Cro-Magnon and modern man differences. Origin and way of life of the Cro-Magnons. Differences between Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon

Cro-Magnons(Fig. 1) are the immediate ancestors modern people. This species, according to scientists, appeared more than 130 thousand years ago. Archaeological finds indicate that Cro-Magnons lived for more than 10 thousand years in the vicinity of another species of people - Neanderthals. In fact, Cro-Magnons have no external differences with modern people. There is another definition for the term "Cro-Magnon". In the narrow sense, this is a representative of the human race who lived on the territory of modern France; they received their name from the place in which researchers first discovered a large number of remains of ancient people - the Cro-Magnon Gorge. But more often, all the ancient inhabitants of the planet are called Cro-Magnons. During the Upper Paleolithic period, this species dominated most of the land surface, with a few exceptions - in places where Neanderthal communities still remained.

Rice. 1 - Cro-Magnon

Origin

There is no consensus on how it appeared "Cro-Magnon" species among anthropologists and historians, no. Two main theories predominate. Most scientists believe that this species appeared in the eastern part of Africa, and then spread across the Arabian Peninsula throughout Eurasia. Adherents of this theory believe that the Cro-Magnons later divided into 2 main groups:

1. Ancestors of modern Hindus and Arabs.
2. The ancestors of all modern Mongoloid peoples.

As for the Europeans, according to this theory, they are representatives of the first group, who migrated about 45 thousand years ago. Found by archaeologists huge amount evidence in favor of this theory, but still the number of scientists adhering to an alternative point of view has not decreased over the years.

IN lately There is more and more evidence of the second version. Scientists who adhere to this theory believe that Cro-Magnons are modern Caucasians and are not classified as this species Negroids and Mongoloids. A number of scientists insist that the first Cro-Magnon man appeared on the territory of modern Ethiopia, and his descendants settled in northern Africa, the entire Middle East, Asia Minor, most of Central Asia, the Hindustan Peninsula and all of Europe. They insist that the Cro-Magnons are practically in full force migrated from Africa more than 100 thousand years ago, and only a small part of them remained in the territory of modern Egypt. Then they continued to develop new lands; the ancient people reached France and the British Isles by the 10th century BC, passing through the Caucasus Range, crossing the Don, Dnieper, and Danube.

Culture

Ancient Cro-Magnon man began to live in fairly large groups, which was not observed among Neanderthals. Often communities consisted of 100 or more individuals. Cro-Magnons inhabiting Eastern Europe, sometimes lived in dugouts; such housing was a “discovery” of that time. Caves and tents were more comfortable and spacious compared to similar types of Neanderthal dwellings. The ability to speak clearly helped them understand each other better; they actively cooperated if one of them needed help.

The Cro-Magnons became more skilled hunters and fishermen; these people first began to use the “drive” method, when a large animal was driven into a pre-prepared trap, and there it would face inevitable death. The first semblances of fishing nets were also invented by the Cro-Magnons. They began to master the harvesting industry, dried mushrooms, and stocked up on berries. They also hunted birds, for this they used snares and nooses, and often ancient people did not kill the animals, but left them alive, constructed primitive cages for birds and admired them.

Among the Cro-Magnons, the first ancient artists began to appear, who painted the walls of caves with different colors. You can see the work of ancient masters in our time, for example, in France, in the Montespan cave, several creations of ancient masters have survived to this day. But not only painting developed; the Cro-Magnons sculpted the first sculptures from stone and clay and engraved mammoth tusks. Very often, ancient sculptors sculpted naked women, it was like a cult; in those days, it was not slimness that was valued in a woman - ancient sculptors sculpted women with curvy figures. Sculptors and artists of antiquity often depicted animals: horses, bears, mammoths, bison.

The Cro-Magnons buried their dead fellow tribesmen. In many ways, modern rituals resemble the rituals of those years. People also gathered and also cried. The deceased was dressed in the best skin, jewelry, food, and tools that he used during life were placed with him. The deceased was buried in the “fetal” position.

Rice. 2 - Skeleton of a Cro-Magnon man

Leap in development

Cro-Magnons developed more actively than the Neanderthals they assimilated and the common ancestors of both types of Pithecanthropus. Moreover, they developed in many areas; a huge number of achievements were made by this species. The reason for such intensive development is Cro-Magnon brain. Before a child of this species was born, the development of its brain completely coincided with the intrauterine development of the Neanderthal brain. But after birth, the baby’s brain developed differently - the parietal and cerebellar parts were actively formed. After birth, the Neanderthal brain developed in the same directions as that of chimpanzees. The Cro-Magnon communities were much more organized than the Neanderthal communities; they began to develop oral speech, while Neanderthals never learned to speak. Development proceeded at an incredible pace, Cro-Magnon tools- these are knives, hammers and other tools, some of which are still used today, since, in fact, no alternative has yet been found to them. The Cro-Magnon man actively adapted to weather conditions; their homes began to vaguely resemble modern houses. These people created social circles, built a hierarchy in groups, distributed social roles. Cro-Magnons began to become self-aware, think, reason, actively explore and experiment.

The emergence of speech among Cro-Magnons

Just as there is no unity among scientists on the issue of the origin of Cro-Magnon, there is no unity regarding another question - “how did speech originate among the first intelligent people?”

Psychologists have their own opinion on this matter. They claim, having an impressive evidence base, that Cro-Magnons adopted the experience of Neanderthals and Pithecanthropus, who had some rudiments of articulate communication.

Linguists of a certain persuasion (generativists) also have their own theory, supported by facts. However, it cannot be said that only generativists support this theory; many prominent scientists are on their side. These scientists believe that there was no inheritance from previous species, and the appearance of articulate speech is the result of some kind of brain mutation. Generativeists, trying to get to the bottom of the truth and find confirmation of their theory, are looking for the origins of the protolanguage - the first human language. So far, the disputes have not subsided, and not one of the parties has comprehensive evidence that they are right.

Differences between Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon

Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals are not very close species; moreover, they did not have a common ancestor. These are two species between which there was competition, skirmishes, and, possibly, local or general confrontation. They could not help but compete, since they shared the same niche and lived nearby. There are many differences between the two types:

• body constitution, size and physiological structure;
• cranial volume, cognitive abilities of the brain;
• social organization;
• general level of development.

Research conducted by scientists has shown that there is a significant difference in the DNA of these two species. As for nutrition, there are also differences here, these two species ate differently, generalizing, we can say that Cro-Magnons ate everything that Neanderthals ate, plus plant foods. An interesting fact is that the Neanderthals’ body did not digest milk, and the basis of the Neanderthals’ diet was the meat of dead animals (carrion). Cro-Magnons are only in in rare cases, in cases where there were no other options, they ate carrion.

Rice. 3 - Cro-Magnon Skull

There is ongoing debate among scientists about whether these two species could interbreed. There is a large amount of evidence that they could. For example, we cannot exclude the fact that in the structure and constitution of the body of some modern people, echoes of Neanderthal genes can sometimes be traced. The two species lived in close proximity, and mating could definitely have taken place. But scientists who claim that Cro-Magnons assimilated Neanderthals are opposed in disputes by other scientists, among whom are famous personalities. They argue that after interspecific crossing, fertile offspring could not be born, that is, for example, a female individual (Cro-Magnon) could become pregnant by a Neanderthal, and could even bear the fruit. But the born baby was weak to survive, much less give life to his own offspring. These conclusions are supported by genetic studies.

Differences between Cro-Magnon and modern man

There are both minor and significant differences between modern man and his Cro-Magnon ancestor. For example, it was found that the average brain volume of a representative of an earlier subspecies of people was slightly larger. This, in theory, should indicate that the Cro-Magnons were smarter, their intellect was more developed. This hypothesis is supported by a small number of pundits. After all, a larger volume does not always guarantee best quality. In addition to brain size, there are other differences that are not hotly debated. It has been proven that the ancestor had denser body hair. There is also a difference in height; it has been noted that over time and evolution, people have become taller. The average height of the two subspecies differs significantly. Not only the height, but also the weight of the Cro-Magnon man was less. In those days, there were no giants weighing more than 150 kilograms, and all because people could not always provide themselves with food, even in the required quantities. Ancient people did not live long, a person who lived to be 30 years old was considered an old man, and cases when a person survived the 45-year mark are generally rare. There is an assumption that Cro-Magnons had better vision, in particular, they saw well in the dark, but these theories have not yet been confirmed.

Archaeological finds indicate that the weapons and methods of making them among the Cro-Magnons were much more advanced than those of the Neanderthals; this was of great importance for increasing food resources and population growth. Spear throwers gave the human hand a boost in strength by doubling the distance a hunter could throw his spear. Now he was able to hit prey at a great distance before it had time to get scared and run away. Among the serrated tips was invented harpoon, with which it was possible to catch salmon coming from the sea to the river to spawn. Fish became an important food for the first time.

Cro-Magnons caught birds in snares; they were the ones who came up with it death traps for birds, wolves, foxes and much larger animals. Some experts believe that the hundred mammoths whose remains were found near Pavlov in Czechoslovakia fell into precisely such a trap.

Distinctive feature there were Cro-Magnons hunting large herds of large animals. They learned to drive such herds to areas where it was easier to slaughter the animals, and carried out mass slaughter. Cro-Magnons also followed the seasonal migrations of large mammals. This is evidenced by their seasonal residence in selected areas. Late Stone Age Europe was teeming with large wild mammals from which much meat and fur could be obtained. After that, their number and variety were never so great.

The main sources of food for Cro-Magnons were the following animals: reindeer and red deer, aurochs, horse and stone goat.

In construction, the Cro-Magnons mainly followed the old traditions of the Neanderthals. They lived in the caves, they built tents from skins, built dwellings from stones or dug them into the ground. New steel light summer huts, which were built by nomadic hunters (Fig. 2.18, Fig. 2.19).

Rice. 2.18. Reconstruction of a hut, Terra Amata Fig. 2.19. Reconstruction of dwellings, Mezin

The opportunity to live in conditions of the Ice Age, in addition to housing, was provided by new types of clothes. Bone needles and images of people dressed in fur indicate that they wore tight-fitting pants, jackets with hoods, shoes and mittens with well-stitched seams.

In the era from 35 to 10 thousand years ago, Europe experienced great period of its prehistoric art.

The range of works was wide: engravings of animals and people made on small pieces of stone, bones, ivory and deer antlers; clay and stone sculptures and reliefs; drawings with ocher, manganese and charcoal, as well as images lined on the walls of caves with moss or painted with paint blown through a straw (Fig. 2.20).

A study of skeletons from burials suggests that two-thirds of Cro-Magnons reached 20 years of age, while among their predecessors, the Neanderthals, the number of such people was not even half; one in ten Cro-Magnons lived to be 40 years old, compared to one in twenty among Neanderthals. That is, Life expectancy among Cro-Magnons has increased.

Cro-Magnon burials also provide evidence of their symbolic rituals and growth in wealth and social status.

Rice. 2.20. Drawing of a bison, Niaux, France Fig. 2.21. Necklace of arctic fox teeth, Moravia

Buriers often sprinkled red ocher on the dead, which is believed to symbolize blood and life, perhaps indicating that the Cro-Magnons believed in an afterlife. Some corpses were buried with rich decorations (Fig. 2.21); these are early signs that in hunter-gatherer societies Rich and respected people began to appear.

Perhaps the most amazing things were found in the burial of hunters made 23 thousand years ago in Sungiri, east of Moscow. Here lay an old man in fur clothes, skillfully decorated with beads.

Two boys were buried nearby, dressed in beaded furs and wearing ivory rings and bracelets; near them lay long spears made of mammoth tusks and two strange rods carved from bone and scepter-like, of the type called “commander’s rod” (Fig. 2.22).

10 thousand years ago, the cold Pleistocene era gave way to the Holocene, or “entirely new” era. This is the time of the mild climate in which we live now. As Europe's climate warmed, the area occupied by forests expanded. Forests were advancing, occupying vast areas of the former tundra, and the sea, whose level was rising, flooded low coasts and river valleys.

Rice. 2.22. Burial of a man, Sungir 1, Russia

Climate change and increased hunting led to the disappearance of the huge wild herds on which the Cro-Magnons fed. But forest mammals remained abundant on land, and fish and waterfowl remained in abundance in the water.

The tools and weapons they made allowed the northern Europeans to use all these food sources. These specific groups of hunters and gatherers created Mesolithic culture, or " middle stone age" It was so named because it followed the ancient stone age, which was characterized by hunting huge herds of animals. Mesolithic culture laid the foundation for the emergence of agriculture V Northern Europe, characteristic of the new Stone Age. Lasting only from 10 to 5 thousand years ago, the Mesolithic was only a brief moment of the prehistoric period. From the bones found at Mesolithic sites, it is clear that the prey of Mesolithic hunters were red deer, roe deer, wild boar, wild bulls, beavers, foxes, ducks, geese and pike. Huge piles of mollusk shells indicate that they were fed on the coasts of the Atlantic and North Sea. Mesolithic people also collected roots, fruits and nuts. Groups of people apparently migrated from place to place following seasonal changes in food sources.

Archaeologists believe that Mesolithic people lived in smaller groups than their possible ancestors - the Cro-Magnons. But food production was now kept at a more stable level throughout the year, as a result of which the number of sites and, consequently, the population increased. Life expectancy also appears to have increased.

New stone tools and weapons helped Mesolithic people explore the forests and seas that occupied parts of Northwestern Europe after the melting of the northern ice sheet.

One of the main types of hunting weapons were bow and arrows, which were probably invented in the Late Paleolithic. A skilled archer could hit a stone goat at a distance of 32 m, and if his first arrow missed the target, he had time to send another after it.

The arrows were usually serrated or tipped with small pieces of flint called microliths. Microliths were glued with resin to a shaft made of deer bone.

New examples of large stone tools helped Mesolithic people make shuttles, oars, skis and sleighs. All this taken together made it possible to develop huge areas of water for fishing and made it easier to move through snow and wetlands.

Hominid triad

Since the only modern representative of the family is man, three of its characteristics have historically been identified critical systems, considered to be truly hominid.

These systems were called the hominid triad:

− upright walking (bipedia);

− a hand adapted for making tools;

− highly developed brain.

1. Upright posture. Many hypotheses have been put forward regarding its origin. The two most important are the Miocene cooling and the labor concept.

Miocene cooling: in the middle and end of the Miocene, as a result of global climate cooling, there was a significant reduction in the area of ​​tropical forests and an increase in the area of ​​savannas. This could have caused the transition of some hominoids to a terrestrial lifestyle. However, it is known that the oldest known erect walking primates lived in tropical forests.

Labor concept: according to the well-known labor concept of F. Engels and its later variants, the emergence of upright walking is closely related to the specialization of the monkey’s hand for labor activity - carrying objects, cubs, manipulating food and making tools. Subsequently, labor led to the emergence of language and society. However, according to modern data, upright walking arose much earlier than the manufacture of tools. Upright walking arose at least 6 million years ago in Orrorin tugenensis, and ancient tools from Gona in Ethiopia are dated to only 2.7 million years ago.

Rice. 2.23. Human and gorilla skeleton

There are other versions of the origin of upright walking. It could have arisen for orientation in the savannah, when it was necessary to look over the tall grass. Also, human ancestors could stand on their hind legs to cross water obstacles or graze in swampy meadows, as modern gorillas do in the Congo.

According to C. Owen Lovejoy's concept, upright walking arose due to a special reproductive strategy, since hominids raised one or two young for a very long time. In this case, caring for the offspring reaches such complexity that it becomes necessary to free the forelimbs. Carrying helpless young and food over a distance becomes a vital element of behavior. According to Lovejoy, upright walking arose in the tropical forest, and bipedal hominids moved to the savannas.

In addition, it has been proven experimentally and using mathematical models that moving long distances at an average speed on two legs is energetically more beneficial than on four.

Most likely, there was not one reason at work in evolution, but a whole complex of them. To determine upright posture in fossil primates, scientists use the following main features:

· position of the foramen magnum - in erect walkers it is located in the center of the length of the base of the skull, opening downwards. This structure has been known for about 4 - 7 million years ago. In tetrapods - in the back of the base of the skull, turned back (Fig. 2.23).

· structure of the pelvis - in upright walkers the pelvis is wide and low (this structure has been known since Australopithecus afarensis 3.2 million years ago), in tetrapods the pelvis is narrow, high and long (Fig. 2.25);

· structure of the long bones of the legs - upright walkers have long legs, the knee and ankle joints have a characteristic structure. This structure has been known since 6 million years ago. In quadrupedal primates, the arms are longer than the legs.

· structure of the foot - in upright walkers the arch (instep) of the foot is pronounced, the toes are straight, short, the big toe is not laid aside, is inactive (the arch is already expressed in Australopithecus afarensis, but the toes are long and curved in all australopithecines, in Homo habilis the foot is flattened, but the toes are straight, short), in quadrupeds the foot is flat, the toes are long, curved, and mobile. In the foot of Australopithecus anamensis, the big toe was inactive. In the foot of Australopithecus afarensis the big toe was opposed to the others, but much weaker than in modern monkeys, the arches of the feet were well developed, the footprint was almost like that of a modern person. In the foot of Australopithecus africanus and Australopithecus robustus, the big toe was strongly removed from the others, the toes were very mobile, the structure was intermediate between monkeys and humans. In the Homo habilis foot, the big toe is completely adducted to the rest.

· structure of the hands - in fully upright hominids the hands are short, not adapted for walking on the ground or climbing trees, the phalanges of the fingers are straight. Australopithecuses have features of adaptation to walking on the ground or climbing trees: Australopithecus afarensis, Australopithecus africanus, Australopithecus robustus and even Homo habilis.

Thus, upright walking arose more than 6 million years ago, but for a long time it differed from modern version. Some australopithecus and Homo habilis also used other types of movement - climbing trees and walking with support on the phalanges of the fingers.

Upright walking became fully modern only about 1.6-1.8 million years ago.

2. The origin of the hand, adapted for the manufacture of tools. The hand that can make tools is different from the hand of a monkey. Although morphological characteristics working hands are not completely reliable, but the following labor complex can be distinguished:

Strong wrist. Australopithecus, starting with Australopithecus afarensis, has a wrist structure intermediate between apes and humans. An almost modern structure is observed in Homo habilis 1.8 million years ago.

Opposition of the thumb to the hand. The trait was known already 3.2 million years ago in Australopithecus afarensis and Australopithecus africanus. It was fully developed in Australopithecus robustus and Homo habilis 1.8 million years ago. Finally, it was peculiar or limited among the Neanderthals of Europe about 40-100 thousand years ago.

Wide terminal phalanges of the fingers. Australopithecus robustus, Homo habilis and all later hominids had very wide phalanges.

Attachment of muscles that move fingers almost modern type noted in Australopithecus robustus and Homo habilis, but they also have primitive features.

The hand bones of the oldest upright hominoids (Australopithecus anamensis and Australopithecus afarensis) have a mixture of ape and human features. Most likely, these species could use objects as tools, but not make them. The first makers of real tools were Homo habilis. The tools were probably also made by the massive South African australopithecus Australopithecus (Paranthropus) robustus.

So, the labor brush as a whole was formed about 1.8 million years ago.

3. Highly developed brain. The modern human brain is very different from the brain of apes (Fig. 2.24) in size, shape, structure and function, but many transitional variants can be found among fossil forms. Typical features of the human brain are:

Large overall brain size. Australopithecus had a brain size similar to that of modern chimpanzees. A rapid increase in size occurred in Homo habilis about 2.5-1.8 million years ago, and in later hominids there is a gradual increase to modern values.

Specific brain fields - Broca's and Wernicke's areas and other fields began to develop in Homo habilis and archanthropes, but apparently reached a completely modern form only in modern humans.

The structure of the lobes of the brain. In humans, the inferior parietal and frontal lobes are significantly developed, acute angle convergence of the temporal and frontal lobes, the temporal lobe is wide and rounded in front, the occipital lobe is relatively small, hanging over the cerebellum. Australopithecines had the same structure and size of the brain as those of apes.

Rice. 2.24. Primate brain: a – tarsier, b – lemur, Fig. 2.25. Chimpanzee pelvis (a);

Where did the world so understandable to us come from, how did it combine with the completely different world of the Neanderthals? Many biological features of the earliest Upper Paleolithic people suggest that they came to Europe from tropical regions.

Long limbs, tall stature, elongated body proportions, large jaws, and an elongated braincase are similar in modern tropical populations and Cro-Magnons. The latter differ only in the large size of the bones, strong relief of the skull, and rougher features. But, if the Cro-Magnons were aliens, then where did they come from? How did they interact with the aborigines - the Neanderthals? According to the most substantiated version now, the modern human species was formed in Africa between 200-160-100 and 45 thousand years ago. Between 80 and 45 thousand years ago, a limited number of people emerged from East Africa in the area of ​​the Bab el-Mandeb Strait or, less likely, the Isthmus of Suez. They began to settle first along the southern shores of Eurasia - right up to Australia - and then to the north, into areas inhabited by Neanderthals, whose possible fate was described above.

From the Upper Paleolithic era to the present, evolutionary changes did not have time to accumulate in sufficient quantities (it is often said that biological evolution stopped with the advent of the modern human species, giving way to social evolution, but the facts indicate the continuation of biological evolution in our days, it’s just that the time scale is not sufficient for the appearance significant changes in morphology). The differences between population groups that have appeared since this time are usually called racial. A separate section of anthropology is devoted to them - racial studies (see

The first scientific discovery of a modern human was a headless skeleton found in Wells (England) in 1823. It was a burial: the deceased was decorated with shells and sprinkled with red ocher, which subsequently settled on the bones. The skeleton was considered female and nicknamed “Red Lady” (a hundred years later it was recognized as male). But the most famous are later finds (1868) in the Cro-Magnon grotto (France), by which all ancient people are often not quite named Cro-Magnons.

These were tall people (170-180 cm), practically no different from us, with large, ruggedly handsome features and broad faces. A similar anthropological type is still found among living people in the Balkans and the Caucasus. Subsequently, the remains of people of this type were found in many places in Europe, in our country from the Crimean caves to Sungir near the city of Vladimir.

In ancient times, humanity was no less diverse than it is now. Along with the Cro-Magnons, sometimes next to them, representatives of other forms lived in Europe and Asia.

Neoanthropes lived in the era of the so-called upper paleotype. Like the Neanderthals, they used more than just caves for housing. They built huts from tree trunks, mammoth bones and skins, and in Siberia even from stone slabs. Their tools are becoming more sophisticated; in addition to stone, horn and bone are used in their production. Modern man painted magnificent frescoes on the walls of caves depicting game animals: horses, mammoths, bison (probably for some kind of magical rituals), decorated himself with necklaces, bracelets and rings made of shells and mammoth bones; domesticated the first animal - the dog.

Cro-Magnons lived in caves or huts at the very end of the last of the ice ages. At the same time, the climate was cold and winters were snowy; only short grasses and shrubs could grow in such conditions. Cro-Magnons hunted reindeer and woolly mammoths. Cro-Magnons learned to make many new types of weapons. They tied sharp points made of deer antler to their spears with teeth pointing backwards, so that the spear stuck deep in the side of the wounded animal. In order to throw a spear as far as possible, they used special throwing devices. These devices were made from deer antler, and some of them were decorated with different patterns.

They caught fish using harpoons carved from deer antlers, with tips and barbs curved back. Harpoons were tied to spears, and fishermen pierced fish with them right in the water.

Cro-Magnons built huts from long shin bones and mammoth tusks, covering the frame with animal skins. The ends of the bones were inserted into the skulls, since the builders could not stick them into the frozen ground. Many burials have been discovered in the earthen floors of Cro-Magnon huts and caves. This skeleton was covered with beads made from stones and shells that had previously been attached to its rotted clothing. The dead were usually placed in the grave in a bent position, with their knees pressed to their chins. Sometimes various tools and weapons are also found in graves.

These Cro-Magnons cut deer antlers using a chisel-shaped stone tool - a chisel.

They were probably the first people to learn how to make needles and sew. At one end of the needle they made a hole that served as an eye. Then they cleaned the edges and tip of the needle by rubbing it against a special stone. Perhaps they pierced the skin with a stone drill so that they could thread a needle through the resulting holes. Instead of thread, they used thin strips of animal skin or intestines. Cro-Magnons often sewed small beads made of colorful stones onto their clothes to make them look more elegant. Sometimes for these purposes they also used shells with holes in the middle.

Apparently, the Cro-Magnons and other people who lived at that time were practically no different from us in the development of higher nervous activity. At this level, human biological evolution is completed. The previous mechanisms of anthropogenesis have ceased to operate.

What were these mechanisms? Let us recall that the genus Homo originates from australopithecines - actually monkeys, but with a bipedal gait. Not a single monkey that moved from the trees to the ground did this, but not a single one, except our ancestors, made the main weapon of defense and attack, first selected in nature, and then artificially made. That is why natural selection for better tool activity is considered the main factor of anthropogenesis. This is exactly what F. Engels meant when he noted that labor created man.

As a result of the cruel selection of the most skilled craftsmen and skillful hunters, such achievements of anthropogenesis as a large and complex brain, a hand suitable for the most delicate labor operations, a perfect bipedal gait and articulate speech were developed. It is also important to emphasize the fact that from the very beginning man was a social animal - australopithecines, apparently, lived in packs and only because of this were they able, for example, to finish off a weakened and wounded animal and fight off the attack of large predators.

All this led to the fact that at the stage of neoanthropes such powerful factors of evolution as natural selection and intraspecific struggle lost their significance and were replaced by social ones. As a result, human biological evolution almost ceased.

Cro-Magnons are inhabitants of the Late Stone Age, who were similar in many of their features to our contemporaries. The remains of these people were first discovered in the Cro-Magnon grotto, located in France, which gave them their name. Many parameters - the structure of the skull and features of the hand, body proportions and even the size of the brain of Cro-Magnons are close to modern humans. Therefore, the opinion has taken root in science that they are our direct ancestors.

Appearance Features

Researchers believe that Cro-Magnon man lived about 30 thousand years ago, and it is interesting that for some time he coexisted with Neanderthal man, who later finally gave way to a more modern representative of primates. For about 6 millennia, scientists believe, these two types of ancient people simultaneously inhabited Europe, in sharp conflict over food and other resources.

Despite the fact that Cro-Magnon appearance He was not much inferior to our contemporaries; his muscle mass was more developed. This was due to the conditions in which this person lived - the physically weak were doomed to death.

What are the differences?

• The Cro-Magnon has a characteristic chin protuberance and a high forehead. The Neanderthal had a very small chin, and the brow ridges were characteristically pronounced.
• Cro-Magnon man had the volume of the brain cavity necessary for brain development, which was not the case in more ancient people.
• The elongated pharynx, flexibility of the tongue and the location of the oral and nasal cavities allowed Cro-Magnon man to receive the gift of speech. Neanderthal man, as researchers believe, could make several consonant sounds; his speech apparatus allowed him to do this, but he did not have speech in the traditional sense.

Unlike the Neanderthal man, the Cro-Magnon man had a less massive build, a high skull without a sloping chin, a wide face and narrower eye sockets than modern humans.

The table shows some features of Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons, their differences from modern humans.

As can be seen from the table, the Cro-Magnon man, in terms of structural features, is much closer to our contemporaries than to Neanderthal man. Anthropological finds indicate that they could interbreed.

Geography of distribution

The remains of Cro-Magnon-type humans are found in various parts of the world. Skeletons and bones have been discovered in many areas European countries: Czech Republic, Romania, Great Britain, Serbia, Russia, and also in Africa.

Lifestyle

Researchers were able to recreate a model of the Cro-Magnon lifestyle. Thus, it has been proven that it was they who created the first settlements in the history of mankind, in which they lived in fairly large communities, including from 20 to 100 members. It was these people who learned to communicate with each other and possessed primitive speech skills. The Cro-Magnon lifestyle meant doing business together. Thanks largely to this, they were able to achieve impressive success in the hunting-gathering economy. Thus, hunting in large groups, together, allowed these people to obtain large animals as prey: mammoths, aurochs. Such achievements were, of course, beyond the capabilities of one hunter, even the most experienced.

In short, the Cro-Magnon lifestyle largely continued the traditions of Neanderthal people. They also hunted, used the skins of killed animals to make primitive clothing, and lived in caves. But independent buildings made of stones or tents made of skins could also be used as a dwelling. Sometimes they dug original dugouts to provide shelter from bad weather. In the matter of housing, Cro-Magnon man managed to make a small innovation - nomadic hunters began to build light, dismountable huts that could be easily erected during a stop and assembled.

Community life

The structural features and lifestyle of the Cro-Magnon man make him in many ways similar to a modern person. So, in the communities of these ancient people there was a division of labor. The men hunted and killed wild animals together. Women also took part in food preparation: they collected berries, seeds and nutritious roots. The fact that jewelry is found in the graves of children indicates that the parents had warm feelings for their descendants, grieved over the early loss, and tried to at least take care of the child posthumously. Due to the increased life expectancy, Cro-Magnon man was able to pass on his knowledge and experience to the next generation, and be more attentive to raising children. Therefore, child mortality has also decreased.

Some burials differ from others in their rich decorations and abundance of utensils. Researchers believe that noble members of the community, respected for some merit, are buried here.

Tools of labor and hunting

The invention of the harpoon is the merit of the Cro-Magnon man. The lifestyle of this ancient man changed after the appearance of such weapons. Affordable, effective fishing provided adequate food in the form of sea and river inhabitants. This one ancient man began to make snares for birds, something his predecessors had not yet been able to do.

When hunting, ancient man learned to use not only strength, but also ingenuity, constructing traps for animals many times larger than himself. Therefore, obtaining food for an entire community required much less effort than in the days of their predecessors. The corralling of herds of wild animals and mass round-ups of them were popular. Ancient people mastered the science of collective hunting: they frightened large mammals, forcing them to flee to those areas where it was easiest to kill prey.

Cro-Magnon man managed to step up the ladder of evolutionary development much higher than his predecessor, the Neanderthal. He began to use more advanced tools, which allowed him to gain advantages in hunting. So, with the help of spear throwers, this ancient man was able to increase the distance traveled by the spear. Therefore, hunting has become safer, and prey has become more abundant. Long spears were also used as weapons. Tools became more complex, needles, drills, scrapers appeared, for which ancient man learned to use everything that came to hand: stones and bones, horns and tusks.

A distinctive feature of Cro-Magnon tools and weapons is narrower specialization, careful workmanship, and the use of a variety of materials in production. Some products are decorated with carved ornaments, indicating that ancient people were not alien to their unique understanding of beauty.

Food

The basis of the Cro-Magnon diet was the meat of animals killed in hunts, primarily mammals. At the time when these ancient people lived, horses, goats, deer and aurochs, bison and antelope were common, and they served as the main source of food. Having learned to fish with harpoons, people began to eat salmon, which in abundance rose through the shallow water to spawn. Of the birds, according to anthropologists, ancient inhabitants could catch partridges - these birds fly low and could well have become the victim of a well-thrown spear. However, there is a hypothesis that they were also able to catch waterfowl. According to scientists, the Cro-Magnons stored meat reserves in glaciers, the low temperature of which did not allow the product to spoil.

Plant foods were also used by the Cro-Magnons: they ate berries, roots and bulbs, and seeds. In warm latitudes, women mined shellfish.

Art

The Cro-Magnon man also became famous for the fact that he began to create objects of art. These people painted colorful images of animals on the walls of caves and carved anthropomorphic figures from ivory and deer antlers. It is believed that by painting silhouettes of animals on the walls, ancient hunters wanted to attract prey. Researchers believe that it was during this period that the first music and the earliest musical instrument- stone pipe.

Funeral rituals

The fact that the Cro-Magnon lifestyle has become more complicated compared to his ancestors is also indicated by the change in funeral traditions. Thus, burials often contain an abundance of jewelry (bracelets, beads and necklaces), which indicate that the deceased was rich and noble. Attention to funeral rituals and covering the bodies of the dead with red paint allowed researchers to conclude that the inhabitants of the ancient Stone Age had some rudiments of beliefs about the soul and afterlife. Household items and food were also placed in the graves.

Achievements

The Cro-Magnon lifestyle in the harsh conditions of the Ice Age meant that these people had to take tailoring more seriously. According to finds - rock paintings and the remains of bone needles - the researchers concluded that the inhabitants of the Late Stone Age knew how to sew primitive items of clothing. They wore jackets with hoods, pants, even mittens and shoes. Clothes were often decorated with beads, which researchers believe was a sign of honor and respect among other members of the community. It was these people who learned to make the first dishes using baked clay. Scientists believe that during the time of the Cro-Magnons, the first animal was domesticated - the dog.

The era of the Cro-Magnons is separated from us by a thousand years, so we can only guess how exactly they lived, what they used for food and what kind of order reigned in the settlements. Therefore, many controversial and ambiguous hypotheses arise, which have not yet found serious scientific evidence.

• Discovery of a Neanderthal baby's jaw, mutilated stone tool, made researchers think that Cro-Magnons could have eaten Neanderthals.
• It was Cro-Magnon man who caused the extinction of the Neanderthals: a more developed species displaced the latter into territories with an arid climate, where there was practically no prey, dooming them to death.

The structural features of the Cro-Magnon man in many ways bring him closer to the modern type of man. Thanks to their developed brains, these ancient people represented a new round of evolution, their achievements in both practical and spiritual sense truly great.