Africa is without doubt the origin of humanity; the fact that it houses mostly the wild animals of the world, and that several data on different researches over the years could not say otherwise about why Africa is the origin of humanity–given the fossils excavated from ancient sites in Africa–is enough proof or validation for this truth.
Apart from several studies over the subject of human origin, a new study suggests that the earliest anatomically modern humans emerged 200,000 years ago in what was once a vast wetland that sprawled across Botswana in southern Africa. Later shifts in climate opened up green corridors to the northeast and southwest, leading our ancestors to spread through Africa.
The idea that humans evolved in Africa can be traced to Charles Darwin. In his 1871 book The Descent of Man, Darwin speculated that it was that Africa was the cradle of humans because our two closest living relatives—chimpanzees and gorillas—live there. However, he also noted, a large, extinct ape once lived in Europe millions of years ago, leaving plenty of time for our earliest ancestors to migrate to Africa.
By the early 20th century, the world’s leading anatomists thought they knew the answer: Humans evolved somewhere in Europe or Asia. By then, Neanderthals had been found in Europe; Java Man (now known as Homo erectus) had been discovered in Indonesia and Piltdown Man (later exposed as a hoax) had been unearthed in England. Although these ancient beings were primitive, they clearly resembled modern humans.
In 1924, a fossil discovery in South Africa challenged this view of a Eurasian homeland and revolutionized the study of human evolution.
Why Africa Is the Origin of Humanity.
Although it was the Portuguese explorer Prince Henry, known as the Navigator–the first European–that methodically explore Africa and the oceanic route to the Indies, there is no denial about whether one or two continent in the world is the origin or are the origins of humanity. Following this consensus which was because of the similarity of data garnered by archaeologists and scientists over the years, Africa is the origin of humanity. But the question often arises and that is why Africa is the origin of humanity? Below are the reasons:
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RESEARCH PROVES IT.
According to existing archaeological and fossil evidence, however, the Cradle of Humankind (originally known as Cradle of Mankind) is the Afar Triangle in East Africa, which is often referred to as the Cradle of Humanity. Humans first evolved in Africa, and much of human evolution occurred on that continent. The fossils of early humans who lived between 6 and 2 million years ago come entirely from Africa. Most scientists currently recognize some 15 to 20 different species of early humans.
The Kemetic or Alkebulan history of Afrika suggests that the ancient name of the continent was Alkebulan. The word Alkebu-Ian is the oldest and the only word of indigenous origin. Alkebulan meaning the garden of Eden or the mother of mankind.
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THE FOSSILIZED MOLD OF A BRAIN.
This was a special brain. The shape and folds on the brain’s surface implied it belonged to some kind of human—perhaps an ancient human ancestor, Dart thought. Further digging led Dart to another rock that the brain fit perfectly into. After months of careful chipping, Dart freed the brain’s corresponding face and lower jaw. Humans and monkeys are both primates. But humans are not descended from monkeys or any other primate living today. We do share a common ape ancestor with chimpanzees. It lived between 8 and 6 million years ago.
In response to that research truth, the shape of man, typically an African man, is in shape with the chimps, and so the shapes of the brain of other tribes of the world. The similar brain shape of the first man and chimpanzees proves another reason why Africa is the origin of humanity.
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COLOUR OF THE SKIN.
These early humans probably had pale skin, much like humans’ closest living relative, the chimpanzee, which is white under its fur. Around 1.2 million to 1.8 million years ago, early Homo sapiens evolved dark skin.
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GENETIC JIGSAW
The hominin family tree has deep roots in Africa. The earliest fossil of our genus, Homo, yet found is a 2.8-million-year-old jaw fragment uncovered in East Africa. Our species, Homo sapiens, didn’t appear till fairly far up the tree, branching off at least 260,000 years ago. Where exactly in Africa that happened, however, remains up for debate.
Fossils carrying a varying mix of features from both modern humans and more ancient hominins seem to be scattered across Africa, from the 260,000-year-old Florisbad remains in South Africa and 195,000-year-old Omo remains in Ethiopia to the 315,000-year-old Jebel Irhoud remains in Morocco. This is another reason why Africa is the origin of humanity.
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BIRTHPLACE
Another reason why Africa is the origin of humanity is the shared birthplace. Vanessa Hayes of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia, and her colleagues gathered more than 1200 DNA samples from people in southern African. The samples were all mitochondrial DNA, which people only inherit from their mothers. The team used this to create a family tree showing when ancient populations split.
They concluded that the oldest lineage emerged about 200,000 years ago, which they interpret as the origin of our species. Based on where the oldest variants are found today, they argue that our species’ homeland was a vast wetland called Makgadikgadi-Okavango in Botswana. The team argues that humans only spread beyond Makgadikgadi-Okavango when the climate shifted. In support of this, research team member Axel Timmermann at the Institute for Basic Science in Busan, South Korea, has shown that changes in Earth’s orbit over the last 200,000 years would have shifted Africa’s rain belts, opening green corridors from Makgadikgadi-Okavango to other parts of world
