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Earliest Africa: The Cradle of Humankind

© Jessica Powers

Africa originally was a much larger continent known as "Gondwanaland." About 130 million years ago, parts of it broke off and became South America, Australia, and India in a geological phenomenon known as "continental drift," a phenomenon that relies on an understanding of the theory of "plate tectonics." The earth's surface is broken up into "plates." These plates pull apart or smash together, creating such geological processes as earthquakes or, in this case, continental drift.

When Charles Darwin first published his theory that African was the "cradle of humankind," it provoked outrage. Part of this was simply religious opposition to the idea of evolution. But another part of it was racist ideology-Europeans simply found the idea that their ancestors came from black Africa to be disgusting. But, in fact, Africa is the birth of humankind, the source of our mythological Eden. And it is quite likely the birthplace of the most important technology developed in early human prehistory. Without those earliest developments, we would not live the way we do.

No one is quite certain when or how we evolved. Humans today are the only surviving species of "hominids"-bipedal creature with enlarged brains. However, at one time, there were several species of hominids. Our earliest known ancestors are called australopithecines; early remains, dating back 1.5-4 million years ago, were found in Ethiopia and South Africa as early as 1925. Most of the evidence for "early humans" relied on fragments but in 1998, scientists discovered a complete skeleton near Johannesburg that dated to about 3.5 million years ago. There was a "robust" lineage and a "gracile" lineage. The "gracile" lineage evolved into the genus we called "homo"-with a larger cranium and a change in the use of hands and teeth. As early as 2.5 million years ago, this "gracile" group began making stone tools, which they could use for cutting and scraping. This could possibly be our earliest known ancestors.

Until 1950, although there had been discoveries of fossilized remains in Africa, few accepted that humankind began in Africa. The discoveries by the Leakeys at Olduvai Gorge changed that. Olduvai is located in the southeastern section of the Serengeti in northern Tanzania. A German professor, visiting the area, fell down Olduvai's cliff in 1911, recognized that there might be some geological significance to it, and reported back to geologists in Dar es Salaam. Geologist Hans Reck spent three months there, collecting fossils and an almost complete skeleton. Louis Leakey was a young archeologist at the time, but in 1931 collaborated with Reck in an expedition to Olduvai Gorge. During the 1930s, Leakey, along with his wife Mary, explored and excavated Olduvai, carting away thousands of stone tools and fossilized bones to Nairobi. They didn't return to the Gorge until 1951. Finally, in 1959, they discovered a skull of a robust australopithecine, nicknamed "Dear Boy." The skull was radiometrically dated at 1.8 million years old and its discovery meant that the Leakeys now had financial support to continue doing what they were doing.

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