The Emergence of Modern Humans (Homo sapiens sapiens)
The genus, Homo, originated in Africa. The species, Homo habilis and Homo erectus were characterized by a bipedal gait and an increased brain size. Eventually, members of the genus left Africa to colonize a widespread territory. During the Middle Pleistocene, a more advanced Homo species emerged to succeed H. erectus. Homo sapiens had an even larger brain. This enabled it to further expand the territories originally colonized by H. erectus. Over many thousands of years, different varieties of Homo sapiens evolved. One of the first was the Neanderthal. In addition, a form similar to modern humans, Homo sapiens sapiens also appeared. Approximately, 30,000 years ago, the Neanderthal disappeared. Furthermore, this period marked numerous H. sapiens sapiens cultural advances. The mechanism by which the Neanderthal became extinct has created controversy among anthropologists.
As Africa's savannas began expanding between 2 and 1 million years ago, the primitive hominid species, Homo habilis and Homo erectus emerged (Grant, 1985, p. 410). These organisms had a bipedal gait and an enlarged brain. With time, H. erectus succeeded H. habilis, and greatly expanded its territory. Homo erectus evidence has been found in East, South, and North Africa. The hominid also migrated to Asia, India, and parts of Europe. Then, late in the Middle Pleistocene, H. erectus populations began to disappear. Roughly 200,000 years ago, H. erectus gave way to an even more advanced hominid species, Homo sapiens (Putman, 1988, p. 461).
Throughout the Pleistocene, different H. sapiens varieties evolved. The Neanderthal variety had a brain size and organization which was comparable to modern humans. During the 100,000 years of Neanderthal existence, the hominid spread across all of Europe, the Middle East, and western and central Asia (Putman, 1988, p. 461). Archaic Homo sapiens migrat...