Skull & Bones by Jean M. Auel

Fil=t5T [rucfFtE S K U L LA N D B O N E S : I n 2 0 0 ,0 0 0ye a rsw e 'l l b e fossilizedbits to ponder B y J e a n M. A u e l i n l s r a e la s 9 0 , 0 0 0y e a r s o l d , Thereis stillsomedoubtaboutthe d a t i n g m e t h o d ,b u t i f t h e d a t e h o l d si t m e a n st h a t b o t h m o d e r n a n d N e a n d e r t h a l o ti d y p e so f h u m a n s o c c u p i e dt h a t p a r t o f t h e world for 60,000yearsl When did thesetwo subspecies of Homo saptens emerge? A r o u n da m i l l i o na n d a h a l fy e a r s a g o i n A f r i c a ,a n e a r l i e rf o r m o f hominid,Homoereclus.beganmig r a t i n ga n d e v e n t u a l lpy o p u l a t e d the restof the Old World.Neanderthal types that have been found throughoutAfricaand Eurasiaapparentlyevolveddirectlyfromthe local H. erectus.In France,for ex-

What was the origin of modern humans? What happened to the Neanderthals? The answers, says Jean M. Auel, may shed light on our future.

Are we. Homo sapiens saprens ( w i s ew i s em a n ? )t,h ec u l m i n a t i o n o f t h e 5 m l l l i o ny e a r s o f h u m a n e v o l u t i o no,r a s t e pa l o n gt h e w a y to somethingelse.to Homo sapiens futuristis?Two hundred thous a n d y e a r sa g o , N e a n d e r t h a l s technicallyHomo sapiensneanderthalensis-were the domin a n t h u m a n l i f e o n E a r t h .W h a t kind of people will the earth see 200,000years from now? Fifteenyears ago, when I first startedresearchingfor The Clan of the Cave Bear, lhe earliest knownappearanceof modernhum A n s \ t u a si n F r r r n n ea r o u n d 4 0 . 0 0 0y e a r sa g o ,d u r i n gt h e l a s t icc anc

Thcrr r,vcre tho gpgg 19-

f e r r e dt o a s C r o - M a g n o n sa, n d therewas evidencethat for a per i o d o f t i m e . t h e y l i v e ds i d e b y s i d ew i t h N e a n d e r t h a l s . The case for theircoexistence h a s n o w b e c o m em u c h s t r o n g e r . T h e s k e l e t o no f a N e a n d e r t h a l was found in Francethat datesto a r o u n d3 0 , 0 0 0y e a r s a g o . d e m o n s l r a t i n gt h a l w e s t e r n E u r o p e was home to both for perhaps 10,000years,but even more astonishingare discoveries fromthe r e s to f t h e w o r l d .N e wt e c h n i q u e s have dated the bones of an anatomicallymodernmandiscovered 10

c a t i o n s o f c h a r a c t e r i s t i cs t i l l s e e n i n O r i e n t a lp e o p l e t o d a y . H o w c o u l d t h e n e w c o m e r sr e p l a c e e x i s t i n gp o p u l a t i o n sb u t t a k e o n t h e i r p h y s i c a lt r a i t s ? C o u l dt h e r eh a v e b e e n s o m e i n termixing? In centraE l u r o p ea n d the Mideast,a combination of Neanderthal andmodernhumanchara c t e r i s t i ciss s o m e t i m e fso u n di n a qinnle qkrrll hr rt enieqliglg lg-

batewhetherit showsevolutionor n rncc

l_rraori inn

Debatesarethe heartof thescie n t i f i cp r o c e s sb, u t l o o k i n ga t t h e p a s tc a n s h e dl i g h to n t h e f u t u r e . The evidencesuggeststhat evol u t i o ni s s t i l lg o i n go n , b u t w h a t :mnla ihora ara aranfg5 gjlgg liesahead?Drasticclimaticchangsuch as Tautavelthat date back es probably played a malor role 400,000years, and the recently i n t h e a d a p t i v es t r a t e g i e so f a n e x c a v a t e d G r o t t e V a u f r e yt h a t c e s t r a lh o m i n i d s b , ut mutational d a t e N e a n d e r t h a l sa t a b o u t n h a n n o q n c . r r r 2 l d i f f o r g n [ 1 3 [ g g 300,000years. and contemporarysocieties A t o n e t i m e m o s t a r c h a e o l o - haveso muchcontrolof theirphysg i s t s t h o u g h tt h a t m o d e r n h u - i c : l c n v i r n n m t r n t l h t r \ i r - a n l i v e i n mans, H. sap. sapiens,evolved a n y c l i m a t e i,n c l u d i n gn o c l i m a t e in Frrronc fr.lm H qen neandera t a l l ,i n s p a c e .W i l lt h a tl e s s e nt h e lhalensis.but new evidencesug- c o l p n t i r r o n r o a a r r r o q t n c h e n n o gestedthatwe arrivedlater,bring- a n d c a u s et h e p r o c e s so f e v o l u i n g w i t h u s a m o r e d e v e l o p e d t i o nt o s l o w ? s t o n et o o l k i t . l t w a s t h e n t h e o O r w i l lt h e p o l l u t i o nt ,h e c h e m rizedthat at some unknownloca- i c a lf e r t i l i z e rasn d p e s t i c i d e st ,h e t i o n , e a s t o r s o u t h ,m o d e r n h u - t o x i c a n d n u c l e a rw a s l e s ,t h e m a n s e v o l v e d f r o m a n e a r l i e r greenhouse effect,and thedepletype,perhapsH. erectus,and mi- tion of the ozonelayeraccelerate nralad tn Frrrnno m u t a t i o n s ?W h a t a b o u t r e a c t o r T h e n .a l e w y e a r s a g o . D N A m e l t d o w n s ? N u c l e a rw i n t e r ?N u studiesindicatedthatanatomical- clearwar?Thoughmostwouldbe l y m o d e r n h u m a n s c o u l d b e harmfulor fatal,mightsomemutatraced back to an originalmoth- t i o n sa c t u a l l yb e b e n e f i c i a l P ? ere r , d u b b e d E v e , t h o u g h i t m a y h a p s s e l e c t i n gf o r i m m u n i t yf r o m havebeena groupof relatedwom- some of the effects?What about e n w h o e v o l v e da , g a i ni n A f r i c a , n a n o i i n o n n i n a o r i n n ? less than 200 000 years ago. T h e r ea r e n o m o r e N e a n d e r T h o s ee a r l ym o d e r nh u m a n sa r e t h a l s h r r ta r c t h e r c s t i i la f e w genes?Weretheyrethoughtto havemigratedto allthe Neanderthal r e s t o f t h e w o r l d ,c o m p l e t e l yr e - p l a c e do r a s s i m i l a t e dW ? o u l dw e p l a c i n gt h e e x i s t i n gp o p u l a t i o n s . s h a r eo u rw o r l dw i t ha n o t h e rk i n d Thattheoryhas been disputed o f i n t e l l i g e nht u m a nb e i n g ?O n e b y s o m e p a l e o a n t h r o p o l o g i s t st h a t m i g h tm a k e u s t h e n e x t N e who haveexaminedskullsof ear- a n d e r t h a l sT?h e t h o u g h ti s f a s c i lierforms.suchas H. erectus,par- n a t i n gt o c o n s i d e r .O n e c o u l d t i c u l a r l yi n A s i a .a n d f o u n d i n d i - even imaginestories. . . OO