Ongoing Excavation at Makapansgat Limeworks click to enlarge

Human Origins

Hominid Mandible from Makapansgat click to enlarge

The study of human origins is probably one of the most difficult--and controversial--endeavors ever approached.  Anthropologists, paleontologists, and archaeologists are literally writing the book as you read this, and there is considerable debate about how the evidence should be interpreted.  As a result, the key questions of human evolution--Is there a "missing link" between humans and apes? How did humans come to populate the earth?--remain points of contention.

And then there are the creationists.  These people subscribe to a supernatural source for the origin of humans.  Creationism can be rooted in any religion and several Christian-based movements have been vocal opponents of the theory of evolution.  One popular concept is "creation science", which uses scientific principles to prove creationist (in most cases, Christian) beliefs.  Creationists point to disagreement within the scientific community, the lack of a complete fossil record and inaccurate dating methods as proof that human evolution is nothing more than theory.  

This section will examine the evolutionary theory of human origins and the fossil sites found within South Africa.  Due to a lack of time and space  we will not discuss creationism in great detail.  For more information on creation science, please check out some of the links below.  That said, please to time to explore:

Human Evolution in Africa: 

"Mrs. Ples"--Australopithecus Africanus, Sterkfontein, South Africa
(discovered in 1947 and thought to be a female, this was proven to be a male skull in 2002)

For more information on evolution, follow these links:

Follow these links to learn about creationism:

The Center for Scientific Creation

Creationism.org

Creation Science

Scientific Creationism

Human Origins Home