Origin of Our Species and the Diary of a Fangirl: Dr. Chris Stringer and Encounter with our Fellow Hominins by Simran Kaur Saini

 Fair Warning: This blog may employ a heavy use of loaded words and statements, and may also exhibit strong tendencies of a fangirl blog.

 

‘But we should not be surprised when the natural world (past and present) does not match up to our neat and simple schemes.’

 

This statement right here is something that I feel is very apt to start this blog with. If our previous blogs on Prehistory were any indication, the past, the present and the future do not always present that simple picture of our imaginations. Pardon me if I repeat myself again, but we, humans, are terrified of the unknown and the mysterious. Constructions of our own simplified imaginations render us with a sense of comfort in face of the looming question marks. Once that veil is taken off, however, an aura of frenzy, uncertainty and fear grips us. And that I feel is the beauty of the ever- changing research in Paleolithic studies. The reconciliation with the reality that Prehistory and Human Evolution will always remain a riveting enigma, throwing us off our chairs each passing second, is what makes Paleolithic so endearing to me. Trust me, the entirety of 2020 at least has proven the fact that nothing is ever certain or simple in life.

 

Because I have a tendency to digress, let us come back to the topic at hand. Why am I talking about Human Evolution again? Why the newfound love for Paleolithic? This ‘Year of the Pandemic’, which I might have cursed at for a good duration of my time, also gave me my fascinating tryst with the Paleolithic in the form of the endless, enriching discussions on the SA Paleolithic Advanced group. But it was The Origin of Our Species by Dr. Chris Stringer that made me hopelessly fall in love with Human Evolution. Yes! Exactly like those typical sappy romcoms that talk about ‘love at first sight’.  Just that my ‘love at first sight’ was directed towards our fellow hominins. It was, after a really long time that I finished a book in one day with not even a second of distraction in between. Even my favorite Kdrama episode could not entice me. So imagine my surprise that this particular book was about Prehistory, a field that terrified me to no end previously. Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I don my Poirot persona and embark on an obsessive research for anything that catches my attention. And that is what I did here, and, well, there really was no coming back now from the rabbit hole.

 

With various questions meandering about in my mind, the awe-struck Simran was further awe-struck when the lecture by Dr. Chris Stringer materialized on 2nd December. Cue in some excited screams and fangirling because that is what I intended to do at that precise moment and am doing so at this precise moment too. I, and many others at Speaking Archaeologically, had waited for this lecture as if it was the last precious drop of water on this planet.  So I sat there before my laptop screen, with nervous butterflies in my stomach and a bunch of odd sheets with notes scribbled over them in my shaky, sweaty hands. The minute the Zoom screen dazzled to life with Dr. Stringer’s face, I truly knew what being star-struck actually meant.  The title of the talk read, “Changing Landscape of Evolutionary History of Upper Paleolithic Hominins”.  If the title is any clue, the session contained within it more twists and turns than an Agatha Christie novel or a Buzzfeed Unsolved episode. Even the starting statement of the session began with a poetic, rueful and harsh truth (which might have also inflated the ego of us mortal humans for a second):

 

Only one kind of human survived by 30,000 years ago out of the five that existed around 70, 000 years ago.

 

Sort of feel like the final victors in The Hunger Games, don’t we?

 

But harking back to my ominous warning of simplification, this starting statement has to be taken with a pinch of salt, for it has infinite layers that need to be uncovered and inspected gradually. And that was what Dr. Stringer did during the talk. In face of the advances in DNA studies (how can we forget the revolutionary Neanderthal DNA?!) and the discovery of newer hominins such as H. naledi, H. luzonensis and H. floresiensis, the talk was a channel for me to satiate my inner curiosities about the enchanting world of Human Evolution. Dr. Stringer laid before us a series of questions as an interlude to the Pandora’s box that was going to be unraveled now.

 

Who is the last common ancestor?

Who were Denisovans?

What about H. sapiens origins and early dispersals from Africa?

Are H. neanderthalensis and H. sapiens ‘good’ species?

Why did H. sapiens ‘succeed’, while other human groups went extinct?

 

Now me attempting to answer these questions here in this blog would be akin to a lackluster remake of a classic (Trust me, Diptarka has done a fantastic job in his blog, and if you haven’t read that yet, go do it now!). If you want a sneak peek into the rollercoaster ride that the lecture was, well I went from ardently believing H. heidelbergensis as the last common ancestor until a few months ago to H. antecessor a few weeks ago to suddenly doubting everything the next minute during the lecture. The complexity of human evolution becomes more apparent when one looks at the diversity in the human population within Africa itself. What particularly captivated my attention was how the one-hour lecture encompassed myriad pieces of research, which were as recent as a few weeks back, and also proceeded to give us a very wholesome picture of the research landscape of evolutionary studies. Listening to Dr. Stringer, I could not help but feel as if I was accompanying our ancestors on their convoluted journey of evolution. We had been given a painted canvas at the start of the session; we had to now slowly go back to initial blank one.  And that, my friends, is the thrill of Human Evolution.

For me, the greatest highlight of the talk was the Q&A session at the end. How do you react when the one thing that you were desperately wishing upon a shooting star for finally happens? Break out into a dance? Scream your lungs out? Smile like a lunatic? Well, as much as I wanted to do all of these, I was rather more of a nervous wreak than ever before. But all my fears were pushed aside quite instantly when Dr. Stringer quite patiently and in a very balanced, cautious manner proceeded to answer all the questions that had been posed to him. A few seconds in, and all of us were engaged in some really enthusiastic and enriching discussions. Ranging from the curious case of H. naledi and its brain size and evolution to the recent shocking revelation of Sahelanthropus tchadensis not being a Hominin (gasp), the session at the end certainly gave all of us in the audience a lot food for thought. Our minds became ablaze with more theories, more puzzling mysteries and, above that, a deeper understanding of our ancestors. That evening with Dr. Stringer reaffirmed my belief that nothing stays absolutely certain for long. The rapidly changing research in middle and late Pleistocene Human Evolution carries with it both intimidating yet alluring strands of thoughts, leaving an indelible mark on our understanding of the Hominins.

 

That winter evening in December suddenly turned warm and enchanting for me. As a newcomer to the world of Paleolithic who is still navigating the intricate expanse of Human evolution, the lecture certainly left me wanting for more. It was, for me, one of those rare lectures that you wish would never end. I definitely learnt a lot that day from Dr. Stringer, and I hope that all of you, after watching the lecture on our YouTube channel, also take away something from it. You see, Human Evolution is that complex universe which will never let you leave once you decide to get sucked into it. Don’t believe me? Well, go check the lecture out! Trust me, you will not regret it.