More than 2 million years ago, a mutation reduced the strength of the chewing muscles in human ancestors. This may indicate that they were preparing more food, but were also possibly making more controlled use of their mouthexpanded nerve outlet in thoracic vertebrae appeared in homo erectusReflects the millisecond control of breathing that is essential for language.
and later, 400,000 years old Homo heidelbergensis The remains were found from Atapuerca in northern Spain. fully preserved ear canals Which were designed according to the frequencies used in human language. Since these Atapuerca hominins were likely Neanderthal ancestors, there is a good chance that at least a simple form of language was very widespread at this point, if not earlier.
Paintings first appeared or were preserved about 50,000 years ago, but beads and jewelery can be traced back much earlier. are the oldest ever conch pearl From the S-Skul Cave on Mount Carmel in Israel, which is approximately 130,000 years old. They mark personal identity, and hence the idea that one person can appreciate these cues in another. Shell beads were rediscovered along with a piece of engraved ochre, dated to about 70,000 years ago, in Blombos, South Africa.
The antiquity of the burials is the same: both Neanderthal And the earliest modern burials date back to about 130,000 years ago – although older finds, such as several human remains in a cave at Atapuerca, or cut marks on skulls in Bodo, Ethiopia, may indicate that there was already a special interest in the human body. Was. Burials show that early humans had a strong consideration of the needs of others.
Some burials – both early modern and Neanderthal – had red ocher applied to their bodies. It is likely to have symbolic significance. “Symbolism” has played an important role in all modern human behavior, underpinning language, religion, and art. However, studying its origins reveals some pitfalls, as other animals appear to be capable of using symbols, such as a chimpanzee. Provides a chopped leaf to another.
The line between such “signs” and symbols easily becomes blurred. But the projection of symbols into the outside world as physical objects is a measurable step, as long as they survive. Beads and burials are among the earliest evidence of behavior that may actually have much deeper origins.
The Great Breakout (100,000 years ago)
More than 100,000 years ago, early modern humans began expanding out of Africa, creating the largest migration in human history. Variation in modern human DNA preserves geographical signals that tell us something about past population movements. Even better, fossil DNA can be isolated from bone samples in cold climates about 50,000 years old, and sometimes even older.
Results confirm that Neanderthals were indeed a separate species their ancestors are separating from us between 500,000 and 700,000 years ago, and lived until about 40,000 years ago.