by: Giovanni J.R.C.

As the science of anthropology progressed, many answers to different queries regarding the origin of man had been answered. However, along with these answers come new and more complex questions. Upon comprehending the relative differences and similarities between various hominids, the human evolutionary sequence can be plotted and thus understood. But, because such fossils and other archaeological artifacts (such as tools and early dwellings) are found scattered randomly in different continents, there is no clear evidence whether different hominids evolved separately or whether their stock came from a primary ancestral group that eventually migrated through out the earth.

In this paper, the different evidences between the two theories (Out-of-Africa and Multi-regional) will be examined and compared in order to further understand the probable accuracy of either suppositions.

Proposed by a paleoanthropologist named Milford Wolpoff and his associates, the Multi-Regional Theory or Regional Continuity model was formulated around 1992 at the University of Michigan (Turnbaugh, et.al. #323). They contend that most (but not all) populations through out various continents evolved indigenously from archaic Homo sapiens to its more modern form. They advance this claim by stating that through gene flow (as a result of migrations), the archaic H. sapien gene pool was given greater variability thus enabling it to produce greater adaptations. By this process, they assume that the modern Homo sapien materialized.

Although a sound theory, it however ignores the fact that both the archaic H. sapiens and modern H. sapiens co-existed at a certain point in time. It also overlooks the notion of adaptive radiation. This is the idea that different environmental factors determine the evolutionary path of various organisms. Because of this, archaic H. sapiens would have evolved differently from region to region as dictated by the environment they subsisted in.

In contrast to this theory, the Partial Replacement Model or Out-of-Africa theory assumes that modern H. sapiens evolved in a specific area in Africa. They then eventually ventured out into different corners of the world thus displacing their more archaic predecessors. This supposition, which is closely attached to Gunter Brauer of the University of Hamburg, is receiving more attention compared to the latter due to its higher probability of occurrence (#323). In actuality, there are even recent discoveries that support this theory.

The idea that Neanderthals and modern humans co-exited has been long established. Because of this, there are those who assume that contact between these two species were inevitable. As a result, inter-breeding and cultural exchange was then possible.

This was the topic of interest found in the article in Scientific America. In the piece, a list of various evidences was given that strengthens the argument for the Out-of-Africa model. One such evidence is that of the discovery of a 4-year old boy’s complete skeleton buried 24,500 years ago (Wong, #101). According to researchers, the boy displayed both Neanderthal and modern traits. Through this, it can be assumed that inter-breeding was performed. Another possible example is that of the Neanderthals sudden practice of burying their dead (which started almost immediately after the appearance of modern humans). To a certain degree, this proves that there was some cultural exchange done (Wong, #105).

Through these examples, and many others, it seems as though the Out-of-Africa model is more probable than the Multi-regional theory. This, however, does not finalize anything for as everyone knows, there is still a lot of digging and researching to be done to find the solution to this issue.

Turnbaugh, William, et.al. (1999). Understanding Physical Anthropology and Archaeology. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Co.

return to anthropology page

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws