8000-1500 b.c.e

I. African Genesis A. Interpreting the Evidence 1. In 1859 Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, in which he suggested that species evolve over long periods of time through the process of natural selection. With regard to human beings, Darwin speculated that humans must be “descended from a hairy, tailed quadruped,” and that the process of human evolution must have started in Africa. 2. Discoveries of hominid skeletal remains in Java (1891) and Beijing (1929) indicated Asian origins for human beings. However, the African origins of human beings were suggested by the discovery of Australopithecus africanus in 1924 and confirmed by the work of the Leakeys in eastern Africa beginning in 1950.