Wednesday, November 2, 2016
Haley Reading Group: Digging Through the World’s Oldest Graveyard
[Best American Science and Nature Writing]
By Cynthia A. Campbell
Amy Maxmen’s article “Digging Through the World’s Oldest Graveyard” highlights paleoanthropologists Zeresenay Alemseged and Berhane Asfaw’s expeditions to locate fossils and human skeletal remains in Ethiopia. Maxmen illuminates the discovery of and process of dating the human remains found. Ultimately, the article speaks to Ethiopia being this significant geographical region in understanding the evolution of humans.
Maxmen’s discussion of Ardi (Ardipithecus ramidus) was especially enlightening. At one point, Maxmen notes that “the analysis took 15 years and 47 researchers to paint a full picture of…and her surroundings” (184). This point indicates the intricacies and painstaking efforts of thorough research.
After reading Maxmen’s article, what was one point concerning the various species discovered that caught your attention? Why was that point or passage notable to you? Please provide a page number citation.
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There were many notable ideas in this article but the one that stuck out to me was the comment: "Lucy's skull size indicated that her brain developed slowly through early childhood, a distinct characteristic of humans from long before modern humans evolved." p 180. It is so amazing how closely related we are to apes and the lessons we can learn about ourselves, even when we weren't evolved yet. It is also very interesting to think that we are so closely related but our differences set us far apart.
One particular aspect of this reading that I found fascinating is the social-cognitive intelligence of other species. Humans are very skilled, and we are known for being able to use our surroundings and create tools to adapt our surroundings. The article mentions the following, but kind of just skips over the most fascinating part of the article, in my view. On page 187, the author states the following, "Other tool-wielding animals, such as orangutans and dolphins, show a degree of social intelligence, but humans are far better at it." I can picture a species like an orangutan is plausible to me; however, I cannot fathom what objects dolphins would be able to utilize to their advantage. This brings up that other life on Earth are intelligent and have different (sometimes far greater) abilities than us. Humans just do not have the capacity of physiology to comprehend how other creatures think or communicate with one another and with other species.
This article consisted of interesting discoveries right from the beginning. On page 180, Lucy is mentioned as being discovered in 1974. I was surprised that I had not heard of this particular discovery before reading this article. "Her ancient skeleton's partially human, partially chimpanzee features were a clear indication of our descent from the apes" (180). This blew my mind, and not because I do not believe in evolution or anything like that but because I had no idea that something like this had been discovered... and especially to have been discovered in recent years.
on page 184, when Suwa and his team were reconstructing a skeleton, it took them 15 YEARS and 47 researchers to complete. I think it's crazy how the search for fossils and their reconstruction could take so long and require so many people's assistance. In this day and age, we are accustomed to the idea that when we are buried, our skeletons will remain intact, but for those in the older time periods, that was never a guarantee.
Evolution is very intriguing to me and I wished I had more knowledge on the subject. The text stated that Lucy's features and characteristics were evidence of our descent from apes. To think that certain species on this planet are related is mind-boggling. In the middle of page 180 the article says,"In December of 2000 one of the men spotted the top of a skull the size of a small orange in the dirt. Slowly, over a period of years, he and his colleagues carefully unearthed a petite skeleton of a child who had likely died in a flood and been buried in soft sand, 3.3 million years ago." It's incredible how people can take something so small and find great meaning behind it. This leads me to believe that size does not determine something's significance or importance.
- Sierra Taylor
Amy Maxmen depicted many ideas and discoveries that the ethiopian researchers have contributed to our recent knowledge of Homo sapiens and Australopithecus afarensis species. One of the most interesting ideas that she emphasized in a conversation with Alemseged is how long the Australopithecus afarensis species lived "Individuals belonging in Lucy's and Selam's species have been found in layers dating from almost 4 million to 3 million years ago. That means that they lasted five times the duration of our own species so far 'Can we do at least as good as this primitive species?' Alemsegad asked" (182). This infers that for longer than our species has thrived on this planet a species that is described as primitive was productive and successful enough to stay alive for all of those years. It is amazing to think of what was learned and deduced by that species as they lived. Along with great skill and natural instinct must have possessed a high amount of intellectual capabilities that enabled them to achieve and live for so long.
I found this article very interesting. It was a throwback to my anthropology class in high school, where we learned a lot about Lucy and other first humans. The most interesting aspect of this article, was the ending quote on page 190, where the author notions the idea that we as humans are all part of a long line. Hundreds and or thousands of years from now, we will becomes ancient. Archaeologists will be studying our bodily remains to compare to see how we've lived and learned in our society. That notion is really interesting to me.
-Asher Denkyirah
The article contained many fascinating ideas, but the one that caught my eye was on page 182: "Individuals belonging to Lucy's and Selam's species have been found in layers dating from almost 4 million to 3 million years ago. That means they lasted five times the duration of our own species so far." This made me wonder if today's humans can last even a fourth of the time Lucy's and Selam's species lived, and makes me question how they survived for so long.
There were many points that caught my attention, but what caught my attention the most was there were specifies found relating to Lucy and Selam dating back from 4 million to 3 million years ago (182). And they have lasted this long, it's amazing that scientists today can find and study the fossils that have been left behind.
This passage was very detailed with background information on the evolution of humankind. Most importantly, many individuals behind these discoveries were mentioned. You typically never hear of the geologists, paleontologists, and archaeologists who establish these findings and research projects. It was interesting to read about this. I was very surprised to see that some of the discoveries were fairly modern. This just shows me that science will always be current and relevant.
On page 180 the paragraph that talked about the child, Selam caught my attention because it says how he died from a flood and it just makes me think that the flood must have been really horrific and it makes me wonder how many other bodies are there that is hiding in sand from that flood and how long did it take for the flood damage to be recovered.
I found this article to be very interesting. As many others have said, I found page 180 notable when it mentioned Lucy who was discovered and appeared to be partially human and ape. I found this interesting because when I was younger, I was told that apes are the animals that humans evolved from, but as I got older and later into school I was taught that that was actually not true at all so I was a bit taken aback by this. This also made me think of all the different evolution theories out there. No matter what anyone believes, it is still truly amazing to think about how as humans, we were not always as we are today, but that we can go back and study how the world seemed to be so many millions of years ago.
Overall, this story was very intriguing. I found the 2nd paragraph on page 186 to be especially interesting because is gives a possible scenario of how Lucy might've lived in one afternoon. By using logic archeologist were able to completely construct a plausible way of how ancient humans, such as Lucy, lived.
Xavier J.
On page 180 I found it very interesting that Lucy's skeleton resembled that of a chimpanzee and human, this was notable because for years as a student the discussion of evolution was always very general with many different theories but no definite answer. With this discovery it brings a direct example and somewhat explanation of what the beginning of humans possibly looked like.
The line that caught my attention occurred on pg 180. it said,"slowly, over a period of years, he and his colleagues carefully unearthed a petite skeleton of a child who had likely died in a flood and been buried in soft sand, 3.3 million years ago." I just think it is so interesting how much can be discovered about these ancient creatures just from their bones. He was able to tell when she died, how she died, and what species she belonged to just from her remains.
The part in this passage that caught my attention was on page 180 when the author, Amy Maxmen, talks about when paleontologist Donald Johansen discovered the half chimpanzee half human skeletal features. And the other part that caught my attention was when Alemseged discovered the "petite skeleton of a child who had likely died in a flood and been buried in soft sand, 3.3 million years ago," (p.180). These passages caught my attention because it shows how we have evolved over time and are finding traces as more and more things are being uncovered. And it is shown by "the size of her [Selam] suggested that her brain developed slowly through early childhood, a distinct characteristic of humans from long before modern humans evolved."
One passage just really put into perspective how things are and how much we have evolved. On page 188 it says, "The moment you start walking on two legs, the moment you start farming, the moment you domesticate the dog, these are major landmark moments into our history, which made us who we are today." And this story just shows you and gives you so much knowledge on how much we relate to our ancestors and how close we are to these animals more than we realize and this story just shows so much within these few pages and just really opens your mind.
Based off all the research conducted, i think the most interesting species to learn about is our own. The amount of research and facts they can tell us about ourselves and our ancestors is really impressive. On page 186, Maxmen describes a possible scenario that could've occurred with Lucy, stating "During one afternoon, Lucy might have come across the fresh carcass of an antelope. Famished for a meal beyond insects and roots, she might have paused to examine it's succulent flesh." She continues the paragraph depicting the rest of the situation, inferring different outcomes and saying what happened. I find it so appealing learning about how far evolution has came, and speculating what things used to be like.
The section that caught my attention was that it took the researchers 15 years to reconstruct the head of the species, which is a very long time. And what makes it even more amazing is that the researchers continued to work hard on reconstructing the skull and that it took so long to keep answers they were yearning for.
The part that caught my attention came from page 180. "Colleagues carefully unearthed a petite skeleton of a child wha had likely died in a flood and buried 3.3 million years ago". Myself personally I find it interesting because it makes me wonder how the can tell so much about someone that dudes that long ago. I also makes me wonder was Africa was the place of our very first human ancestors? (ape).
Maxmen’s article introduced to me vast amount of information about archeologists and their findings. The point that stood out to me about the species was on page 180 where they discussed Selma and her build. In the text it stated “ Selam’s gorillash shoulder blades and long fingers betrayed a penchant for swinging on branches”. This point was notable to me because I found it interesting how much they were able to find out about her and her environment from her bones. This point was also interesting because Selam is the earliest child in the history of humanity.
One of the parts that I found interesting was when they were talking about finding marks in the bones of animals, suggesting that tools were being used more than 3.39 million years ago (187). Scientists originally thought that people hadn't used tools until around 2.6 million years ago. This article was interesting to read because it helps us understand how things were in ancient times.
Deborrah B.
What caught my attention was the fact that the artifacts have been there for millions of years through many different conditions. On page 179 it mentioned earthquakes, tectonic plates pulling apart, and molten magma yet the fossils still remains there. Its like the fossils are an indestructible part of earth.
What caught my attention was the fact that the artifacts have been there for millions of years through many different conditions. On page 179 it mentioned earthquakes, tectonic plates pulling apart, and molten magma yet the fossils still remain there. I am amazed at how indestructible the fossils are.
What caught my attention was the fact that the artifacts have been there for millions of years through many different conditions. On page 179 it mentioned earthquakes, tectonic plates pulling apart, and molten magma yet the fossils still remains there. I am amazed at how indestructible the fossils are.
Selam on page 180 stuck out the most only because she was a child. The description of her body' the shoulders and fingers, just seemed really interesting. I'm curious as to what she looked like fleshed out. The mention of other animals that used tools (dolphins) was also interesting but I don't care that humans are superior. I think the phenomenon is cool regardless of its stage in effectiveness. I'm waiting for cats to start using tools as well as humans do.
-Que'rra
I think reading about all of the various species discovered was very intriguing. Reading how the bones were traced to ancient humans was interesting in itself especially from scientific standpoint. Very early it caught my eye when it read, "Alemseged was headed to the most dangerous spot within the Afar, which even Indiana Jones types avoided because of constant conflicts between local tribes" (179). This just showed how serious the hunter was about this research.
In reading "Digging Through the World's Oldest Graveyard" by Amy Maxmen, I realized how interesting and intricate of a concept evolution is. The most fascinating ideas that I read was found on page 182 where Maxmen writes, "Individuals belong to Lucy's and Selam's species hae been found in layers dating from almost 4 million to 3 million years ago." The article goes on to explain that this time duration is five the duration of its own species so far - which absolutely blows my mind considering the time span human lives are given.
-Sandra Yokley
The one point in the article that caught my attention was that they found so many ancestors in Ethiopia. Also the fact that the palentologists and researchers were so persistent in discovering new fossils they were willing to risk their lives to venture to unsafe territories in Ethopia. I'm very interested in field research and the amount of passion and dedication they put into their field really caught my attention. (180-185).
On page 180 it says "Selam's gorillaish shoulder blades and long fingers betrayed a penchant for swinging on branches, but bones at the base of her head showed that she held it upright..." I thought this was interesting between it shows the similarities yet also the difference between the species. I can also see how Selam's species was like modern humans and chimpanzee's so we can see where the split happened and what the big differences were. It is interesting to see where and how we evolved from chimps.
-Maya Searcy
One of the more noticeable parts of this passage occurred when the team discovered a bone from Ardipithecus at the Suwa site (183). That must be an overwhelming feeling to know that you accomplished such a feat. It is always amazing when human beings find out where we come from and who we descend from. Great passage.
The point I don't think so if you don't want to. I think letting him know you're out here insinuates that you want to see him and then if he doesn't make it to see him or if he makes it his business to see you you'll be put in a state of vulnerability....or passage that was most notable was on page 181. It talks about Darwin's hunch and how it turned out to be true. I think it's interesting that it took 100 years to confirm Darwin's idea.
- Tiera Williams
After reading this passage, a point that was found most notable to me is on page 187. After describing some physical features of Australopithecus afarensis, Maxmen went on to say, "preliminary studies on Austraolopithecus afarensis suggest that their brains were relatively advanced compared with apes' brains, with an expanded area in a front region of the brain called the prefrontal cortex - an area where intentions are processed" (Maxmen 187). When I thought about this section, it made me wonder about their level of cognition and things that they were able to do that modern day people may not expect.
What caught my attention was the chimpanzees' and orangutans' use of tools, and how that relates to the Australopithecus afarensis 2.6 million years ago. Without the use of these tools, we wouldn't be here today(186). All of these connections made between humans and apes is fascinating. Makes me wonder when we started to evolve. What parented these evolving chimps? Another thing that interests me is the abundance of fossils in Ethiopia.
Brandon N.
One point stood out to me conscerning the various deiscovery of species was the point that Alemseged pointed out to arcgeologists. Alemseged tells the archeologist that their perception of of stone tools may be wrong, and he was right becasue after Alemsegad and archeologists revisited Dikika, their new way of perceiving stone tools enabled them to find evidence of stone tools existing 800,000 years earlier than people had originally thought. "In Particular a rib from a large cow and a thighbone from a small antelope bore marks the experts identified as different from the rest. A sharpened stone could account for their width." (187) So, all along, archeologist should have been searching for the marks left behind by a tool rather than the actual thing.
--Aliyah J.
After reading this article, one point concerning the various species that were discovered that caught my attention was the fact that the archaeologists had found a member of Lucy's species(page 180) and discovered various ways that this genus used for survival. I found this so interesting because I never know that there was any evidence other than Lucy found to prove this "ancestor" of humans, so archaeologists say.
On page 181, I found it fascinating that he had traveled to Ethiopia in search for humankind's history and fate. There have been many claims that human trait came straight from there and its regions. He is very serious about what he believes in and his research to travel there.
"If individuals had the foresight to make stone tools, they might have also had the ability to teach one another how to do it... the origin of exceptional "social-cognitive" intelligence" pg. 187 I found this part interesting because it was saying that the group of species were able to serve by working together. These groups or species had to work together in order to live in the harsh environments that they were in. Even though this was millions years ago, the idea of collaboration and unity was essential. From what I see today that is not always the case. I think we, as a people, need to start working together again for a common good.
Gabriel M.
The aspect that I found to be most interesting was the fact that they have found species relating back to about 4 million years ago (182). This not only shows that there was truly existence of life such a long time ago, but this also shows that there is effective technology that can be used to carefully discover and date these discoveries back to there correct time. This seems quite amazing to me.
The discovery of Selam was most interesting to me. On page 180, it says "That discovery was 100 percent Ethiopian. It was by Ethiopians, on Ethiopian land, led by an Ethiopian scientist." I found this interesting because the discovery was a very big accomplishment due to the people who worked on the discovery. It shows how their hard work led to a great success.
Nia O.
What I found most interesting about this article was that, on page 180, remains have been found that show both simian and human characteristics coupled with the remains found to be approximately 4 million years old (page 182). I couple these ideas because we expect evolution to be a mechanism that occurs over a long span of time, but humans cannot feasibly understand what 4 million years means. Link species happen at some point over those millions of years and the existence of specimens that are millions of years old shows this. I can appreciate the contributions to the fossil record that these findings provided.
Ive always had an interest in anthropology and related subjects so was a great read for me! I especially like page 186 I believe that talked about Lucy. I find it so interesting that they are able to decifer what a day in the life was like for Lucy. It makes me wonder what the future will be like for me. At some point I will be considered an ancient fossil. It would be so cool to see what future archaeologists and anthropologists will gather from data collected from me or really any one from this century.
on page 187, the passage points out a stone tool that was made over "800,000 years earlier than when paleontologists thought it arose." Often times, we don't think about the scope of the world we live in, and just focus on today. The fact that the people/animals that roamed the world 800,000 years ago were advanced enough to make tools is awe-inspiring.
Jasmine Williams
The quote on the end of page 190 really stuck out to me. I remember learning about the different types of pre human species in my anthropology 111A class. The quote stook out to me because every now and then I think about the future of planet Earth, if humans will have a place here, and if so what that place will be like. I realize that if we do have a place, I think that because of our advanced coffins, future humans will have better Insight on how we were and how they have evolved since us.
-Rodrick Robins
through reading this article I found this passage very interesting for many reasons. The first was that all the discoveries were made by Ethiopians. This really touched my heart because I am adopted from Ethiopia. I have always known my nation to be a strong, independent, and very capable country and people but I feel sometimes others don't see this; because they see the country as a poverty stricken place. the quote that really stood out to me was on page 189. "I realized just how fragile the scattered remains of our past are. they are constantly under threat by development..., conflict..., and global warming .... Ironically, our exceptional tool making skills now threaten to lead us toward eventual demise." this quote really stood out to me because I had never realized that as we try to make things better for ourselves and develop we are in all actuality destroying ourselves.
The part that caught my attention the most concerning the various species discovered was on page 185 when Maxmen discussed Amy Rector's view on learning about the species. "She reconstructs the context in which our ancient family members evolved by studying the animals surrounding them. 'I ask myself what hominids might have seen when they woke up, what was going to eat them, where did they run to get away?" (185). Most of the time people don't even think about that; they just want to learn more about how humans came about and try to find human remains.
However, Rector proved a point by realizing that a step to learning more about our ancestors comes from what surrounded them and how they survived. You learn so much from just human remains, but if you can discover other elements that contributed to their environment it makes findings more interesting.
Jade H.
This article teaches an excellent lesson on the patience and persistence of many. It speaks of the dedication and hard work of several like-minded people and gathers their skill sets and resources. It forges a collection of thoughts, ideas and discoveries and leads to a depth in analysis that could easily go unappreciated.
Page 185 talks about using surroundings to infer information. I see great value in this. While we may not have all the pieces given to us to construct a complete idea, we can use the things and people around us to spur us on into greater depth and richness.
I find the speculations on pages 185-187 to be the most interesting. Humans are now apex predators as there are no other predators that specifically hunt humans in the same way that a lion hunts a gazelle or a cat chases a mouse. Yet our ancestors such as Lucy could have possibly been prey for some prehistoric animal such as a hyena or crocodile. It's interesting to think about as most people probably forget that there was a time where we were also the hunted instead of the hunter.
What stood out to me in this article occurred on page 188. The quote I am speaking of is an idea proposed by Shannon McPherson in order to explain the gap between stone tool use and larger brain sizes. She said "...the gap might have occured if various individuals figured out how to use stone tools independently, repeatedly over time, but never passed the knowledge on." I think this is interesting because it shows the intellectual level species had even then.
-Sydnee T.
In the beginning article, what stood out to me initially was when Zeray and his colleagues found Selam. Throughout the article, he emphasized the fact that the discovery was "100% Ethiopian", discoveries being found "on Ethiopian land", and research also led by Ethiopian scientists (180). What stood out for me is his Ethiopian pride. I'm Ethiopian and can relate to the happiness and pride due to the contributions of Ethiopians actively involved in the discovery of new skeletons/fossils! I also loved how the different researchers (white, japanese, etc.) contributed something different and came together to finally paint a picture of a new skull, later named Chad (184).
-Belainesh N.
On page 180, it talks about the finding of Selam which caught my attention because Alemseged had made such a monumental discovery despite the fact that the expedition itself was so underfunded and very dangerous. He chose to be an outlier among anthropologists and scientists not going where the money was but instead where his heart took him. I found it inspiring that all his hard work and determination paid off when he could have lost everything on this expedition.
One thing that caught my attention in this passage was on pg. 180, the part where they find the skeleton to be resembling a human as well as a chimpanzee. I found this most interesting because my first semester in college I took an anthropology class that discussed the life of chimpanzees as well as whether or not humans and primates are in any way connected.
There were many interesting ideas in this chapter. The point that really caught my attention was when the author mentioned that Lucy appeared to be partially human and partially ape. I found this interesting as it shows the start of human evolution. I was also intrigued that living species can be dated back to 4 million years ago and that researchers can properly trace this species to that time. The last point that I found interesting was that it took 15 years and 47 researchers to completely reconstruct the skeleton. I would have never guessed that it have took that long and that many people to complete that task.
I really thought that the progression that we learned about was very interesting. We learned about "Lucy" and how she could've possibly fallen prey to a animal that is no longer around. In this day and age we have no predators like this and we also don't have to worry about our bodies one day becoming a object of scientific research.
(p. 188) What was interesting to me was the correlation between brain size and technological advancements. However, tools were being used before the increase of brain size. It makes me think of the infinite possibilities of the human brain and it makes me wonder if brain size will be increased 100, 400, and 1,000 years from now. Also, it makes me wonder if brain size is increased by technological advancements or if technological advancements are the result of increased brain size. Whatever the case may be, it makes me proud to have a big head (big brain).
Shelby Washington
A notable entity in this particular reading was the discovery of "Selam" on pg. 180. I found the way they could just look at her bone structure and determine her posture and possible daily activities immensely interesting.
A point that stood out to me the most was the discovery of Lucy (180). I first heard about her in the 6th grade and has been in the back of my mind since then. They found that there were many similar characteristics to the modern day human such as brain growth through early life. She was also very similar to apes too, which could show the mental capacity of apes.
What stood out to me was that on page 180, Lucy was discovered to be half chimpanzee and human. I don't remember when but I do remember talking about this subject in high school. It was very interesting go here about this again because she had similar characteristics to humans.
-Curtis Tallie
A part the stuck out to me was the last paragraph. "When considering how long the oldest members of our family survived before they went extinct, it's impossible not to reflect on our own species' fate."(Maxmen, 190) This it true because our species has been surviving for a long time so that puts pressure on us to keep our species surviving. The only way to do this is to preserve the planet and start taking care of each other. "We have the ability to reverse the damage we've done and push thing forward."
-Christopher Ukachukwu
The passage where Alemseged explains why his colleagues biased mindset with the unexpectedly older stone tools. In the article Alemseged says, " if you were to look for proof of telephones a century ago, he said, you'd miss them if you expected them to look like [an iPhone]." (186) Scientist always claim to be unbiased, but usually look for a foreseeable result when performing an experiment.
The part of the article that stood out the most to me was the discovery of Selam (180). I have heard about Lucy before being that she was discovered in 1974, but I had no idea that a discovery of such magnitude had happened as recently as 2000. Another point that interested me in the discovery of Selam was the sense of pride Alemseged had when he said, 'That discovery was 100 percent Ethiopian. It was by Ethiopians, on Ethiopian land, led by an Ethiopian scientist."(180) It shows the pride and love he has for his country.
The part that stood out the most is the amount of limitations that the researchers were facing. Because of the technological limitations in Ethiopia, its only so far the researchers could go. Even though the technology in Ethiopia is not as advanced, they have made amazing archaeological advancements. If technology was the same across, how powerful of an impact would Ethiopia make?
The part of Maxmen's story that interested me the most was on page 188, were she talked about the brain. I was not aware that people's brains used to be smaller over 2.5 million years ago. She correlated the growth of brain size to tools and technology. Years ago, stone tools were the cause of brain growth, but now technology has advanced so much. It just makes me wonder if brains will keep growing.
at the bottom of page 181 through the top of 182,Amy explains how the history and ancestry of the world and organisms can be calculated and analyzed. This is very interesting because the amount of history that can be analyzed from just the rocks we step on and don't think twice about is fascinating. The truth about human ancestry is literally beneath our feet, especially in Africa where humanity most likely started.
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