Archaeological find suggests human behavior 160,000 yrs ago?

[feilong80]

Hello all (this is a first time post in the forums, but I've read articles on Godandscience.org for years),

Today I noticed a news story in which it is asserted that humans showed signs of intelligent behavior roughly 160,000 years ago. The evidence is apparent cooked seafood, cosmetic makeup (ground pigments), and small blades.

The link to the story is here: http://www.townhall.com/news/sci-tech/2 ... ood?page=1

I've always been impressed with Hugh Ross' and Godandscience.org's ideas regarding origins, part of which is that humans appeared suddenly 40,000 years ago. In your opinion, does this information change that, or is it "trumped up evidence?"

Thank you so much for your time.

[B. W.]

Hello all (this is a first time post in the forums, but I've read articles on Godandscience.org for years),

Today I noticed a news story in which it is asserted that humans showed signs of intelligent behavior roughly 160,000 years ago. The evidence is apparent cooked seafood, cosmetic makeup (ground pigments), and small blades.

The link to the story is here: http://www.townhall.com/news/sci-tech/2 ... ood?page=1

I've always been impressed with Hugh Ross' and Godandscience.org's ideas regarding origins, part of which is that humans appeared suddenly 40,000 years ago. In your opinion, does this information change that, or is it "trumped up evidence?"

Thank you so much for your time.

I doubt my answer will help. Many years ago I witness the power of a devastating flood. The waters took a small swallow creek about 1 to 2 feet wide in a gentle sloping valley and changed the landscape over night. After the flood a deep gorge appeared about 30 foot across and 40 to 50 feet deep several miles long. According to some scientist, this would have taken millions of years for this slow stream to create such a gorge; however, it happened over night after super heavy rains left over from a hurricane. I guess it depends on the scientist point of view how and when things happen. As for your question, all I can say is wait around a bit and test the evidence itself. Hypotheses are just that — Hypotheses. Sometimes things are not as they first appear.
-
-
-

[feilong80]

Thanks for the reply,

To be sure, this particular bit of news (and a few other things like it) don't seem to do a whole lot to challenge the 40,000-70,000 sudden appearance of complex human behavior yet- it is just one scant bit of evidence.

Yet, not being an expert on any of the fields, I was wondering what you guys and girls thought of it (-:

[Kurieuo]

Thanks for the reply,

To be sure, this particular bit of news (and a few other things like it) don't seem to do a whole lot to challenge the 40,000-70,000 sudden appearance of complex human behavior yet- it is just one scant bit of evidence.

Yet, not being an expert on any of the fields, I was wondering what you guys and girls thought of it (-:

Would a 70k+ years ago for human origins go against RTB's position on when humanity arose? Yes. You will find there is often a range given however, and certainly there is when taking a cumulative approach to evidence on human origins.

[David Blacklock]

Excerpts from article from Science Daily about this find from Herto, Ethiopia:

Because the Herto fossils represent a transition between more primitive hominids from Africa and modern humans, they provide strong support for the hypothesis that modern humans evolved in Africa and subsequently spread into Eurasia.

The fossil evidence, said Asfaw, "clearly shows what molecular anthropologists have been saying for a long time - that modern Homo sapiens evolved out of Africa. These fossilized skulls from Herto show that modern humans were living at around 160,000 years ago with full-fledged Homo sapiens features. The 'Out of Africa' hypothesis is now tested, ... (and) we can conclusively say that neanderthals had nothing to do with modern humans.

The male is slightly larger than the extremes seen in modern Homo sapiens, yet it bears characteristics within the range of modern humans. Because of the differences, the researchers placed the fossils in the same genus and species as modern humans but appended a subspecies name - Homo sapiens idaltu -to differentiate them from contemporary humans, Homo sapiens sapiens.

Scientists tracking evolution through changes in mitochondrial DNA, which is passed from mother to daughter, have estimated that humans derive their mitochrondrial genes from an ancestral mother nicknamed "Eve" who lived in Africa about 150,000 years ago. Other scientists studying the male Y chromosome have reached similar conclusions. The new Herto fossils are from a population living at exactly this time.

The early humans at Herto lived along the shores of a shallow lake created when the Awash River temporarily dammed about 260,000 years ago. The lake contained abundant hippos, crocodiles and catfish, while buffalo roamed the land. The sediments and volcanic rock in which the fossils were found were dated at between 160,000 and 154,000 years by a combination of two methods - the argon/argon method and the chemistry of the volcanic layers method.

The Middle Awash team consists of more than 45 scientists from 14 different countries who specialize in geology, archaeology and paleontology. In this single study area, the team has found fossils dating from the present to more than 6 million years ago, painting a clear picture of human evolution from ape-like ancestors to present-day humans. "The human fossils from Herto are near the top of a well-calibrated succession of African fossils," White said. "This is clear fossil evidence that our species arose through evolution."

DB

[Garry Denke]

German Stone Age Coalstone Hunter Campfires

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?tit ... =172487181

An 120,000-year-old Stone Age coalstone hunting camp was discovered in 2005 by archaelogists in an
opencast coalstone mine in Germany, its first known use being campfire cooking fuel for German hunters.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/0%2 ... %2C00.html

Are coalstone rocks used for cooking anymore?

Garry Denke

[David Blacklock]

I don't know anything about coalstone rocks, but nice wiki article. Are you a regular contributor?

[Garry Denke]

I don't know anything about coalstone rocks, but nice wiki article. Are you a regular contributor?

Thank you D-B, now and then.

400,000-year-old Stone Age coal mine

Excavations in the depths of a German coal mine have bagged the archaeological equivalent of really big game -- the world's oldest known hunting weapons, a trio of wooden spears fashioned with admirable skill.

In 1995 the new image of early Stone Age ancestors as systematic hunters of large animals and coalstone rocks, rather than mere scavengers of small game and wood fuel, emerged from a discovery in Germany that was announced in the journal Nature. (1997) Examining material excavated in an opencast coalstone mine near Hanover, archaeologists found 400,000-year-old wooden spears (3 complete), carving and mining tools, and the remains of more than 10 horses at the coalstone rocks hunting basecamp. (2007)

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v3 ... 767a0.html

Oldest Human Fossils Found

A 160,000-year-old skull found in Ethiopia is the oldest known modern human fossil. Because the skull is slightly larger than those of modern-day humans, scientists have classified it as a subspecies -- Homo sapiens idaltu.

After six years of analysis, fossil hunters in Africa have confirmed the discovery of the oldest fossilized remains of modern humans yet found -- portions of skulls belonging to people who lived 160,000 years ago. Paleontologists say the discovery adds detail to a crucial period in human evolution, and confirms the hypothesis that modern humans evolved in Africa. NPR's Christopher Joyce reports. A team led by University of California, Berkeley paleontologist Tim White found the fossils in desert sands near the Ethiopian village of Herto. "These are the oldest fossils that we can confidently place in our own species, Homo sapiens," says White.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... Id=1295624

Humans may have used makeup 160,000 years ago: study

Dolling-up and getting ready to go out may sound like a modern human luxury, but the practice dates much further back than scientists previously thought, a new study suggests.

And that's not the only surprising discovery an international team of researchers made: Early humans living on the coast in South Africa were already harvesting seafood, employing complex bladelet tools as well as using red pigments (especially red ochre) as a primitive form of makeup as early as 164,000 years ago. Previous findings date the use of bladelet stone tool technology to 70,000 years ago and evidence of human use of marine resources and coastal habits to about 125,000 ago. Archeologists believe the use of pigments is indicative of symbolic behavior, which played a crucial role in the development of modern language.

http://www.discoverychannel.ca/reports/ ... x?aid=4581

Garry Denke