Human evolution is a complex story of cultural, technological, and environmental changes that have transformed us into a distinct and advanced species over millions of years.
Human evolution, along with the emergence of life and the formation of the universe, is one of the most complex and important parts of our natural history. Yet the story of human evolution often remains in the shadows, only gaining public attention when exciting discoveries are made in the news. Paleoanthropology is underfunded and underresearched, especially in African countries, where many of the most important discoveries have been made.
One of the first major discoveries in the field of human evolution dates back more than a century and was made in the town of Tung, South Africa. Miners in Tung discovered the skull of a 2.8-million-year-old child with teeth similar to those of humans. The discovery clearly showed that early humans were able to walk.
Fifty years later, in the Afar region of northern Ethiopia, which has become a major center for the discovery of ancient human remains, the remains of “Lucy” were discovered. This small woman with a small but valuable brain pushed back the first evidence of bipedalism by more than 3 million years. Lucy’s discovery was a major breakthrough in science.
Since then, a large number of new discoveries have led to fundamental changes in our understanding of human evolution. These changes have often been accompanied by the emergence of new technologies and scientific techniques, and have sometimes led to heated debates about the accuracy of the findings.
The concept of “human” is a subject that is constantly raised in scientific discussions. Many researchers use the term only for modern humans, but the fact is that we still have traces of other hominids in our genes, which shows that the common history of humans and other hominid species is much longer than previously thought.
Although the process of hominid evolution has occurred gradually from the beginning, there have also been periods of rapid changes along the way. The evolutionary history of the genus “human” is so rich and complex that it is impossible to draw precise boundaries between us and other species. The complexities show that the story of human evolution is still evolving, and especially in Africa, the place where many discoveries have taken place, it is possible to obtain very comprehensive and precise answers to the questions of paleoanthropology.
Most of the story of human evolution revolves around Africa; Countries like Kenya, South Africa, and Ethiopia rightly pride themselves on their heritage as the “cradle of humanity,” and they paint a very comprehensive picture. But the simplest question is: how did we get here?
From the First Apes to Hominids: 35 to 8 Million Years Ago
The story of human evolution usually begins with the split of our distant ancestors from the apes. The split is clearly visible in the fossil record, and identifies the ancestors of the apes as far back as 35 million years ago. About 10 million years ago, during the Miocene epoch, the Earth was a warm, humid environment with dense forests. During this period, apes ranged from Europe to China, but most of their fossils have been discovered in Africa, where ancient volcanic deposits have preserved their remains so well.
But the warm, humid world soon changed. Lower temperatures and aridity in some areas, especially in the Mediterranean, led to a major change in climate. The shifting of continents closed the Strait of Gibraltar, which evaporated the sea, leaving huge deposits of salt on the floor of the modern sea. From about 7 to 6 million years ago, climate change caused a decrease in humidity and seasonality of the weather, which had significant effects on plant and animal species.
About 8 million years ago, the ancestors of hominids split from apes, and the evolutionary line gradually led to modern humans. Although the date is not precisely determined by fossil evidence, comparative molecular studies with other animals have helped scientists estimate the time of the separation of the two groups.
DNA studies show that humans are most similar to chimpanzees and bonobos. These similarities are evident not only in genetic makeup but also in many behavioral traits. Gorillas, another great ape from Africa, are less similar to chimpanzees than they are to us. The physical similarities between gorillas and chimpanzees are largely due to the fact that both species live in tropical forests and have similar survival characteristics in these environments. The differences indicate how and at what speed early hominids began the process of evolutionary change to adapt to drier environments.
However, there is still some debate about whether chimpanzees are the best model for representing the “last common ancestor” of humans and apes. Perhaps it would be better to call the chimpanzee the “best living model,” since many features, including body proportions, locomotion, and even front teeth, are similar to those of our common ancestors. At the same time, their complex social behavior and communication, and especially their ability to use tools, could be very useful for better understanding the evolutionary processes that led to “humanization.”
Early hominins: 7 to 4 million years ago
The oldest hominin fossil yet identified dates back to about 7 million years ago in central Africa, near Lake Chad. The fossil, found in 2001, belongs to a species called Sahelanthropus tchadensis and includes a skull that its discoverers called “Tomai.” In addition to the skull, a femur and teeth were also found that probably belonged to the same species.
Despite the limitations of the discoveries, the fossils were sufficient to prove the existence of a bipedal creature that may still have been capable of living in trees and at the same time had teeth with hominin characteristics. Other evidence suggests that these hominins lived in habitats such as forests and grasslands. The location of their habitat reveals their adaptations to the surrounding environment.
After the discovery of the Tomai fossil, no new evidence of hominins was found for more than a million years, except for some scattered remains of a species called Orrorin tugenensis, found in the Tugen Hills of the Great Rift Valley, Kenya, and dating back to about 6 million years ago.
About 5.5 million years ago, hominins emerged with a new species called Ardipithecus kadabba. The discovery of a partial jaw and teeth from this species in the Middle Awash region of northern Ethiopia in 1997 provided new information about the “common ancestor” of all later hominins. The discovery suggests that Ardipithecus kadabba had a combination of features from apes and later hominins, indicating a gradual evolution along this path.
Researchers have emphasized that Ardipithecus kadabba had different body proportions compared to chimpanzees. It did not have large, shovel-like front teeth like chimpanzees. The discovery refutes the theory that hominins descended from the trees to live in the savannah and were forced to walk on two legs. In contrast, Ardipithecus lived in dense forests, and this probably evolved as an adaptation for moving through the branches of trees and grasping the upper branches.
Although the idea of a “common ancestor” remains plausible, recent discoveries suggest that different species of hominids existed at the same time. While Ardipithecus kadaba is known only from Ethiopia, it is likely that similar species were also found across large areas of Africa. However, due to geological conditions, these species have not been identified as extensively as in areas such as the Great Rift Valley.
One interesting thing about Ardipithecus cadaba is that its feet were still ape-like. Its large, separate big toe indicated its importance in climbing trees. Another species of Ardipithecus cadaba, Ardipithecus ramidus, lived just half a million years before the discovery of the Laetuli footprints in Tanzania (in 1976). The footprints had features similar to those of humans, suggesting that evolution must have occurred more rapidly to explain the relationship between the two species.
However, Ardipithecus cadaba has some key features that are crucial to understanding the overall state of hominids at the time. Its pelvis, the oldest known, was short and bowl-shaped, and closely resembled that of later hominids, but its lower part was more ape-like. The teeth of Ardipithecus cadaba also had thicker enamel than those of African apes, but thinner than those of modern humans. These features indicate an omnivorous diet.
Australopithecus: 4.3 to 1.4 million years ago
Around 4 million years ago, a new group of hominins called Australopithecus emerged. The genus was named after the “Tung Child,” a skull discovered by limestone miners in South Africa 100 years ago. Although the name Australopithecus means “southern ape,” these creatures were definitely hominins. They were bipedal and had a similar dental pattern to modern humans. Their canines were also fewer and sometimes surprisingly diverse.
With the increase in discoveries, at least ten species of Australopithecus have now been identified, indicating “adaptive divergence,” meaning that hominids were adapting to different habitats and climates. Although Australopithecus lived only in Africa, their distribution extended from the south to the east and even west near Lake Chad, where Sahelanthropos was also discovered. This distribution strengthens the theory of an African origin for hominids. This theory was long proposed because of their close relationship with African apes.
The oldest species of Australopithecus, or Australopithecus anamensis, was found in northern Kenya and dates back more than 4 million years. This was followed by Australopithecus afarensis in Ethiopia, the species of the amazing Lucy skeleton, and Australopithecus prometheus in South Africa.
In addition, there are the species Australopithecus africanus and Australopithecus garhi, which were nicknamed “strong-bodied” with large molars and ape-sized brains, with massive jaws and skulls. This group, officially called “Paranthropus,” It consists of three distinct species in southern and eastern Africa that appeared at least 3 million years ago and lasted until about 1.4 million years ago.
Although microscopic examination of the teeth of the Paranthropus group suggests a mixed diet, based on the large size of their molars, their diet consisted mainly of grasses and stunted plants. In fact, the dominance of large molars caused their front teeth to become smaller, and their incisors and canines were consistently smaller than those of modern humans.
Although the Great Rift Valley in Africa, located in the eastern part of the continent, is considered the main center of origin of hominids, the distribution of Australopithecus is so wide that it suggests that the region is not necessarily the “cradle of humanity”, although most of the fossils have been found in this area. The Dolomite caves in South Africa are also strong rivals in importance to the Rift Valley. The discovery of Australopithecus bahrelghazali in Chad, much further away from the Rift Valley, suggests that the species was widespread throughout Africa.
Origin of the Human Genus: About 2.8 million years ago
The genus Homo to which we belong probably arose at some point between the Australopithecus. However, exactly how and when this happened is still difficult to determine, as skull remains, especially those related to the period between 3 and 2 million years ago, are very rare.
Dating the human genus is a matter of luck; many fossil remains have been discovered before and after the period. The discovery of a number of teeth proves that hominids were present in eastern and southern Africa during this period, and rare discoveries of skulls such as Paranthropus aethiopicus and Australopithecus gari suggest that more specimens may be discovered at any moment.
The genus Homo is known for its very large brain (about three times that of a chimpanzee), but this was not the case at first. At first, humans were almost indistinguishable from Australopithecus, except in some anatomical details, especially the shape of the molars and premolars. The discovery of jaw and tooth remains from Ledigiraro and Hadar in Ethiopia and then from Cameroon, Kenya, tells the story of the early history of our direct ancestors from 2.8 to 2.4 million years ago.
As we approach 2 million years ago, humans emerge more clearly in the famous discoveries of skulls and other fossils from Tanzania, Kenya, and later in South Africa. In addition to the discovery of at least three species of Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis, and Homo erectus in Africa, a species of human of similar age was also suddenly found outside Africa, at Dmanisi in modern-day Georgia. The Dmanisi discoveries are as old as the Tangledvai finds in Tanzania.
The Dmanisi fossils, along with the earliest archaeological evidence of stone tools and cut marks on animal bones indicating butchery, suggest that humans were widely dispersed from Asia to China by the first million years after their emergence. The first group of settlers must have been a species of early hominid, but their fossil remains have only been discovered at Dmanisi and Lantian County in China.
Technology was certainly part of the adaptation that made possible the expansion of the human species. Toolmaking is recognized as a clear part of early cultural behavior, and evidence of this is preserved in the form of stone tools. Today, the age of stone toolmaking has been pushed back dramatically. Around 1970, the 2 million year mark was broken, and more recently, the 3 million year mark was broken with the discovery of stone tools at Lomikoyi and Nyiyangana in Kenya.
We do not know who made the first tools, but discoveries indicate that stone artifacts appeared at about the same time as early humans, alongside Australopithecus. Identifying tools is crucial for determining the location and activities of hominids.
Who made the first tools?
Until recently, it was believed that the emergence of tools and the human race were linked, and this connection was seen as an important step in the development of early human culture. But now there is a different view, largely based on studies of living animals.
For example, chimpanzees not only make tools, they also use them. So do the small maned monkeys of South America. Birds are also interesting in this regard, especially the New Caledonian crow. Animal tools may be simple, being made mainly of plant materials. But they also use stones for pounding.
Animal tool use is a form of culture and is passed down as a learned tradition. Given that we, Homo sapiens, are the most cultured species on Earth, it is likely that all hominids were toolmakers and tool workers, especially since fossil hominids are more closely related to us than to tool-making chimpanzees.
However, we still do not know who made the first stone tools. We do know that tool making continued after Paranthropus and other Australopithecus disappeared. But it is possible that some people were using tools earlier.
Most of the early stone artifacts are attributed to the “Davai culture”, from about 3 to 1.8 million years ago. These tools were usually made of igneous rock or quartzite. Both heavy tools, such as axes, and sharp stone objects, were used for a wide range of tasks, including butchering animals, preparing food, and shaping wooden tools, the remains of which have not been preserved.
The toolbox was an advantage for early hominids in the struggle for survival in diverse environments. It was probably a key factor in their expansion into new areas, including Jordan, northern India, and China, over 2 million years ago.
Homo erectus: 1.8 million to 0.5 million years ago
After the rapid expansion of Australopithecus, the next 1.5 million years of human evolution seem to be relatively simpler. During this period, the dominance of a species of hominids called Homo erectus or upright man (Homo erectus) began on Earth, and the archaeological remains of this period are mainly focused around a central axis: the hand-made stone tools of the “axe fist” or Acheulean culture.
Homo erectus appeared about 2 million years ago and its fossil remains have been found in South, East and North Africa, as well as in the Middle East and the Far East. This species was much more human-like than previous hominids, with a brain size ranging from about 500 cc in early specimens to over 1,000 cc in later periods, about 70% of the cranial capacity of modern humans. Its body proportions and bipedal gait were also similar to modern humans. These features are also evident in Dmanisi (Georgia) and the almost complete skeleton of the “Turkana Boy” in Kenya.
As evidenced by tools discovered throughout Africa and Asia, Homo erectus was highly capable and widespread. The fist-axe tool emerged in East Africa about 1.75 million years ago and was probably a versatile solution to everyday needs. These tools were made of igneous rock or quartzite, and the idea of making them became widespread. Some of these tools are so finely crafted that they are considered the first signs of art, or at least an “aesthetic sense.”
However, Homo erectus may have represented a group of similar species that existed in parallel and, in some areas, were even very diverse. For example, at the archaeological site of Dmanisi, five skulls were found, which is equal to the diversity of all of Africa.
In East Asia, there are also dramatic deviations in evolution. For example, a small species called Homo floresiensis, discovered in 2003 on the Indonesian island of Flores and known as the “hobbit,” had anatomical details that suggest it probably descended from an older hominid species than Homo erectus.
In southern Africa, Homo naledi, a primitive-looking species, was discovered, dating back about 300,000 years and probably an evolution of early Homo erectus.
Not all fist-axe tools were the same. Although the idea of making them was widespread, they are not found everywhere. For example, they are absent from most sites where Homo erectus remains have been discovered in the Far East.
In Europe, glacial and temperate periods have occurred repeatedly, and much of the record has been erased by glaciers over the past million years. There is no definitive evidence of Homo erectus in Europe, but a possible sister species has been discovered in northern Spain, perhaps 1.4 million years old. In such a challenging climatic environment, the survival of “early man” seems very strange. But 600,000-year-old evidence from Arago Cave, off the coast of France, shows that humans hunted deer and endured the most severe cold.
There are three main points about the hominids present in the long period up to half a million years ago:
- Wide distribution: they were highly adaptable and resilient.
- Technical capabilities: included at least the use of fire.
- The evolution of large brains: indicated their highly social nature.
Fire played a very important role in human adaptation. This is consistent with the ideas of cooking, high-quality food to feed the brain, and time regulation to create more social opportunities (especially at night). Fire also, as a key tool for other technologies, allowed early humans to make pottery and metalwork over time.
The origin of the use of fire is not precisely known, but it probably dates back at least a million years. The accidental use of fire probably occurred before it was fully controlled, and the ability to ignite fire eventually freed humans from the need to keep a fire burning for long periods of time.
The benefits of a larger brain
The size of the brain of Homo erectus was not constant. Contrary to popular belief that brain enlargement in humans is a relatively recent phenomenon, there was overlap with modern humans as early as half a million years ago.
While it is natural to think that being smart is an advantage, a brain as large as ours is so expensive that it consumes about 20 to 30 percent of the body’s energy, and there must be a justification for the expense. Most species survive with brains much smaller than those of our ancestors. A tripling of brain size in 2 million years is a remarkable feat. Such an expansion was only possible through a high-quality diet and a reduction in the size of other major organs.
A large brain is energetically expensive, so there must be evolutionary reasons for it. One of the most intriguing explanations is the “social brain” hypothesis, which suggests that survival in some environments required larger groups. We know from the typical distances of carrying stone tools (5–10 km, sometimes 20–30 km), that hominids moved much more than apes even 2 million years ago. The social management of such groups is very challenging and may have been a driving force for the evolution of larger brains.
The acceleration of change that characterizes modern life seems to have begun about half a million years ago. In Africa, Homo erectus gave way to larger-brained descendants such as Homo heidelbergensis, who also lived in Europe.
But in archaeology, major developments are visible even before the first fossils of modern humans appear. Two key developments were the emergence of point-throwing (spear) weapons and long-distance transport. Point-throwing weapons suggest that their makers had mastered the art of hanging, and therefore also knew about glue or string. In southern Africa, these developments began about 400,000 years ago.
With larger brains, larger social groups, and better weapons, hominins created and improved their unique hunting techniques. They usually used ambush tactics, hunting for intact animals. While this pattern may have originated more than a million years ago, in the past 50,000 years this hunting method has expanded to the point where it has led to the extinction of many large animals, such as mammoths, mastodons, and marsupials.
In all cases, there is ample evidence of high skill. For example, in the “Lovalo technique,” which many today cannot recreate, the maker of a stone core carefully carves and must mentally visualize the tool before breaking it with a blow.
Many ancient and highly skilled artifacts, including some from the Acheulean culture, would qualify as “art” by today’s standards, even though we know little about their true intentions. These discoveries suggest that the basic skills for art existed at least a million years ago, but their transfer to non-functional forms provides a new level of evidence for human intelligence.
Homo sapiens: Around 300,000 years ago
Many people study human evolution primarily to understand our own species, modern humans, or Homo sapiens. But we are the end result of a long process of evolution, accounting for less than five percent of all human history in our short time on planet Earth.
Until the 1980s, our species was thought to have emerged around 40,000 years ago as a result of the “human revolution,” an explosion of creativity marked by the flourishing of cave paintings and sophisticated tools. But many of the events in this analysis were wrongly grouped together, because the limitations of radiocarbon dating limited the age to a maximum of about 40,000 years.
Since then, new dating techniques based on other radioisotopes and new discoveries have dramatically expanded the timescale of modern humans. The first early modern humans, who look very similar to us, appeared in northern and eastern Africa about 300,000 years ago. This shift in timescale changes our perspective in ways that are still being explored.
For starters, we now know that early modern humans were not alone. They lived for hundreds of thousands of years simultaneously with Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis), who ranged from western Europe to Siberia. DNA studies have identified a possible sister group of Neanderthals, the Denisovans, in the east, the best-preserved remains of which were found in Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains of Siberia. In the south, Naldian hominins were still present, and the “Kabooh Skull” from Zambia provides evidence of at least one other species.
Amazing progress in genomic studies has shown that Neanderthals and Denisovans were separate species, but so closely related to the ancestors of Homo sapiens that genetic intermingling was possible. Does the ability of these species to interact indicate the existence of language? Like fire, the origin of language has always been one of the most important debates in paleoanthropology. The small signs of this are mysterious.
More than 2 million years ago, a mutation in our ancestors reduced the strength of their chewing muscles, possibly meaning they were preparing food, but perhaps also had more controlled use of their mouths. Expanded neural inputs also appeared in the thoracic vertebrae of Homo erectus, suggesting millisecond control over breathing, which is essential for language.
Later, the remains of Heidelberg Man from Atabuerca in northern Spain, which are about 400,000 years old, have perfectly preserved ear canals tuned to the frequencies used in human language. Since Atabuerca hominins were probably ancestors of Neanderthals, language, even in its simplest form, would have been widely available.
Paintings first appeared (or were preserved) about 50,000 years ago, but beads and ornaments can be dated much earlier. The oldest shell beads, discovered in Es Sukhol Cave in the Carmel Mountains, are dated to about 130,000 years ago. Shell beads were also found at Blombos in South Africa, about 70,000 years old, accompanied by a piece of carved ochre.
Burial rituals are similarly ancient: burials date back to around 130,000 years ago in both Neanderthals and early modern humans. Although older finds, such as human remains in a cave at Atabuerka or incisions on a skull at Budu in Ethiopia, may indicate a pre-existing interest in the human body, burial rituals suggest that early modern humans had a strong understanding of the needs of others.
Some burials (both of early modern humans and Neanderthals) were covered with red ochre, which may have been a symbolic act. Symbolism plays a vital role in all modern human behavior, underpinning language, religion, and art, but its origins are difficult to study because other animals also seem to be able to use symbols, as when chimpanzees give each other cut leaves.
The line between “signs” and symbols is not easily discernible, but the transmission of symbols to the outside world in the form of material objects is measurable. Beads and burials are among the oldest evidence of behaviors that may in fact have deeper roots.
Widespread expansion: about 100,000 years ago
More than 100,000 years ago, early modern humans began to expand out of Africa, leading to the largest migration in human history. The diversity in modern human DNA preserves geographic signals and provides information about past population movements. Fossil DNA in cold regions has been extracted from skeletal samples dating back to around 50,000 years ago, and sometimes even earlier.
The results confirm that Neanderthals were a completely separate species, although their ancestors split from our ancestors between 500,000 and 700,000 years ago and continued to live until around 40,000 years ago.
Some of the clearest genetic signals come from parts of the genome that do not recombine every generation: the Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA. These allow scientists to construct “family trees.” This means that all modern humans were related by about 150,000 years ago. The findings also suggest that modern humans moved out of Africa after this date, eventually completely replacing other hominins, such as Neanderthals and Denisovans. Although some of their genes have survived in us thanks to rare interbreeding between species in the past.
The Exodus from Africa was not just a migration, but a vast population expansion. Some societies remained in Africa, in various ways, but a surprisingly advanced wave also moved eastward into Asia, then northward, into Europe, and eventually into all parts of the world.
The movement certainly began in northeast Africa, which provided a land route to the Middle East and, in times of low sea levels, probably a southern route to Arabia. Climate change also played a major role: each time the “green desert” turned into the “dry desert,” climate change drove people toward the Levant.
Modern humans appear in the Levant from about 130,000 years ago, but Neanderthals replaced them about 80,000 years ago, when the climate became colder again. By then, a major eastward movement had probably taken place: early modern humans had traveled 12,000 kilometers to Australia by about 70,000 years ago.
By about 45,000 years ago, early modern humans were present in northeastern China, perhaps arriving by a more northerly route through the Himalayas. From there, it was 6,000 kilometers to the Bering Land Bridge, which eventually led to Alaska. By 14,500 years ago, modern humans were also present in Monteverde, Chile, after an astonishing 15,000-kilometer journey across the Americas.
20,000 years ago, the extreme cold and frost of the Last Glacial Maximum slowed the progress. Sea levels had fallen by more than 100 meters, and northern societies were pushed back by advancing ice. Many American archaeologists still believe that the first settlement of the continent began after this period, but footprints in New Mexico dating back 20,000 years are part of a growing body of evidence for earlier dates.
But the arguments never change the overall picture: at some times, our ancestors advanced a kilometer or so every five years; at others, they covered vast distances. Some of them also became adventurers, something like the desire for exploration seen in modern explorers.
Our ancestors certainly traveled on foot and probably by boat, both overland and along the coast. They traversed highlands and lowlands, surviving in hot and cold, wet and dry conditions, all the while using the ancient and enduring adaptations of hunting and gathering.
The Last Neanderthals: About 40,000 Years Ago
Throughout history, studies of human evolution have focused more on Europe. While the balance has shifted toward a global perspective in the last 50 years, Europe remains of great importance to the human evolutionary record: both because northern climates are better at preserving remains, including DNA, and because the record has been intensively studied for over 150 years.
Amid the great expansion of early modern humans, a more recent view suggests that by the time the last Neanderthals disappeared from Europe, modern humans had spread to Australia and throughout the Far East. But these events remain a mystery, because Neanderthals had lived well alongside early modern humans for hundreds of thousands of years in shifting borders, and their footprints can be seen in the Middle East as late as 60,000 years ago.
Neanderthals are fascinating because they are so similar to us and yet so different. They were stocky and strong, and their brains were about the same size as ours. There is also evidence to suggest that Neanderthals were an alternative species of man, not an inferior species. They had the ability to control fire, made tools from bone, used pigments, and also buried their dead.
The replacement of Neanderthals by modern humans was completed between 50,000 and 40,000 years ago. What gave modern humans an advantage? Rapid climate change may have destabilized Neanderthal societies. There is evidence that they lived in small groups, were under pressure, and had extremely high rates of inbreeding. The consensus now is that demographic factors were the main reason for their disappearance.
The emergence of art and technology
In Europe, the cultural idea of the “Creative Revolution” was revealed around 40,000 years ago with the disappearance of the Neanderthals and the emergence of new societies with new tools. The Upper Paleolithic is characterized by bladed tools, bone tools, and the emergence of artwork.
But in other parts of the world, advanced features appeared earlier. Currently, the oldest known cave paintings belong to the Karampuang Hill in Sulawesi, Indonesia. The images of humans and animals found in this cave date back to 51,000 years ago.
European art appeared significantly later, except for some marks that may have been made by Neanderthals, who used pigments. From about 40,000 years ago, other images also appeared, including one of particular importance: a small statuette made of mammoth ivory discovered in a cave in southern Germany. The statuette combines a lion’s head with a human body, demonstrating the artist’s ability to change three-dimensional form, and may have been a religious symbol.
By 20,000 years ago, signs of many new technologies and skills emerged: basketry in the Gravettian period in central Europe, the first pottery in China, polished axes in Australia and New Guinea, and specialized use of marine resources in South Africa, Indonesia, and elsewhere. Domestic dogs were probably first domesticated during this period, first recorded in Europe around 15,000 years ago.
After the Ice Age: Around 20,000 years ago to the present
After the last glacial maximum, climate conditions gradually warmed, leading to the Holocene. The glaciers retreated north, temperate plants appeared, and sea levels rose, profoundly affecting coastal settlements around the world.
Around 12,000 years ago, along with new environmental pressures, came the next major shift in human adaptation: the Agricultural Revolution. The domestication of plants and animals rapidly led to a dramatic increase in population. Eventually, with control of food resources, villages, cities, and civilizations followed, something hunters and gatherers were never able to do and depended on technological advancements and complex social behaviors.
It’s easy to imagine that we are human now. But knowing the story of human evolution, even if it’s just a few fossils, shows that we might not even be where we are today. If climate patterns had been slightly different, Neanderthals might have survived. They or Denisovans could have taken over the reins of progress in a different way and at a different pace.
Today, we’re still not at the top of the list. The biggest changes in the world are coming from human activity, and the reason for that is largely because of our enormous population. For at least 99.5 percent of human history on Earth, our ancestors lived in tiny communities as hunters and gatherers. But now, the world’s population has quadrupled in a single human lifetime.
“Ultimately, the story of human evolution is more than bones and stones”
The story of human evolution is more than bones and stones. This story helps us understand our strengths and weaknesses. Our strengths include our ability to manage cultural change, especially in technology. Technology is key to our long-term survival and is essential to coping with environmental change. But this ability has also had unforeseen consequences for our planet and its biodiversity, as well as for human societies.
More than 8 billion people on Earth are now living relatively well, and thanks to medicine, they are living longer than ever before. But it is all part of a risky strategy that has characterized the story of our evolution from the beginning to the present.
Throughout the story of human evolution, successes have led to new sets of problems. Our ancestors had no choice but to advance into the unknown, adapting to any conditions in order to survive. They overcame challenges time and again that were at least as great as the challenges we face today.