New Discoveries Causing Upheaval in Anthropology
by Mark Eastman,MD

In recent months a number of startling discoveries in the field of anthropology have forced experts in to rethink their foundational theories about man’s supposed evolutionary origin. Moreover, many of these same discoveries support the Biblical view of man’s origin and decline in the post-flood era.

Neandertal: Orphan or Us?

The story of Neandertal man began in 1856 with the discovery of a skullcap, a femur (thigh bone) and portions of a pelvis and ribs in a cave among the limestone cliffs of the Neander valley, 10 miles east of Dusseldorf, Germany.

The Neander valley and its limestone cliffs were owned at that time by Herr von Beckersdorf and were being quarried for cement production. Although the Neandertal bones which were discovered in a cave known as the Feldhofer Grotto were obviously human, they looked somewhat different. They were more rugged than most modern human skeletal remains.

When Beckersdorf learned of the discovery he took the bones to J.K. von Fuhlrott a science teacher who felt the bones were from a victim of Noah’s flood. Von Fuhlrott asked Hermann Schaafhausen, profesked Hermann Schaafhausen, professor of anatomy at the University of Bonn, to examine the bones. He agreed that the bones were those of an ancient pre-flood human population.

In due time the bones were examined by Rudolf Virchow a professor at the University of Berlin. Virchow, a well respected scientist and the father of pathology (the study of human disease processes) concluded that the bones were of a modern Homo sapiens who was diseased with rickets (the result of a vitamin D deficiency) as a child and arthritis as an adult.

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However, when William King, a professor of anatomy at Queen’s College in Galway Ireland examined the bones he placed an evolutionary interpretation on the bones. He assumed that the skull's prominent brow ridge and the rugged, thickened nature of the femur were evidence of a more primitive creature, inferior to modern man. So he coined a new term: Homo neandertalensis, and promoted that notion that they were the bones of an ancient ancestor of humankind.

Since their discovery the Neandertal bones were highly controversial and a focal point of debate between the evolutionary and Biblical world views. Proponents of the evolutionary world view were inclined to emphasize the minor differences between the Neandertal remains and modern man. On the other hand, mathe other hand, many scientists have pointed out that the anatomical structure of Neandertal remains fall well within the normal variation found in current human populations.

In fact, comparative studies of present day Homo sapiens skulls reveal that the skulls of Northern European resemble more closely those of the Neandertal than they do those of Native Americans or Australian Aborigines (1). This fact, however, is rarely discussed in text books where Neandertal is presented as a proven evolutionary link between a Homo erectus and modern man.

For over a century evolutionary dogma held that Neandertals were "primitive creatures" who supposedly lived from about 200,000-50,000 years ago and who evolved into modern Homo sapiens, between 50,000 and 35,000 years ago. According to this theory Neandertals pre-existed mankind and so their co-existence would not be expected. However, if Neandertals are simply a genetically compatible group of modern Homo sapiens then we should expect fossil evidence of their co-existence.

In recent years an abundance of evidence has accumulated that has seriously disrupted this cozy view of Neandertal and convinced many researchers that Neandertal was a sophisticated member of the human family. For member of the human family.

For example, evidence has accumulated that Neandertal lived in complex societies, buried their dead, practiced religion, made sophisticated tools and were skilled hunters. There is even evidence –albeit not yet conclusive–that Neandertals may have developed skills in metallurgy (2).

In 1992 at the annual meetings for the American Association for the Advancement of Science a small but vocal number of anthropologists argued that Neandertal was indeed us–Homo sapiens. Although this view has been slow to gain gen to gain general acceptance, recently published articles in the prestigious journal Science have admitted that Neandertal and modern man were contemporaries (3,4)., This obviously eliminates Neandertal as our evolutionary ancestor.

In all likelihood Neandertal’s skeletal anomalies were the result of a genetic defect in vitamin D metabolism as well as an inheritable form of arthritis. In just a few generations these diseases, along with considerable inbreeding, could produce a population of people who had significant skeletal differences (frontal bone thickening, stooped posture, more robust long bones, etc.) from other contemporary humans (5).

Homo Erectus

One of the household names in anthropology is known as Jpology is known as Java Man. This fossil was found by Eugene Dubois and is the most famous of a group of fossils known as Homo erectus. In 1891 near the Solo River in Java a skullcap was found by Dubois that he thought had a combination of human and more primitive, ape-like, characteristics. One year later, but fifty feet away, Dubois discovered a femur (thigh bone) which, although very human, he assumed belonged with the skullcap.

Controversy has surrounded the fossil find from the beginning. Dubois, a physician with no formal training in geology, asserted the bones were from the Pliocene Epoch (supposedly 1.7 million years old).

In addition, most of those in the anthropological community felt the Java Man was truly human (6). The primary reason for their skepticism is the fact that the size of the skullcap and its structural characteristics is well within the range found within the modern human family.

In recent months the supposed evolutionary linkage of Homo erectus to Neandertal and modern man has been seriously challenged with the discovery that Homo erectus actually co-existed with both Neandertal and modern man!

The study, published in Science by C.C Swisher et al, of the Berkeley Geochronology center, discussed extensive fossil evidence which seems to confirm the fact that Homo erectus co-existed with anatomically modern man Java thousands of years ago. Regarding the extraordinary findings the authors stated,

"The temporal and spatial overlap between H. erectus and H. sapiens in Southeast Asia, as implied by our study, is reminiscent of the overlap of Neandertals and anatomically modern humans in Europe"(7)
(7)

Homo Antecessor

The confusion in physical anthropology is further exemplified by the recent discovery of an ancient human skull in Spain dubbed Homo antecessor.

According to paleobiologist Antonio Rosas of the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid Spain this skull "is exactly like ours," yet it was found in a layer that, according to standard evolutionary dating, is over 780,000 years old, long before the accepted date for the emergence of "anatomically modern" humans!

Finds such as these have peppered the literature for a hundred years, yet rarely make it to the mainstream press because they are so disruptive to the prevailisruptive to the prevailing evolutionary paradigm.

The authors also note that the skull possesses anatomical characteristics that are common to Neandertals as well. This is not surprising since it was found in Spain which is a rich source of Neandertal remains.

The Decline of Man!

A recent article in the British journal Nature pointed out that increasing evidence from the fossil record of mankind confirms that we are declining! (8) Studies of 163 early human fossils revealed that our skeletal structures have shrunken by 30 percent since our peak in the days of Neandertal.

Even more disturbing is the discovery that our brains have shrunken about 10 percent during that same period. If it is true that we use only 10-15 percent of the human brain that remains this begs the questions: Did our ancestors use more that 15 percent of their brains and did they believe that they were the result of chance chemistry?

Biblical Implications

What has emerged is an extremely confusing scenario for those that hold to an evolutionary origin for mankind. The evidence published in the last year alone reveals that no less than four anatomically human-like beings (Homo erectus, Homo neandertalensis, Homo antecessor, and Homo sapiens) not only co-existed in time but in locality for thousands of years.

And yet, because of their evolutionary bias many anthropologists actually propose that there was no interbreeding between these anatomically human groups.

Instead they have posited a scenario (the replacement theory) in which one species with their superior intelligence and strength–Homo sapiens–replaced the other groups by force and intellect. There are of course many dissenters to this unlikely view.
rse many dissenters to this unlikely view.

The Bible unequivocally asserts that mankind is a unique and special creation of God, made in his image simultaneously with the animal and plant kingdom. The fact that there were numerous groups of human beings with significant anatomical variation in their skeletal structure is in complete agreement with the Biblical creation view.

This genetic variability was "engineered" by the Creator for the benefit of the human population. Broad genetic variability is an important asset to populations and helps to ensure survival and is evidence of intelligent design and not random evolution. In fact, the genetic variability found in the human groups we have discussed is well within the range of variability seen today and is no evidence at all for an evolutionary an evolutionary origin.

The fact that we have declined structurally is an unexpected but fascinating discovery that is in complete harmony with the creation view of mankind. When mankind was created our stock was perfect from a genetic point of view. After all, on the day God made us He said, "it was very good." (9)

However, because of the fall of man and the dramatic post-flood environmental changes we have accumulated thousands of years of "informational errors" in our gene pool. The result is that we possess more diseased, are more frail, we are smaller in size and we die at a much younger age. All of this is the expected result of genetic decay.

It is also likely that the first men and women used their entire brains, not a mere 15 percent like us. Evolutionary theory certainly cannot explain why a brain evolved that is only 10-15 percent functional. But genetic decline and decay of a once fully functional brain over time in the human population does.

Despite our predicament we are indeed "fearfully and wonderfully made!" Just imagine what wonders await us in our heavenly bodies. Maranatha!

1 Bones of Contention, Marvin Lubenow, Baker Book House, 1992, C Baker Book House, 1992, Chapter six.

2 Bones of Contention, Marvin Lubenow, Baker Book House, 1992.

3 Science, May 30, 1997, vol 276:1331 &1392

4 Science, December 13,1996, vol 274:1841 & 1870

5 In my medical practice I have met a number of people of central and northern European ancestry who have identical features found in Neandertal skeletal remains.

6 Bert Theunissen, Eugene Dubois and the Ape-Man from Java, 1989, 79-127.

7 Science, December 13,1996, vol 274:1870-73

8 Nature, May 8, 1996.

9 Genesis 1:31