Difference between modern and ancient man.

When and where did the first homo sapiens (thinking man) appear? Modern research claims that this happened about 200-250 thousand years ago in the jungles of South Africa. In any case, it was then that there were already beings who were no different from us. However, the human race began much earlier - there were "heroes of their time" before us. Therefore, an inquisitive researcher always wants to know: what is the difference between modern man and ancient man, and how deeply?

First, let's define the terms. In this article, we will look at the differences between us and our closest predecessor, the Neanderthal. Scientists often call him ancient man. We ourselves are called Cro-Magnons and practically do not differ from our distant ancestors, but there are differences with Neanderthals, and significant ones.

Note. In Europe, the appearance of people with the features of a protonanderthal dates back to a time interval of 350-600 thousand years ago, and the last Neanderthals disappeared about 25-35 thousand years ago.

The fact is that, despite the almost complete biological similarity, there are many nuances that distinguish the modern "gentleman" (Cro-Magnon) from his ancestor (Neanderthal). This applies to both the appearance and the emotional and spiritual component of people who lived hundreds of thousands of years ago.

As a reference, let us clarify that in the scientific world for more than a decade there have been heated debates on the topic of whether we are really direct descendants of Neanderthals. Someone considers them an independent branch of the human race, someone - an evolutionary step located immediately below us. There are facts confirming both hypotheses. We are not competent enough to challenge anyone's theories. Therefore, we will adhere to the classical view that Neanderthals are our immediate progenitors, at least until the opposite is irrefutably proved.

Relatives? Or not?

We meet by dress...

If we consider the ancient man from a medical point of view, then he is almost completely identical to the modern one. Of course, there are some differences, but they do not play a significant role. However, there are obvious external discrepancies that cannot be ignored. Let's briefly dwell on the main differences:

  • The structure of the skull. The forehead was low and sloping. Powerful brow ridges. The gray matter was already quite voluminous - much larger than that of a monkey, and even slightly exceeding the volume of the brain of a modern man. Small, sloping chin.
  • Long front limbs, characteristic forward bend - however, we are still not a monkey, but a man. High body hairiness, but no longer hair.
  • Poorly developed speech apparatus. Ancient man communicated using a primitive set of sounds, expressing a small number of the most necessary signals - anxiety, anger, threat or love signs.
  • Broader and thicker bone. Strong jaw capable of tearing large pieces of meat.

If we combine everything that we have listed into one image, then we will see that the ancient man is very similar to a monkey. But, despite this, he stands above her on the evolutionary step and at the same time below us. On what basis did we draw this conclusion? We read on.

Note. In order not to overload the article with repetitions, we will give a description of the appearance of a modern person below, in a comparative table.

Seeing off the mind...

And now we turn to the most interesting and essential features of the primitive, which clearly demonstrate the difference between modern man and ancient man.

  • The developed speech apparatus is of great importance. Moreover, its advancement depends on the level of thinking, skills and knowledge, life experience and skills accumulated and transmitted by previous generations. Therefore, human speech is not only a wide or narrow set of words, sound signals. It is an indicator of intelligence, ability to think, to build logical connections between various phenomena and events.
  • In ancient man, all these things, which were quite common for us, were in their infancy. In most cases, he could not link two similar phenomena into one chain, and as a result, many of his actions differed little from the reactions of ordinary representatives of the animal world. The ancient man was somewhat like a small child who does not have adult parents who can pass on their experience and skills to him. He was frozen in this stage for the rest of his life. The accumulation of experience and progress along the evolutionary ladder lasted tens of thousands of years.
  • Accordingly, ancient man's thinking was based on the emotional side, creating an uncontrolled reaction to the world around him, based primarily on instincts. Logic, rationalism, common sense, which often suppress our instincts - all this was absent from our primitive ancestor, or was in the initial stage of development.
  • And, perhaps, another very important stage - social relations in society. Modern man is brought up on a huge number of social and social attitudes, which for most of us, if possible, only in exceptional circumstances. For ancient man, there was only one law - the law of the pack. He did not have any moral values ​​or virtues. In this respect, ancient people remained at the animal level for a long time.

All of the above brings us to the idea that the fundamental differences between modern people and the ancients lie not in the field of "matter", but in the field of "spirit". It remains only to arrange all the facts in the comparative table.

Comparison

Once again we want to emphasize that the article does not present a full-fledged scientific analysis, but only a generalization and comparison of long-known facts.

Table

Ancient man Modern man
External differences:
  1. A flattened forehead, developed superciliary arches, strong jaws, a small sloping chin.
  2. Bipedal locomotion with forward bend. Long, knee-length arms. Slouch.
  3. Abundant hair, in places similar to wool.
  4. Heavy, massive skeleton
External differences:
  1. High forehead, moderately developed brows and relatively weak jaws with a well-defined chin.
  2. Strictly upright posture, stoop is a sign of illness. Proportionally developed body.
  3. Hair cover is present in a very small degree (in comparison), and many contemporaries do not have it at all.
  4. Relatively light, narrow bone
Primitive speech apparatus. However, it is already significantly superior to that in the most developed animalsWell-developed speech. There is not a single animal species in the world that, at least from a distance, was similar to modern man in this aspect
Primitiveness of thinking. Lack of logical and rational thinking. Complete obedience to instincts and emotional impulsesDeep, multilevel thinking. Modern man is (mostly) guided by common sense and logic, not feelings and emotions. In any case, it is quite capable of it
Social relations are at the lowest level. There are no fundamental concepts of good and evil. It all comes down to the herd instinctOur contemporary is entangled in social relations, conditions and dogmas. They are so ingrained in his soul that they often reach the level of natural instincts (among the best representatives of human civilization)

And yet we are of the same blood - you and me

As a result, we can safely say that modern man is significantly different from the ancient ancestor. Moreover, the main differences are not in biology and physical data, but in a spiritual, rational entity. However, no matter how scientists argue about the difference between modern man and ancient man, no matter how they prove that they and we are heaven and earth, the authors adhere to a different point of view. Despite all the differences, the ancient man is our ancestor, and the present "aristocrats of the spirit" owe their origin to him. Just hundreds of thousands of years ago, a person was very young and looked at the huge world around him with children's eyes. Today we are already adults and understand a lot. That's the whole difference. We have grown.

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