Comparison of the physical capabilities of ancient and modern man. Characteristic features of the most ancient, ancient and modern man

According to scientific data, primitive people appeared about 4 million years ago. Over the course of many millennia, they evolved, that is, they improved not only in terms of development but also in appearance. Historical anthropology divides primitive people into several species, which successively replaced each other. What are the anatomical features of each type of primitive people, and in what period of time did they exist? Read about all this below.

Primitive people - who are they?

The most ancient people lived in Africa more than 2 million years ago. This is confirmed by numerous archaeological finds. However, it is known for certain that for the first time humanoid creatures moving confidently on their hind limbs (and this is the most important feature in defining a primitive man) appeared much earlier - 4 million years ago. This characteristic of ancient people, such as upright walking, was first identified in creatures to which scientists gave the name “australopithecus.”

As a result of centuries of evolution, they were replaced by the more advanced Homo habls, also known as “homo habilis.” He was replaced by humanoid creatures, whose representatives were called Homo erectus, which translated from Latin means “upright man.” And only after almost one and a half million years a more perfect type of primitive man appeared, which most closely resembled the modern intelligent population of the Earth - Homo sapiens or “reasonable man.” As can be seen from all of the above, primitive people slowly, but at the same time very effectively developed, mastering new opportunities. Let us consider in more detail what all these human ancestors were, what their activities were and what they looked like.

Australopithecus: external features and lifestyle

Historical anthropology classifies Australopithecus as one of the very first apes to walk on their hind limbs. The origin of this kind of primitive people began in East Africa more than 4 million years ago. For almost 2 million years, these creatures spread across the continent. The oldest man, whose height averaged 135 cm, weighed no more than 55 kg. Unlike monkeys, australopithecines had more pronounced sexual dimorphism, but the structure of the canines in male and female individuals was almost the same. The skull of this species was relatively small and had a volume of no more than 600 cm3. The main activity of Australopithecus was practically no different from that practiced by modern apes, and boiled down to obtaining food and protecting against natural enemies.

A skilled person: features of anatomy and lifestyle

(translated from Latin as “skillful man”) appeared as a separate independent species of anthropoids 2 million years ago on the African continent. This ancient man, whose height often reached 160 cm, had a more developed brain than that of Australopithecus - about 700 cm 3. The teeth and fingers of the upper limbs of Homo habilis were almost completely similar to those of humans, but the large brow ridges and jaws made it look like monkeys. In addition to gathering, a skilled person hunted using stone blocks, and knew how to use processed tracing paper to cut up animal carcasses. This suggests that Homo habilis is the first humanoid creature with labor skills.

Homo erectus: appearance

The anatomical characteristic of the ancient humans known as Homo erectus was a marked increase in the volume of the skull, which allowed scientists to claim that their brains were comparable in size to the brains of modern humans. and the jaws of Homo habilis remained massive, but were not as pronounced as those of their predecessors. The physique was almost the same as that of a modern person. Judging by archaeological finds, Homo erectus led and knew how to make fire. Representatives of this species lived in fairly large groups in caves. The main occupation of skilled man was gathering (mainly for women and children), hunting and fishing, and making clothes. Homo erectus was one of the first to realize the need to create food reserves.

appearance and lifestyle

Neanderthals appeared much later than their predecessors - about 250 thousand years ago. What was this ancient man like? His height reached 170 cm, and his skull volume was 1200 cm 3. In addition to Africa and Asia, these human ancestors also settled in Europe. The maximum number of Neanderthals in one group reached 100 people. Unlike their predecessors, they had rudimentary forms of speech, which allowed their fellow tribesmen to exchange information and interact more harmoniously with each other. The main occupation of this was hunting. Their success in obtaining food was ensured by a variety of tools: spears, long pointed fragments of stones that were used as knives, and traps dug in the ground with stakes. Neanderthals used the resulting materials (hides, skins) to make clothing and shoes.

Cro-Magnons: the final stage of the evolution of primitive man

Cro-Magnons or (Homo Sapiens) are the last ancient man known to science, whose height already reached 170-190 cm. The external resemblance of this species of primitive people to monkeys was almost imperceptible, since the brow ridges were reduced, and the lower jaw no longer protruded forward. Cro-Magnons made tools not only from stone, but also from wood and bone. In addition to hunting, these human ancestors were engaged in agriculture and the initial forms of animal husbandry (tamed wild animals).

The level of thinking of the Cro-Magnons was significantly higher than their predecessors. This allowed them to create cohesive social groups. The herd principle of existence was replaced by the tribal system and the creation of the rudiments of socio-economic laws.

When and where did the first homo sapiens (thinking man) appear? Modern research claims that this happened about 200-250 thousand years ago in the jungles of South Africa. In any case, it was then that creatures no different from us already lived. However, the human race began much earlier - there were “heroes of their time” before us. Therefore, an inquisitive researcher always wants to know: how does modern man differ from ancient man, and how deeply?

First, let's define the terms. In this article we will look at the differences between us and our closest predecessor, the Neanderthal. Scientists often call him an ancient man. We ourselves are called Cro-Magnons and are practically no different from our distant ancestors, but there are differences with Neanderthals, and significant ones.

Note. In Europe, the appearance of people with protoanderthal features dates back to 350–600 thousand years ago, and the last Neanderthals disappeared approximately 25–35 thousand years ago.

The fact is that, despite the almost complete biological similarity, there are a lot of nuances that distinguish the modern “gentleman” (Cro-Magnon) from his ancestor (Neanderthal). This applies to both the appearance and the emotional and spiritual component of people who lived hundreds of thousands of years ago.

As a reference, let us clarify that in the scientific world there have been heated debates for decades on the topic of whether we are really direct descendants of Neanderthals. Some consider them an independent branch of the human race, others consider them an evolutionary step located immediately below us. There are facts confirming both hypotheses. We are not competent enough to challenge anyone's theories. Therefore, we will adhere to the classical view that Neanderthals are our direct ancestors, at least until the contrary is irrefutably proven.

Relatives? Or not?

We meet by clothes...

If we consider ancient man from a medical point of view, he is almost completely identical to modern man. Of course, there are some differences, but they do not play a significant role. However, there are obvious external discrepancies that cannot be ignored. Let's briefly look at the main differences:

• Structure of the skull. The forehead was low and sloping. Powerful brow ridges. The gray matter was already quite voluminous - much larger than that of a monkey, and even slightly larger than the volume of the modern human brain. Small, receding chin.

• Long forelimbs, a characteristic forward bend - however, before us is still not a monkey, but a human. High body hairiness, but no longer fur.

• Poorly developed speech apparatus. Ancient man communicated using a primitive set of sounds expressing a small number of the most necessary signals - anxiety, anger, threat or love signs.

• Wider and thicker bone. A strong jaw capable of tearing large pieces of meat.

If we combine everything that we have listed into one image, we will see that ancient man is very similar to a monkey. But, despite this, he stands above her on the evolutionary step and at the same time below us. On what basis did we make this conclusion? Read on.

Note. In order not to overload the article with repetitions, we will give a description of the appearance of a modern person below, in a comparative table.

Let's go through our minds...

And now we will move on to the most interesting and significant features of the primitive inhabitant, which clearly demonstrate the difference between modern man and ancient man.

• A developed speech apparatus is of great importance. Moreover, its advancement depends on the level of thinking, skills and knowledge, life experience and skills accumulated and passed on by previous generations. Therefore, human speech is not only a wide or narrow set of words and sound signals. This is an indicator of intelligence, the ability to think, to build logical connections between various phenomena and events.

• For ancient man, all these things that are quite ordinary for us were in their infancy. In most cases, he could not connect two similar phenomena into one chain, and as a result, many of his actions were not much different from the reactions of ordinary representatives of the animal world. Ancient man was somewhat like a small child who did not have adult parents who could pass on their experience and skills to him. He was frozen in this stage for the rest of his life. The accumulation of experience and advancement along the evolutionary ladder lasted tens of thousands of years.

• Accordingly, the thinking of ancient man was based on the emotional side, creating an uncontrolled reaction to the world around him, based primarily on instincts. Logic, rationalism, common sense, which often suppress our instincts - all this was absent from our primitive ancestor or was in the initial stage of development.

• And, perhaps, another very important step is social relations in society. Modern man has been brought up on a huge number of social attitudes, which for most of us, if possible, can be violated only in exceptional circumstances. For ancient man there was only one law - the law of the pack. He didn't have any moral values ​​or virtues. In this regard, ancient people remained at the animal level for a long time.

All of the above leads us to the idea that the fundamental differences between modern people and the ancients lie not in the area of ​​“matter”, but in the area of ​​“spirit”. All that remains is to organize all the facts in a comparative table.

Comparison

Once again we would like to emphasize that the article does not present a full-fledged scientific analysis, but only a generalization and comparison of long-known facts.

And yet we are of the same blood - you and me

As a result, we can safely say that modern man is significantly different from his ancient ancestor. Moreover, the main differences are not in biology and physical data, but in the spiritual, intelligent essence. However, no matter how scientists argue about the difference between modern man and ancient man, no matter how they prove that they and we are heaven and earth, the authors adhere to a different point of view. Despite all the differences, ancient man is our ancestor, and to him the current “aristocrats of the spirit” owe their origin. It’s just that hundreds of thousands of years ago a person was very young and looked at the huge world around him with children’s eyes. Today we are adults and understand a lot. That's the whole difference. We have grown up.

The earliest people appeared on Earth about 2.5 million years ago. According to Darwin's theory, their predecessors were australopithecines - a group of higher primates in whose genes mutation processes occurred. The earliest people are divided into two types - Asian ancient people (homo erectus) and African ancient people (working man).

Where did the earliest people live?

We all know that the most ancient people lived in caves, hence their second name - “caveman”. However, the cave did not serve as a home for ancient people for long; over time, the caves turned into primitive places of worship, where magic rituals were performed and the dead were buried.

During times early paleolithic, the most ancient people built their homes from tree branches, and for reliability, they lined their foundations with stones. Very often, the bones of mammoths killed during hunting acted as building material. Instead of a roof, such huts were covered with skins. The leather resisted wind and rain well.

In times of completion Ice Age, people began to build houses from logs. The houses of the most ancient people accommodated about 15 people. Dwellings were built in a circle, in the center of which there was a fireplace. In the northern territories, houses often had the appearance of semi-dugouts, that is, they were partially buried in the ground.

Appearance of ancient people

The most ancient people had an appearance that was close to the appearance of modern humans, but still retained many common characteristics with animals. The average height of the Ancient people was approximately 1.6 m. They had an upright gait, which distinguished them from animals.

The structure of the skull is archaic: the frontal part was much smaller than the jaw, the supraorbital ridges protruded, and the chin in most cases was sloping. The hands of the most ancient people remained elongated.

In ancient Asian people, the total brain volume significantly exceeded the brain volume of working people. They were the forerunners Neanderthals(old people who replaced the ancient ones).

Geography of settlement of ancient people

According to research, ancient people first appeared in East Africa. Approximately 1.8 million years ago, ancient people moved to the lands of the Middle East, and spread widely across the favorable territories of Eurasia.

The earliest people also settled throughout all the lands of the Old World. Existence in different geographical conditions contributed to the division of ancient people into different subspecies. The ancient people who lived in Eurasia began to overcome the next step of evolution faster compared to their African and Middle Eastern relatives.

Scientists claim that modern man did not descend from modern apes, which are characterized by narrow specialization (adaptation to a strictly defined way of life in tropical forests), but from highly organized animals that died out several million years ago - dryopithecus. The process of human evolution is very long, its main stages are presented in the diagram.

The main stages of anthropogenesis (the evolution of human ancestors)

According to paleontological finds (fossil remains), about 30 million years ago ancient primates Parapithecus appeared on Earth, living in open spaces and in trees. Their jaws and teeth were similar to those of apes. Parapithecus gave rise to modern gibbons and orangutans, as well as the extinct branch of Dryopithecus. The latter in their development were divided into three lines: one of them led to the modern gorilla, the other to the chimpanzee, and the third to Australopithecus, and from him to man. The relationship of Dryopithecus with humans was established based on a study of the structure of its jaw and teeth, discovered in 1856 in France.

The most important stage on the path to the transformation of ape-like animals into ancient people was the appearance of upright walking. Due to climate change and forest thinning, a transition has occurred from an arboreal to a terrestrial way of life; in order to better survey the area where human ancestors had many enemies, they had to stand on their hind limbs. Subsequently, natural selection developed and consolidated upright posture, and, as a consequence of this, the hands were freed from the functions of support and movement. This is how Australopithecines arose - the genus to which hominids (a family of humans) belong..

Australopithecus

Australopithecines are highly developed bipedal primates that used objects of natural origin as tools (hence, Australopithecines cannot yet be considered human). Bone remains of Australopithecines were first discovered in 1924 in South Africa. They were as tall as a chimpanzee and weighed about 50 kg, their brain volume reached 500 cm 3 - according to this feature, Australopithecus is closer to humans than any of the fossil and modern monkeys.

The structure of the pelvic bones and the position of the head were similar to those of humans, indicating an upright position of the body. They lived about 9 million years ago in the open steppes and ate plant and animal foods. The tools of their labor were stones, bones, sticks, jaws without traces of artificial processing.

A skilled man

Not having a narrow specialization of the general structure, Australopithecus gave rise to a more progressive form, called Homo habilis - a skilled person. Its bone remains were discovered in 1959 in Tanzania. Their age is determined to be approximately 2 million years. The height of this creature reached 150 cm. The volume of the brain was 100 cm 3 larger than that of australopithecines, the teeth of the human type, the phalanges of the fingers were flattened like those of a person.

Although it combined the characteristics of both monkeys and humans, the transition of this creature to the manufacture of pebble tools (well-made stone) indicates the appearance of its labor activity. They could catch animals, throw stones and perform other actions. The piles of bones found with the Homo habilis fossils indicate that meat became a regular part of their diet. These hominids used crude stone tools.

Homo erectus

Homo erectus is a man who walks upright. the species from which modern humans are believed to have evolved. Its age is 1.5 million years. Its jaws, teeth and brow ridges were still massive, but the brain volume of some individuals was the same as that of modern humans.

Some Homo erectus bones have been found in caves, suggesting its permanent home. In addition to animal bones and fairly well-made stone tools, heaps of charcoal and burnt bones were found in some caves, so, apparently, at this time, Australopithecines had already learned to make fire.

This stage of hominid evolution coincides with the settlement of other colder regions by people from Africa. It would be impossible to survive cold winters without developing complex behaviors or technical skills. Scientists hypothesize that the prehuman brain of Homo erectus was capable of finding social and technical solutions (fire, clothing, food storage, and cave dwelling) to the problems associated with surviving the winter cold.

Thus, all fossil hominids, especially australopithecus, are considered to be the predecessors of humans.

The evolution of the physical characteristics of the first people, including modern man, covers three stages: ancient people, or archanthropes; ancient people, or paleoanthropes; modern people, or neoanthropes.

Archanthropes

The first representative of the archanthropes is Pithecanthropus (Japanese man) - an ape-man who walks upright. His bones were found on the island. Java (Indonesia) in 1891. Initially, its age was determined to be 1 million years, but, according to a more accurate modern estimate, it is slightly more than 400 thousand years old. The height of Pithecanthropus was about 170 cm, the volume of the skull was 900 cm 3.

Somewhat later there was Sinanthropus (Chinese man). Numerous remains of it were found in the period 1927 to 1963. in a cave near Beijing. This creature used fire and made stone tools. This group of ancient people also includes Heidelberg Man.

Paleoanthropes

Paleoanthropes - Neanderthals appeared to replace the Archanthropes. 250-100 thousand years ago they were widely distributed throughout Europe. Africa. Western and South Asia. Neanderthals made a variety of stone tools: hand axes, scrapers, pointed points; they used fire and rough clothing. Their brain volume increased to 1400 cm3.

The structural features of the lower jaw show that they had rudimentary speech. They lived in groups of 50-100 individuals and during the advance of glaciers they used caves, driving wild animals out of them.

Neoanthropes and Homo sapiens

Neanderthals were replaced by modern people - Cro-Magnons - or neoanthropes. They appeared about 50 thousand years ago (their bone remains were found in 1868 in France). Cro-Magnons form the only genus of the species Homo Sapiens - Homo sapiens. Their ape-like features were completely smoothed out, there was a characteristic chin protuberance on the lower jaw, indicating their ability to articulate speech, and in the art of making various tools from stone, bone and horn, the Cro-Magnons went far ahead compared to the Neanderthals.

They tamed animals and began to master agriculture, which allowed them to get rid of hunger and obtain a variety of food. Unlike their predecessors, the evolution of Cro-Magnons took place under the great influence of social factors (team unity, mutual support, improvement of work activity, a higher level of thinking).

The emergence of Cro-Magnons is the final stage in the formation of modern man. The primitive human herd was replaced by the first tribal system, which completed the formation of human society, the further progress of which began to be determined by socio-economic laws.

Human races

Humanity living today is divided into a number of groups called races.
Human races
- these are historically established territorial communities of people with a unity of origin and similarity of morphological characteristics, as well as hereditary physical characteristics: facial structure, body proportions, skin color, shape and hair color.

Based on these characteristics, modern humanity is divided into three main races: Caucasian, Negroid And Mongoloid. Each of them has its own morphological characteristics, but all of these are external, secondary characteristics.

The features that make up the human essence, such as consciousness, labor activity, speech, the ability to cognize and subjugate nature, are the same in all races, which refutes the claims of racist ideologists about “superior” nations and races.

The children of blacks, raised together with Europeans, were not inferior to them in intelligence and talent. It is known that the centers of civilization 3-2 thousand years BC were in Asia and Africa, and Europe at that time was in a state of barbarism. Consequently, the level of culture depends not on biological characteristics, but on the socio-economic conditions in which peoples live.

Thus, the claims of reactionary scientists about the superiority of some races and the inferiority of others are groundless and pseudoscientific. They were created to justify wars of conquest, plunder of colonies and racial discrimination.

Human races cannot be confused with such social associations as nationality and nation, which were formed not according to a biological principle, but on the basis of the stability of common speech, territory, economic and cultural life, formed historically.

In the history of his development, man has emerged from subordination to the biological laws of natural selection; his adaptation to life in different conditions occurs through their active alteration. However, these conditions still have a certain effect on the human body to some extent.

The results of this influence are visible in a number of examples: in the peculiarities of digestive processes among reindeer herders of the Arctic, who consume a lot of meat, among residents of Southeast Asia, whose diet consists mainly of rice; in an increased number of red blood cells in the blood of highlanders compared to the blood of inhabitants of the plains; in the pigmentation of the skin of the inhabitants of the tropics, distinguishing them from the whiteness of the skin of the northerners, etc.

After the completion of the formation of modern man, the action of natural selection did not cease completely. As a result, in a number of regions of the globe, humans have developed resistance to certain diseases. Thus, among Europeans, measles is much milder than among the peoples of Polynesia, who encountered this infection only after the colonization of their islands by settlers from Europe.

In Central Asia, blood group O is rare in humans, but the frequency of group B is higher. It turned out that this is due to a plague epidemic that took place in the past. All these facts prove that biological selection exists in human society, on the basis of which human races, nationalities, and nations were formed. But man's ever-increasing independence from the environment has almost stopped biological evolution.

Question 1. List the characteristic features of ancient, ancient and modern man.
It is known that the first ancient people appeared about 1 - 1.5 million years ago. Their height reached 160 cm, brain volume - 1100 cm 3. They retained many primitive features, such as powerful brow ridges, a heavy massive jaw, and a chin protuberance that was practically absent. They led an active lifestyle, hunting large animals. Representatives of the most ancient people are Pithecanthropus (brain volume 900-1100 cm 3), Sinanthropus (brain volume 1220 cm 3) and Heidelberg man (brain volume was not determined, since one jaw was found without a chin protrusion; teeth that had such a protrusion were preserved in the jaw the same structure as modern humans). The earliest people were cannibals. They made stone tools, perhaps used fire, but did not know how to make it; no dwellings were built. They reached their maximum prosperity approximately 600-400 thousand years ago.
Ancient people (Neanderthals) already had a brain volume closer to the parameters of modern humans (up to 1700 cm 3). The left side of the brain of ancient people is larger than the right, i.e. their brain already had asymmetry. This indicates that Neanderthals were right-handed. In addition, the chin protuberance also develops. It is believed that Neanderthals already possessed the rudiments of articulate speech. They lived in ice age conditions. They wore clothes made from animal skins, were skilled stonemasons, skillfully used fire, hid in caves, hunted and gathered, and during their existence managed to create a fairly high culture.
Homo sapiens, or modern man (modern people who existed during that period are usually called Cro-Magnons; this name was given after the discovery of skeletons and tools in the town of Cro-Magnon in France), who in a short time completely supplanted the Neanderthal and led to its complete disappearance . In terms of body structure, Cro-Magnons were no different from modern people. They made a variety of tools from bones, stones, and horns. They were skilled hunters, making good use of darts and arrows. Various works of their art (sculpture, painting) were found next to their remains.
The reasons for the advantage of modern man over Neanderthals are the same as the reasons for the advantage of anthropoid apes over other mammals. They were inferior to their competitors in physical strength and in the development of material culture, but they had greater flexibility of the hand, the structure of the larynx, which contributed to better development of articulate speech, and a number of other features that ensure faster intellectual development. Having displaced the Neanderthals, the Cro-Magnons borrowed and used some elements of their culture.
Cro-Magnons and modern humans are one species of Homo sapiens, belonging to the genus Humans. In this species, there are 3 large races: Negroid, Mongoloid and Caucasian.

Question 2. Why can the degree of speech development be judged by the chin protuberance and the degree of expression of the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain?
A well-defined chin protrusion indicates the development of the lower jaw and a certain arrangement of teeth, which play an important role in articulate speech. The speech centers are located in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. All this serves as a sign that these people have developed speech.

Question 3. What features of Neanderthals indicate their higher organization compared to Pithecanthropus?
Compared to the Pithecanthropus that preceded them, Neanderthals are more evolutionarily “advanced”: they have a larger volume (up to 1700 cm 3) and greater development of the brain, a more massive skeleton and better developed muscles of the hand, allowing for reliable gripping. Their brains became asymmetrical, like those of modern humans. In addition, they had a more developed chin protuberance, which indicates the development of speech. Neanderthals had their first burials. They buried their loved ones and decorated their graves. They made flint tools and may have used fire.

Question 4. How did the manufacture and use of tools improve at different stages of human historical development?
At the initial stages of human historical development, the predecessors of humans (australopithecus) used natural objects of inanimate nature. Representatives of the most ancient people (Pithecanthropus, Sinanthropus) already made tools from stone and bone. Ancient people (Neanderthals) made more advanced flint tools, including pointed needles from stone plates, which allowed them to successfully hunt mammoths. The first representatives of modern people (Cro-Magnons) created not only tools for hunting and housekeeping (arrows, harpoons, and needles were found in their caves), but also for making works of art (rock paintings).

Question 5. What was the significance for society of the transition from an appropriating economy to a producing one?
Social factors of anthropogenesis include work activity, social lifestyle, development of speech and thinking. The improvement of labor and labor relations, which went in parallel with the development of the brain, consciousness, and speech, led to the creation of new social relations. Social factors in anthropogenesis began to play a leading role from the moment the Cro-Magnons appeared.
The transition from an appropriating economy to a producing one led to the development of an agricultural society. Of decisive importance for the transition to agriculture and cattle breeding was the awareness and experimental confirmation that targeted influence on nature can give the expected result, that, for example, plant productivity depends on the quality of the soil and watering.
Over millennia, this development of the productive economy led to industrial society.