February
Charles Darwin was a very religious man and had second thoughts about his theory up till the day he died.
Over the last 150 years archeologists have discovered lots of ossified bones and skeletons resembling those of human beings and apes. However, the finds gave rise to more questions with regard to our origins.
For example, it is still unknown from whence members of an extinct subspecies of powerful, robust humans called Neanderthal man came to Europe 300 thousand years ago. Back in Darwin's time, there were attempts to classify Neanderthal people as our distant relatives. Scientists pointed out several pieces of evidence deserving of classification e.g. Neanderthal people possessed a well-developed brain, used fire; they were good at hunting. However, Homo Sapiens originated in Africa where he lived for many thousands years without knowing anything about Europe. A handful of brave men decided to move north some 40 thousand years ago. That is how the first humans appeared in Europe, they arrived wielding spears and sticks. What about Neanderthal people?
“There are many pieces of evidence showing that Homo Sapiens and Neanderthal man lived side by side for a long time in Eastern Europe,” says Viktor Chabai, head of the Crimean expeditions of the Ukraine's Institute of Archeology. “It took place between 36-38 thousand and 28-29 thousand years ago. There is an excavation site in the Crimea where a layer containing the remains of material culture of the Homo Sapiens was lying underneath a layer of the remains of material culture of the Neanderthal man. We should bear in mind that several thousand years divide the two layers.”
“Now we are trying to find out why Neanderthal people appeared in the southern parts of Europe after moving from the north and relinquishing that region to Homo Sapiens.”
“And where did they come from?”
“Scientists believe the first “intelligent” humans appeared in the south part of Africa about 200 thousand years ago. The first Neanderthal people emerged in Europe around 300 thousand years ago. They existed in the different continents for 150 thousand years at the very least. Their life styles, so to speak, looked very much the same. Neanderthal people stayed strictly within the confines of Europe. There were no Neanderthal people in Africa. Why they disappeared - it is an interesting question.”
“The two competed against each other. Neanderthal people were defeated and eventually became extinct,” says Alexander Pestryakov, a senior researcher of the Russian Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology under the Russian Academy of Sciences.
“Charles Darwin felt quite hurt by archeologists' fruitless attempts to prove his theory because they could not furnish him with any intermediate forms. He was a very religious man and had second thoughts about his theory up till the day he died,” says Sergiy Vogulkin, a high priest in charge of the temple of Saint Tatyana in Ekaterinburg, a vice principal of the Urals Institute of the Humanities. “I believe that Neanderthal man and Homo Sapiens might have coexisted. We know that there are the followers of Cain and Abel. We might as well assume that Neanderthal people are the Cainists,” adds Sergei Vogulkin.
The origin of Neanderthal man casts doubts on Darwin's scientific integrity - PRAVDA.Ru
