Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons. The emergence of human races - Knowledge Hypermarket. Ancient Cro-Magnon man - characteristics of lifestyle, tools, interesting facts with photos and videos Who is Cro-Magnon brief definition
Where did the world so understandable to us come from, how did it combine with the completely different world of the Neanderthals? Many biological features of the earliest Upper Paleolithic people suggest that they came to Europe from tropical regions.
Long limbs, tall stature, elongated body proportions, large jaws, and an elongated braincase are similar in modern tropical populations and Cro-Magnons. The latter differ only large sizes bones, strong relief of the skull, rougher features. But, if the Cro-Magnons were aliens, then where did they come from? How did they interact with the aborigines - the Neanderthals? According to the most substantiated version now, the modern human species was formed in Africa between 200-160-100 and 45 thousand years ago. Between 80 and 45 thousand years ago, a limited number of people emerged from East Africa in the area of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait or, less likely, the Isthmus of Suez. They began to settle first along the southern shores of Eurasia - right up to Australia - and then to the north, into areas inhabited by Neanderthals, whose possible fate was described above.
From the Upper Paleolithic era to the present, evolutionary changes did not have time to accumulate in sufficient quantities (it is often said that biological evolution with the advent of modern look human has ceased, giving way to the social, but the facts indicate a continuation biological evolution even today, the time scale is simply not sufficient for significant changes in morphology to occur). The differences between population groups that have appeared since this time are usually called racial. A separate section of anthropology is devoted to them - racial studies (see
The ancestors are considered to be Cro-Magnons modern man who lived on our planet during the late (or upper) Paleolithic era (40-12 thousand years ago). The name of this species comes from the Cro-Magnon cave, located in southwestern France. It was there in 1868 that archaeologist Louis Larte, during excavations, came across the remains of ancient people, who in their own way differed from the previously discovered Neanderthal skeletons and resembled Homo sapiens ( Homo sapiens). The find, which was about 30 thousand years old, immediately attracted the attention of scientists who studied the history of that period, because nothing was known about the way of life of the Cro-Magnons at that time. In subsequent years, their remains, along with tools, were discovered in other territories (Mladeč and Dolni Vestonice in the Czech Republic, Pavyland in England, Peshtera ku Oase in Romania, Murzak Koba in Crimea, Sungir in Russia, Mezhirech in Ukraine, Fish Hook, Cape Flats in Africa, etc.).
Origin and migration
The origin of Cro-Magnons has not been fully studied to this day. Earlier historians and anthropologists adhered to the Marxist theory of the origin of this type of ancient man. According to her, the Cro-Magnon man is a direct descendant of the Neanderthal man. Many modern researchers question this theory. They are inclined to believe that Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons descended from a common ancestor, after which each of them began to develop separately.
Modern scientists have failed to achieve consensus about what part of the planet the first ancestors of modern humans appeared in and when exactly this happened. The most common version says that Cro-Magnons formed in separate species about 200 thousand years ago, and this happened in eastern Africa. After 70 thousand years, they began migrating to the Middle East in search of new lands to live. From here, one part of the Cro-Magnons settled on the coast of the Indian Ocean, while the other moved north and reached the lands of Asia Minor and the Northern Black Sea region. Homo sapiens appeared in Europe approximately 40-45 thousand years ago.
Appearance
What did the Cro-Magnons look like? Ancient man, fossil man differed from modern individuals in body structure and brain size. In contrast, representatives of Homo sapiens resembled today's people, but were larger. Archaeological finds made it possible to find out that the male Cro-Magnons who inhabited ancient Europe reached a height of 180 cm (women were shorter), had wide faces and deep-set eyes. reasonable was 1400-1900 cubic centimeters, which corresponds to this indicator for modern people. The lifestyle of the Cro-Magnons, who had to survive in the harsh conditions of ancient times, contributed to the formation of well-developed muscle mass.
Life
They lived in communities whose number reached 100 people. Their main activities were hunting and gathering plant foods. They were the first to make tools from bones and antlers. Along with this, their use of stone tools remained widespread. Lighter and more improved products allowed them to get more food, sew clothes, and invent devices aimed at making their existence easier. Scientists are convinced that the ancient people of this era had well-developed speech.
Housing
The Cro-Magnons still continued to settle in caves, but new types of housing had already begun to appear. They learned to build reliable tents from animal skins, wood and bones. Such houses could be moved, thanks to which the Cro-Magnon lifestyle ceased to be sedentary. Wandering from place to place in order to develop new lands, they carried their housing and household with them. The Cro-Magnons were the first prehistoric people to domesticate a dog and use it as a companion.
The ancestors of mankind had a widespread cult of hunting. This is evidenced by numerous finds of animal figurines pierced by arrows, found during excavations of their settlements. The walls were decorated with images of animals and hunting scenes.
Foraging for food
Hunting became firmly established in the life of the Cro-Magnon man. The realities of the Stone Age were such that in order to feed themselves, it was necessary to kill. The ancient inhabitants of our planet hunted well organized groups 10-20 people each. The objects of their persecution were large animals (mammoths, wolves, woolly rhinoceroses, bears, red deer, bison). By destroying the beast, they provided their communities with plenty of skin and meat. The Cro-Magnons' main weapons for killing animals were spear throwers and bows. In addition to hunting, they were engaged in catching birds and fish (for the first activity they used snares, and for the second - harpoons and hooks).
In addition to meat and fish, the descendants of modern humans ate wild plants. The food of Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons was very similar. They ate everything that nature gave them (bark, leaves and fruits of trees, stems, flowers and roots of plants, cereals, mushrooms, nuts, algae, etc.).
Burials
The Cro-Magnons had interesting funeral customs. They placed deceased relatives in the grave in a half-bent position. Their hair was decorated with nets, their hands were decorated with bracelets, and their faces were covered with flat stones. Colors were sprinkled on top of the bodies of the dead. Ancient people believed in afterlife, therefore, they buried their relatives along with household items, jewelry and food, being sure that they would need them after death.
Cro-Magnon Cultural Revolution
People who lived during the Late Paleolithic period made a number of discoveries that allowed them to significantly surpass cultural development their predecessors. Their main achievement was the invention of a new method of processing flint, which went down in history under the name “knife plate method.” This discovery made a real revolution in the manufacture of tools. The method was that individual plates were beaten or pressed from a stone nodule (core), from which various products were subsequently made. Thanks to new technology prehistoric people learned to obtain up to 250 cm of working edge from one kilogram of flint (for Neanderthals this figure did not exceed 220 cm, and for their predecessors it barely reached 45 cm).
No less important discovery Cro-Magnons began to produce tools from animal raw materials. Spending a lot of time hunting, the ancient man noticed that the bones, horns and tusks of animals are characterized by increased strength. He began to make qualitatively new products from them that made his life easier. Bone needles and awls appeared, making it easier to sew clothes from skins. Animal raw materials began to be used in the construction of new homes, as well as to make jewelry and figurines from it. The development of new materials led to the invention of more advanced hunting tools - spear throwers and bows. These adaptations allowed the Cro-Magnons to kill animals that were many times their strength and size.
The way of life of the Cro-Magnons was not only about surviving among wildlife. Prehistoric people strived for beauty. They left their descendants many works of art. This and wall painting in caves, and tools decorated with unique ornaments, and figurines of bison, horses, deer and other animals made of flint, clay, bones and tusks. The ancient Cro-Magnons worshiped feminine beauty. Among the finds discovered by archaeologists, there are many figurines of the fair sex. Due to the splendor of their forms, modern historians called them “Venuses”.
The Combe Capella type is classified either as an Australoid group or as a group of Eurafrican variants, which includes several ancient skulls from India, Western Asia and East Africa (they will be discussed in the next chapter).
Indeed, there is some typological similarity between the named variants: the Combe-Capellian skull, in terms of its set of features, is closer to the Australoid or ancient Eurafrican variants than to the Negroid or any other. This conclusion has a rather specific content; it cannot be generalized to other Upper Paleolithic skulls in Europe. In all likelihood, the Combe-Capellian type is related to the Eurafrican, and more distantly to the Australoid, unity of origin. Nevertheless, the emerging similarities are not such that the Comb-Capellian type could be included in the circle of variants of the modern Australoid or even Eurafrican race. Characteristic of neither one nor the other large size nasion-protion diameter, relatively high symotic index and other features.
The Cro-Magnon type is defined as Caucasoid. The complex of features of the braincase, jaws and nasal skeleton characteristic of Cro-Magnons does not agree with this definition.
Among the modern population groups of Europe, there is not a single one that is characterized by a combination of a small nasal index and a low bridge of the nose, a symotic index of about 46, a relatively wide face and a low skull. It is difficult to indicate any non-European group that completely reproduces this combination of characteristics.
The complex of Caucasoid features is more fully represented in the Solutrean type. Nevertheless, this option needs to be given a special place, taking into account the high nasal index, the relatively large width of the face, the small height of the arch in combination with the mesocranial index.
The Oberkassel skull is sometimes called Mongoloid. The basis for this diagnosis is the large zygomatic width and small auricular height of the braincase. There are no other characteristics of the Asian races. By degree of flattening foreground The facial skeleton of the Oberkassel skull is almost no different from some Cro-Magnon skulls.
The Chanceladian skull was originally identified as Eskimoid due to the combination of a narrow nose, a relatively wide face, and a high braincase. A. Keys and A. Vallois showed the fallacy of this opinion (Keith, 1931; Vallois, 1946). The Magdalenian skull from the Dordogne does not have the flattened cheekbones, flat nose, alveolar prognathism and other features characteristic of the Eskimos. The Chancelad skull was compared to the Oberkassel skull (D. Montandon) and others. In reality, the similarity of these craniological variants is very small, and sharp hypsicrania, large sizes facial diameters and other features exclude the possibility of including the Chanceladian skull in the group of Caucasian variants.
F. Weidenreich calls the Upper Paleolithic male skull from the upper Zhou-Kou-Dian cave proto-Mongoloid, the first female skull melanesoid, the second female skull Eskimoid. Of course, these names express only a general impression and in no way establish a racial diagnosis. There are some similarities between all three skulls. As for the specific racial features, they are weakly expressed: the position of the eye sockets and the contour of the zygomatic arch in the male skull do not show signs of flattening specific to Mongoloids. The symotic and nasoalveolar indices are no less than those of Australoids or many Upper Pamolythic turtles of Europe. The similarity of female skulls with the types indicated by F. Weidenreich is not very specific.
The Elmentate skull is seen as one of the early variants of the East African (Ethiopian) race; the Oldowan type is related to the modern Nilotic group, and the Boskopian type is related to the South African and Hottentot groups. In the first case there is only limited similarity: the East African type does not have a sloping forehead, a large height of the upper jaw and other features of the Elmentate skull. The Nilotes, in contrast to the Oldovai variant, have a higher and more prognathous face, and a wider nose.
The Boskop type is similar to the Hottentot type in such specific features as a peculiar protrusion of the back of the head in combination with a straight forehead, an elongated flattened crown. Despite the incomplete coincidence of the craniometric characteristics of the Boskop and Middle Hottentot variants, in terms of the complex of features these variants are so close that their genetic connection should be considered quite probable.
The name “proto-Australian” when applied to the skulls from Wadiak and Keillor also remains rather arbitrary, even if we mean not the Australians themselves, but the Indonesians like Toala. The latter are not characterized by large dimensions of the axes of the braincase and facial skeleton, and a moderately developed superciliary region. At the same time, the Keilor and Wadiak skulls have much in common with the large-sized skulls of the Upper Paleolithic of Western Europe.
The Talgai skull is similar to the Australian one due to some archaic features of the facial skeleton, i.e. the features are not specific enough to establish the genetic relationship of the variants.
Given brief overview leads to the following conclusions.
Upper Paleolithic skulls differ from modern ones in the presence of certain features (Chapter 4) and therefore stand out as a special group - fossil neoanthropes. The craniological types of the Upper Paleolithic, along with the features included in the complex of features of one of the modern large anthropological groups, include features that are not characteristic of this group and are characteristic of other groups. Most often, the features of the Australoid, Negroid, and Caucasian types are combined.
Certain types of the Upper Paleolithic, according to craniological characteristics (and probably also according to others), occupy a place not within modern anthropological types, but between them.
Only a small number of Upper Paleolithic skulls show signs of one modern group have predominance. These are, for example, the Boscopian, Solutrean (not Cro-Magnon!), and perhaps Grimaldian types. But even in these cases there are differences between modern types and Upper Paleolithic ones. These latter should be defined as special subtypes of this group. The question of to what extent ancient types constitute the original forms later groups, must be resolved in each case separately. Craniological types that fully correspond to the variants of subsequent eras have not been established in the Upper Paleolithic.
To the previous considerations it is necessary to add data on the territorial distribution of craniological types of the Upper Paleolithic. An essential criterion in establishing a race is the confinement of a given set of characteristics to a certain delimited territory. Fossil neoanthropes do not have such a connection with the geographic province.
In a small area of the Dordogne department in Aurignacian times, such various options, like Cro-Magnon and Combe-Capellian. Moreover, in one area, for example in the Children's Grotto, in Monaco, skeletons were discovered various types, Cro-Magnon and Grimaldian, which gave rise to a number of unconvincing hypotheses about the reasons for the diversity of types.
It has been suggested that the main group of the European population were tall "Caucasian" Cro-Magnons, the Grimaldian skeletons belonging to slaves, captives or concubines.
This kind of hypothesis is in clear contradiction with all known facts O material culture and the social structure of the Upper Paleolithic.
Identical features and even similar complexes of features are found in areas of the ancient ecumene remote from one another. The Grimaldian type is found on the Mediterranean coast and on the plains of eastern Europe (Children's Grotto and Markina Gora on the upper Don). A narrow nasal skeleton has been documented in Europe and in tropical Africa. In these territories, forms with large and small relief of the eyebrows, with large and small heights of the nasal bones were found. Alveolar prognathism is widespread in a wide variety of territories, but weakly prognathic or almost orthognathic forms are also found in the southern regions of the ancient ecumene. If the craniological variants of the Upper Paleolithic belong to different races, i.e., groups of people formed in different geographical zones, in different environmental conditions, then unrestricted movement of individual tribes in different, even opposite directions throughout entire continents should be allowed. In this case, it must be recognized that the tropical broad-nosed and prognathous groups moved north to the 50th parallel, and the narrow-nosed orthognathic Caucasoid types penetrated into tropical Africa.
All these assumptions are so unlikely that they cast doubt on the possibility of classifying the craniological variants of the Upper Paleolithic as different races in the proper sense of the word.
Bunak V.V. The human skull and the stages of its formation in fossil people and modern races. Moscow, Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences, 1959, p. 165-167.
Cro-Magnons are early representatives of modern humans. It must be said that these people lived later than the Neanderthals and populated almost the entire territory modern Europe. The name “Cro-Magnons” can only be understood as those people who were found in the Cro-Magnon grotto. These people lived 30 thousand years ago and were similar to modern humans.
General information about Cro-Magnons
The Cro-Magnons were very developed, and it must be said that their abilities, skills, achievements and changes social organization life was many times greater than that of Neanderthals and Pithecanthropus combined. This is what the Cro-Magnon man is associated with. helped these people take a big step forward in their development and achievements. Due to the fact that they were able to inherit an active brain from their ancestors, their achievements were manifested in aesthetics, technology for making tools, communication, etc.
Origin of the name
Associated with Homo sapiens, the number of changes in which was very large, is the Cro-Magnon man. The way of life of these differed from the way of life of their ancestors.
It is worth saying that the name “Cro-Magnon” comes from the Cro-Magnon rock grotto, located in France. In 1868, Louis Larte found several human skeletons in this area, as well as Late Paleolithic tools. He later described them, after which it was found that these people existed about 30,000 years ago.
Cro-Magnon body type
Compared to Neanderthals, Cro-Magnons had a less massive skeleton. The height of early human representatives reached 180-190 cm.
Their foreheads were straighter and smoother than those of Neanderthals. It is also worth noting that the Cro-Magnon skull had a high and rounded arch. The chin of these people was protruding, the eye sockets were angular, and the nose was rounded.
Cro-Magnons developed an upright gait. Scientists claim that their physique was practically no different from the physique of modern people. And this already says a lot.
The Cro-Magnon man was very similar to modern man. The lifestyle of early human representatives was quite interesting and unusual compared to their ancestors. The Cro-Magnons contributed huge amount efforts to be as similar as possible to modern man.
The earliest representatives of humans are Cro-Magnons. Who are Cro-Magnons? Lifestyle, housing and clothing
Not only adults, but also children know who Cro-Magnons are. We study the peculiarities of their stay on Earth at school. It must be said that the first representative of man to create settlements was the Cro-Magnon man. The lifestyle of these people was different from the Neanderthals. Cro-Magnons gathered in communities that numbered up to 100 people. They lived in caves and also tents made of skins. IN Eastern Europe representatives who lived in dugouts met. It is important that their speech was articulate. The clothes of the Cro-Magnons were skins.
How did the Cro-Magnon hunt? Lifestyle, tools of early human representatives
It must be said that the Cro-Magnons succeeded not only in the development social life, but also in hunting. The item “Peculiarities of the Cro-Magnon lifestyle” includes an improved method of hunting - driven fishing. Early representatives of man hunted northern, as well as mammoths, etc. It was the Cro-Magnons who knew how to make special spear throwers that could fly up to 137 meters. Harpoons and hooks for fishing were also tools of the Cro-Magnons. They created snares - devices for hunting birds.
Primitive art
It is important that it was the Cro-Magnons who became the creators of European culture. This is evidenced primarily by the multicolor painting in the caves. Cro-Magnons painted in them on walls and ceilings. Confirmation that these people were creators primitive art, are engravings on stones and bones, ornaments, etc.
All this testifies to how interesting and amazing the life of the Cro-Magnons was. Their way of life has become a subject of admiration even in our time. It should be noted that the Cro-Magnons took a huge step forward, which brought them significantly closer to modern man.
Funeral rites of the Cro-Magnons
It is worth noting that the early representatives of man also had funeral rites. It was customary among the Cro-Magnons to place it in the grave of the deceased. various decorations, household items, and even food. They were sprinkled on the hair of the dead, a net was put on them, bracelets were put on the hands, and flat stones were placed on the face. It is also worth noting that the Cro-Magnons buried their dead in a bent state, that is, their knees should have touched their chin.
Let us recall that the Cro-Magnons were the first to domesticate an animal - a dog.
One of the versions of the origin of Cro-Magnons
It must be said that there are several versions of the origin of early human representatives. The most common of them says that Cro-Magnons were the ancestors of all modern people. According to this theory, these people appeared in East Africa approximately 100-200 thousand years ago. It is believed that Cro-Magnons migrated to the Arabian Peninsula 50-60 thousand years ago, after which they appeared in Eurasia. According to this, one group of early human representatives quickly populated the entire coast of the Indian Ocean, while the second migrated to the steppes Central Asia. According to numerous data, it is clear that 20 thousand years ago Europe was already inhabited by Cro-Magnons.
To this day, many are fascinated by the way of life of the Cro-Magnons. One can briefly say about these early representatives of man that they were the most similar to modern man, since they improved their skills and abilities, developed and learned a lot of new things. The Cro-Magnons made a huge contribution to the history of human development, because it was they who took a huge step towards the most important achievements.
>>History: Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons. Appearance human races
Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons. The emergence of human races.
4. The emergence of “homo sapiens”
1. Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons.
Appeared about 200-150 thousand years ago new type ancient man. Scientists called him "Homo sapiens" (on Latin"Homo sapiens") This type includes Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon.
Neanderthal was named after the site where his remains were first found in the Neanderthal Valley in Germany. He had highly developed brow ridges, powerful jaws pushed forward with large teeth.
The Neanderthal could not speak clearly because his vocal apparatus was not sufficiently developed. Neanderthals made tools from stone and built primitive houses. They hunted large animals. Their clothing was animal skins. Neanderthals buried their dead in specially dug graves. For the first time they had ideas about death as a transition to the afterlife.
For a long time it was believed that Neanderthals preceded the emergence of modern humans. IN recent years Scientists have found that Neanderthals lived for some time at the same time as another type." Homo sapiens" - a Cro-Magnon man whose remains were first found in the Cro-Magnon cave in France. Appearance and the Cro-Magnons had brains like modern people. Cro-Magnons are our direct ancestors. Scientists They call Cro-Magnons, like modern people, “Homo sapiens, sapiens,” that is, “reasonable, intelligent man.” This emphasizes that man is the owner of the most developed mind on our planet. Cro-Magnons appeared about 40 thousand years ago.
2. Mammoth hunters.
About 100 thousand years ago, the temperature on Earth became sharply cold and the last ice age. Very cold periods of time alternated with periods of warming. The northern part of Europe, Asia, and America was covered with a powerful glacier.
During the glaciation in Europe, only for a short time summer period the ground thawed and vegetation appeared on it. However, it was enough to feed large herbivores - mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, bison, and reindeer. Hunting these animals provided enough meat, fat and bones to feed people and even to heat and light their homes.
Hunting at that time became the most important occupation of the Cro-Magnons. They began to make tools not only from stone, but also from mammoth tusks and deer antlers. Tips made of deer antler with teeth curved at the base were attached to the spears. Such a spear was deeply stuck in the body of a wounded animal. Darts (short spears) were used to pierce small animals. Fish were caught using wicker traps and harpoons with sharp tips.
People have learned to sew clothes from fur. They invented bone needles, which they used to sew the skins of foxes, arctic foxes, wolves and smaller animals.
Residents of the Eastern European plains built houses from mammoth bones. The foundation of such a house was made from the skulls of huge animals.
3. Tribal communities.
It was impossible to hunt mammoth and other large animals and build houses from their bones alone. Dozens of people were required, organized and observing a certain discipline. People began to live in tribal communities. This community included several large families, forming the genus. Close and distant relatives formed a single team. The clan community had common dwellings, tools, and food supplies. The men hunted together. They jointly engaged in the manufacture of tools and construction. The woman-mother enjoyed special respect from the large family. Initially, the relationship was on the maternal side. In the habitats of ancient people, skillfully made female figurines are often found. Women were engaged in gathering, preparing food and storing food supplies, maintaining a fire in the hearth, sewing clothes and, most importantly, raising children.
The clan community, the clan, considered themselves descended from one ancestor - a person, an animal, or even a plant. The ancestor of the clan was called a totem. The clan bore the name of its totem. There could be a clan of a wolf, a clan of an eagle, a clan of a bear.
Communities were ruled by the wisest members of the clan - the elders. They had great life experience, preserved ancient legends and customs. The elders ensured that all members of the clan followed the established rules of behavior, so that no one claimed the share of another when distributing food, clothing and space in the home.
Children in tribal community raised together. The children knew the customs of the family and followed them. As boys grew older, they had to pass tests to be accepted as adult male hunters. The boy had to remain silent under the hail of blows. They made cuts on his body, rubbed ashes, colored earth and plant juices into them. The boy had to spend several days and nights alone in the forest. A lot had to be endured to become a real man of the family.
4. The emergence of human races.
With the advent of the Cro-Magnon man, human race: Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Negroid. Representatives of different races differ in skin color, eye shape, hair color and type, skull length and shape, and body proportions.
The Caucasian (Eurasian) race is characterized by light skin, wide eyes, soft hair on the head, and a narrow and sharply protruding nose. Men grow a beard and mustache. In the Mongoloid (Asian-American) race special features are yellowish or reddish skin, straight black hair, lack of facial hair in men, narrow eyes, high cheekbones. The Negroid race is distinguished by dark skin, curly, coarse hair, a wide nose, and thick lips.
External differences are of secondary importance. All races have equal opportunities for development.
Even before the first civilizations, peoples Caucasian divided into large groups: Semites and Indo-Europeans. Semites got their name from the name of the biblical Shem (Sem), the son of the patriarch Noah. They settled the Middle East and North Africa. Modern Semitic peoples include Arabs and Jews. Indo-Europeans (they are also called Aryans) settled over a vast territory, occupying Europe, Northern and part of Central India, Iran, Central Asia, the peninsula Asia Minor. TO Indo-European peoples belonged to the Indians, Iranians, Hittites, Celts, Greeks, Romans, as well as Slavs and Germans. The languages they spoke are called Indo-European.
V.I. Ukolova, L.P. Marinovich, History, 5th grade
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