5 million years old. The bones are likely to be of a hominid, who fell through a shaft and died while trapped underground. One of the most famous finds was in Ethiopias Omo V alley in 1974. It was the skeleton, about 40% complete, of a young girl known to the outside world as Lucy and to Ethiopians as Dinqnish - the wonderful or precious one. She was about the same age as Sterkfontein man. Australopithecus split into several dif ferent species. Some developed powerful teeth and jaws and became known as robust while others were more lightly built and dubbed gracile.
Posted on: Mon, 18 Nov 2013 03:35:01 +0000
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