Nobody Cares about Pre-History

[Beebo Brink]

And a good rough estimate of the timeline of us, and our predecessors, including when some things proooobably developed:

That article is from 2006, and is somewhat outdated as more information about Ardipithecus has been analyzed and released very recently, not to mention many other fossils relevant to the human tree. Also, other research has pushed back the timeline for our divergence from other great apes.

The current interpretation of the Ardi fossil (the first, and fairly complete skeleton of that hominid species) is that she shares some "primitive" traits with the Miocene apes that preceded the split with great apes. Gorillas and chimps developed along their own path with features that made them more adaptive to forest dwelling, which includes knuckle-walking and a foot optimized for tree climbing. They doubled-down in their ecological niche, which is one reason they're endangered today as modern humans chip away at those habitats.

Ardipithecus -- which appears to have eventually led to humans -- seems to have been more of a generalist, not quite as good at climbing as other apes, but good enough to get by. And good enough at walking to do well on the savannah ecology, too. This may have given it that extra edge that we're still using to our advantage.

For anyone interested in early pre-human origins, I really recommend Fossil Men, a book I just finished last night. It's a rousing adventure tale following the very colorful cast of paleoanthropologists who found Ardi.

Fossil Men: The Quest for the Oldest Skeleton and the Origins of Humankind: Pattison, Kermit: 9780062410290: Books - Amazon

Buy Fossil Men: The Quest for the Oldest Skeleton and the Origins of Humankind on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders

www.amazon.com

 

[danielravennest]

For anyone interested in early pre-human origins, I really recommend Fossil Men,

It would also be an apt name for people who drive big trucks and roll coal.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

 

[Beebo Brink]

What Were Humans Doing in the Yukon 24,000 Years Ago?

Scientists have examined remains from caves and think the shelters served as temporary camps for hunters who targeted horses

www.smithsonianmag.com

 

[Beebo Brink]

I've always wondered why there were overlapping images in cave art. This makes the most sense for explaining why the cave artists made those choices.

Stone Age people may have gathered at night to watch animated “fireside art”

VR simulations showed firelight would make images on engraved stones move and flicker.

arstechnica.com

 

[Soen Eber]

I do wonder if all these great works is a reflection of an all-consuming community cooperation, however.

"There goes Stan, playing with rocks again" ... *sighs* "Oh look, he's snagged his kids into it as well. Remember that tree house project 4 years ago and then whenever it was his turn growing up to to gather the berries he'd sneak off to finger paint in that damn fool cave?"

 

[Beebo Brink]

Prehistoric women were hunters and artists as well as mothers, book reveals

French book and documentary coming to the UK in September seeks to ‘debunk the simplistic division’ of gender roles

www.theguardian.com

 

[Beebo Brink]

A visit to this site is now on my bucket list for retirement activities.

How a cave in western Pa. changed human history as we know it

I've come across many little-known sites in Pennsylvania that amazed me. However, few can top Meadowcroft Rockshelter.

www.pennlive.com

 

[Veritable Quandry]

Wow. That's about 3 hours from us, might be on my summer list of activities.

 

[Aribeth Zelin]

I need to go to PA some time anyways, but now I've got a side trip

 

[Free]

Analysis of prehistoric feces shows Stonehenge people had parasites

Fossilized fecal analysis sheds light on prehistoric dietary habits and social behavior.

arstechnica.com

I'm not much for betting, but I think "prehistoric Stonehenge people had parasites" would have been insane to bet against. But it's interesting to learn they've only recently begun to be able to differentiate between human and other animal feces.

 

[Beebo Brink]

Artificial intelligence may have unearthed one of the world’s oldest campfires | Science | AAAS

 

[Free]

 

[Beebo Brink]

For anyone interested in early pre-human origins, I really recommend Fossil Men, a book I just finished last night. It's a rousing adventure tale following the very colorful cast of paleoanthropologists who found Ardi.

Fossil Men: The Quest for the Oldest Skeleton and the Origins of Humankind: Pattison, Kermit: 9780062410290: Books - Amazon

Buy Fossil Men: The Quest for the Oldest Skeleton and the Origins of Humankind on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders

www.amazon.com

Thanks, Free, this video builds nicely on the evidence I read about in Fossil Men, which follows the archeologists who discovered Ardi. Their contention that it's chimps and gorillas who diverged from the earlier model of locomotion was considered radical and controversial, but it's quite persuasive.

 

[Free]

I love that it could be knuckle-walking that evolved *after* bipedalism - totally ruining the "march of progress" illustration now that chimps and gorillas would have to be inserted at some point in the middle of the image.

 

[Aribeth Zelin]

So.... it seems like Amelaince is asking for skimpy clothes, just saying.

Found this while scrolling through things to keep me awake until the hearing.... and found it really interesting [and my brain didn't get too distracted with the 'I can't quite place his accent, where in the UK is from - because it really is fascinating to me]

 

[Lexxi]

I love that it could be knuckle-walking that evolved *after* bipedalism - totally ruining the "march of progress" illustration now that chimps and gorillas would have to be inserted at some point in the middle of the image.

I was curious to see what variations of "march of progress" I could find and . . . the original apparently has been deceptively and misleadingly shown in an abbreviated form for a long while now.

The original one had a lot more figures in it. First two are standing and walking upright. Third is actually the only one walking on all fours/knuckle-walking - and it is described as an ape ancestor not a human ancestor. The second upright one is described as being a ancestor of chimpanzee and possibly of gorilla. So the original march of progress had the ancestors of chimps and gorillas walking upright. Then walking on knuckles.

Oh, and it should be pointed out that the original "March of Progress" was not actually intended to be a line of direct descent. As maybe suspected by some of the things I mentioned in prior paragraph. The original "March of Progress" came out in a TimeLife book in 1965 and actually titled "The Road to Homo sapiens".

The image, titled “The Road to Homo Sapiens” though more commonly referred to as “The March of Progress,” was created by Rudolph Zallinger for Time-Life Books’ Early Man (1965) volume of the Life Nature Library. It originally appeared as a four and a half-page spread of 15 figures (Fig. 6); however, when folded up, just six figures are shown (Fig. 1). It’s this abbreviated image that has exploded into popular culture. (Note: A copy of Early Man can be checked out of Washington University’s Olin Library.)

on-the-origins-of-the-march-of-progress

 

[Lexxi]

*pushes play on video. Sees exact book wrote about in my post. Sees video person intentionally not open up the march of progress graph. hmm*

For . . . F sake. "a gradual evolution of . . ." That's not what that graph shows. I have no faith in anything else that video presenter might say.

 

[Free]

It's nice that you're rediscovering the original March of Progress illustration but original intentions and the like are a side discussion. The "abbreviated" version that starts with the ape is the version that is part of our common culture and how I was introduced to it, and the interpretation of it as a single line of ascent is what it's now seen to be describing.

I don't know if it *evolved* into that through purposeful effort or by happenstance. Honestly I don't really care - as you note, it's just a Time-Life book pictographic assembly. The point is that it's been used for decades to misrepresent scientific understanding (sometimes by scientists!), and attempts to disassemble these false, or at least simplistic and equivocal, representations (like zoological trees of life) is something I enjoy learning about.

 

[Free]

I have no faith in anything else that video presenter might say.

You're...free to ignore it.