This is a reflection of a documentary I have watched about humans before we us, or our ancestors . The documentary is very interesting and it shows how we found what our ancestors were like in terms of physical appearance and biologically. It shows us how scientist came to know about how humans were like physically before this period.
The documentary begins with a person finding bones in 1856. They were found by a man in a cave in Germany. The man found bones, which included a skull which did not look like an animal's or and human's, and it had a big nose. It was called the Neanderthal(40000 years). Its height was 5ft 5 in, weight 175 lbs, brain size 1400cc, and it dwelled in caves. The Neanderthal was very buff and strong, and it lived on meat which it obtained through hunting. It had a keen sense of smell, which allowed it to tell animals apart by their droppings. At that moment it seemed like man had evolved from this creature, and it was thought man evolved from apes, but in actual fact they did not.
The scientist then expanded their search from Europe to South East Asia. The search was known as the 'missing league'. A man even sacrificed his job in Sumatra to search for the 'missing league', however it failed. Another search was conducted in 1891. More skulls which looked like that of apes but were not were found. These skulls were that of the Java man, or Homo Eructus. They were around 6ft tall, weighed 165lbs, brain size 900cc and they dwelled in rock shelters. They also fed on meat. They had lesser hair all over their bodies, and had more sweat glands.
The scientists then began to change their search focus to Europe again, this time Britain. They found more and more skulls and finally managed to come up with a perfect model of the human ape skull. After that, they changed back their focus to South Africa, Johannesburg. Their search was fruitful, and they yielded a brain filled with fossilized sand. It was known as Tuang. Its height was 3ft 6 in, weighed 75lbs, brain size 440cc, and it dwelled in the Savannah.
After that, they then went to the Valley in Ethopia in search for the earliest human ancestors. They found nothing, and wanted to stop but decided to go to another part of Ethopia to search. After awhile, they found a fossilized arm bone, and that was the end of the documentary.
I found the document very interesting and it teaches me about how humans came to be about. It shows how science is used to deduce that the bones were that of the Neanderthal and the Java Man. It is also a bit of history as I know about the pass. Humans are continuously finding out about new things about ourselves every day.
