Literary Analysis Essay on The Worlds Together, Worlds Apart

Introduction

The Homo sapiens species is a uniquely derived hominid, from its skull's structure and skeleton. The human species distinguishes itself from other organisms, through its cognition mode. Several studies indicate that the origin of the human race is in Africa, although at different periods. Almost every fossil collected dates back to the African region. The cultural diversity and different lifestyles among people resulted from the different areas that early humankind settled in. Different races also originated from the different environmental conditions of the early Homo sapiens. However, this argument tends to create controversy because no scientific piece has explained the transition of colour from black to white. The dispute is one of the challenges associated with the definition of the origin of humankind. This paper aims at exploring different studies on human evolution and identifying the problems related to defining the origin of humanity.

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The book Worlds Together, Worlds Apart identifies that most scholars have accepted the theory stating that human species originated from Africa. Discovered fossils indicate that the human species originated from Africa about 200,000 years ago (Tignor et al., 2017). Migration from Africa began about 100,000 years ago, and that is when dispersal of the Homo sapiens began. They adapted to the different conditions of their places of settlement, and this brought about the diversity. Some started domesticating animals; others started farming while others did both, which is both animal farming and agriculture. When agriculture emerged about 15,000 years ago, humans began developing various cultural diversities (Tinor et al., 2017). The book further identifies that the hominids developed features that enabled them to adapt to their surroundings. Some of those features include walking on twos and having a thumb that would allow them to grasp items. The hominids also developed languages, which eased their communications. As time passed, they started forming cultures and clans, which came with different hierarchies, defining the roles of men and women.

The book makes an argument that many decades ago, the earth experienced ice age, about 40 million years ago. During this period, there was a plunge in the earth's atmosphere where different regions experienced extraordinarily high and low temperatures. In Africa, the ice age occurred about 12 million years ago (Tignor et al., 2017). Forests dried up, and savannahs spread massively. These changes made the apes develop adaptations for the new environment. They began to walk on two limbs instead of four because the number of trees had reduced. Using two feet helped them in search of food, especially while competing with other animals. The early humans were very social, and this is evident from the fossils found. They use to walk in groups and later on, these groups became clans and communities.

Many scholars have confirmed the "Out of Africa" theory. However, some whites were not comfortable with that idea. The book states that the wife of an English cleric wrote that she hoped the argument was not real, and if it was true, she hoped that it would not be widely known. This act by the cleric's wife is commonly referred to as the 'politicization of ancient DNA.' The Smithsonian Magazine gives a focus on this issue of people politicizing ancient DNA (Gannon, Smithsonian.com). Fossils found in the 21st century tend to create controversy because of the different ethnicities. The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, posted a controversial tweet on the recently discovered skeletons of ancient Philistines buried in Ashkelon. The scientists had made a confirmation that from their discovery, Philistines lived in Italy, Greece and Spain about 3,000 years ago (Gannon, Smithsonian.com). However, these ancient people mixed with local populations, after they moved to the Levant. On the other hand, Netanyahu made a statement that there is no connection between the modern Palestinians and the ancient Philistines. He argued that the Palestinian's ancestors originated from the Arabian Peninsula and moved to Israel many years later. Netanyahu also claimed that the Jewish people have a greater connection with the Israel land, as compared to the Palestinians.

The incidence of Netanyahu creating a contradiction with the scientists indicates some people have not accepted the theory of common heritage. As Smithsonian Magazine highlights, there is a conflict between scientists and politicians. Tom Booth argued that the interactions of the ancient communities have nothing to do with modern society (Gannon, Smithsonian.com). He says this statement regarding Netanyahu's claim that Jews had a better connection with the Israel land than the Palestinians did. On the contrary, the geological findings should be a unifying factor because people should understand that they all have the same origin. David Wengrow, a professor at the University College London, argues that modern genetic studies tend to create a division rather than unifying people. According to him, these studies should deconstruct the existing old myths.

What Do We Really Know about Neanderthals is another article uploaded by Smithsonian Magazine. Neanderthals are stooped, stocky figures who existed before sapiens. Homo neanderthalensis had a large lung capacity, as compared to Homo sapiens, and they used to walk upright. Scientists believe that this species existed during the ice age (Lidz, Smithsonian.com). Some of their characteristics are similar to those of the Homo sapiens sapiens. These characteristics include living in groups, trading of jewelry, wearing of clothes and cooking. Forensic evidence also shows that Neanderthals had a common language, and they used to bury their dead. Some scientists in 2013 made an argument that people from Europe and Asia have about 4% Neanderthals DNA (Lidz, Smithsonian.com). The argument claims that early Homo sapiens mated with Neanderthals before they became extinct. Archaeologist Joao Zilhao argues that human evolution put in place tends to be contradicting. He claims that the theories are "nonsense" because they claim that Homo sapiens from Africa replaced the existing Neanderthals in Europe.

According to Smithsonian Magazine, Joao Zilhao was very determined and passionate about learning the history of Neanderthals. In 1998, his team discovered fossils of a 4-year old child who had features of both Homo sapiens and Neanderthals. From the discovery, Zilhao and his team concluded that the child was a hybrid. However, some critics argued that those remains were of a "chunky child" who was a descendant of early sapiens who moved to the Iberian Peninsula and replaced the Neanderthals (Lidz, Smithsonian.com). In 2002, Zilhao's team discovered a human jawbone in a cave in the Carpathian Mountains. Like the child fossils, these remains portrayed a crossbreed of sapiens and Neanderthals. Critics made counter-arguments, but DNA results in 2015 confirmed that the human mandible had traces of Neanderthals DNA.

The three sources tend to explain the origin of humankind. The Worlds Together, Worlds Apart book talks about the theory of "Out of Africa" and explains how people became diverse in terms of cultures and skin colour. Smithsonian Magazine supports this argument through their article When Ancient DNA Gets Politicized. The article, however, puts across the idea of some people not agreeing to the theory because of the current ethical, racial and cultural conflicts (Gannon, Smithsonian.com). An example of such people Prime Minister Netanyahu made a contradicting statement on the origin of Palestinians. The article What Do We Really Know About Neanderthals by Smithsonian Magazine offers a different theory of the birth of humankind. The article argues that Europeans and Asians are a crossbreed of sapiens and Neanderthals. Archaeologists like Zilhao have been making endless efforts to support this claim.

Defining the origin of humankind is challenging, and as the three scientific sources indicate, different people have their theories and beliefs that they follow. Some archaeologists like Zilhao have created counter-arguments that raise questions. According to them, there is no way that the different races are a result of different climatic conditions. If Europeans and Asians are offsprings of sapiens and Neanderthals, then probably other races have their different origins. Up to date, the origin and evolution of humankind still raise many questions. Another group of people, like Prime Minister Netanyahu, tends to create contradictions based on the present ethical differences. This essay concludes that problems in defining the origin of humankind will be existent as long as discoveries are made.

References

Gannon, M. (2019). When Ancient DNA gets Politicized. Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-ancient-dna-gets-politicized-180972639/

Lidz, F. (2019). What Do We Really Know About Neanderthals? Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/new-research-redefining-what-we-thought-about-neanderthals-180971918/

Tignor, R., Adelman, J., Brown, P., Elman, B., Kotkin, S., Prakash, G., ... & Pittman, H. (2017). Worlds Together, Worlds Apart (Vol. C). WW Norton.