More Discoveries Contradict Human Evolution Story

As more findings fail to fit the Darwinian picture, the evolutionary story of man appears to be unraveling.

Hand me the tools:  A hand bone from Kenya is telling evolutionists that human-like gripping hands, ready for tool use, already existed 1.4 million years ago in their timeline – more than doubling the previous estimate of 600,000 years.  This metacarpal of the middle finger, with an extension called the styloid process, provides humans with stable wrists and fingers for gripping tools.  Given the early date, it must have been from Homo erectus, researchers think in their PNAS paper.  Science Daily says, “The discovery of this bone is the earliest evidence of a modern human-like hand, indicating that this anatomical feature existed more than half a million years earlier than previously known.”  Live Science says that it “Turns back the clock 500,000 years on complex tool use,” which is “far earlier than scientists previously thought.”

A critical trait that distinguishes modern humans from all other species alive today is the ability to make complex tools. It’s not just the extraordinarily powerful human brain, but also the human hand, that gives humans this unique ability. In contrast, apes — humans’ closest living relatives — lack a powerful and precise enough grip to create and use complex tools effectively.

According to the BBC News, no alleged human ancestor fossil before 1.8 million years ago has the styloid process.  That means the change would have had to occur relatively quickly for it to appear “modern” in 400,000 years or less.  Carol Ward thinks “we are closing the gap on the evolutionary history of the human hand,” but had to admit that “Our specialised, dexterous hands have been with us for most of the evolutionary history of our genus, Homo.”  She also said this bone may not represent the first appearance, because stone tools dated 1.6 million years old are found nearby.  No evidence of a transitional form was mentioned.  It appears this specialized bone appeared abruptly, then remained unchanged throughout 1.5 million years according to the evolutionary timeline.

Neanderthal cemetery:  For over a century, the suggestion that Neanderthals buried their dead was controversially based on interpretation of evidence from one cave in France.  Now, a 13-year re-excavation of the site has concluded that it’s true. William Rendu, lead author of the paper in PNAS, realizes this is indicative of sophisticated mental powers.

“It is novel evidence that Neanderthals were able to develop, by themselves, some complex symbolic thought,” Rendu told LiveScience. “The behavioral distance between Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans seems to become even thinner.”

The assumed early date of the bones in this cave (50,000 years) indicates they did not copy the behavior from modern humans, as is alleged for later Neanderthal burial sites in Israel.  The good condition of the bones in undisturbed soil suggested to the excavation team that they were not accidental burials, but intentional – though it was not clear if they were buried for ritualistic or pragmatic reasons.  Science Daily wrote about the history of this controversy.

This is not the only evidence of complex thought in these individuals.  “The idea that Neanderthals buried their dead fits with recent findings that they were capable of symbolic thought and of developing rich cultures,” National Geographic states.  “For example, findings show they likely decorated themselves using pigments, and wore jewelry made of feathers and colored shells.”  There is also evidence they took care of their sick and elderly.

Update 12/20/13:  No dumb grunts: A hyoid bone discovered in a Neanderthal fossil suggests they were capable of speech.  The BBC News quotes Stephen Wroe (U of New South Wales), “Many would argue that our capacity for speech and language is among the most fundamental of characteristics that makes us human. If Neanderthals also had language then they were truly human too.”  More evidence of Neanderthal and Denisovan interbreeding with modern humans was reported on Science Daily, Live Science, the BBC News, and Science Magazine.

Mathematical minds:  News sites are reporting a “math surprise” – Polynesian islanders were using binary arithmetic hundreds of years before Leibniz showed how mathematical operations could be performed with a base 2 number system (Live Science).  Base 2 math is the foundation of modern computers.  The islanders apparently realized that, not having paper or writing, binary math made accounting functions easier to do in the head.   Mental arithmetic would have assisted their trade in goods with other island groups.    New Scientist notes that the Polynesians were apparently able to combine decimal and binary operations depending on the ease of the calculation.  Science Now says they may have invented binary math.

Is there anything in the evolutionary story of man that has stood the test of time?  For over a decade, we have cataloged a steady stream of upsets to the story (search on “Early Man”).  Upsets have been the rule, not the exception.  When you realize the millions-of-years dates are all contrived to fit the assumption of slow, gradual progression from the apes, the whole timeline collapses under the weight of contradictions.  The evidence shows apes always being apes, and humans always being humans, ignoring the make-believe species designations Darwinians give them – a kind of historical racism that pretends we are superior.

On top of that, the story is ludicrous.  Darwinians expect us to believe that physically fit, mentally-endowed people were able to make tools, use fire, cook, cross oceans and continents and use abstract thought, but never thought of learning to ride a horse, make a wheel, or plant a farm for over a million years!  Who can possibly believe such a tale?  Recorded history shows people going from hunting and gathering to exploration of the solar system in just a few thousand years.  Given their capabilities, it would have been impossible to keep Homo erectus and Neanderthal Man back from great exploits in short order, no matter the racist labels today’s sophoxymoroniacs want to put on them (see 10/18/13).

We therefore propose an evidence-based alternative that represents an inversion of the Darwinian story.  Humans began physically strong and smart, but degenerated into the obese fools they are today.  Evidence: the smartest among the moderns engage in worthless storytelling, and continue to believe their tales in spite of decades of contradictory observations.  The trend downward is masked by the advantage of easier storage and retrieval of accumulated facts since the invention of writing.  Early peoples had no need of such crutches, being able to retain everything in their powerful brains.

Darwin was afraid to use the word “ascent” for his second book, so he called it The Descent of Man.   The title better fits our theory.  It also has strong apostolic support.  Paul warned, “Evil men and imposters will continue from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (II Timothy 3:14).