By: Allama Mohammed Shihabuddin Nadvi

Incomplete Evidence
But before we discuss the issue it will be in place to explain that the modern science has not arrived at any conclusive evidence about the “earliest human beings”. The scientists are of the view that the fossils unearthed are defective and inadequate:

Tantalizing gaps remain in our knowledge of early man, even though they have been narrowed dramatically by recent fossil discoveries. Detailed examination of bones, weapons and tools has resulted in interpretation of where and when man first appeared and who his ancestors were. But the remains are usually fragmentary—rarely are whole bones found, let alone a complete skeleton which makes the assignment of any find within the family of man problematic.26

It can thus be inferred that archaeological discoveries cannot be taken at their face value. Whatever has therefore been conceded on the basis of fossils is not beyond the realm of hypothesis with equal possibility of their being proved right or wrong. At the most they can be held as “speculation”. This sometimes provides deceptive clues. An interesting instance is related thus:

In 1912 the scientists discovered an unusual human skull with a chimpanzee like jaw bone at Piltdown in the U.K. The scientists named it “Piltdown man”. But after a 40 year discussion it was found that it was a contrived fossil, somebody having left different bones and old weapons together with an intention of confusing the scientists.27

Types of Fossil Man
The scientists trace the origin of man on the earth to lakhs of years ago contrary to the Bible’s claim of 6,000 years. This they prove through dissimilar bones and skulls of some “man-like creatures” who are extinct now. Considering them links of the same series, they have classified them under the species Hominid or Hominidae. The species is defined thus:

Member of the human zoological family including existing and fossil man.28

The species Hominidae thus covers all the man-like species preceding the present man. “Fossil man” applies to all those forms of extinct man the remains of which are today found only buried. These fossils have been classified as: Ramapithecus, Australopithecus, Homo erectus, Homo sapiens, Neanderthal man & Cro-Magnon man.

Besides them, there are a few unimportant types of fossil men too which are mostly ignored.29

Ramapithecus
This ape man dates back to seven million years before Christ and is suspected to be short i.e., nearly four feet. Since no skeleton has been found, no estimates of its body or physique have been established. However this hypothesis has been raised on the basis of a few fossil fragments of teeth and jaw. Since the succeeding species Australopithecus had begun to walk on two feet, it is presumed that Ramapithecus set the process of change in this species. It is on this basis that it is zoologically classified as belonging to the family of man.30

Australopithecus
This Latin term means “Southern Ape”. It was first discovered in Africa. This sub-man represents the border species between man and the chimpanzees. According to Haeckel, it was a dumb species.31 This was a definitively two-legged species. Many experts believed this species to form a link between the apes and man. It reigned the earth between eight million years ago and continued up to 15 lakh years ago.32 The ape man of Java is categorised under this species. It had three distinguishing characteristics over the sub-human ape!

1. It walked on two legs.
2. It had a larger brain to that of gorilla.
3. It knew making weapons out of stones etc.
   
   Homo erectus
   The term indicated a man who walked erect. It is the extinct species of the present day family of man which roamed the earth in lower and middle Pleistocene period which began some 25 lakh years ago and continued till 10,000 years ago. Though variously described by experts, it was the nearest predecessor of man. Its fossil remains were found in Asia, Africa and Europe.33
   
   This species was found between a million years ago and some two lakh years ago. It had an arched skull with pointed and constricted forehead. Its skull is estimated to have a volume ranging from 800 to 1,100 cubic centimeters. It had a long face and large teeth and jaws.34
   
   Homo sapiens
   It means the intelligent man. The present man is classified under the Homo sapiens. Its fossils are nearly three lakh years old. It is distinct over other previous species due to several characteristics. It walks on two legs, volume of brain is nearly 1,350 cubic centimeters, broad forehead, smaller teeth and jaws, nominal chin, weapon and tool using, intelligent enough to use language and aware of writing skills etc. It inherited some of the characteristics from its predecessor Homo erectus.35 However collectively all these characteristics were evolved by it alone. The Homo sapiens’ age spreads between one lakh years ago to three lakh years ago.36
   
   It should however be clearly borne in mind that all these fall into the realm of hypothesis and are not absolute realities. The experts have themselves differed on various aspects. A few variants of the opinion could be observed here.
   
   There are wide gaps in the epochs attributed to the latter two species viz., Homo erectus and Homo sapiens from the geological point of view also:
   
   There is a considerable gap in time between specimens of Homo erectus, the earliest man to walk erect, and Homo sapiens (intelligent man).37
   
   The geologists and archaeologists are yet to unravel the mystery behind this. Similarly their fossil remains are not found everywhere on the earth. The compilers of the Illustrated Reference Book of the Human Body write:
   
   In tracing the early evolution of Homo sapiens a major difficulty has been that the older finds are limited mainly to Europe.38
   
   Besides this, the size of the skull found at various points in Europe shows wide degree of variation. As the compilers observe:
   
   All this means that no complete skull has been found. And fragmented study is the basis of conclusions which has equal chance of being accepted as factual or false.
   
   Thus not only ideological differences exist on this plane but even the concepts have undergone alterations. For reference one could study the notes in The Encyclopaedia of Ignorance by scholar D.C. Johnson under chapter “Rethinking the Origin of the Genus Homo.”39 He writes:
   
   Investigations related to the unraveling intricacies of mankind’s earliest stages of evolution have proliferated during approximately the last 15 years. It has become increasingly clear that although the storehouse of human paleontology is considerably fuller now than in the past, we still must await additional evidence before final decisions can be made concerning human evolution and taxonomy.40
   
   He further writes:
   It is a difficult task for the anthropologists to ascertain relationships between such fossils.41
   
   He is of the opinion that fragments of fossils are inadequate; A hominid jaw fragment and an arm bone fragment do not give us much insight into the problem of human origins because these specimen are so fragmentary.42 He adds:
   
   Taken as a whole, the present evidence does not substantiate placing all specimen into a single species – the range of variations is too pronounced and the morphological adaptations appear to be quite distinctive.43
   
   This summarised review should stimulate thinking in order that hasty conclusions are avoided. Now we will discuss the intelligent man.
   
   Types of Homo sapiens
   The Homo sapiens too had a few species. Of these, two: Neanderthal man and Cro-Magnon man have become extinct. However the third of the series namely modern man continues to survive.44 Thus none of the predecessors of the modern man or any other species in the family Hominidae exists today.45
   Now let us look at Neanderthal man and Cro-Magnon man.
   
   Neanderthal Man
   The Neanderthal man lived around the Mediterranean Sea and parts of Europe in the last phase of the Pleistocene epoch (which began 25 lakh years ago and continued till some 10,000 years ago). Neanderthal is a derivative from a place Neander Valley which is close to Dusseldorf in Germany. Fossil remains of Neanderthal man were found in this valley. These were excavated in 1856.46
   
   Neanderthal man was one of the intelligent man which inhabited the earth during the extreme and last of the Ice Age.47 He was short, stout, large skulled and had thick eyebrows which was found on the earth till some 30,000 years ago.48 Neanderthal man heralded civilization.49 He was not only a hunter but was conscious about life and death. He perhaps had also initiated religious rites and magic etc.50
   
   Neanderthal man was a good hunter and weapon maker. He appeared some 1.10 lakh years ago just ahead of the last glaciation.51 He knew the use of fire.52 He devised different tools and instruments. He also made hand axes, knives, and choppers.53 It may be explained that the oldest tools found on the earth are about 26 lakh years old.54 For example, he drenched the wood and then seared it in fire to make them sharp.
   
   Neanderthal man indeed possessed tools and it is claimed that he had instruments to clean the skin. Their women lived in houses while men went out for hunting. The men and women among them had distinct dresses.55 They buried their dead and thus this custom is nearly 50,000 years old.56 The stone tools, found at the sites from where fossil remains of Neanderthal man were recovered date back to nearly 90,000 years to 40,000 years.57
   
   It is rather difficult to establish the antiquity of the man by looking at the fossil remains of the Neanderthal man as it has many ambiguities.58
   
   Although the number of finds of this “classical” Neanderthal have made them justly famous, the various specimens do not provide the vital information necessary to trace the evolution of modern man.59
   
   Neanderthal Man was Different from the Modern Man
   He (Neanderthal man) was certainly different from modern man.60
   
   The general pattern of the anatomy of the face and even of the skull vault of these early Neanderthal peoples was not greatly unlike that of modern Homo sapiens; this was also true of the bones of the limbs, although these are still hardly known. There was nonetheless a complex of skeletal features that distinguished them from modern human populations.61
   
   This group was originally recognised by a combination of cranial, dental, and posteranial features that were generally considered distinct enough to classify Neanderthal man as a separate species.62
   
   In this way there are conflicting opinions about the Neanderthal man but it is clear that they were a separate species and were included in the Homo sapiens only due to their “intelligence”. This is why experts betray a good measure of reluctance in such a categorization.
   
   Another Mystery about Neanderthal Man
   The stone age is said to have suddenly disappeared from Europe some 35,000 years ago and Neanderthal man had yielded his place to Cro-Magnon man which was somewhat different from the modern man.63
   
   Quite suddenly these people disappeared from the fossil record and various theories have been put forward to account for their disappearance.64
   
   The factors responsible for the disappearance of the Neanderthal people are an important problem to which there is unfortunately still no clear solution.65 (to be cont.)
   
   Footnotes:
4. Mitchell, James, Gen. Ed. The Illustrated Reference Book of the Human Body, London, 1982, P. 4.
5. Encyclopaedia Britannica, (Micropaedia), Vol. VII, P. 1009.
6. The Oxford Illustrated Dictionary, 1982, P. 403.
7. For details refer The Illustrated Reference Book of the Human Body, P. 3.
8. Encyclopaedia Britannica (Micropaedia), Vol. VIII, P. 403.
9. Sahni, M.R., Human Evolution, Pp. 245 & 250.
10. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. 2, P. 456.
11. Ibid., (Micropaedia), Vol. V, P. 105.
12. Ibid., Vol. 8, P. 1044.
13. Ibid., Vol. 5, P. 107.
14. Ibid., Vol. 8, P. 1030.
15. The Illustrated Reference Book of the Human Body, P.8.
16. Ibid.
17. Duncan, Ronald, edr. The Encyclopaedia of Ignorance, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1978.
18. Ibid., P. 244.
19. Ibid.
20. Ibid.
21. Ibid., P. 246.
22. Encyclopaedia Britannica, (Micropaedia), 1983, Vol. IV, P. 105.
23. Ibid., Vol. VIII, P. 1023.
24. Ibid., Vol. 7, P. 235.
25. The Illustrated Book of the Human Body, P. 8.
26. Ibid.
27. Ibid.
28. Ibid., P. 9.
29. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1983., Vol. 8, P. 608.
30. Ibid., P. 609.
31. Ibid., Pp. 608-09.
32. Ibid., P. 608.
33. Ibid., Vol. 5, P. 1016.
34. Ibid., P. 533.
35. Ibid., Vol. 8, P. 1046.
36. The Illustrated Book of the Human Body, P. 9.
37. Ibid. 60. Ibid., P. 9.
38. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1983, Vol. 12, P. 911.
39. Ibid., Vol. 8, P.1046.
40. The Illustrated Book of the Human Body, P. 9.
41. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1983, Vol. 8, P. 1046.
42. Ibid., Vol. 12, P. 912.