Why We Study Human Origins

Why We Study Human Origins
by Randall Susman
Calliope: Exploring World History

People question why humans evolved, when we evolved, where did we originate,why did some early humans (early hominids) not survive,what makes us different than all other early humans and many more! For a long time theories on human origins were based on religion but now theories are based on Science and concrete evidence like fossils. 1800s Charles Darwin thought of a theory of how plants and animals have evolved. This theory is called the Theory of Evolution. This theory was widely used by scientists. Not long after, Thomas Henry Huxley, who is a scientist, started comparing humans and apes. He believed that African apes look like humans more than monkeys do. To what this magazine says, “Huxley believed that anatomically, African apes and humans were similar, more similar in fact than apes were to monkeys.” This is interesting because apes look like monkeys on the outside but on the inside they’re actually more like humans. This is interesting because no one knew this before. This was a new idea! First hominid fossil was found in South Africa by Raymond Dart in 1925. This was the first puzzle piece to help explain human evolution and start to prove Darwin's and Huxley’s theories. Scientists and archaeologists continued to search and dig in Africa and have found more fossils and stone tools. Which means more puzzle pieces and evidence. Since we have found stone tools, this means that our ancestors hunted for food!

Susman, Randall. "Why We Study Human Origins." Calliope: Exploring World History Sept. 1999: 4-5. Print.