Hubler history W. R. Hubler, Jr., M. D

The Old World

The Beginning

The origin of mankind has not been irrevocably established, and a detailed dissertation on the subject is beyond this family history. Basically, three postulates exist with equally vocal proponents, as follows.

1. 
   Some religious zealots support the Biblical story of the Garden of Eden as an actual place with the original man as its first resident hand-made by God. Almost all societies have similar creation myths or stories—each with themselves as the benefactor. The Garden of Eden has not been located, but probably the land lies in the desert sands of eastern Africa or under the water just off the Tigris/Euphrates River in the Gulf off Iran.
   
2. 
   Some evolutionists believe that man evolved over millions of years from several pre-hominid, ape-like creatures; and then, the final product, man, migrated from his birthplace, Africa, to Europe and thence to all areas of the world.
   
3. 
   A group of scientists propose that man developed about a million years ago independently in different parts of the globe (e.g., Africa, Asia, and South America) and remained in separate genetic pools until fairly recent times.
   

The theorem with the most scientific backing and general acceptance is (2), the diffusion scenario. However, the truth may lie in a combination of these theories (they are not mutually exclusive—theistic evolutionists believe that the evolution described by scientists occurred but was divinely directed), and the riddle may remain unsolved for a long time; however, modern DNA methods may provide some answers to the anthropologists’ dilemma.

Most civilized societies traced the beginning of mankind to the gods of their own belief, and many times the traditions described similar events. It is possible that worldwide catastrophic events (such as, the great flood) actually occurred (probably on a regional basis), but the story and significance was interpreted and applied by each society. At first, mankind transmitted their history and genealogy through oral tradition, but with the development of writing, genealogies especially of the royals or rulers became concrete. Sumerians transcribed cuneiform records; Egyptians used historical hieroglyphs; Chinese draw elaborate scrolls; Greeks penned poems, and the Maya inscribed in stone—everyone had distinct ways of recording their family histories. When I began to collect and collate data, it required much delving through dusty journals, but now the Internet and computers have supplanted and enhanced data gathering and presentation. There is a certain bit of humor in using futuristic tools to reveal the past!

Archaic Europe

The origin of the humans in Prehistoric-Archaic Europe is unclear. Evolutionists cite a slow evolution from ape-like creatures in Africa to modern man about 5 million years ago, and the diffusion of the humanoids to France.⁶ The chain has many missing links, some of which are being filled in by constant discoveries. Tracing such a evolutionary chain is similar to, but more difficult than, genealogy, since paeloanthropolgists have few clues—no oral traditions (ancient humanoids could not speak any known language), no written record (they could not write), few artifacts (only their own bones), a low population number (only thousands), a large living area (over most of the world) and a long time span (millions of years). Modern aging analysis and genetic evaluation of ancient hominid remains are clarifying the situation. Any outline of descendancy would be inherently speculative; nevertheless, the evidence is that a predecessor of modern man (Homo sapiens) began in eastern Africa. Although no fossil has been identified, it is postulated that mankind and the great apes had a common ancestor (4 to 6 million years ago), but they took divergent (and sometimes parallel) paths of development. Homo erectus was probably the first hominid to use fire, and they migrated from Africa to most contiguous countries (diffusion theorem) of Europe and Asia over a million years ago. Creationists disbelieve evolution but cannot explain the various species of hominids and offer no scientific proof of their proposal (nonetheless, about six states are considering rules that would outlaw the discussion of evolution in public schools and advance the creativity idea). Both sides might be correct.

The first humans found in France were of the Homo erectus species who lived around 950,000 BCE. They evolved slowly into two distinct lines—Homo neanderthalensis (“Neanderthal Man” about 200,000 years ago) and Homo sapiens (“Modern Man” about 100,000 years ago). These two “cousin” species shared similar brain sizes, physiognomies, niches and cultures. Their time span overlapped, and they lived and hunted in the same parts of Europe simultaneously (but distinctly). However, the Neanderthal species mysteriously disappeared about 25,000 years ago. No one knows why. There are three current theories—(1) warfare (but their populations were so sparse that probably there was no confrontation between the two groups, and Neanderthal man was stronger), (2) genetic intermingling between species (in 1997, DNA extracted from a Neanderthal cranium showed a different pattern than that of modern man, but a 1999 study of a fossil child from Spain showed features of both Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens; so the answer is conflicted), and (3) symbolic thought and innovation were mental functions developed by modern man, but not Neanderthals (new ideas transmissible to others, such as, ideas through cave paintings that would spell success for competition for a niche sought by both groups).⁷ More clues need to be discovered. Is evolution finished? Possibly it is, as it has been known in the past. Genetic selection (see Introduction) might supplant natural selection in the future of Homo sapiens.

The Ice Age affected the terrain of modern Britain and France, and prehistoric man migrated south of the ice sheet. Temperatures averaged -8º C, and because ice trapped so much of the seawater, the sea level fell so low that there was dry land between Britain and France. The low temperature precluded the growth of vegetation, so herbivorous animals left, and omnifarious man suffered. At the end of the ice age in about 10,000 BCE, man evolved toward the more settled life known as the Neolithic civilizations (4,000-2,500 BCE). They modified their hunter-gathering, cultivated crops, smelt metals and lived in villages. The history of uncivilized mankind is steeped in the void of a written record and the paucity of lasting physical artifacts, and it is best studied in topic-specific texts.