Human Origins

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The archeology is the scientific study of past human culture and behavior, from the origins of humans to the present. The archaeology studies past human behavior through the examination of material remains of previous human societies. These remains include the fossils of humans, food remains, the ruins of buildings, and human artifacts items such as tools, pottery, and jewelry.

The Origin of Species presents us with a theory of natural selection. This theory is his attempt at an explanation on how the world and its species came to be the way that we know them now. Through the effects of man and the effects of nature, species have had a trial and error experiment ongoing. It is through these trials that the natural world has developed beneficial anomalies that at times seem too great to be the work of chance. When an animal gains a genetic edge over its competitors, be they of the same species or of another genus altogether, the animal has increased its chance of either procreation or adaptation. When this animal has this beneficial variance, the advantage becomes his and because of this, the trait is then passed on to the animal’s offspring. The theory of natural selection is not limited to inheritable and beneficial variations of a species. It also relies a great deal on the population growth and death of a species. For a species to continue to exist it must make sure of a few things. It must first produce more offspring than survive. If this is not done then the species is obviously going to die off. It is also important for the species to propagate at such a rate as to allow for variance.

It can be said that a firm grounding in Evolutionary Theory is necessary to any attempt at the study of Human Evolution. While Feder ...

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...only use information from the present to interpret the past. Archaeologists also try to experimentally recreate the pattern they find in their research a technique known as experimental archaeology. Successful recreations can become plausible explanations for how the archaeological record was formed. Three important implications for Paleolithic archaeological research on the origins and evolution. First, the capacity for behavioral variability we think to be uniquely evolved among recent human populations may be evolutionarily primitive. Second, this capacity for behavioral variability may be one shared with now-extinct hominine species. Finally, differences in the capacity for behavioral variability may not explain why these other species are extinct. The case for behavioral variability is a strong one, but few major issues in evolution boil down to single causes.

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