This exhibition considers the question of how human beings are related to other animals and various 'human ancestors whose fossil remains have been discovered in different parts of the world.
In order to consider these relationships, we must look closely at our own characteristics and then investigate whether or not they are shared by any other animals, living or extinct.
The evidence suggests that chimpanzees and gorillas are probably our closest living relatives because they share more of our characteristics than any other mammals. But neither of these animals walk upright and, relative to their size, their brains are not as large as humans'. So, we must look for closer relatives amongst the fossils. In the main part of the exhibition you can consider the evidence from different fossil groups.
The australopithecines lived in Africa between five and one and a half million years ago. From their skeletons we can tell that they were able to walk upright and were therefore more closely related to humans than chimpanzees and gorillas. Another group, the habilines, lived between two and one and a half million years ago. They had larger brains than australopithecines and made a variety of tools. For this reason, habilines are thought to be even more closely related to us and are given the scientific name Homo habilis or 'handy man'.
Another unique human characteristic is our use of fire for heating and cooking. Homo erectus people, whose remains have been found in the Far East, were probably the first people to use fire. These people were taller than habilines and had larger brains so that they are thought to be more closely related to us than the habilines.
But our closest known fossil relatives are the neandertals, people who lived in Europe and the Middle East between 150,000 and 40,000 years ago. They had larger brains than Homo erectus, made tools, used fire and buried their dead.
By about 100,000 years ago, people like us were living in Africa and the Middle East, and by 30,000 years ago, they were inhabiting much of the world. Paintings made by these early people have been found in Africa, Asia, Europe and Australia. Evidence suggests that they found food by hunting, but later began to cultivate crops and keep animals. Their early farming communities were the beginnings of the towns and cities of our modern world.
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