Who were our Human Ancestors?

by Brian Mariani

Model of Neanderthal Man, at one time thought to be human ancestors
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/feb/04/neanderthals-modern-humans-research

Were our early ancestors ape-like creatures and dumb cavemen or were they fully formed human beings created intelligently? Why do people think humans evolved from animals?

While an evolutionist would defend the ape-to-human evolution paradigm, citing various pieces of “evidence” throughout history and describing multiple transitional species along the long journey to homo sapiens, we believe that the correct interpretation of Scripture rules out all that conjecture.

As Genesis 1 describes, on day 6 of creation God made man and he was originally very intelligent and even walked with God. Man did not evolve from lower forms of human and was not a dumb caveman. In creation, God made man and ape as two different creatures.

“There are many differences between humans and apes that can be seen in fossil remains. These include the fact that humans walk erect and so have appropriate/distinctive knee and hip joints, backbone, toes, etc. Humans also have an opposable thumb, make and use sophisticated tools as well as fire, and engage in diverse creativity. They have a larger brain capacity than apes, smaller teeth set in parabolic or V-shaped, rather than U-shaped, jaws, and they sometimes write, paint or make and play musical instruments. Communication by language is another crucial difference, as is the ability to do mathematics. Other differences include the exercise of reason and free-will, rather than just instinct.”[i] Many of these characteristics obviously cannot be observed from fossils but are easily studied in the living species today.

Then why the confusion?

Imagine the fame, the prestige, and the money that follows the discovery of a new link in the chain of human evolution.Many evolutionists will find human and/or ape bones and claim them as human ancestors to get more funding for their research. “Evolutionists looking for evidence of apemen search for fossils that show anatomical features that look ‘intermediate’ between those of apes and humans, or that show some but not all of the above bodily characteristics. This has provided a fertile field for hoaxers.”[ii]

There have indeed been many human ancestor hoaxes that deceived even the scientific community and have been taught incorrectly for decades.

Reconstructed portrait of Piltdown Man
http://www.clarku.edu/~piltdown/map_intro/faked_foss_prim.html

• Piltdown Man was “’discovered’ in England from 1908 to 1912…and was probably the most quoted ‘evidence for evolution’ for around 40 years.” The evidence for Piltdown Man turned out to be a human skullcap matched with the lower jaw of an orangutan that were stained and filed to fit.[iii] 
• “The Illustrated London News for June 24, 1922, printed” Nebraska Man “as an upright-standing apeman, showing the shape of his body, head, nose, ears, hair, etc., together with his wife, domestic animals, and tools.” The evidence was one tooth, which later turned out to be a tooth from an extinct pig.[iv] 
• Ramepithecus was “once widely regarded as the ancestor of humans, it has now been realized that it is merely an extinct type of orangutan (an ape).”[v]

Beyond the hoaxes

An evolutionist article admits that “over decades excavating sites in Africa, researchers have named half a dozen different species of early human ancestor, but most, if not all, are now on shaky ground.”[vi] One of the problems is that the quality of the fossils are typically very poor and paleontologists base new species on minor details with fragments of skulls or other bones. Assumptions can play a huge factor as scientists glue the bone fragments back together.

In fact, this challenge is evident with one of the most famous human ancestors theorized in a partial skeleton: Australopithecus afarensis, otherwise affectionately known as Lucy. Some have claimed that Lucy is nearly 40% complete, but with only 47 pieces of bones and 206 in the modern human body, that percentage is closer to 20%.[vii]  

Different artist depictions of Lucy
https://answersingenesis.org/human-evolution/lucy/bringing-lucy-to-life/

Even the oldest bones of our supposed human ancestors (Orrorin tugenensis) only consist of 13 fossils that make up a partial femur, bits of a lower jaw and a few teeth. It is fascinating to read through evolutionary teaching and see the evidence that has been collected: fragmented bones and skulls. Assumptions, questions, and guesswork is abundant in this field of science.[viii]

Changing the Family Tree

Hominid species are classified by head shape, hip structure and other cues. At Dmanisi, Georgia, parts of five skulls were found; each of “these human skulls all had very different shapes, [and] they were buried together within a short time…Instead of showing different transitional human forms living at different times and leading up to modern humans, the fossilized remains at this site showed variation occurring at the same time. Assuming the remains were all human...these results end up ‘drastically simplifying the story of human evolution,’"[ix]

Tim White, an expert in human evolution admits that “some paleontologists see minor differences in fossils and give them labels, and that has resulted in the family tree accumulating a lot of branches...The Dmanisi fossils give us a new yardstick, and when you apply that yardstick to the African fossils, a lot of that extra wood in the tree is dead wood. It's arm-waving."[x]

 “If the Dmanisi fossils represent ancient humans, then they show that generations of experts in human evolution have spent effort, time, and research dollars arranging fossil fragments of human skulls into an evolutionary line of descent that never really existed.”[xi] “The theory of human evolution requires one or more missing links, so in the post-Darwin era many candidates have been put forward. Not one has stood the test of honest, rigorous investigation, as all have turned out to be from either an extinct ape or an extinct human.”[xii]

Conclusion

The Bible tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) – from the beginning of time, when God created man male and female in the garden (Matt. 19:4), to the child conceived this very minute. History tells the story of incredible intelligence, creativity, and skill all inherent in the lives of ancient builders, farmers, philosophers, and scientists.

We have not descended from mindless apes but were rather created and formed by the greatest mind of all!

Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation. Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever. (Psalm 111:1-3)

Read more about our amazing human ancestors!  

• Adam: Most Ancient of Men
• Noah: Man of Righteousness
• Joseph: Man of God
• Bezalel and Oholiab: A Tale of Two Craftsmen

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[i] Russell Grigg, Are there apemen in your ancestry?, December 2002, Creation 25(1):16-19, Creation Ministries International, http://creation.com/are-there-apemen-in-your-ancestry#lucys-bones, accessed August 28, 2014.

[ii] Ibid.

[iii] Ibid.

[iv] Ibid. .

[v] Is There Really Evidence that Man Descended from the Apes?, January 21, 1998, Answers in Genesis, https://answersingenesis.org/human-evolution/ape-man/is-there-really-evidence-that-man-descended-from-the-apes/, accessed August 28, 2014.

[vi] Ian Sample, Skull of Homo erectus throws story of human evolution into disarray, October 17, 2013, The Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/oct/17/skull-homo-erectus-human-evolution, accessed August 27, 2014.

[vii] Russell Grigg, How many bones does Lucy have?, January 11, 2012, Creation Ministries International, http://creation.com/are-there-apemen-in-your-ancestry#lucys-bones, accessed August 28, 2014.

[viii] PBS, Origin of Humankind, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/humans/humankind/, accessed August 29, 2014.

[ix] Brian Thomas and Frank Sherwin, Human-like Fossil Menagerie Stuns Scientists, November 8, 2013, Institute for Creation Research, http://www.icr.org/article/7843/, accessed August 27, 2014.

Robert Lee Hotz, Skull Suggests Single Human Species Emerged From Africa, Not Several: Well-Preserved Find 1.8 Million Years Old Drastically Simplifies Evolutionary Picture, October 17, 2013, http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304384104579141600675336982, accessed August 27, 2014.

[x] Ian Sample, Skull of Homo erectus throws story of human evolution into disarray, October 17, 2013, The Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/oct/17/skull-homo-erectus-human-evolution, accessed August 27, 2014.

[xi] Brian Thomas and Frank Sherwin, Human-like Fossil Menagerie Stuns Scientists, November 8, 2013, Institute for Creation Research, http://www.icr.org/article/7843/, accessed August 27, 2014.

[xii] Russell Grigg, Are there apemen in your ancestry?, December 2002, Creation 25(1):16-19, Creation Ministries International, http://creation.com/are-there-apemen-in-your-ancestry#lucys-bones, accessed August 28, 2014.