Chapter Summary

The “hottest” current debate in bioanthropology is over the origin of modern Homo sapiens. Authorities at present support either two major models. One, the Recent African Origin (RAO) model, proposes that modern humans evolved as a separate species 200,000 to 150,000 ya in Africa, having a set of characteristics that made them distinctly different from their ancestor, and other contemporary, species. They then spread throughout the Old World, replacing populations of the archaic humans because of their better-adapted traits.

The other model, the Multiregional Evolution (MRE) model, claims that our species is as much as 2 million years old and incorporates other previously recognized species of genus Homo possibly back through H. erectus. After first evolving in Africa, the species spread around the world, developing regional differences but always maintaining species identity through gene flow. As new and successful adaptations rose in different areas, they were shared across the species. Thus, “modern” humans are those of us—all 6 billion living today—who share a collection of traits that is the latest set of physical features in a very ancient species.

The data from paleontology, archaeology, and genetics are ambiguous on this issue. Either model may be supported by the same basic facts. The arguments from evolutionary theory, however, I believe more strongly support the MRE model. Deductive testing and data collection continue, and it would seem that this debate will be ongoing for some time to come.

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