PROBLEM 5. The Stages of Mans Development on the Earth 



sn 



is less primitive than long-headedness, 

 which of the stocks is most advanced? 

 The answer is none, for each stock in- 

 cludes one race M'hich has the round 

 head form. And so it goes for all the 

 other characteristics. At present, studies 

 seem to indicate no superiority in bodily 

 form of one stock over another. 



Perhaps vou think some races are su- 

 perior to others in intelligence. Again 

 anthropologists who have tried to dis- 

 cover facts are not ready to agree. We 

 may be sure that we differ from the 

 other races and stocks in mental traits as 

 well as in physical traits. It is easy to 

 note differences; but it is difficult to 

 prove superiority. It is impossible to 

 measure and compare intelligence in peo- 

 ple of different cultures. This should not 

 surprise you for you know that "intel- 

 ligence," as we loosely use the word, de- 

 pends on the combination of two fac- 

 tors: the genes and the environment. We 

 have no evidence that people of certain 

 races are born mentally superior. There 

 is much evidence that they differ be- 

 cause of their cultures. Let us be careful 

 not to draw comparisons when we 

 know there are no facts on which to 

 base our opinions or statements. 



Man is still in the making. We have 

 read that man has been in the making^ 

 for at least 1,000,000 years. Modern man. 

 Homo sapiens, has left his bones on the 



earth only a tiny fraction of this time, 

 about 25,000 years. All other species 

 have become extinct. Just as man has 

 been long in the making, the culture of 

 modern man has been long in the mak- 

 ing. The Old Stone Age lasted until some 

 time after the arrival of Homo sapiens. 

 It was followed by a much shorter New 

 Stone Age, and that was followed in 

 rapid succession by the Bronze Age and 

 the Iron Age. 



Modern men, though belonging to one 

 species, have differences. For conven- 

 ience they are divided into three main 

 stocks (Caucasoid, Negroid, and Mon- 

 goloid) and the stocks are further di- 

 vided into races, according to certain 

 physical traits. The members of these 

 different races may intermarry and thus 

 the sharp line between races tends to 

 break down. This has gone on for thou- 

 sands of years and is still going on. Will 

 there be more merging of different 

 races? Can we expect changes to occur 

 in man? As there have been changes in 

 all living things in the past history of the 

 earth, we may expect tliat changes will 

 continue to occur. Cultures, too, have 

 changed throughout the period of man's 

 existence on the earth. Therefore we 

 expect cultures to merge and 



may 



merge 



o 



change even more rapidly now than in 

 the past. Man's physical form and man's 

 culture are still in the making. 



Questions 



1. Give the classification of man startingr with class and ending with 

 species. How many species of man are now in existence? 



2. Give two reasons why relatively few fossils of man have been found. 



3. Define the words "artifact" and "culture." Explain how we can learn 

 about prehistoric man in ways other than studying fossils. 



