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Africa and the Origins of Modern Humans

Africa and the Origins of Modern Humans African Archaeological Review, Vol. 14, No. 4, 1997 Forum Chris Stringer1 Teams of scientists working in laboratories in Munich and Pennsylvania may have solved the Neanderthal problem once and for all, without study- ing a single Neanderthal bone. They claim to have recovered DNA from a Neanderthal skeleton found in 1856, and the results of their analyses support the idea that the Neanderthals were a separate human species that died out some 30,000 years ago. If they have really succeeded, they have made an astonishing breakthrough in human evolutionary studies. The Neanderthals have been the most troublesome people in prehis- tory ever since the first of their fossilized remains were found in the caves of Europe about 150 years ago. We now know that they lived in Europe for at least 200,000 years, but soon after the more modern-looking Cro- Magnons appeared, about 35,000 years ago, the Neanderthals disappeared completely—or did they? Ever since that first discovery, scientists have regularly fallen out with each other over the question of whether or not they were our ancestors. I began my own work on this question about 25 years ago. In 1971, I drove around Europe visiting museums and measuring as http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png African Archaeological Review Springer Journals

Africa and the Origins of Modern Humans

Stringer, Chris
African Archaeological Review , Volume 14 (4) – Sep 18, 2004
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References (12)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 by Plenum Publishing Corporation
Subject
Social Sciences; Archaeology; Anthropology; Regional and Cultural Studies
ISSN
0263-0338
eISSN
1572-9842
DOI
10.1023/A:1022294016318
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

African Archaeological Review, Vol. 14, No. 4, 1997 Forum Chris Stringer1 Teams of scientists working in laboratories in Munich and Pennsylvania may have solved the Neanderthal problem once and for all, without study- ing a single Neanderthal bone. They claim to have recovered DNA from a Neanderthal skeleton found in 1856, and the results of their analyses support the idea that the Neanderthals were a separate human species that died out some 30,000 years ago. If they have really succeeded, they have made an astonishing breakthrough in human evolutionary studies. The Neanderthals have been the most troublesome people in prehis- tory ever since the first of their fossilized remains were found in the caves of Europe about 150 years ago. We now know that they lived in Europe for at least 200,000 years, but soon after the more modern-looking Cro- Magnons appeared, about 35,000 years ago, the Neanderthals disappeared completely—or did they? Ever since that first discovery, scientists have regularly fallen out with each other over the question of whether or not they were our ancestors. I began my own work on this question about 25 years ago. In 1971, I drove around Europe visiting museums and measuring as

Journal

African Archaeological Review – Springer Journals

Published: Sep 18, 2004

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