Fossils that have allowed us to (partially) reconstruct human evolution
Here is the history of the fundamental archaeological discoveries that have made it possible to reconstruct the stages of human evolution.
1829
In 1829, a fossilized fragment of a skull belonging to a 2.5-year-old Neanderthal child was discovered in what is now Belgium.
This hominid lived between 200 thousand and 40 thousand years ago and is closely linked to the Home Sapiens. However, the discovery that will make it famous was made in 1856 by Johann Fuhlrott in the Neander Valley, 12 km from Dusseldorf, Germany. The Fuhlrott fossil includes part of the skull, some bones, part of the pelvic bone, some ribs, and some arm and shoulder bones.
1891
On the banks of the Trinil River, on the island of Java (Indonesia), the Dutch paleoanthropologist Eugène Dubois discovered the first fossils of what is now known to be Homo Erectus (and which was then called Pithecanthropus erectus). Later, in 1936, the German paleontologist GHR von Koenigswald (in the photo below) found, again in Java, a second fossil find, a more complete skullcap.
In the picture we see him intent on demonstrating that the remains he found do not belong to a monkey, but to a hominid who first appeared in Africa 2 million years ago, with a cranial capacity equal to 75% that of the Homo Sapiens. The drawing illustrates the three main Java Man fossils found between 1891 and 1892: a skullcap, a molar and a femur, shown from different angles.
1924
The discovery in Taung, South Africa, of the first fossil skull complete with teeth of Australopithecus Africanus shifts the focus of archaeological research on the history of man on the African continent.
From the fossil of the "Taung child", as it has been nicknamed, it emerges that these hominids, which first appeared 4 million years ago, were clearly more primitive than humans. They walked on two legs but had long limbs, large teeth and small brains like monkeys.
1960
Archaeological excavations in Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania unearthed fossil remains that appear to represent a hybrid between australopithecines and humans.
The hominid who will later be classified as Homo habilis (here in a reconstruction), has a brain similar to that of australopithecines, but a skeleton more similar to that of man and with less "ape-like" features. It would have appeared around 2 million years ago.
1974
It's the year of Lucy: the most famous fossil ever, dating back to 3.2 million years ago, belongs to a female Australopithecus Afarensis of about 25 years of age. She was omnivorous, of short stature, and had to lead a still partly arboreal life, despite being able to walk on two feet.
The image depicts the Lucy's bones and a reconstruction of how she must have looked. She was about 1 meter tall, had somewhat ape-like features and a reduced cranial capacity for the brain, but she could move with a bipedal gait. A fact, the latter, which has fueled the debate on bipedalism in relation to the growth of brain volume.
1984
The almost complete fossil skeleton of an 8-year-old boy who died 1.6 million years earlier was found near Lake Turkana in Kenya.
The absence of a chin, a very pronounced eyebrow arch and very long arms distinguish it from modern man, while the poor covering of hair makes it particularly suitable for the temperatures of the African savannah. It was initially classified as Homo habilis, but today it is classified as Homo Ergaster.
He must have been similar to us. The picture shows the well-preserved fossil of the Turkana boy: note the comparison with that of Lucy, in terms of gait and height.
1986
Further diversification of the first species of the genus Homo came two years later with the discovery, again on the shores of Lake Turkana, in Kenya, of a fossil of Homo Rudolfensis with an estimated age of 1.9 million years.
Similar to Homo Habilis in appearance, however, it was its evolutionary rival, and disappeared within a few thousand years.
2008
In a cave in South Africa, at the Malapa site, two very well preserved partial skeletons of Australopithecus Sediba, approximately 2 million years old, were found.
The species is considered by some to be a sort of transition between Australopithecus Africanus and Homo Habilis, but not all experts agree on it.
2015
The analysis of a hominid jaw - presumably of Homo Habilis - found in Ethiopia, in the Afar region, reveals that the human race appeared in Africa 2.8 million years ago, half a million years earlier than previously believed.
The transitional find places the transition between Australopithecus and Homo to a period between 3 million and 2.8 million years ago.
In the same year, genetic analysis of the jaw of a Homo Sapiens who lived in Romania between 42 thousand and 37 thousand years ago revealed traces of a Neanderthal ancestor (perhaps the father of the great-great-grandfather) in the previous 4-6 generations.
This was proof many scholars were waiting for: Sapiens and Neanderthals interbred also in Europe, and not just in the Middle East, during the Sapiens' exit from the African continent.
