Chronological table of human evolution. Main stages of human evolution

The position of man in the animal world

Anthropology is the science of human origins.

2. Fill out the table

Development of views on human origins

3. What is the main evidence for the origin of humans from animals?
Data from comparative anatomy and embryology show similarities in the body structure and development of humans and animals.
Traits inherent in chordates:
In humans, in the early stages of development, the internal skeleton is represented by a notochord, the neural tube is laid on the dorsal side, and the body has bilateral symmetry. Next, the notochord is replaced by the spinal column, the skull and five sections of the brain are formed. The heart is on the ventral side of the body, there is a skeleton of paired free limbs.
Traits inherent in the class Mammals:
There are five sections of the spine, the skin is covered with hair, there are sweat and sebaceous glands. Feeding children with milk, four-chambered heart, warm-bloodedness, diaphragm.
Traits inherent to Placentals:
Carrying a fetus inside the body, feeding the fetus through the placenta.
The main features of the order Primates:
The structure of the limbs, nails, eyes in one plane, replacement of milk teeth with permanent ones.
Similar features to great apes. The presence of atavisms (traits of ancestral forms that appeared in individual individuals of a given species) is a tail, multiple nipples, abundant hair, etc. and rudiments (organs or parts of the body that have lost their original functions in the process of evolution and are present in all individuals of a given species) biological species) – this is the appendix, wisdom teeth, etc.

4. Describe the position of man in the system of the organic world.
Kingdom Animals, Subkingdom Multicellular, phylum Chordata, subtype Vertebrates, class Mammals, subclass Placentals, order Primates, suborder Apes, family People (Hominids), genus Homo, species Homo sapiens, Subspecies Homo sapiens sapiens.

5. Make a table.

Similarities and differences between humans and apes.

1. Define the concept.
Anthropogenesis- Part biological evolution, which led to the emergence of Homo sapiens, which separated from other hominids, apes and placental mammals; the process of historical and evolutionary formation of a person’s physical type, the initial development of his work activity, speech.

2. What concept underlies modern scientific ideas about human origins?
The basis of modern ideas about the origin of man is the concept according to which man emerged from the animal world, and the first scientific evidence in favor of this concept was presented by Charles Darwin in his work “The Descent of Man and Sexual Selection” (1871). Scientists believe that the evolutionary line of hominids begins from some group of Dryopithecus (an extinct group of great apes).

3. What paleontological finds allow us to identify the main stages and directions historical development humans and apes?
Analysis of paleontological finds allows us to identify the main stages and directions of the historical development of humans and great apes. These include the remains of Australopithecus archanthropus (Pithecanthropus, Sinanthropus), paleoanthropus (Neanderthal), Cro-Magnon man, their tools and rock paintings. That is, humans and modern apes had a common ancestor. Further, their evolutionary development followed the path of divergence (divergence of characteristics, accumulation of differences) in connection with adaptation to specific and different conditions of existence.

4. Why can’t we say that man descended from the ape?
The development of humans and apes is not sequential steps, but parallel branches of evolution, the divergence between which in evolutionary terms is very deep. That is, humans and modern apes had a common ancestor. Further, their evolutionary development followed the path of divergence (divergence of characteristics, accumulation of differences) in connection with adaptation to specific and different conditions of existence.

5. Fill out the table.

Main stages of anthropogenesis

Driving forces of anthropogenesis

1. Define the concept.
Social evolution- a process of structural reorganization over time, as a result of which a social form or structure emerges that is qualitatively different from the previous form.

2. Make a diagram.

Factors of anthropogenesis.

3. What is the role of biological and social factors in anthropogenesis?
In anthropogenesis, an important role is played not only by biological factors (variability, heredity, selection), but also by social ones (speech, accumulated experience of work and social behavior). Human characteristics, determined by social factors, are not fixed genetically and are not inherited, but in the process of upbringing and training. In the first stages of evolution, selection for greater adaptability to rapidly changing circumstances was of decisive importance. However, subsequently the ability to transmit genetic acquisitions from generation to generation in the form of various scientific, technical and cultural information began to play an increasingly important role. important role, freeing man from the strict control of natural selection. Social patterns have become of great importance in human evolution. The winners in the struggle for existence were not necessarily the strongest, but those who preserved the weak: children - the future of the population, old people - keepers of information about ways to survive. The victory of populations in the struggle for existence was ensured not only by strength and intelligence, but also by the ability to sacrifice themselves in the name of the tribe. Man is a social being, the distinctive feature of which is consciousness, formed on the basis of collective labor.
In the evolution of Homo sapiens, social relationships play an ever-increasing role. For modern people, social-labor relations have become leading and determining. This is the qualitative uniqueness of human evolution.

4. What modern problems human society can you name?
People are increasingly using surrogates and imitations of natural biological activity, going so far as to “virtualize” life. The human population is characterized by phenomena that are impossible for animal populations. The human population accumulates the genetic load of hereditary diseases, predisposition to diseases, malignant neoplasms, infections, mental and allergic disorders, maladjustment phenomena, etc. Residents of large cities experience overcrowding stress phenomena. Many people maintain their existence and functionality only with the help of artificial devices and medications.
Rapid population growth creates economic problems and increases social inequality among people. There is a growing gap between the maximum opportunities for obtaining benefits and their accessibility for the majority of people. U different people life chances are very unequal.
Products are stimulated and produced that are not only unnecessary for human life, but also cause harm (alcohol, tobacco, drugs).
All these factors as a whole can ultimately lead to a crisis of modern human civilization, degradation and extinction of Homo sapiens as a species.

5. What factors contributed to the development of upright walking in humans?
There are a number of hypotheses regarding the development of upright walking in humans. The appearance of an S-shaped spine, an arched foot, an expanded pelvis, and a strong sacrum in human ancestors are hereditary changes that contributed to upright walking.
According to Jan Lindblad's hypothesis, the ape-like ancestors of humans were forced to rise on their hind limbs when searching for food in the water and when wading through water obstacles. Also, due to climate and flora changes, human ancestors were forced to get down from the trees to the ground. To search for food in the tall grass, they had to stand up from all fours onto their hind limbs.

6. What advantages and what problems, including health problems, have people experienced due to upright walking?
Individuals capable of walking on their hind limbs found themselves in a more advantageous position. The horizons expanded, hands were freed, with the help of which human ancestors were able to use improvised means - sticks and stones, and subsequently - to make the tools themselves.
The disadvantages of upright walking include loss of speed, greater load on the legs and spine. Also, there was an incorrect distribution of blood volume between the lower and upper halves of the body. In this case, the lower extremities are constantly in a state of hypertension, while the upper extremities are in hypotension.
The vertical position of the human body leads to indigestion and back pain, varicose veins and other disorders of its vital functions. The same reason makes pregnancy and childbirth extremely difficult and delays.

7. Can we say that biological evolution modern man stopped completely?
Evolution- a continuous process, therefore, even for the species Homo sapiens, it did not stop. Evolution has moved to another level. A person adapts to new living conditions, physical labor becomes less important and widespread. Due to the weakening of biological factors and an increase in social person will be subject to changes, both external and internal, what exactly is a matter of time, the answer to which scientists are already looking for today.

Origin human races

1. Give definitions of concepts.
Human races– historically established groupings of people within the species Homo sapiens sapiens, characterized by similar morphological and physiological traits.
Racism– anti-scientific ideology about the inequality of human races.

2. Look at the drawing “Races of Man.” Label it with the names of the races you know.
Australian-Negroid, Caucasoid, Mongoloid.

3. What hypotheses of raceogenesis do you know?
Raceogenesis is the process of the emergence and formation of human races. There are several hypotheses of raceogenesis.
The first is monocentrism. Scientists recognize a common origin, socio-psychological development, and a single level of mental development. Evidence of the monocentric hypothesis transfers it to the category of theories (hypothesis + evidence):
differences in secondary characteristics;
there is no genetic isolation;
biological evolutionary changes (decrease in skeletal mass, increase in height, acceleration of development) appear in representatives of all races;
results obtained from studying human DNA: the first was the division of the African branch into Negroid and Mongoloid-Caucasoid about 40-100 thousand years ago.
Polycentricists believe that races arose independently from different ancestors and in different places. Their hypothesis is less scientifically substantiated.

4. What are the main factors of raceogenesis?
Natural selection;
Mutations;
Insulation;
Mixing of populations.
As humans populated the globe, faced with new environmental conditions, adapted individuals survived and gave birth to offspring. The morphological characteristics formed during biological evolution are explained:
character environment;
climate;
food resources;
amount of sunlight.

5. Fill out the table.

Human races

6. What arguments can be made to criticize racist theories?
People of all races are characterized by specific characteristics:
similarity in body structure (structure of the skull, brain, internal organs);
physiological similarity (blood types, diseases, defense reactions);
the possibility of unlimited crossing, which results in fertile offspring;
all are of the same origin.
It is impossible to accurately determine a person’s race based on a person’s genes, therefore, in the genetic sense, races do not exist (only traits, dominant and recessive, different norms of behavior). Racial differences are the result of people's adaptation to certain conditions of existence, as well as the historical and socio-economic development of human society.

The phylogenetic tree of Homo sapiens has only been constructed in general terms. The main stages of human evolution are described in the table:

Main stages of human evolution

Anthropoids	Hominids
Dryopithecus	Australopithecus (Australopithecus)	A skilled man	The most ancient people (Pithecanthropus, Sinanthropus)	Ancient people (Neanderthal)	New people (Cro-Magnon, human)
Age, years
18 million	5 million	2-3 million	2 million - 200 thousand	250-35 thousand	50-40 thousand
Appearance
Small animals with a rounded skull, binocular vision, and a well-developed brain; can be in a vertical position	Weight up to 50 kg, height up to 150 cm, hands free, upright posture	The phalanges of the toes are flattened, the first toe is not laid aside	Height is about 160 cm, massive bones, half-bent body position	Height 155-165 cm, stocky people, walked slightly bent over	Height is about 180 cm, the physical type of a modern person
Brain volume, cm 3
—	550-650	750	700-1200	Up to 1400	Around 1400
Scull
The skull is close in structure to the skull of great apes	Massive jaws, small incisors and fangs	Human type teeth	The skull bones are massive, the forehead is sloping, the brow ridges are pronounced	Sloping forehead and occiput, large supraorbital ridge, poorly developed chin protuberance	The brain skull predominates over the facial skull, there is no continuous supraorbital ridge, the mental protuberance is well developed
Tools
Manipulation with surrounding objects	Systematic use of natural objects	Making primitive tools	Making well-made stone tools	Making a variety of stone tools	Manufacturing of complex tools and mechanisms
Lifestyle
Herd lifestyle	Herd lifestyle, hunting, gathering	Cooperation during hunting and group defense	Social lifestyle, keeping fire, primitive speech	Collective activity, caring for others, developed speech	Real speech abstract thinking, development of agriculture and industry, technology, science, art

According to modern paleontological data, the predecessors of humans are ancient primitive insectivorous mammals, which gave rise to parapithecus.

Parapithecus appeared about 35 million years ago. These were arboreal apes from which modern gibbons, orangutans and dryopithecus descended.

Dryopithecus arose about 18 million years ago. These were semi-arboreal, semi-terrestrial apes that gave rise to modern gorillas, chimpanzees and australopithecines.

Australopithecus appeared about 5 million years ago in the treeless steppes of Africa. These were highly developed monkeys that walked on two hind limbs in a semi-extended position. Their height was 120-150 cm, body weight - 20-50 kg, brain volume - about 600 cm 3. With their forelimbs freed, they could pick up sticks, stones, and other objects and use them for hunting and protection from enemies. The manufacture of tools by Australopithecines has not been established. They lived in groups and ate both plant and animal foods. Australopithecus may have given rise to Homo habilis. This issue remains controversial.

A skilled man formed 2-3 million years ago. Morphologically, he differed little from australopithecines, but it was at this stage that the transformation of ape into man took place, since Homo habilis made the first primitive tools. From that moment on, the conditions of existence of human ancestors changed, as a result of which individuals with characteristics promoting upright walking, ability to work, improvement of the upper limbs and cognitive activity of the brain received advantages in survival. A skilled man is considered the ancestor of the archanthropes.

The most ancient people (archanthropes)

These include, in particular, Pithecanthropus and Sinanthropus, which belong to the same species - Homo erectus. Remains Pithecanthropa were discovered in 1891 on the island of Java; remains Sinanthropa- in 1927 in a cave near Beijing. Pithecanthropus and Sinanthropus were more similar to Australopithecus than to modern humans. They had a height of up to 160 cm, brain volume - 700-1200 cm 3. They lived 2 million - 200 thousand years ago, mainly in caves and led a gregarious lifestyle. The tools they made were more varied and sophisticated than those of Habilitation Man. It is believed that they had the rudiments of speech. They used fire, which made food easier to digest, protected them from predators and cold, and contributed to the expansion of their range.

Ancient people (paleoanthropes)

These include Neanderthals. For the first time their remains were found in the river valley. Neanderthal in Germany in 1856 Neanderthals were widespread in Europe, Africa and Asia during the Ice Age 250-35 thousand years ago. Their brain volume reached 1400 cm3. They still have brow ridges, a relatively low forehead, a massive lower jaw with the rudiment of a chin protrusion. They lived in caves in groups of 50-100 people, knew how to make and maintain fire, ate plant and animal foods, and made a variety of stone, bone and wooden tools (knives, scrapers, choppers, sticks, etc.). They had a division of labor: men hunted, made tools, women processed animal carcasses, and collected edible plants.

Modern people (neoanthropes)

Neanderthals were replaced by people of modern physical type - Cro-Magnons- the first representatives of the species Homo sapiens. They appeared about 50-40 thousand years ago. For some time, paleoanthropes and neoanthropes existed together, but then the Neanderthals were supplanted by the Cro-Magnons. Cro-Magnons had all the physical characteristics of living people: tall height (up to 180 cm), large brain volume (about 1400 cm 3), high forehead, smoothed brow ridges, developed chin protuberance. The latter indicates developed articulate speech. Cro-Magnons built dwellings, made clothes from skins sewn with bone needles, made products from horn, bone, flint and decorated them with carvings. The Cro-Magnons learned to grind, drill, and knew pottery. They lived in tribal communities, domesticated animals, and practiced agriculture. They had the beginnings of religion and culture.

Currently, science has a significant amount of paleoanthropological, archaeological and geological data that makes it possible to illuminate the course of anthropogenesis (in general terms). Analysis of this information gives grounds to identify four conventional stages (segments) of anthropogenesis, characterized by a certain type of fossil man, the level of development of material culture and social institutions:

1) Australopithecines (predecessors of humans);

2) Pithecanthropus (ancient people, archanthropus);

3) Neanderthals (ancient people, paleoanthropes);

4) person modern type, fossil and modern (neoanthropes).

In accordance with zoological taxonomy, the classification of hominids is as follows:

Family - Hominidae

Subfamily Australopithecinae - Australopithecus

Genus Australopithecus - Australopithecus

A. afarensis - A. afar A. robustus - A. powerful A. boisei - A boisei, etc.

Subfamily Homininae - Humans

Genus Homo - Man

N. erectus - Erect Man

N. sapiens neanderthalensis— Homo sapiens Neanderthal

N. sapiens sapiens - Homo sapiens sapiens.

Autralopithecines (predecessors of humans)

Paleontological and modern biological (in to a greater extent) the data confirmed Darwin's theory of the origin of man and modern anthropologists from a common original form.

Establishing a specific hominoid ancestor remains a challenge modern science. Its existence is associated with a large group of African Dryopithecus that flourished in the Miocene - Pliocene (the Miocene extends within 22-27 million years, the Pliocene within 5-10 million years), originating from the Oligocene Aegyptopithecus (30 million years). In the 50-60s. one of the Dryopithecus, Proconsul, was put forward as a “model” of the common ancestor of hominids and pongids. Miocene Dryopithecus were semi-terrestrial, semi-arboreal apes that lived in tropical, mountain or common deciduous forests, as well as forest-steppe areas. Finds of Miocene and Lower Pliocene Dryopithecus are also known in Greece, Hungary and Georgia.

Two branches of evolution diverged from the common initial form: the first, pongid, led many millions of years later to modern apes, the second, hominid, ultimately led to the emergence of humans of the modern anatomical type. These two branches developed independently of each other over many millions of years in different adaptive directions. In accordance with natural and landscape conditions, specific features of biological organization have been formed in each of them, corresponding to the way of life.

The branch of higher apes evolved in the direction of adapting to an arboreal lifestyle, to brachiatory type locomotion with all the ensuing anatomical features: lengthening of the forelimbs and shortening of the hind limbs, reduction of the thumb, lengthening and narrowing of the pelvic bones, development of ridges on the skull, sharp predominance of the facial region skull above the brain, etc.

The human branch of evolution, on the contrary, developed in the direction of adaptation to a terrestrial lifestyle, upright walking, liberation of the forelimbs from the function of support and locomotion, using them to use natural objects as tools, and later - to the manufacture of artificial tools, which was decisive in separating a person from natural world. Performing these tasks required lengthening the lower and shortening the upper limbs, while the foot lost its grasping functions and turned into an organ of support for the straightened body, the brain, the main coordinating brain organ, rapidly developed, and accordingly the part of the skull became predominant; There is a disappearance of the ridges, the supraorbital ridge, the formation of a mental protuberance on the lower jaw, etc.

The next important question in evolutionary anthropology is: when did an independent branch of human evolution arise and who was its first representative? Averaging the estimates obtained by paleontologists and geneticists gives us a period of 8-6 million years. Geneticists calculate the timing of the separation of the two branches of evolution based on the genetic differences of modern hominoids and the estimated time of its origin.

Possible ancestors of hominids, in addition to Ramapithecus (the latter is often considered a link in the evolution of orangutans), are the European higher primates: Rudapithecus and Ouranopithecus, African Kenyapithecus (descendant of the more ancient proconsuls from the “dryopithecus circle”), lufengopithecus (Chinese Ramapithecus).

Australopithecines represent one of the first stages of human evolution. They may be regarded by the most careful investigators as the ancestors of all fossil and modern man. Australopithecus, the most interesting object in modern human paleontology, has become known to science since the 30s of our century. The first discovery of Australopithecus was made in the south of the African continent. It consisted of the remains of a skull and the natural cast of its brain part, belonging to a child.

Analysis of the “cub from Taung” showed that a number of structural features differ from the anthropoid type and at the same time resemble modern humans. The find caused a lot of controversy: some classified it as a fossil anthropoid, others as a fossil hominid. Subsequent discoveries of South African australopithecines demonstrated the presence of two morphological types - graceful and massive australopithecines. Initially they belonged to two independent genera. Currently, several hundred African Australopithecines are known. The South and East African massive and graceful variants of Australopithecus are classified as different species. The South African species lived between 3 and 1 million years, and the East African species lived for 4 or more - 1 million years.

Modern anthropologists have no doubt that Australopithecus is an intermediate type between apes and humans. The main difference from the first is bipedal locomotion, which is reflected in the structure of the skeleton of the body and some features of the skull (the middle position of the foramen magnum). The large width of the pelvic bones, associated with the attachment of the gluteal and part of the spinal muscles that straighten the trunk, proves the vertical position of the trunk. Part of the abdominal muscles, which support the internal organs when walking with a straightened body, is also attached to the pelvic skeleton.

The landscape environment of australopithecines - steppe and forest-steppe - required the development of the ability to move on two legs. Sometimes anthropoids demonstrate this ability. For Australopithecus, bipedia was a permanent feature. It has been experimentally proven that bipedal gait is energetically more beneficial than other types of primate locomotion.

Signs of a modern type of human were identified on the lower jaws. Relatively small canines and incisors do not protrude above the general level of the teeth. Quite large molars have a “human” pattern of cusps on the chewing surface, referred to as the “dryopithecus pattern.” The structure of the teeth and the joint of the lower jaw indicate a predominance of lateral movements in the act of chewing, which is not typical of anthropoids. The jaws of Australopithecus are more massive than those of modern humans. The vertical profile of the facial region and its relatively small overall size are close to the human type. The eyebrow protrudes forward; the brain cavity is small; the occipital region tends to be rounded.

The volume of the brain cavity of australopithecines is small: gracial australopithecines - on average 450 cm3, massive australopithecines - 517 cm3, anthropoids - 480 cm3, i.e. almost three times less than that of modern humans: 1450 cm3. Thus, progress in brain development based on the absolute size of the brain in the Australopithecus type is practically not visible. The relative size of the brain of australopithecines, in some cases, was larger than that of anthropoids.

Among the South African forms, “Australopithecus africanus” and “Australopithecus powerful” stand out clearly. The latter can be characterized as follows: a stocky creature with a body length of 150-155 cm and a weight of about 70 kg. The skull is more massive than that of Australopithecus africanus, the lower jaw is stronger. A pronounced bony ridge on the crown served to attach strong masticatory muscles. The teeth are large (in absolute size), especially the molars, while the incisors are disproportionately small, so that the disproportion of the teeth is clearly visible. The vegetarian Australopithecus had such morphological features, gravitating towards the forest line in its habitat.

Australopithecus africanus had smaller sizes (graceful form): body length - up to 120 cm, and weight - up to 40 kg (Fig. I. 5). Judging by the bones of the body, the body position when walking was more straightened.

The structure of the teeth corresponded to adaptation to omnivory with a large proportion of meat food. Australopithecines were engaged in gathering and hunting, possibly taking advantage of the hunting trophies of other predators. When hunting baboons, Australopithecines used stones as throwing weapons. R. Dart created the original concept of the preculture of australopithecus - “osteodontokeratic culture,” i.e., the constant use of parts of the animal skeleton as tools. It was suggested that the mental activity of australopithecines became more complex: this was evidenced by high level their tool activity and developed gregariousness. The prerequisites for these achievements were upright walking and a developing hand.

Interesting are the finds of australopithecines and similar forms made in East Africa, in particular in the Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania). Anthropologist L. Leakey conducted research here for 40 years. He identified five stratigraphic layers that made it possible to establish the temporal dynamics of the earliest hominids and their culture in the early Pleistocene.

Initially, the skull of a massive australopithecus was discovered in Olduvai Gorge, named "Zinjanthropus bois" ("Nutcracker"), later renamed "Australopithecus bois". This find is confined to the upper half of layer I (age 2.3-1.4 million years). The archaic stone tools found here in the form of flakes with traces of retouching are noteworthy. Researchers were confused by the combination of lithic culture and the primitive morphological type of Australopithecus. Later, in layer I below Zinjanthropus, bones of the skull and hands of a more advanced type of human being were found. It was he, the so-called Homo habilis (Skilled Man), who owned the oldest Olduvai tools.

As for Zinjanthropus (A. boisei), in the evolution of australopithecines it continues the line of adaptation of massive forms to predominantly feeding on plant foods. This Australopithecus is larger than the “powerful Australopithecus” and is distinguished by a less perfect ability for bipedal walking (Fig. I. 6).

The fact of the coexistence of two types of early hominids, Australopithecus bois and Homo habilis, proven by fossil materials from the Olduvai Gorge, is of great importance, especially since they differ very noticeably in morphology and methods of adaptation.

The remains of Habilis in the Olduvai Gorge are not isolated: they are always adjacent to the pebble (Olduvai) culture, the oldest Paleolithic culture. Some anthropologists dispute the generic name

Rice. I. 6. Skull of supermassive Australopithecus (“Boycean”) (1.9 million years old)

habilis - "Homo", preferring to call it "Australopithecus habilis". For most experts, habilis is the oldest representative of the genus Homo. He not only used for his own needs suitable items surrounding nature, but also modified them. The antiquity of Homo habilis is 1.9 - 1.6 million years. Finds of this hominid are known in Southern and Eastern Africa.

Homo habilis had a body length of up to 120 cm, with a weight of up to 40-50 kg. The structure of the jaw reveals its ability to be omnivorous (a human characteristic). It differs from Zinjanthropus habilis in the large volume of the brain cavity (volume - 660 cm3), as well as the convexity of the cranial vault, especially in the occipital region. The lower jaw of Habilis is more graceful than that of other australopithecines, and the teeth are smaller. Due to fairly advanced bipedal walking, the big toe could move, like a human’s, only in the vertical direction, and the foot had arching. The body of the habilis was practically straightened. Thus, bipedia as one of the main achievements of anthropogenesis took shape very early. The hand changed more slowly. There is no perfect opposition of the thumb to the rest; its size, judging by the bone elements, is small. The phalanges of the fingers are curved, which is not typical for modern humans, but the terminal phalanges are flat.

In the layers of the Oluvai Gorge (age from 1.2-1.3 million years) bone remains of forms were found that can be interpreted as transitional from the type of progressive australopithecus to the type of Pithecanthropus. Pithecanthropus was also discovered in this location.

It is difficult to interpret and classify forms similar to the Australopithecines of Africa, but found outside this continent. Thus, on the island of Java, a fragment of the lower jaw of a great ape was discovered, the overall size of which significantly exceeded the size of modern humans and the largest apes. It was named "Meganthropus Paleo-Javanese". Currently, it is often classified as a member of the Australopithecus group.

All of these australopithecines and early representatives of the genus Homo were preceded in time by the graceful “Afarensis australopithecines” (A. afarensis), the bone remains of which were discovered in Ethiopia and Tanzania. The antiquity of representatives of this species is 3.9-3.0 million years. The fortunate discovery of a very complete skeleton of a subject named “Lucy” allows us to imagine Australopithecus afarensis as follows. The body dimensions are very small: body length - 105-107 cm, weight slightly exceeded 29 kg. The structure of the skull, jaws and teeth shows very primitive features. The skeleton is adapted to a bipedal gait, although different from that of humans. A study of foot prints in volcanic ash (at least 3.6 million years old) leads to the conclusion that Australopithecus afarans did not fully extend their legs at the hip joint, but crossed their feet when walking, placing them one in front of the other. The foot combines progressive features (large and adducted first toe, pronounced arch, formed heel) and ape-like features (the forefoot is not motionless). Upper proportions
and lower limbs correspond to upright walking, but there are clear signs of adaptation to the arboreal method of locomotion. In the hand, progressive features are also combined with archaic ones (relative shortening of the fingers), associated with the ability to move in trees. There are no signs of a “forceful grip” characteristic of hominids. As primitive features of the skull, one should note the strong protrusion of the facial region and the developed occipital relief. Even compared to other australopithecines, the protruding fangs and diastemas between the teeth of the upper and lower jaws look archaic. The molars are very large and massive. The absolute size of the Australopithecus afarensis brain is indistinguishable from that of anthropomorphic monkeys, but its relative size is somewhat larger. Some individuals of the Afar people have a clear “chimpanzoid” morphology, proving the not so distant separation of the evolutionary branches of hominids and pongids.

Some neurologists believe that in very ancient representatives of australopithecines it is already possible to record a structural restructuring of the parietal, occipital and temporal regions of the brain; at the same time, among others, the external morphology of the brain is indistinguishable from that of apes. The restructuring of the brain could begin at the cellular level.

The most modern paleoanthropological discoveries make it possible to tentatively identify the species of Australopithecus, which preceded the “Afars” in time. These are the East African australopithecus A. ramidus (Ethiopia) (represented by the lower jaw) and A. anamensis (Kenya); (represented by fragments of the masticatory apparatus). The antiquity of both finds is about 4 million years. There are also more ancient finds of australopithecines that do not have a species definition. They fill the temporary hiatus between the earliest australopithecus and the hominoid ancestor.

Of great interest are the finds of early representatives of the genus Homo made on the eastern shore of the lake. Turkana (Kenya). The progressive features of Homo habilis “1470” include a brain volume of about 770 cm3 and a smoothed relief of the skull; antiquity - about 1.9 million years.

What place did tool activity occupy in the evolutionary achievements of australopithecines? Anthropologists do not have a consensus regarding the indissolubility of the connection between tool activity and bipedal walking. Despite the discovery of very ancient stone tool cultures, there is a significant gap in time between the appearance of bipedality and the emergence of labor. It is assumed that the reason for the separation of the first hominids from the animal world could be the transfer of the defensive function of the dental apparatus to artificial tools of defense, and the use of tools became an effective adaptation in the behavior of the first people who populated the savanna. Monuments of the Olduvai culture did not clarify the question of the connection of Australopithecines with Olduvai tools. Thus, it is known that the bones of the progressive “Habilis” and the massive Australopithecus were found in the same horizon with Olduvai tools.

The oldest tools were found in more ancient horizons than fragments of the first undisputed representatives of the genus Homo. Thus, Paleolithic cultures in Kenya and Ethiopia are 2.5-2.6 million years old. Analysis of new materials shows that australopithecines were only capable of using tools, but only representatives of the genus Homo were able to make them.

The Olduvai (Pebble) Age is the earliest in the Paleolithic (Old Stone Age). The most typical tools are massive archaic artifacts made from pebbles and stone fragments, as well as stone blanks (cores), tools on flakes. A typical Olduvai weapon is the chopper. It was a pebble with a beveled end, the unprocessed part of which served to hold the tool in the hand (Fig. I. 7). The blade could be processed on both sides; Tools with several edges and simple impact stones were also found. Olduvai tools differ in shape and size, but have the same type of blade. This is explained by the purposefulness of actions to develop tools. Archaeologists note that already from the beginning of the Paleolithic there was a set of tools for different purposes. Finds of broken bones suggest that Australopithecines were hunters. Olduvai tools survive into late times, especially in South and Southeast Asia. Olduvai's long existence (1.5 million years) was almost not accompanied by technical progress. Australopithecines could create simple shelters such as wind barriers.

Rice. I. 7. Olduvai culture of the Lower Paleolithic. Pithecanthropus
(ancient people, archanthropes)

Pithecanthropus is the second stadia group of hominids after the Australopithecines. In this aspect, in the specialized literature they are often designated (all variants of the group) as “archanthropes,” i.e., “the most ancient people”; here we can also add the definition of “true people”, since the belonging of Pithecanthropus to the hominid family is not disputed by any anthropologist. Previously, some researchers combined Pithecanthropus with Neanderthals into one evolutionary stage.

Finds of Pithecanthropus are known in three parts of the world - Africa, Asia and Europe. Their ancestors were representatives of Homo habilis (late East African representatives of this species are often called Homo rudolfensis). The lifetime of Pithecanthropus (including the earliest, Homo ergaster) can be represented in the range of 1.8 million years - less than 200 thousand years. The most ancient representatives of the stage were discovered in Africa (1.6 million years - 1.8 million years); from the turn of 1 million years they were widespread in Asia, and from the time of 0.5 million years, Pithecanthropus (often called “pre-Neanderthals”, or representatives of Homo heidelbergensis) lived in Europe. The almost worldwide distribution of Pithecanthropus can be explained by their fairly high level of biological and social development. The evolution of different groups of Pithecanthropus occurred at different speeds, but had one direction - towards the sapient type.

For the first time, bone fragments of Pithecanthropus were discovered by the Dutch doctor E. Dubois on the island. Java in 1891. It is noteworthy that the author of the find shared the concept of an “intermediate link” in the human pedigree, which belonged to the Darwinist E. Haeckel. Near the village of Trinil, an upper molar, a skull cap and a femur were found (sequentially). The archaic character of the skull cap is impressive: a sloping forehead and a powerful supraorbital ridge and a completely modern type of femur. The layers containing the Trinil fauna date back to 700 thousand years (currently 500 thousand years). In 1894, G. Dubois first gave scientific description"Pitpecanthropus erectus" ("Ape-man erectus"). Some European scientists greeted such a phenomenal discovery with disbelief, and Dubois himself often did not believe in its significance for science.

With an interval of 40 years, other finds of Pithecanthropus were made on the island. Java and other locations. In the Pungat layers with the Jetis fauna near the village of Mojokerto, a child's skull of Pithecanthropus was discovered. The age of the find is close to 1 million years. Finds of skull and skeleton bones were made in the Sangiran locality (antiquity about 800 thousand years) during 1936-1941. The next series of finds at Sangiran dates back to the period 1952-1973. The most interesting find is the skull of Pithecanthropus with the preserved facial part of the skull, made in 1963. Remains of the Paleolithic culture on the island. Java not found.

A fossil man of a similar type to Pithecanthropus was discovered in the Middle Pleistocene deposits of China. The teeth of Sinanthropus (Chinese Pithecanthropus) were discovered in the limestone cave of Zhoukou-dian in 1918. The collection of random finds gave way to excavations, and in 1937 the remains of more than 40 individuals of Sinanthropus were discovered at this location (Fig. 1.8). The description of this variant of Pithecanthropus was first made by the Canadian specialist Vlecom. The absolute dating of Sinanthropus is estimated at 400-500 thousand years. The bone remains of Sinanthropus are accompanied by numerous cultural

remains (stone tools, crushed and burnt animal bones). Of greatest interest is the multi-meter thick layer of ash found in the Sinanthropus hunting camp. The use of fire to process food made it more digestible, and maintaining a fire for a long time indicates a fairly high level of development of social relations among synanthropes.

Multiple finds allow us to confidently speak about the reality of the Pithecanthropus taxon. Let us present the main features of its morphotype. The modern type of femurs and the position of the foramen magnum, similar to what we see on modern skulls, indicate that Pithecanthropus undoubtedly adapted to upright walking. The overall massiveness of the skeleton of Pithecanthropus is greater than that of Australopithecus. Numerous archaic features are observed in the structure of the skull: highly developed relief, sloping frontal region, massive jaws, pronounced prognathism of the facial region. The walls of the skull are thick, the lower jaw is massive and wide, the teeth are large, and the size of the canine is close to modern ones. The highly developed occipital relief is associated with the development of the cervical muscles, which played a significant role in balancing the skull when walking. Given in modern literature estimates of the size of the brain of Pithecanthropus vary from 750 to 1350 cm3, i.e. approximately correspond to the minimum lower threshold values ​​given for Australopithecines of the Habilis type. Previously, the compared species were considered to be significantly different. The structure of the endocranes testified to the complexity of the brain structure: in Pithecanthropus, parts of the parietal region, lower frontal and upper posterior part of the frontal region are more developed, which is associated with the development of specific human functions - labor and speech. New foci of growth were discovered on the endocranes of synanthropes, associated with the assessment of body position, speech and fine movements.

Sinanthropus is somewhat different in type from Pithecanthropus. The length of its body was about 150 cm (pithecanthropus - up to 165-175 cm), the dimensions of the skull were increased, but the type of structure was the same, with the exception of a weakened occipital relief. The skeleton of Sinanthropus is less massive. The graceful lower jaw is noteworthy. Brain volume is more than 1000 cm3. The difference between Sinanthropus and Javan Pithecanthropus is assessed at the subspecies level.

The nature of food remains, as well as the structure of the lower jaws, indicates a change in the type of nutrition of synanthropes towards omnivory, which is a progressive feature. Synanthropes are likely to exhibit cannibalism. Archaeologists disagreed on their ability to make fire.

Analysis of human bone remains from this phase of anthropogenesis makes it possible to reconstruct the age and sex composition of synanthrope groups: 3-6 males, 6-10 females and 15-20 children.

The comparative complexity of culture requires a fairly high level of communication and mutual understanding, therefore, it is possible to predict the existence of primitive speech at this time. The biological basis for this prognosis can be considered the strengthening of the bone relief in the places of attachment of the tongue muscles, the beginning of the formation of the chin, and the gracilization of the lower jaws.

Fragments of skulls of antiquity commensurate with the early Pithecanthropus of Fr. Java (about 1 million years old), found in two provinces of China - Lantian, Kuwanlin. It is interesting that the more ancient Chinese Pithecanthropus differs from Sinanthropus in the same way as the early Pithecanthropus from the later ones, namely, in greater massiveness of bones and smaller brain size. Late progressive Pithecanthropus includes a recent discovery in India. Here, together with Late Acheulean tools, a skull with a volume of 1300 cm3 was found.

The reality of the existence of the Pithecanthropus stage in anthropogenesis is practically not disputed. True, the later representatives of Pithecanthropus are considered the ancestors of subsequent, more progressive forms. The question of the time and place of the appearance of the first Pithecanthropus has been widely discussed in science. Previously, Asia was considered its homeland, and the time of its appearance was estimated at approximately 2 million years. Now this issue is being resolved differently. Africa is considered to be the homeland of both Australopithecus and Pithecanthropus. In 1984, a 1.6-million-year-old Pithecanthropus (a complete skeleton of an adolescent) was discovered in Kenya (Nariokotome). The main finds of the earliest Pithecanthropus in Africa are considered to be: Koobi Fora (1.6 million years), South African Swartkrans (1.5 million years), Olduvai (1.2 million years). African Pithecanthropus of the Coast Mediterranean Sea(Ternifin) are 700 thousand years old. The geological antiquity of the Asian variants can be estimated at 1.3-0.1 million years. There is archaeological evidence from sites in the Middle East, located closer to Africa than to Asia, indicating that the antiquity of African Pithecanthropus could reach 2 million years.

Synchronous forms of fossil humans from Europe are younger and quite distinctive. They are often called "pre-Neanderthals" or referred to as Homo heidelbergensis, which in Africa, Europe and Asia was the ancestor of modern humans and the Neanderthals of Europe and Asia. European forms have the following age: Mauer (500 thousand years), Arago (400 thousand years), Petralona (450 thousand years), Atapuerca (300 thousand years). Broken Hill (300 thousand years) and Bodo (600 thousand years) have a transitional evolutionary character in Africa.

In the Caucasus, the most ancient find in Georgia is considered to be the Dmanisi man, whose antiquity is estimated at 1.6-1.8 million years. Anatomical features allow us to put it on a par with the most ancient hominids of Africa and Asia! Pithecanthropes were also found in other sites: in Uzbekistan (Sel-Ungur), in the North Caucasus (Kudaro), Ukraine. A form intermediate between Pithecanthropus and Neanderthals was found in Azerbaijan (Azykh). The Acheulian man apparently lived on the territory of Armenia (Yerevan).

Early Pithecanthropus differs from later ones in having more massive bones and a smaller brain. A similar difference is observed in Asia and Europe.

In the Paleolithic, the Acheulian era correlates with the physical type of Pithecanthropus and early Neanderthals. The leading Acheulean weapon was a hand ax (Fig. I. 9). It demonstrates a high level in the development of stone processing technology. Within the Acheulean era, one can observe an increase in the careful finishing of handaxes: the number of chips from the surface of the tool increases. The surface treatment becomes finer when replacing stone bumpers with softer ones made of bone, horn or wood. The size of the hand ax reached 35 cm. It was made from stone by processing chips on both sides. The chopper had a pointed end, two longitudinal blades and a rough opposite edge. It is believed that the ax had a variety of functions: it served as a percussion instrument, was used for digging up roots, dismembering animal corpses, and processing wood. In the southern regions there is an ax (cleaver), distinguished by a transverse blade, not corrected by retouching, and symmetrically processed edges.

The typical Acheulean handaxe does not exhaust all the technological diversity characteristic of that period. There was a flake “Klekton” culture, as well as a flake progressive “Levallois” culture, which is distinguished by the manufacture of tools from flakes of disc-shaped stone blanks, the surface of the blanks was pre-processed with small chips. In addition to axes, small tools such as points, scrapers, and knives are found in Acheulean sites. Some of them survive to the time of the Cro-Magnons. Olduvai tools are also found in the Acheulean. Rare wooden tools are known. It is believed that the Pithecanthropus of Asia could make do with bamboo tools.

Hunting was of great importance in the life of the Acheuleans. Pithecanthropus were not only gatherers. Acheulean sites are interpreted as hunting camps, since bones of large animals are found in their cultural layer. The life of the Acheulian groups was difficult, people were engaged in different types labor. Various types of sites are open: hunting camps, flint mining workshops, long-term sites. The Acheulians built their dwellings in open areas and in caves. A settlement of huts has been opened in the Nice area.

The natural environment of Acheulean man determined the characteristics of material culture. The types of tools in different monuments are found in different proportions. Hunting large animals required close cohesion of a team of people. Sites of different types indicate the existence of a division of labor. The remains of the hearths indicate the effectiveness of the use of fire by Pithecanthropus. In the Kenyan site of Chesovanja, traces of fire are 1.4 million years old. The Mousterian culture of Neanderthal man is a development of the technological achievements of the angelic culture of Pithecanthropus.

As a result of the Afro-Asian migrations of the first people, two main centers of human evolution arose - Western and Eastern. Separated by vast distances, populations of Pithecanthropus could progress for a long time in isolation from each other. There is an opinion that Neanderthals were not a natural stage of evolution in all regions; in Africa and Europe, Pithecanthropus (“pre-Neanderthals”) were such.

Neanderthals (ancient people, paleoanthropes)

In the traditional stage model of anthropogenesis, the intermediate evolutionary stage between Homo erectus and Homo sapiens was represented by paleoanthropes (“ancient people”), who, in absolute chronology, lived in the period from 300 thousand years to about 30 thousand years in Europe, Asia and Africa. In non-professional literature they are often referred to as “Neanderthals”, after the name of one of the first finds in 1848 in the area of ​​Neanderthal (Germany).

In general, paleoanthropes continue the line of evolution of “Homo erectus” (more precisely, Homo heidelbergensis), but in modern schemes they are often designated as a side branch of hominids. In terms of the general level of evolutionary achievements, these hominids are closest to modern humans. Therefore, they have undergone changes in their status in the classifications of hominids: paleoanthropes are currently considered as a subspecies of “Homo sapiens,” i.e., as its fossil version (Homo sapiens neanderthalensls). This view reflects new knowledge about the complexity of biology, the intellectual sphere and social organization Neanderthals. Anthropologists, who attach great importance to the biological differences between Neanderthals and modern humans, still consider them a special species.

The first discoveries of Neanderthals were made in the 19th century. in Western Europe and did not have an unambiguous interpretation.

Groups of paleoanthropes, located over a significant range of geological time, are very diverse in morphological appearance. Anthropologist V.P. Alekseev attempted to classify groups of Neanderthals that were morphologically and chronologically similar, and identified several groups: European, African, Skhul type and Western Asian. Most of the finds of paleoanthropes are known from Europe. Neanderthals often inhabited periglacial zones.

On the same grounds (morphological and chronological), among the European forms of this time, the following levels are distinguished: “the earliest Neanderthals” - “pre-Neanderthals”, “early Neanderthals” and “late Neanderthals”.

Anthropologists suggested that objectively there were multiple transitions between successive stage groups, therefore, in different areas, from several variants of Pithecanthropus, an evolutionary transition to paleoanthropus could have occurred. Representatives of the species Homo heidelbergensis could be predecessors (Petralona, ​​Swanscombe, Atapuerca, Arago, etc.).

The earliest European group includes a fossil skull from the Steinheim site (200 thousand years old), found in Germany in 1933, as well as the Swanscombe female skull (200 thousand years old), discovered in England in 1935. These finds relate to the second interglacial according to the alpine scheme. Under similar conditions, a fossil lower jaw was found in France - the Montmorin monument. These forms are distinguished by the small size of the brain cavity (Steinheim - 1150 cm3, Swanscombe - 1250-1300 cm3). A complex of features has been identified that bring the earliest forms closer to modern humans: a relatively narrow and high skull, a relatively convex forehead, a massive eyebrow, like that of Pithecanthropus, not divided into its component elements, a rather rounded back of the head, a straightened facial region, the presence of a rudimentary chin of the lower jaw. There is obvious archaism in the structure of the teeth: the third molar is larger in size than the second and first (in humans, the size of the molars decreases from the first to the third). The bones of this type of fossil human are accompanied by archaic Acheulean tools.

Many Neanderthals known to science belong to the last interglacial. The earlier of them lived about 150 thousand years ago. You can imagine their appearance based on finds from the European monuments of Eringsdorf and Saccopastore. They are distinguished by a vertical profile of the facial region, a rounded occipital region, a weakened superciliary relief, a rather convex forehead, and a relatively small number of archaic features in the structure of the teeth (the third molar is not the largest among the others). The brain volume of early Neanderthals is estimated at 1200-1400 cm3.

The existence of late European Neanderthals coincides with the last glaciation. The morphological type of these forms is clearly visible on the fossil bone remains of Chapelle (50 thousand years), Moustier (50 thousand years), Ferrassi (50 thousand years), Neanderthal (50 thousand years), Engis (70 thousand years), Circeo (50 thousand years), San Cesaire (36 thousand years) (Fig. I. 10).

This variant is characterized by a strong development of the eyebrow, a compressed occipital region from top to bottom (“chignon-shaped”), a wide nasal opening, and an expanded cavity of the molars. Morphologists note the presence of an occipital ridge, a chin protrusion (rarely and in rudimentary form), and a large volume of the brain cavity: from 1350 to 1700 cm3. Based on the bones of the skeleton of the body, one can judge that late Neanderthals had a strong, massive physique (body length - 155-165 cm). The lower limbs are shorter than those of modern humans, and the femurs are curved. The wide facial part of the skull of Neanderthals protrudes strongly forward and is sloping on the sides, the cheek bones are streamlined. The joints of the arms and legs are large. In terms of body proportions, Neanderthals were similar to the modern type of Eskimos, which helped them maintain body temperature in cold climates.

An interesting attempt is to transfer ecological knowledge about modern man to paleoanthropological reconstructions. Thus, a number of structural features of “classical” Neanderthals Western Europe explained as a consequence of adaptation to cold climate conditions.

It appears that the earliest and later forms from Europe are related genetically. European Neanderthals were discovered in France, Italy, Yugoslavia, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Crimea and the North Caucasus.

To solve the question of the origin of modern man, the finds of paleoanthropes outside Europe, mainly in South-West Asia and Africa, are extremely interesting. The absence of specialization features in morphology in most cases distinguishes them from European forms. Thus, they are characterized by straighter and thinner limbs, less powerful supraorbital ridges, and shorter and less massive skulls.

According to one point of view, a typical Neanderthal man existed only within Europe and some regions of Asia, where he could have moved from Europe. Moreover, starting from the turn of 40 thousand years, Neanderthals coexisted with fully developed people of a modern anatomical type; in the Middle East, such coexistence could be longer.

The finds of paleoanthropes from Mount Carmel (Israel) are exceptional in significance. They attracted researchers with a mosaic of sapient and Neanderthaloid features. These finds can be interpreted as actual evidence of crossbreeding between early Neanderthals and modern humans. True, it should be noted that some of the Skhul finds are currently considered to belong to “archaic Homo sapiens”. Let's name some of the most famous finds.

Tabun is a fossil skull discovered in Tabun Cave, Mount Carmel. Antiquity - 100 thousand years. The skull is low, the forehead is sloping, there are supraorbital ridges, but the facial part and occipital region have a modern character. The curved limb bones resemble the type of European Neanderthals.

Skhul-V, antiquity - 90 thousand years (Fig. I. 11). The skull combines a large volume of the brain cavity and a rather high forehead with modern structure facial region and back of the head.

Amud, antiquity - 50 thousand years. Found in the Amud cave near Lake Tiberias. (Israel). Has a large brain volume: 1740 cm3. The bones of the limbs are elongated.

Qafzeh, antiquity - about 100 thousand. years. Opened in Israel. Sapience is quite strongly expressed, so it is considered an accomplished sapiens.

In the north of Iraq, a Shanidar Neanderthal was discovered, classical in type, with a large brain section; researchers drew attention to the absence of a continuous supraorbital ridge. Age - 70-80 thousand years.

A Neanderthal man with traces of a funeral rite was found on the territory of Uzbekistan. The skull belonged to a boy with an unformed supraorbital ridge. The facial section and limbs of the skeleton, according to some anthropologists, are of a modern type. The location of the find is the Teschik-Tash cave, antiquity - 70 thousand years.

In Crimea, in the Kiik-Koba cave, the bone remains of an adult paleoanthrope (a type close to Western European Neanderthals) and a very young Neanderthal child were discovered. The bone remains of several Neanderthal children were discovered in the Crimea and in the area of ​​Belogorsk. A fragment of the skull of a Neanderthal woman with some modern features, making it look like shul finds. Neanderthal bones and teeth were discovered in Adygea and Georgia.

The skull of a paleoanthropist was discovered in Asia - on the territory of China, in the Mala Grotto. It is believed that he cannot be attributed to any European variant of Neanderthals. The importance of this find lies in the fact that it proves the replacement of one stage type by another in the Asian part of the world. Another point of view is that in finds such as Mala, Chanyan, Ordos (Mongolia) we see transitional forms from Pithecanthropus to “early” sapiens. Moreover, this transition in some forms can be dated back to at least 0.2 million years (uranium method).

On about. In Java, near the village of Ngan-dong, peculiar skulls bearing traces of cannibalism were found. Researchers drew attention to their very thick walls and powerful supraorbital ridge. Such features make the Ngandong skulls similar to the type of Pithecanthropus. The existence of discovered hominids is the Upper Pleistocene (about 0.1 million years), i.e., they are synchronous with the late Pithecanthropus. There was an opinion in science that this was a local, unique type of Neanderthal, formed as a result of a slow evolutionary process. From other positions, the "Javanthropes" from Ngandong are defined as late Pithecanthropus, genetically related to the Late Pleistocene sapiens of Australia.

Until recently, it was believed that Neanderthals existed not only in the north, but also in the south of Africa. Hominids from Broken Hill and Saldanha were cited as examples of “southern” Africans. In their morphological type it was found general signs Neanderthals and Pithecanthropus. Their brain volume reached about 1300 cm3 (slightly less than the average for Neanderthals). It has been suggested that Broken Hill Man is a successor to the Olduvai Pithecanthropus from East Africa. Some anthropologists believed that there was a parallel line of paleoanthropic evolution in Southeast Asia and southern Africa. Currently, the Broken Hill variant is assigned the role of a fossil sapient form.

Changes in taxonomic views on later hominids have led to the fact that many forms preceding modern humans are classified as archaic Homo sapiens, often understood by this term as “pro-Neanderthals” (Swanscombe, Steinheim), then - peculiar African forms (Broken Hill, Saldanha), Asian (Ngandong), as well as European variants of Pithecanthropus.

Paleontological evidence suggests a mestizo origin for classical European Neanderthals. Apparently, there were two waves of migrants from Africa and Asia approximately 300-250 thousand years ago, with subsequent mixing.

The evolutionary fate of Neanderthals is unclear. The choice of hypotheses is quite wide: the complete transformation of Neanderthals into sapiens; complete extermination of Neanderthals by sapiens of non-European origin; crossbreeding of both options. The last point of view has the greatest support, according to which the emerging modern man migrated from Africa to Europe through Asia. In Asia it was recorded for about 100 thousand years, and came to Europe at the turn of 40 thousand years. Next, the assimilation of the Neanderthal population took place. The evidence is provided by European finds of hominids of Neanderthal appearance, modern type and intermediate forms. Early Neanderthals, penetrating into Western Asia, could interbreed with ancient sapiens there too.

Fossil odontological materials provide an idea of ​​the scale of crossbreeding processes. They record the contribution of European Neanderthals to the gene pool of modern humans. Neanderthal fossil hominids coexisted with modern ones for tens of thousands of years.

The essence of the evolutionary transition that took place at the boundary of the Upper Paleolithic is explained in the hypothesis of Professor Ya.Ya. Roginsky.

The author summarizes data on the structure of the endocrane with clinical observations of modern humans and, on this basis, puts forward the assumption that the social behavior of paleoanthropes and modern humans is significantly different (control of behavior, manifestation of aggressiveness).

The Mousterian era, coinciding in time with the era of the Neanderthals, belongs to the Middle Paleolithic. In absolute terms given time ranges from 40 to 200 thousand years. Mousterian tool assemblages are heterogeneous in the ratio of tools different types. Mousterian sites are known in three parts of the world - Europe, Africa and Asia; bone remains of Neanderthals were also discovered there.

The technology of stone processing by Neanderthal man is distinguished by a relatively high level of technique for splitting and secondary processing of flakes. The pinnacle of technology is the method of preparing the surface of a stone blank and processing the plates separated from it.

Careful adjustment of the surface of the workpiece entailed the thinness of the plates and the perfection of the tools obtained from them (Fig. 1.12).

The Mousterian culture is characterized by disc-shaped blanks, from which flakes were chipped radially: from the edges to the center. Most of Mousterian tools were made on flakes by secondary processing. Archaeologists count dozens of types of tools, but their diversity apparently boils down to three types: pointed, scraper, rubel. The point was a tool with a point at the end, used for cutting meat, leather, processing wood, and also as a dagger or spear tip. The side scraper was a flake, retouched along the edge. This tool was used for scraping or cutting when processing carcasses, hides or wood. Wooden handles were added to the scrapers. Toothed tools were used for turning wooden objects, cutting or sawing. In Mousterian one can find piercings, incisors, and scrapers—tools of the Late Paleolithic. The means of labor are represented by special chippers (elongated pieces of stone or pebbles) and retouchers (pieces of stone or bone for processing the edge of a tool by pressing).

Modern ethnographic studies of Australian Aborigines help to imagine the technological processes of the Stone Age. Experiments by archaeologists have shown that the technique of obtaining tool blanks in the form of flakes and plates was complex and required experience, technical knowledge, precise coordination of movements, and great attention.

Experience allowed ancient man to reduce the amount of time required to make tools. The technique of processing bone in Mousterian is poorly developed. Wooden tools were widely used: clubs, spears, spears with fire-hardened ends. Water vessels and elements of dwellings were made from wood.

Neanderthals were skilled hunters. At their sites, accumulations of bones of large animals were discovered: mammoths, cave bears, bison, wild horses, antelopes, and mountain goats. Complex hunting activities were within the power of a coordinated group of Neanderthals. The Mousterians used methods of rounding up or driving animals to cliffs and swamps. Complex tools were discovered - spearheads with flint fragments. Bolas were used as throwing weapons. The Mousterians practiced cutting up the carcasses of killed animals and roasting the meat over a fire. They made simple clothes for themselves. Gathering had a certain importance. The discovered grain grinders made of stone suggest that primitive grain processing existed. Cannibalism existed among Neanderthals, but was not widespread.

During Mousterian times, the nature of settlements changed. Sheds, grottoes and caves were more often inhabited. The types of Neanderthal settlements are identified: workshops, hunting and base sites. Wind barriers were installed to protect fires from the wind. In the grottoes, pavements were made from pebbles and pieces of limestone.

Bone remains of Neanderthals can be found together with Upper Paleolithic tools, as was the case, for example, with the discovery of a late paleoanthropus in France (the Saint-Césaire monument).

In the early Würmian era, Mousterian burials appeared on the territory of Eurasia - the first reliable traces of the burial of the dead. Today, about 60 such monuments have been opened. Interestingly, the “Neanderthal” and “sapient” groups more often buried adult individuals, and the “Neanderthal” population buried both adults and children to the same extent. The facts of burial of the dead give reason to assume the existence of a dualistic worldview among the Mousterians.

Modern man, fossil and modern (neoanthropes)

Fossil representatives of Homo sapiens sapiens are widely represented in known archaeological finds of hominid remains. The maximum geological age of fully formed neoanthropic fossils was previously estimated at approximately 40 thousand years (discovery in Indonesia). It is now believed that sapiens found in Africa and Asia were much more ancient (although we are talking about skeletons with archaic features expressed to varying degrees).

The bone remains of fossil humans of this subspecies are widespread: from Kalimantan to the tips of Europe.

The name “Cro-Magnons” (as fossil neoanthropes are designated in the literature) is due to the famous French Upper Paleolithic monument Cro-Magnon. The structure of the skull and skeleton of the body of fossil neoanthropes is, in principle, no different from modern humans, although their bones are more massive.

According to the analysis of bone material from Late Paleolithic burials, average age Cro-Magnons were 30-50 years old. The same life expectancy remained until the Middle Ages. Pathology of bones and teeth is less common than trauma (Cro-Magnon teeth were healthy).

Signs of differences between the skulls of Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals (Fig. 1.13): less protruding facial region, high convex crown, high straight forehead, rounded back of the head, smaller quadrangular eye sockets, smaller overall dimensions of the skull, a chin protrusion of the skull is formed; the brow ridge is absent, the jaws are less developed, the teeth have a small cavity. The main difference between Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals is the structure of the endocrane. Paleoneurologists believe that in late anthropogenesis the frontal regions of the brain, including behavioral control centers, developed. Were complicated internal communications brain, but the overall size of the brain decreased somewhat. Cro-Magnons were taller (169-177 cm) and less roughly built than Neanderthals.

Differences between Cro-Magnon skulls and modern ones: the height of the arch is smaller, the longitudinal dimensions are larger, the brow ridges are pronounced, the width of the eye sockets is larger, the facial part of the skull and lower jaw is wider, the thickness of the walls of the skull is greater. Upper Paleolithic man retained the features of the dental system characteristic of Neanderthals for quite a long time. The features that distinguish the skull and endocranium of Cro-Magnons from modern humans are often “Neanderthaloid” in nature.

Noteworthy is the fact that the distribution area of ​​Cro-Magnon man is enormous: the entire ecumene. With the advent of Cro-Magnon man, as many experts believe, the species evolution of man ends, and the evolution of biological qualities for man in the future seems impossible.

The most complete finds of Cro-Magnon skeletons in Europe have an antiquity that does not exceed 40 thousand years. For example, the French neo-anthropist Cro-Magnon lived 30 thousand years ago, the Cro-Magnon man Sungir (Vladimir region) is 28 thousand years old. The archaic sapiens of Africa (with fairly pronounced Neanderthaloid features) look much older: Omo in Ethiopia - 130 thousand years, River Mouse (South Africa) - 120 thousand years, Border (South Africa) - more than 70 thousand years, Kenyan finds of sapiens - 200-100 thousand years, Mumba (Tanzania) - 130 thousand years, etc. It is assumed that the antiquity of African sapiens may be even greater. Asian finds of sapiens have the following age: Dali (PRC) - 200 thousand years, Jinnbshan (PRC) - 200 thousand years, Qafzeh (Israel) - more than 90 thousand years, Skhul V (Israel) - 90 thousand years, Nia (Kalimantan) - 40 thousand years. Australian finds are about 10 thousand years old.

It was previously assumed that modern humans arose in Europe about 40 thousand years ago. Today larger number Anthropologists and archaeologists place the ancestral home of sapiens in Africa, and the antiquity of the latter is greatly increased, focusing on the above findings. In accordance with the hypothesis of the German anthropologist G. Breuer, Homo sapiens sapiens appeared south of the Sahara about 150 thousand years ago, then migrated to Western Asia (at the level of 100 thousand years), and at the turn of 35-40 thousand years began to populate Europe and Asia, interbreeding with local Neanderthals. Modern biomolecular evidence also suggests that the ancestors of modern humanity came from Africa.

In accordance with modern evolutionary views, the most plausible model seems to be the “net evolution” of hominids, in which an important place is given to the exchange of genes between different subspecies and species of ancient humans. Therefore very early finds sapiens in Africa and Europe are interpreted as evidence of crossbreeding between sapiens species and Pithecanthropus. During the formation of the sapient type, a constant exchange of genes occurred between the primary centers of evolution of the genus Homo (Western and Eastern).

About 40 thousand years ago, the rapid spread of neoanthropus began. The reasons for this phenomenon lie in human genetics and the development of his culture.

Scientists studying Cro-Magnon man have to deal with a wide variety of types. Unanimous opinion on addition time modern races No. According to one point of view, the features of modern races are present in the Upper Paleolithic. This point of view is illustrated by examples of the geographical distribution of two characteristics - nasal protrusion and the degree of horizontal profiling of the facial region. According to another point of view, races took shape late, and the Upper Paleolithic population was distinguished by great polymorphism. Thus, for Europe, about 8 types of Upper Paleolithic races are sometimes distinguished. Two of them look like this: a) a dolichocranial, large-headed version of the Cro-Magnon with a moderate width of the face and a narrow nose; b) brachycranial (short-headed), with a smaller skull, a very wide face and a wide nose. It can be assumed that there were three stages in the formation of races: 1) the Middle and Lower Paleolithic - the formation of some racial traits; 2) Upper Paleolithic - the beginning of the formation of racial complexes; 3) post-Paleolithic time - the addition of races.

The cultures of the Upper (Late) Paleolithic are associated with the appearance of modern humans (Neoanthropus). In Europe last period Paleolithic (ancient Stone Age) is estimated at 35-10 thousand years before the present day and coincides with the time of the last Pleistocene glaciation (this fact is the subject of discussion in connection with the problem of the role of the environment in the development of mankind) (Fig. I. 14).

At first glance, in the Paleolithic era under discussion there were no fundamental differences in material culture from previous eras: the same stone tools and hunting tools. In fact, the Cro-Magnons made a more complex set of tools: knives (sometimes daggers), spearheads, chisels, bone tools such as awls, needles, harpoons, etc. Bone tools made up about half of the total inventory; they were strong and more durable than stone ones. Stone tools were used to make tools from bone, wood, and ivory - this is how the technological chains in the actions of ancient man were complicated.

Completely new types of tools arose, such as needles with ears, fishhooks, harpoons, and spear throwers. They significantly strengthened man's power over nature.

The main difference of the Upper Paleolithic was the improvement of stone processing. In Mousterian times, there were several ways to process a stone blank (core). The Lavallusian technique of careful initial surface treatment of the workpiece is the start of the Upper Paleolithic technique. Cro-Magnons used blanks suitable for chopping series of plates (prismatic cores). Thus, during the Upper Paleolithic era, the technique of cleaving was improved, resulting in high-quality microblades suitable for use in composite tools.

Archaeologists have conducted experiments to reconstruct the method of separating the plates from the core, as the Cro-Magnons did. The selected and specially processed core was clamped between the knees, which acted as a shock absorber. The separation of the plates was carried out using a stone chipper and a bone mediator. In addition, flint flakes were separated by pressing on the edge of the core with a bone or stone squeezer.

The knife plate method is much more economical than the flake method. From one workpiece, a skilled craftsman could separate more than 50 plates (up to 25-30 cm in length and several millimeters in thickness) in a short time. The working edge of the knife-shaped plate is much larger than that of the flake. More than 100 types of tools are known for the Late Paleolithic. It has been suggested that different Cro-Magnon workshops could differ in the originality of their technical “fashion”.

In the Upper Paleolithic, hunting was even more advanced than in Mousterian times. This played a huge role in increasing food resources, and, in connection with this, population.

A complete innovation was the spear thrower, which gave the Cro-Magnon hand an advantage in strength, doubling the distance over which the spear could be thrown (up to 137 m, with an optimal distance for hitting up to 28 m). Harpoons made it possible to effectively catch fish. The Cro-Magnon man invented snares for birds and traps for animals.

Perfect hunting was carried out for large animals: reindeer and ibex were pursued during their seasonal migrations to new pastures and back. Hunting techniques using knowledge of the area - driven hunting - made it possible to kill animals in the thousands. Thus, for the first time, an uninterrupted source of highly nutritious food was formed. The person got the opportunity to live in hard-to-reach areas.

In the construction of houses, the Cro-Magnons used the achievements of the Mousterians and improved them. This allowed them to survive the conditions of the last cold millennium of the Pleistocene.

European Cro-Magnons, populating the caves, used their good knowledge of the area. Many caves had access to the south, so they were well heated by the sun and protected from the cold northern winds. The caves were chosen near water sources, with good review pastures where herds of ungulates grazed. The caves could be used all year round or for seasonal stays.

Cro-Magnons also built dwellings in river valleys. They were made of stone or dug into the ground, the walls and roof were made of skins, and the supports and bottom could be lined with heavy bones and tusks. The Upper Paleolithic structure at the Kostenki site (Russian Plain), 27 m long, is marked by a number of hearths in the center, indicating that several families wintered here.

Nomadic hunters built light huts. Severe climatic conditions Cro-Magnons were helped by warm clothing. Images of people on bone artifacts suggest that they wore tight-fitting pants that retained heat, parkas with hoods, shoes and mittens. The seams of the clothes were well stitched.

The high intellectual development and psychological complexity of the Cro-Magnons is proven by the existence of numerous monuments of primitive art, which is known for the period of 35-10 thousand years in Europe. This refers to small sculptures and wall paintings in caves. Engravings of animals and people were made on stones, bones and deer antlers. Sculptures and bas-reliefs were made from clay and stone, and the drawings were made by the Cro-Magnons using ocher, manganese and charcoal. The purpose of primitive art is not clear. It is believed that it was of a ritual nature.

Burial studies provide abundant information about the life of Cro-Magnons. It was found, for example, that the life expectancy of Cro-Magnon man increased in comparison with Neanderthals.

Some Cro-Magnon rituals have been reconstructed. Thus, the custom of sprinkling the skeleton of the deceased with red ocher apparently testifies to belief in the afterlife. Burials with rich decorations suggest the emergence of wealthy people among hunter-gatherers.

An excellent example of a Cro-Magnon burial is provided by the Sungir monument near the city of Vladimir. The age of the burial is about 24-26 thousand years. Here lies an old man (“Leader”) in fur robes, richly decorated with beads. The second burial is interesting - a pair of children’s burials. The skeletons of the children were accompanied by spears made from mammoth tusks and were decorated with ivory rings and bracelets; the clothes are also decorated with beads.

Modern man and evolution

Since the completion of the formation of the species Homo sapiens (from the middle of the Upper Paleolithic), it has maintained stability in its biological status. The evolutionary completeness of man is relative and does not mean a complete cessation of changes in his biological properties. Various changes in the anatomical type of modern humans have been studied. Examples are a decrease in the massiveness of the skeleton, the size of the teeth, changes in the small toes, etc. It is assumed that these phenomena are caused by random mutations. Some anthropologists, based on anatomical observations, predict the appearance of Homo futurus - the “Man of the Future”, with a large head, a reduced face and teeth, and fewer fingers. But these anatomical “losses” do not characterize all human populations. An alternative view is that the biological organization of modern man allows for limitless social evolution, so it is unlikely to change as a species in the future.

The evolutionary theory of human development, proposed by the English scientist Charles Darwin, became a real sensation in scientific world. Until then, the whole world was in full confidence that man is God's creation. The Darwinian theory, unlike other versions of the origin of man, was able to clearly explain how his evolution took place.

Charles Darwin's theory of evolution

Humanity has long tried to unravel the mystery of its appearance on the planet, but the only answer was found only in religion, according to which man is a manifestation of God’s plan.

This explanation suited people until they began to actively develop and expand scientific knowledge. Scientists have struggled for a long time to unravel the origins of man, but only the British naturalist Charles Darwin succeeded.

Rice. 1. Charles Darwin.

His theory, revolutionary for those times, according to which man descended from primates, caused real dissonance in society. Not all scientists, not to mention ordinary people, wanted to see monkeys among their ancient ancestors.

However, Darwin's theory presented a lot of significant evidence. Humans had too much in common with the animal world: the structure of the skeleton, nervous system, digestive, circulatory and respiratory organs. Humans had the greatest similarity with primates.

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The most important prerequisite for the “humanization” of primates was the use of natural objects as tools for protection from enemies or hunting wild animals.

Rice. 2. Primitive tools.

Main stages of human evolution

Process evolutionary development Humanity, from primates to modern man, took several million years. In total, there are five main stages of human evolution, each of which has its own distinctive characteristics.

All evolutionary processes are based on the most important law of nature - natural selection, thanks to which a species has the opportunity to adapt to environmental conditions as best as possible.

Rice. 3. Primitive society.

Table “Stages of Human Evolution”

Stages of human evolution	Structural features	Lifestyle	Tools
Great apes - Australopithecus	Height 120-140 cm. Skull volume - 500-600 cubic meters. cm, upright posture	They did not build permanent dwellings, did not use fire, the way of life was gregarious	Sticks and stones
Ancient People - Smart Man	Brain volume – 680 cubic meters. cm,	Didn't know how to use fire	Tools in the form of stones with pointed edges
The most ancient people - Homo erectus (Pithecanthropus, Sinanthropus, Heidelberg man)	Height 170 cm. Brain volume – 900-110 cubic meters. see The foot has an arch, right hand better developed, constant upright posture, changes in the jaw apparatus, the appearance of spinal curves	They kept the fire going, built houses, and hunted together. There were the beginnings of articulate speech	Various stone tools, among which the most important is the stone ax
Ancient people - Neanderthals	Height 156 cm. Brain volume - 1400 cubic meters. cm. There is the rudiment of a mental protuberance, a developed hand, an arched foot, a high cranial vault, and a not so massive lower jaw	They could build dwellings, make and maintain fire. Accommodation in groups of 50-100 people.	A variety of labor tools: scrapers, points made of stone, bone and wood
The first modern people are Cro-Magnons	Height 180 cm, brain volume - 1600 cubic meters. see: The appearance is characteristic of modern man	Developed speech, the beginnings of religion and art, and the ability to make clothes appeared. Living in settlements as part of a tribal community. Development of agriculture and cattle breeding	A wide variety of materials were used to make tools: wood, bones, stones, horns. They were used to make spears, darts, knives, scrapers

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When studying the topic “Table “Stages of Human Evolution”” according to the 11th grade program, we learned which theory indicates the origin of man from primates, and through what stages of evolution man had to go through in order to reach the pinnacle of his development.

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Anthropogenesis (Greek anthropos man, génesis origin), part biological evolution, which led to the emergence of the species Homo sapiens, which separated from other hominids, anthropoid

monkeys and monkeys placental mammals. This is the process of historical and evolutionary formation of the physical type of a person, the initial development of his labor activity, speech, and society.

Stages of human evolution

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), and from highly organized animals that became extinct several million years ago - Dryopithecus.

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 cm3 - 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

Without having a narrow specialization general structure, Australopithecus gave rise to a more progressive form, called Homo habilis - a skilled man. 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 cm3 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.

Evolution physical features 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 assessment, it is a little more than 400 thousand years old. The height of Pithecanthropus was about 170 cm, the volume of the skull was 900 cm3. 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.

18) Evidence of the origin of man from animals. Atavisms and rudiments in humans.

TO it is traditionally referred to comparative anatomical, embryological, physiological and biochemical, molecular genetic, paleontological.

1. Comparative anatomical.

The general plan of the human body structure is similar to the body structure of chordates. The skeleton consists of the same sections as those of other mammals. The body cavity is divided by the diaphragm into abdominal and thoracic sections. The nervous system is tubular type. In the middle ear there are three auditory ossicles (hammer, incus, stirrup), there are auricles and associated auricular muscles. Human skin, like other mammals, contains mammary, sebaceous and sweat glands. The circulatory system is closed, there is a four-chambered heart. Confirmation of the animal origin of man is the presence of rudiments and atavisms.

2. Embryological.

In human embryogenesis, the main stages of development characteristic of vertebrates are observed (cleavage, blastula, gastrula, etc.). In the early stages of embryonic development, the human embryo develops signs characteristic of lower vertebrates: notochord, gill slits in the pharyngeal cavity, hollow nerve tube, bilateral symmetry in the structure of the body, smooth surface of the brain. The further development of the embryo exhibits features characteristic of mammals: several pairs of nipples, the presence of hair on the surface of the body, as in all mammals (except monotremes and marsupials), the development of the baby inside the mother’s body and nutrition of the fetus through the placenta.

3. Physiological and biochemical.

In humans and apes, the structure of hemoglobin and other body proteins is very similar. There are similarities in blood groups. The blood of the pygmy chimpanzee (bonobo) of the corresponding group can be transfused to humans. Humans also have the Rh blood antigen (it was first identified in the Rhesus monkey). Apes are close to humans in terms of the duration of pregnancy and the timing of puberty.

4. Molecular genetic.

All apes have a diploid number of chromosomes 2 n = 48. In humans, 2 n = 46 (it has been established that chromosome 2 in humans is formed by the fusion of two chromosomes, homologous to those in chimpanzees). Available high degree homology by primary structure genes (more than 90% of human and chimpanzee genes are similar to each other).

5. Paleontological.

Numerous fossil remains have been found (individual bones, teeth, skeletal fragments, tools, etc.), which make it possible to compile an evolutionary series of ancestral forms of modern humans and explain the main directions of their evolution.

Difference between humans and animals

Hereditary changes that arose during evolution under the control of natural selection contributed to the appearance of upright posture in humans, the freeing of hands, the development and enlargement of the brain skull, and the reduction of its facial part. At the same time, a person developed a need for the systematic production of tools, which contributed to the improvement of the structure and function of the hand, brain, speech apparatus, mental activity and the emergence of speech. Binocular (stereoscopic) color vision, which was present in human ancestors, played a significant role in the development of the brain and hand.

Atavisms and rudiments in humans.

Rudiments are organs that have lost their basic significance in the process of evolutionary development of the organism.

Many vestigial organs are not completely useless and perform some minor functions with the help of structures apparently intended for more complex purposes.

Atavism is the appearance in an individual of characteristics characteristic of distant ancestors, but absent in nearby ones.

The appearance of atavisms is explained by the fact that the genes responsible for this sign, are preserved in DNA, but do not function because they are suppressed by the action of other genes.

Rudiments in humans:

∙ caudal vertebrae;

∙ some humans have a vestigial tail muscle, extensor coccygis, identical to the muscles that move the tail in other mammals. It is attached to the tailbone, but since the tailbone in humans can hardly move, this muscle is useless to humans;

∙ body hair;

∙ special muscles arrectores pilorum, which in our ancestors served to “raise the fur on end” (this is useful for thermoregulation, and also helps animals look larger - to intimidate predators and competitors). In humans, contraction of these muscles results in “goose bumps,” which is unlikely to have some adaptive value;

∙ three ear muscles that allowed our ancestors to move their ears. There are people who know how to use these muscles. This helps animals with large ears determine the direction of the sound source, but in humans this ability can only be used for fun;

∙ Morgani ventricles of the larynx;

∙ vermiform appendix of the cecum (appendix). Long-term observations have shown that removal of the appendix does not have a significant effect on people’s life expectancy and health, except for the fact that after this operation people, on average, suffer from colitis slightly less often;

∙ grasping reflex in newborns (it helps baby monkeys hold on to their mother’s fur);

∙ hiccups: we inherited this reflex movement from our distant ancestors - amphibians. In a tadpole, this reflex allows a portion of water to quickly pass through the gill slits. In both humans and tadpoles, this reflex is controlled by the same part of the brain and can be suppressed by the same means (for example, inhaling carbon dioxide or straightening of the chest);

∙ lanugo: hair growth that develops in a human embryo on almost the entire body except the palms and soles of the feet, and disappears shortly before birth (premature babies are sometimes born with lanugo).

Examples of atavisms:

∙ caudal appendage in humans;

∙ continuous hair on the human body;

∙ additional pairs of mammary glands;

19 . Aging of the body. Theories of aging. Geriatrics and gerontology.

Old age is a stage of individual development, upon reaching which the body experiences natural changes in its physical condition, appearance, and emotional sphere. Senile changes become obvious and increase in the post-reproductive period of ontogenesis. However, the beginning of the decline of reproductive function or even its complete loss cannot serve as the lower limit of old age. Indeed, menopause in women, which consists in the cessation of the release of mature eggs from the ovary and, accordingly, the cessation of monthly bleeding, determines the end of the reproductive period of life. However, by the time menopause is reached, most functions and external signs are far from reaching the state characteristic of old people. On the other hand, many of the changes we associate with old age begin before the decline in reproductive function. This applies both to physical signs (greying of hair, development of farsightedness) and to the functions of various organs. For example, in men, a decrease in the release of male sex hormones by the gonads and an increase in the release of gonadotropic hormones by the pituitary gland, which is typical for an old organism, begins at about 25 years of age.

There are chronological and biological (physiological) ages.

According to the modern classification, based on the assessment of many average indicators of the state of the body, people whose chronological age has reached 60-74 years are called elderly, 75-89 years old - old, over 90 years old - centenarians. Accurate determination of biological age is complicated by the fact that individual signs of old age appear at different chronological ages and are characterized by different rates of increase. In addition, age-related changes in even one trait are subject to significant gender and individual variations.

Let's consider such a sign as the firmness (elasticity) of the skin. In this case, the same biological age is reached by a woman at about 30 years old, and by a man at 80. That is why, first of all, women need competent and constant skin care. In order to determine biological age, which is necessary for judging the rate of aging, batteries of tests are used, conducting a combined assessment of many signs that naturally change during life.

The basis of such batteries are complex functional indicators, the state of which depends on the coordinated activity of several body systems. Simple tests are usually less informative. For example, the speed of propagation of a nerve impulse, which depends on the state of the nerve fiber, decreases in the age range of 20-90 years by 10%, while vital capacity lungs, determined by the coordinated work of the respiratory, nervous and muscular systems, by 50%.

The state of old age is achieved through changes that make up the content of the aging process. This process covers all levels structural organization individuals - molecular, subcellular, cellular, tissue, organ. The overall result of numerous partial manifestations of aging at the level of the whole organism is an increasing decrease in the viability of an individual with age, a decrease in the effectiveness of adaptive, homeostatic mechanisms. It has been shown, for example, that young rats, after immersion in ice water for 3 minutes, restore their body temperature in about 1 hour. Middle-aged animals require 1.5 hours, and old ones - about 2 hours.

In general, aging leads to a progressive increase in the likelihood of death. Thus, the biological meaning of aging is that it makes the death of the organism inevitable. The latter is a universal way to limit the participation of a multicellular organism in reproduction. Without death, there would be no change of generations - one of the main conditions of the evolutionary process.

Age-related changes in the aging process do not in all cases involve a decrease in the body's adaptability. In the course of life, humans and higher vertebrates gain experience and develop the ability to avoid potentially dangerous situations. The immune system is also interesting in this regard. Although its effectiveness generally decreases after the organism reaches a state of maturity, thanks to “immunological memory” in relation to some infections, old individuals may be more protected than young ones.

HYPOTHESES EXPLAINING THE MECHANISMS OF AGING

Gerontology knows at least 500 hypotheses that explain both the root cause and the mechanisms of aging of the body. The vast majority of them have not stood the test of time and are of purely historical interest. These, in particular, include hypotheses linking aging with the consumption of a special substance of cell nuclei, the fear of death, the loss of some non-renewable substances received by the body at the time of fertilization, self-poisoning with waste products, and the toxicity of products formed under the influence of the microflora of the large intestine. Hypotheses that are of scientific value today correspond to one of two main directions.

Some authors consider aging as a stochastic process of age-related accumulation of “errors” that inevitably occur during normal life processes, as well as damage to biological mechanisms under the influence of internal (spontaneous mutations) or external (ionizing radiation) factors. Stochasticity is determined by the random nature of changes in time and location in the body. In various versions of hypotheses in this direction, the primary role is assigned to various intracellular structures, the primary damage of which determines functional disorders at the cellular, tissue and organ levels. First of all, this is the genetic apparatus of cells (hypothesis of somatic mutations). Many researchers associate the initial changes in the aging of the body with changes in the structure and, consequently, the physicochemical and biological properties of macromolecules: DNA, RNA, chromatin proteins, cytoplasmic and nuclear proteins, enzymes. Lipids are also particularly distinguished cell membranes, which are often targets for free radicals. Failures in the functioning of receptors, in particular cell membranes, disrupt the effectiveness of regulatory mechanisms, which leads to a mismatch in vital processes.

The direction under consideration also includes hypotheses that see the fundamental basis of aging in the increasing wear and tear of structures with age, ranging from macromolecules to the organism as a whole, ultimately leading to a state incompatible with life. This view, however, is too straightforward.

Let us recall that the emergence and accumulation of mutational changes in DNA are resisted by natural antimutational mechanisms, and the harmful consequences of the formation of free radicals

are reduced due to the functioning of antioxidant mechanisms. Thus, if the “concept of wear and tear” of biological structures correctly reflects the essence of aging, then the result in the form of a greater or lesser rate of senile changes, the age at which these changes become obvious in different people, is a consequence of the superposition of destructive and protective processes. In this case, the wear hypothesis inevitably includes

factors such as genetic predisposition, conditions and even lifestyle, on which, as we have seen, the rate of aging depends.

The second direction is represented by genetic or program hypotheses, according to which the aging process is under direct genetic control. This control, according to one view, is carried out using special genes. According to other views, it is associated with the presence of special genetic programs, as is the case with other stages of ontogenesis, for example embryonic.

There is evidence in favor of the programmed nature of aging, many of which have already been discussed in Section. 8.6.1. Usually they also refer to the presence in nature of species in which, following reproduction, changes rapidly increase, leading to the death of animals. Typical example- Pacific salmon (sockeye salmon, pink salmon), dying after spawning. The triggering mechanism in this case is associated with a change in the secretion regime of sex hormones, which should be considered as a feature of the genetic program of individual development of salmon, reflecting their ecology, and not as universal mechanism aging.

It is noteworthy that castrated pink salmon do not spawn and live 2-3 times longer. It is during these additional years of life that we should expect signs of aging to appear in cells and tissues. Some program hypotheses are based on the assumption that a biological clock functions in the body, in accordance with which age-related changes occur. The role of the “clock” is attributed, in particular, to the thymus gland, which ceases functioning when the body enters adulthood. Another candidate is the nervous system, especially some of its parts (hypothalamus, sympathetic nervous system), the main functional element of which is primarily aging nerve cells. Let us assume that the cessation of thymus functions at a certain age, which is undoubtedly under genetic control, is a signal of the beginning of aging of the body. This, however, does not mean genetic control of the aging process. In the absence of the thymus, immunological control over autoimmune processes is weakened. But in order for these processes to take place, either mutant lymphocytes (DNA damage) or proteins with altered structure and antigenic properties are required.

Gerontology and Geriatrics

Gerontology (from the Greek gerontos - old man) is a branch of biology and medicine that studies the patterns of aging of living beings, including humans. The main areas of gerontology include the study of the main causes, mechanisms and conditions of aging, the search for effective means of increasing life expectancy and extending the period of active working capacity.

Geriatrics (from the Greek iatreia - treatment) is a field of clinical medicine that studies the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases of elderly and senile people.