The origins of Homo sapiens and our world of symbols
€ 3.00Today all the data converges to indicate that our species, Homo sapiens, first appeared in East Africa, approximately 200,000 years ago. Based on the evolutionary theory of “punctuated equilibrium”, we can hypothesise that the geographical and genetic isolation of a population is an essential requisite for macro-evolutionary phenomena such as the appearance of a new species. The mutation of a regulatory gene may have brought about important modifications in the nervous system too, with an adaptive capacity that distinguished the new species from its environment and from other human species. These ideas all find striking support in the world of symbols and the most ancient examples of rock art and decoration that accompany the establishment of Homo sapiens and its spread across the planet. These are testament to the appearance of an interior, symbolic and conscious inner world, one no longer concerned with survival alone.
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Giorgio Manzi, an anthropologist and palaeontologist, is professor in the Department of Environmental Biology at Sapienza University of Rome where he directs the “Giuseppe Sergi” Museum of Anthropology belonging to the Sapienza Museum Network. He teaches human ecology and evolution. Associated editor of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, member of the scientific committee of the Paleoanthropological School of the University of Perugia, he was previously General Secretary of the Italian Institute of Human Palaeontology. His scientific research focuses on questions of palaeoanthropology, functional morphology and biology of ancient human populations. He works with daily newspapers, periodical publications, radio and TV shows. His publications include: La scienza delle nostre origini (with C. Tuniz and D. Caramelli, Laterza, 2013); Homo Sapiens (2006); L’evoluzione umana (2007); Il grande racconto dell’evoluzione umana (2013); and Ultime notizie sull’evoluzione umana (2017) for the publisher il Mulino.
Giorgio Manzi & i Dialoghi
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