Cro-Magnon and modern man. Cro-Magnons
Cro-Magnons is the common name for the ancestors of people who existed 40-10 thousand years ago (). Cro-Magnons is a sharp leap in the development of human evolution, which has become decisive not only in the survival of the human race, but also in the development of Homo sapiens.
Cro-Magnons appeared much later, about 40-50 thousand years ago. According to some estimates, the earliest Cro-Magnons could have existed more than 100 thousand years ago. Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons are varieties of the genus Homo.
Neanderthals presumably originated from a man, who, in turn, was a type of Homo erectus (), and were not the ancestors of people. Cro-Magnon originated from Homo erectus and are the direct ancestors of modern man. The name "Cro-Magnon" refers to the discovery of several skeletons of people with Late Paleolithic tools in the rock grotto of Cro-Magnon, France. Later, the remains of Cro-Magnons and their culture were found in many parts of the world - in Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Romania, and Russia.
Scientists suggest different versions the emergence and spread of Cro-Magnons - the ancestors of people. Judging by one version, the first representatives of the ancestors of people with the Cro-Magnon type of development (the type of Homo erectus) appeared in East Africa 130-180 thousand years ago. Approximately 50-60 thousand years ago, the Cro-Magnons began to migrate from Africa to Eurasia. Initially, one group settled on the coast of the Indian Ocean, and the second settled in the steppes. Central Asia. A little later, migration began to Europe, which was inhabited by the Cro-Magnons about 20 thousand years ago. There are also other versions about the distribution of Cro-Magnons.
The Cro-Magnons had a huge advantage over the Neanderthals that existed at the same time in Europe. Although the Neanderthals were more adapted to northern conditions, were more powerful and stronger, they could not resist the Cro-Magnons. The direct ancestors of people were carriers of such high culture for the time that the Neanderthals were clearly inferior to them in development, although, according to some studies, the Neanderthal brain was larger, he knew how to create tools and hunting, used fire, created clothes and dwellings, knew how to make jewelry, had speech and so on. By that time, Cro-Magnon had already made quite complex jewelry made of stone, horn and bone, as well as cave paintings. Cro-Magnons first came up with human settlements, lived in communities ( tribal communities), which included up to 100 people. as dwellings in different parts In the light of the Cro-Magnons used caves, tents made of animal skins, dugouts, houses made of stone slabs. Cro-Magnons created clothes from skins, made more modern, compared to their ancestors and Neanderthals, tools of labor and hunting. The Cro-Magnons also tamed the dog for the first time.
As the researchers suggest, the migrating Cro-Magnons who arrived in Europe met Neanderthals here, who long before them had already mastered the best territories, settled in the most convenient caves, settled in profitable areas near rivers or in places where there is a lot of prey. Probably in, the Cro-Magnons, who had a higher development, simply exterminated the Neanderthals. Archaeologists find bones of Neanderthals at the Cro-Magnon sites, which have clear traces of their eating, that is, Neanderthals were not only exterminated, but also eaten. There is also a version that only part of the Neanderthals were destroyed, the rest were able to assimilate with the Cro-Magnons.
Cro-Magnon finds clearly indicate the existence of their religious ideas. The rudiments of religion are also observed among Neanderthals, but many scientists express great doubts about this. Among Cro-Magnons, cult rites can be traced very clearly. The ancestors of people already tens of thousands of years ago carried out complex funeral rites, buried their relatives in a bent position in the fetal position (belief in the transmigration of the soul, rebirth), decorated the dead with various products, placed household items, food in the grave (belief in the afterlife of the soul, in which it will need the same things as on earth lives - plates, food, weapons, etc.).
Niramin - Aug 24th, 2016
Cro-Magnons inhabited the Earth in the era of the Upper Paleolithic (40-10 thousand years ago) and were direct ancestors modern people. The structure of their skull and hands, brain volume, body proportions were similar to ours. For the first time, the remains of these ancient people were discovered in the second half of the 19th century in France, in the grotto of Cro-Magnon, from which the name "Cro-Magnon" arose.
The ancestors of modern people made a dramatic breakthrough in evolution and far surpassed their predecessors in development. They knew how to make complex tools: needles, scrapers, drills, spearheads, bows and arrows, using not only wood and stone, but also horns, bones and tusks of animals. The Cro-Magnons knew how to sew clothes, make dishes from baked clay, and even created skillful jewelry and figurines. They highly valued art, engaged in bone carving and decorated the walls and ceilings of their dwellings. rock art. Scientists never cease to be amazed at the technique, materials and craftsmanship of cave paintings.
The lifestyle of the Cro-Magnon was significantly different from other ancient people. Cro-Magnons also lived mainly in caves, but already knew how to build huts from animal bones and skins. The first domestic animal - a dog - appeared in this era. The Cro-Magnons were fluent in speech, which allowed them to build new social relationships.
Cro-Magnons in the parking lot. 
Photo: Cro-Magnon (Cro-Magnon). Reconstruction by M.M. Gerasimov. 
Cro-Magnon skull.
Video: Evolution: Cro-Magnons
Cro-Magnons - the origin of modern man
Cro-Magnons - the common name of the ancient representatives of modern man, who appeared much later than the Neanderthals and coexisted with them for some time (40-30,000 years ago). Their appearance and physical development were in fact no different from modern humans.
Approximately 40–30,000 years ago, the third greatest event in the life of our planet. The first, which happened several billion years ago, was the origin of life. The second is the beginning of humanization, the transition from ape to ape-man - about 2 million years ago. The third event is the appearance of man modern type, Homo sapiens - Homo sapiens.
40-30,000 years ago, it appears and very quickly (quickly in this case, when a millennium is a trifle) takes the place of the Neanderthals.
Cro-Magnon skeletons found
As soon as an archaeologist from France Larte discovered 5 skeletons in the Cro-Magnon grotto under a thick layer of centuries-old deposits, he immediately guessed that he had met “acquaintances”. Shortly before this, the scientist became aware that, by order of the authorities of the Haute-Garonne department, 17 skeletons, accidentally found in the Orignac Pyrenean cave, were buried in the parish cemetery. Larte was able to prove without difficulty that the strict rules of Christian burial could be waived in relation to these people, and not only dug them back, but also established (using stone tools and animal bones from the Aurignac cave) that they were contemporaries of the same ice age where the classic Neanderthals lived. The tools of the Aurignacian man are in a slightly higher, i.e. late, layer than the tools of the Chapelles.
The two caves in which the most ancient people of the modern type were found gave them their names: the first person began to be called Cro-Magnon, and the first big period its history - period (culture) Aurignac.
Dozens of discoveries of Cro-Magnon skeletons and sites all over the world soon followed. Western Europe and North Africa, and the ancient "reasonable man" appeared in all its splendor and splendor.
Parking lot Sungir
Sculptural portraits of a girl and a boy from the Sungir site
Sungir is an Upper Paleolithic Cro-Magnon site on the territory of the Vladimir region. There is a well-known paired burial of a boy aged 12–14 and a girl aged 9–10, lying with their heads to each other. What their bones could tell. As it turned out, the boy, despite his age, could throw a spear well. right hand. The girl, judging by the development of her fingers and forearm, often made scrolling movements with her right hand. We know that the clothes of the Sungir people were covered with many beads made of mammoth bone, and there were holes in the beads. These holes, apparently, were drilled by a young Cro-Magnon woman.
The structure of the right humerus and cervical vertebrae show that the girl often raised her right arm up, and her head was constantly tilted to the left. In order for such features to appear on the skeleton already in childhood, the load must be very strong! According to anthropologists, the girl regularly wore weights on her head, and held them with her right hand. Perhaps during the transitions from camp to camp, which were made by nomadic groups of Cro-Magnons, the little Cro-Magnon was a carrier on an equal basis with adults.
What was a Cro-Magnon
Cro-Magnons evoked admiration from their discoverers, mixed with envy: the first people - and immediately what!
They were Caucasians, of enormous height (on average 187 cm), with an ideal straight bipedal gait and a very large head (from 1600 to 1900 cm³). Such a large skull could still be considered a "relic of Neanderthalism", but this head already had a straight forehead, a high cranial vault, and a sharply protruding chin.
Cro-Magnon man did not know what metal was, did not suspect either agriculture or cattle breeding, but if we could transfer him through 400 centuries, he, apparently, would easily understand everything and could draw up an equation, write a poem, work on the machine and compete in a chess tournament.
Where did the Cro-Magnon come from?
A Cro-Magnon man appeared - for archaeologists and anthropologists - somehow at once: just here, in the caves of France and Italy, squat, powerful, invincible people lived, and suddenly they quickly, abruptly disappear, and people of the modern type are already hunting in their area. The newcomers are accompanied by an incredible technological revolution: instead of 3-4 primitive Neanderthal stone tools, about 20 stone and bone “devices” are used during the Aurignac period: awls, needles, tips, and so on. Immediately, as if from nothing, an amazing cave art appears.
This most powerful anthropological, technical and cultural revolution now determines the entire human history. For billions of years, animals have existed only according to biological laws, improving, expanding the apparatus of adaptation, but not leaving the biological framework. But here comes major event: the development of a group of animals has reached such a stage that they include in the mechanism of their adaptation, in addition to their own teeth and paws, also an inanimate object that does not belong to the body: a stick, a stone.
According to one version, the Cro-Magnon is the ancestor of all modern people, having appeared in East Africa approximately 130-180,000 years ago. According to this theory, 50-60,000 years ago they migrated from Africa to the Arabian Peninsula and appeared in Eurasia. The first group was able to quickly populate the coast of the Indian Ocean, and the second migrated to the steppes of Central Asia. The second group is the ancestors of nomadic peoples and most of the Middle Eastern and North African population. Migration from the Black Sea to Europe began approximately 40-50,000 years ago, presumably through the Danube corridor. 20,000 years ago, all of Europe was already inhabited.
How has everything changed?
Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon
From now on, this creature no longer belongs entirely to biology, there is a gap in the “biological fence”. Oldowan pebbles, axe, stone ax, a locomotive, an electronic computing device - these are already phenomena of the same order: a living being uses and combines inanimate objects. "Who" dominates "what".
The breakthrough of biology that occurs in a social animal multiplies, intensifies in the pack, creates new relationships in this pack. But, apparently, the biological factor, that is, physical structure creatures, does not immediately get used to, is consistent with the new "organs" - tools: for about 2 million years, the first ape-men change not only their inventory, but also their physical structure. A hand squeezing a beaten pebble makes the brain think hard and increase, but not remaining in debt, the brain sends its signals to the hand: it also improves.
Over thousands of centuries, tools go from rough stone, stick or bone to the Neanderthal axe, stone scraper and pointed point.
The brain during this period increases from 600–700 to 1500 cm³.
Gait - from semi-monkey to completely straight.
Hand - from a tenacious paw to a perfect tool.
The collective - from the animal flock to the first human social forms.
Some law of evolution, which we have not yet fully deciphered, causes the body of the ape-man to change along with his tools.
Comparison with modern man
Eventually there comes a point when biology and tools reach full agreement, a point from which brain and hand can do whatever work they want. The same brain and the same hand as a Cro-Magnon man will control a bow 20,000 years later, a plow 25,000 years later, and a few thousand years later, a locomotive, a car, an airplane, a rocket.
To move from a primitive ax to a more perfect one, it took from a Pithecanthropus to become a Neanderthal. And in order to come from stone unpolished tips to the splitting of the atom, “nothing” was needed, that is, it seems that nothing fundamentally changed in the human body.
Instead of changing physically in the struggle for existence, man chose a different path. From now on, he began to improve "inanimate objects" and changed the structure of his society. Physical changes were replaced by faster and more painless - technical, social.
And how can we actually know that the biological development of man has stopped?
Discussions on this topic have been going on for a very long time. It has been noticed that there are secular, millennial fluctuations in the physical structure of a person: the Cro-Magnon man was taller than us, now, as you know, humanity is again growing quite rapidly. Several thousand years ago, human bones were more massive, then they became more elegant, tomorrow, perhaps, they will again become massive and bulky. Undoubtedly, "brachycephalization" is going on, an increase in the number of short-headed people compared to long-headed ones.
The reasons for these changes are cryptic: food, new image life? The seriousness of these changes is also predictable: are these phenomena temporary, or tomorrow they will be covered by another change, or will a person still look different in a few tens or hundreds of millennia, not like now?
Guessing about the future, however, we have the right to declare: over the past 30-40 thousand years, gigantic changes in technology have occurred, but during the same time there have been no fundamental "corporeal" changes.
Obviously, the “thousand-great-grandfathers” laid a good foundation!
Cro-Magnon culture
The Cro-Magnon created a rich and varied Late Paleolithic culture. There are descriptions of more than 100 types of complex stone and bone tools made with great skill, made by new, more efficient processing of stone and bone. To a large extent, the Cro-Magnons also improved hunting methods (driven hunting), catching deer, mammoths, woolly rhinos, cave bears, wolves and other animals. They began to manufacture spear throwers (a spear could fly 137 m), as well as devices for catching fish (harpoons, hooks), and bird snares.
Cro-Magnons usually lived in caves, but at the same time, they built various dwellings from stone and dugouts, tents from animal skins, and even entire villages. Early neoanthropes could make sewn clothes, often decorated. So, at the Sungir site (Vladimir region), more than 1000 beads were found on the fur clothes of a man, many other decorations were found - bracelets, rings.
Cro-Magnon was the creator of the remarkable European primitive art, which can be evidenced by multi-color painting on the walls and ceilings of caves ( (Spain), Montespan, Lascaux (France), etc.), engravings on pieces of stone or bone, ornament, small stone and clay sculpture. Amazing images of horses, deer, bison, mammoths, female figurines, called “Venuses” by archaeologists for the splendor of their forms, various objects carved from bone, horns and tusks or molded from clay, no doubt can testify to a highly developed sense of beauty among Cro-Magnons. Cave art reached its peak approximately 19-15,000 years ago. Scientists believe that the Cro-Magnons could have existed magical rites and rituals.
Probably, the life expectancy of Cro-Magnons was longer than that of Neanderthals: about 10% already lived to be 40 years old. In this era, the primitive communal system was also formed.
Cro-Magnon cave with wall paintings
In the south-west of France, near the city of Villonaire, Charente department, speleologists and archaeologists have discovered a cave with ancient wall paintings.
Cave researchers managed to find a unique and extremely valuable underground hall with rock art back in December 2005, but the unique cave was reported much later. Such strong secrecy in Lately scientists are increasingly sticking to valuable finds to prevent unwanted visitors from destroying them.
Work in progress on dates rock paintings. Experts do not exclude that they may be older than those in the famous Lasko Cave and Altamira Cave. According to the first impressions of experts, we are talking about the Cro-Magnon site, that is, a period of 30,000 years ago. According to scientists, the find in Villonera could be a revolution in science - it used to be believed that in such ancient times people did not resort to painting the walls of their underground dwellings.
One of the groups of fossil neoanthropes. Name comes from the grotto Cromagnon (Cromagnon) in the dep. Dordogne (France), where in 1868 it was discovered several. skeletons of people of this type. The bone remains of K. are known (since 1823) from the late Pleistocene of Europe. ... ... Biological encyclopedic dictionary
Modern Encyclopedia
- (from the name of the grotto Cro Magnon Cro Magnon, in France), the generalized name of the fossil people of the modern species (neoanthropes) of the Late Paleolithic. Known from bone remains discovered in all parts of the world. Appeared ok. 40 thousand years ago… Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
Cro-Magnons- (Cro Magnons), prehistoric. people of modern species (Homo sapiens) that inhabited Europe ca. 35 10 thousand years ago. K. had a more massive physique than modern. man, but otherwise the same anatomical. x ki. Appeared in Europe approx. 35 thousand years ago, and ... ... The World History
Cro-Magnons- (from the name of the grotto Cro Magnon, Cro Magnon, in France), the most common of the fossil people of the modern species (neoanthropes) of the late Paleolithic era. Known from skeletal remains mainly from Europe. Appeared about 40 thousand years ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary
Tsev; pl. (sing. Cro-Magnon, nza; m.). The general name of the people of the Late Paleolithic ● The name comes from the grotto of Cro-Magnon in France, where in 1868 the bones of the Cro-Magnon skeleton were found. ◁ Cro-Magnon, oh, oh. K th era, cave. * *… … encyclopedic Dictionary
A generalized name for people of the late Paleolithic era. The name comes from the Cro Magnon grotto in the Dordogne department (France), where in 1868 the French archaeologist and paleontologist L. Larte discovered K. S ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Cro-Magnons- the term is ambiguous: 1) in the narrow sense, Cro-Magnons are people found in the Cro-Magnon grotto (France) and lived about 30 thousand years ago; 2) in a broader sense, this is the entire population of Europe during the Upper Paleolithic from 40 to 10 thousand years ago; 3)… … Physical Anthropology. Illustrated explanatory dictionary.
- (by the name of the Cro Magnon cave in France, where the first fossils were found) people of the modern type that existed in Europe in the Upper Pleistocene and differed sharply from the Neanderthals. New dictionary foreign words... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
A generalized name for people of the Late Paleolithic era. Name comes from the grotto Cro Magnon (Cro Magnon) in dep. Dordogne (France), where in 1868 the first finds of K. S. Anthropological were made. point of view K. belong to the modern. kind of person (Homo… … Soviet historical encyclopedia
Books
- New Cro-Magnons. Memories of the future. Book 1, Yuri Berkov. If you want to have not only pleasant, but also useful reading, if you want to expand your horizons, read this book. You will plunge into the mysterious world of the future and live a stormy… eBook
- New Cro-Magnons. Memories of the future. Book 2, Yuri Berkov. If you have mastered the first book, then you will read the second with even greater interest. In it, you will find amazing life collisions of its heroes, exciting underwater adventures and a lot of…
Cro-Magnons are the earliest representatives of modern man. It must be said that these people lived later than the Neanderthals and inhabited almost the entire territory of modern Europe. The name "Cro-Magnon" can only be understood as those people who were found in the grotto of Cro-Magnon. These people lived 30 thousand years ago and looked like a modern person.
General information about Cro-Magnons
The Cro-Magnons were very advanced, and it must be said that their skills, achievements, and changes social organization life many times surpassed Neanderthals and Pithecanthropes, and combined. It is with and is associated with Cro-Magnon. these people helped to take them a big step forward in their development and achievements. Due to the fact that they were able to inherit an active brain from their ancestors, their achievements manifested themselves in aesthetics, tool manufacturing technology, communication, etc.
origin of name
Associated with a reasonable person, the number of changes in which was very large, namely Cro-Magnon. Their way of life was different from the way of life of their ancestors.
It is worth saying that the name "Cro-Magnon" comes from the rocky grotto of Cro-Magnon, located in France. In 1868, Louis Larte found several human skeletons in the area, as well as Late Paleolithic tools. He later described them, after which it was found out that these people existed about 30,000 years ago.
Cro-Magnon physique
Compared to Neanderthals, Cro-Magnons had a less massive skeleton. The growth of early representatives of man reached 180-190 cm.
Their forehead was straighter and smoother than that of Neanderthals. It is also worth noting that the Cro-Magnon skull had a high and round arch. The chin of these people was protruding, the eye sockets were angular, and the nose was rounded.
Cro-Magnons developed a straight gait. Scientists assure that their physique practically did not differ from the physique of modern people. And this already speaks volumes.
It was the Cro-Magnon man who was very similar to modern man. The way of life of the early representatives of man was quite interesting and unusual, in comparison with their ancestors. Cro-Magnons made great amount efforts to be as similar as possible to modern man.
The earliest representatives of man are the Cro-Magnons. Who are the Cro-Magnons? Lifestyle, housing and clothing
About who the Cro-Magnons are, not only adults know, but also children. We study the features of their stay on Earth at school. It must be said that the first representative of a person who created settlements was precisely the Cro-Magnon. The way of life of these people was different from the Neanderthals. Cro-Magnons gathered in communities that numbered up to 100 people. They lived in caves, as well as tents made of skins. IN Eastern Europe met representatives who lived in dugouts. It is important that their speech was articulate. Cro-Magnon clothing was skins.
How did the Cro-Magnon hunt? Way of life, tools of labor of an early representative of man
It must be said that the Cro-Magnons succeeded not only in the development social life but also in hunting. The paragraph "Features of the way of life of Cro-Magnons" includes an improved method of hunting - driven fishing. The early representatives of man mined northern, as well as mammoths, etc. It was the Cro-Magnons who knew how to make special spear throwers that could fly up to 137 meters. Harpoons and hooks for catching fish were also tools of the Cro-Magnons. They created snares - devices for hunting birds.
primitive art
It is important that it was the Cro-Magnons who became the creators of the European. This is evidenced primarily by the multi-color painting in the caves. The Cro-Magnons used to paint on the walls as well as on the ceilings. Confirmation that these people were creators of primitive art are engravings on stones and bones, ornament, etc.
All this testifies to how interesting and amazing the life of the Cro-Magnons was. Their way of life has become an object of admiration even in our time. It should be noted that the Cro-Magnons made a huge step forward, which significantly brought them closer to modern man.
Burial rites of the Cro-Magnons
It is worth noting that the early representatives of man also had funeral rites. It was customary among the Cro-Magnons to put various decorations, household items, and even food in the grave of the deceased. They were sprinkled on the hair of the dead, put on a net, bracelets on their hands, and flat stones were placed on their faces. It is also worth noting that the Cro-Magnons buried the dead in a bent state, that is, their knees had to touch the chin.
Recall that the Cro-Magnons were the first to domesticate an animal - a dog.
One of the versions of the origin of the Cro-Magnons
It must be said that there are several versions of the origin of the early representatives of man. The most common of them says that the Cro-Magnons were the ancestors of all modern people. According to this theory, these people appeared in East Africa about 100-200 thousand years ago. It is believed that the Cro-Magnons migrated to the Arabian Peninsula 50-60 thousand years ago, after which they appeared in Eurasia. According to this, one group of early human representatives quickly populated the entire coast of the Indian Ocean, while the second group migrated to the steppes of Central Asia. According to numerous data, it can be seen that 20 thousand years ago Europe was already inhabited by the Cro-Magnons.
Until now, many admire the way of life of the Cro-Magnons. Briefly about these early representatives of a person, it is possible that they were the most similar to a modern person, since they improved their skills and abilities, developed and learned a lot of new things. Cro-Magnons contributed huge contribution in the history of human development, because it was they who made a huge step towards the most important achievements.
