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Two million years ago the stage was set Ior our species, Homo sapien, to come into existence.
No longer content to wander the AIrican plains with their thick skulls and small brains, Australopithecus
set out on a bipedal evolutionary trek toward a new genus: Homo. First evidenced in eastern AIrica,
and classiIied as the species habilus, these handy men and women spent the next Iew hundred thousand
years growing bigger brains and taller bodies. By the time they had evolved to become Homo erectus
they were cultivating a love oI travel, it seems, populating such Iar-Ilung lands as Europe and Indonesia,
bi-Iaced hand axes in tow. (Jurmain, p.220-242)
While still thriving in Indonesia during the Pleistocene era, back home in AIrica the evolution oI
pre-modern humans slowly overtook the Homo erectus species. By 600,000 ya Homo
heidelbergensis was showing oII its vertically-oriented Iace, handsome brow ridges, and impressively
large brain all over AIrica, Europe and China. II the story ended there the inhabitants oI planet Earth
would never have enjoyed such amenities as the 24-hour Iast Iood drive-through, or unlimited streaming
on NetIlix. But evolve we did, so that by 200,000 ya the Iirst Homo sapiens were leaving Iossil
evidence all over AIrica. (Jurmain p.256-271 & 287)
But along these ancestral lines the scientiIic opinions become split. Did this evolutionary track
Irom Homo erectus to Homo sapien happen entirely in AIrica, with successive waves oI increasingly
advanced AIrican peoples migrating to replace less-evolved satellite populations? Replacement
theorists led by Chris Stringer oI London`s Natural History Museum would have you believe so. Or,
did locations across Europe and Asia provide the means Ior Homo sapien evolution on their own,
independent oI the original population still evolving back in AIrica? Such is the theory oI regional
continuity, with MilIord WolpoII oI the University oI Michigan at the helm. (Monroe p.1) In the
Iollowing paragraphs we will explore these theories and the evidential support Ior each.
There is widespread agreement among anthropologists that the advent oI the Homo genus
happened in AIrica. A Homo erectus line certainly evolved in eastern AIrica, Irom one oI what could
have been several primitive species oI the Homo genus, but aIter 1.4 mya any oI those other species
were extinct. (Jurmain p. 231-242) The erectus species, being now the sole representative oI the
Homo genus, is securely represented at several east AIrican sites between 1.7 mya and 1 mya. But its
representation in Europe starts as early as 1.8 mya at Dmanisi, which suggests that even with a slightly
earlier AIrican origin, they would have migrated very quickly north. Their European presence is
evidenced in Italy until 450,000 ya, much later than at any AIrican sites. A more alarming migrational
pattern is shown by their presence in Java, Indonesia by 1.6 mya, a very great distance Irom AIrica over
a short span oI time. They lived in Java until 100,000 ya, much longer than evidenced at any other site.
(What p.1)
Some suggest enough diIIerence between the AIrican specimens and those Irom Europe and
Asia, that the entirely diIIerent species ergansus has been assigned. But most scientists consider them
closely enough related to constitute a regional variation between one erectus species. So, by 1 mya
there were AIrican-origin Homo erectus all over the Old World, and premodern humans were
knocking on the evolutionary door: enter the Pleistocene epoch. (What p.1)
The Pleistocene epoch is characterized by Iluctuations between heavily glaciated, and warmer
periods. During interglacial periods travel was easy, and a new species was thriving all over AIrica,
Europe and Asia: Homo heidelbergensis. A Iairly continuous developmental spectrum Irom their
erectus origins is represented in the Iossil record, though less so in their Asian line, which appears
diIIerent enough that some question whether they are in Iact heidelbergensis, or rather a separate and
more derived species. (What p. 1) Here the camps divide, as replacement theorists declare the demise
oI the Chinese populations oI H. heidelbergensis to be timed with the arrival oI modern humans Irom
AIrica. Regional continuitists, by contrast, suggest that in Iact the Asian line evolved into sapiens on its
own. (Balter p. 1728)
Back in Europe the heidelbergensis, which shows itselI at 850,000 ya at the Gran Dolina site,
was clearly thriving in an expansive territory. Here the Neandertal came into being, evolving traits to Iit
the special conditions which ice-age Europe required. Short, thick and big-headed, they made
appearances as early as 130,000 years ago, with a high concentration beginning at 75,000 ya. While
commonly believed to be but a subspecies oI Homo sapiens, (What p. 1) regional continuitists would
go a step Iurther in classiIying heidelbergensis, sapiens, and Neandertals as all one species, and in this
assertion their theory takes shape. (Balter p. 1728)
While both sides recognize a clear evolution to sapiens on the AIrican continent by 200,000 ya,
continuitists believe that missing Iossil evidence will eventually show that this same evolution happened
everywhere. The unlikelihood oI such similar Ieatures developing independently oI one another is
explained by the process oI gene Ilow and migration within these geographically divided populations, so
that throughout this time a general continuity was maintained within the species. This helps explain the
diIIerences in racial Ieatures still represented geographically today: early humans were all one species
with diIIerent regional variations. (Balter p. 1729)
While replacement theorists long asserted the complete eradication oI all premodern humans
encountered by modern Homo sapiens, the Neandertals have now thrown a genomically-sequenced
wrench into both oI these neatly parsed theories. Long known to have co-existed with Homo sapiens
in Europe, who arrive in the Iossil record around 130,000 ya, we now know that these species in Iact
interbred, as humans oI non-AIrican origin share Irom 1-4 oI their DNA with the Neandertal. Clearly
the two subspecies Iound some common ground beneath them, with the idea oI complete Neandertal
replacement now seeming subordinate to the impulses roused by his Iurtive glances. The continuitist
theory, Ior its part, is compromised by the lack oI Neandertal DNA in modern AIrican populations, as
this discrepancy would not exist within their gene Ilow model. A Homo sapien oI AIrican origin,
Iollowed by its migration under a revised theory oI partial replacement, now holds most sway. The
Neandertals met their extinction some 30,000 ya, and Homo sapiens have continued to thrive the world
over. (Jurmain p. 283-297)
What will the Iuture oI Anthropology hold? When one considers the incredible amount oI luck
involved in an organism becoming a Iossil, coupled with the incredible luck oI being later discovered, I
imagine there is a lot oI missing inIormation, and that the next 100 years will yield such Iossil discoveries
as to render our current hypotheses archaic by comparison. Within a Iew years Irom now sequencing
the entire genome oI many extinct and living organisms will be standard practice, so that
increasingly-available genetic material in the Iossil record will be regularly exploited, and in turn better
understood. This has and will continue to outweigh any speculative hypotheses.
The strongest evidence currently points to replacement theory, and with my opinion being very
amateur, I tend toward this standard model. But as any good science student knows, the rigors oI
scientiIic testing may soon report the casualties oI many dearly-held theories, especially in this advancing
technological age. I`ll Iollow the tenet which usually serves me well and leave the theories to the
experts, unless and until I have something better to oIIer.




Works Cited
Balter, Michael. "Anthropologists Duel Over Modern Human Origins." Sciencemag.org. AAAS, 2
Mar. 2001. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
Jurmain, Robert, Lynn Kilgore, and Wenda Trevathan. Human Origins. Evolution and Diversitv.
Mason, OH: Cengage Learning, 2013. Print.
Monroe, M. H. "Origins - The Regional Continuity Hypothesis." Austhrutime.com, 9 Mar. 2011. Web.
20 Apr. 2014.
Roche, Thomas. Homo Erectus. Digital image. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Apr. 2014.
Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
"What Does It Mean To Be Human?" Human Evolution bv The Smithsonian Institutions Human
Origins Program. Smithonian, 26 Apr. 2014. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.