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Archive for the tag “early humans”

The Aquatic Ape Theory

Why do humans differ from other primates? The aquatic ape theory suggests that early human ancestors lived in water at least part of the time. This aquatic lifestyle may account for our hairless bodies, which made us more streamlined for swimming and diving; our upright, two-legged walking, which made wading easier; and our layers of subcutaneous fat, which made us better insulated in water. The theory even links an aquatic existence to the evolution of human speech. More from Robert Sepehr, author and anthropologist.

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Forbidden Archaeology

Over the past two centuries, archaeologists have found bones, footprints, and artifacts showing that people like ourselves have existed on earth for many millions of years. But many scientists have forgotten or ignored these remarkable facts. Why? Primarily because they contradict the now dominant evolutionary views about human origins and antiquity.

According to these views, humans like ourselves have existed for only about 100,000 or 200,000 years, and before that there were only more primitive human ancestors. This evolutionary paradigm, to which influential groups of scientists are deeply committed, has acted as a “knowledge filter.” And the filtering, intentional or not, has left us with a radically incomplete set of facts for building our ideas about human origins.

Recovering the complete set of facts takes us on a fascinating expedition, across five continents to various archaeological sites, some long forgotten, some the center of ongoing controversy. On the other hand, the complete set of facts is consistent with the accounts of extreme human antiquity found in the Puranas, the historical writings of ancient India. More from historian of archaeology Michael Cremo, giving a talk at Google before it became the Thought Police.

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When Hobbits Were Real

We already know about small-bodied, small-brained hominins in our human-fossil record. That’s why it was so shocking in 2004 when anthropologists discovered a tiny unknown hominin on the Indonesian island of Flores. Although only a meter tall and appearing to  be not very old, it had features of an older hominin. The specimen–Homo Floresiensis–became commonly called “The Hobbit,” because of its short stature and oddly proportioned feet. Tune in to learn more about The Hobbit from PBS Eons.

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When We First Walked

In 1978, fossilized footprints preserved in volcanic ash were discovered in Laetoli, Tanzania, by legendary anthropologist Mary Leakey, proving that our human ancestors were already striding across the landscape 3.6 million years ago.

The discovery was monumental, because it contradicted a long-standing idea about human evolution, perhaps debunking the theory that early humans developed a large brain before they stood up. Host Kallie Moore explains in this episode of PBS Eons.

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Myths That Probably Existed

Hobbits, one of the more visual subjects in the popular J.R.R. Tolkien The Lord of the Rings trilogy, may not really be a figment of his vivid imagination after all. Excavations of a limestone cave on the Indonesian island of Flores uncovered a 3-foot-tall skeleton and nine other similar bodies, resembling hobbits the way we picture them today. Signs of early civilization were found with the bodies and scientists believe they were a different species of Neanderthals. Check out nine other mythical things that probably existed in this edition of Top 10 Archive.

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Science Can Be Crazy

It seems some of the scientific discoveries that have dramatically changed our lives over the years still remain mysteries. Take the disappearance of ancient Europeans. Scientists recently analyzed 37 skeletons discovered in Central Europe and dating between 7,500 and 2,500 years ago, revealing that the genetic lineage was transformed approximately 4,500 years ago. More study showed that these ancestors had dark skin and light eyes, but researches are still unable to pinpoint what caused these radical changes. Learn more about nine other crazy discoveries that science can’t explain in this edition of Hybrid Librarian.

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