Out of Africa - Race, IQ, Geography, Climate
Posted: October 17th, 2011, 5:00 am
Check out this chapter from this book about race and IQ. It explains how human beings originally came out of Africa, and how geography and climate affected the intelligence of people in each region of the world.
http://www.harbornet.com/folks/theedric ... n/Race.htm
7
Out of Africa
The latest theory of human origins -- Out-of-
Africa -- provides the final piece to the
puzzle. It explains why r-K theory accounts
for race differences in body, brain, and
behavior. As races moved out of Africa they
evolved away from r-type behaviors and
toward K-type. Moving out of Africa meant
increasing brain size and IQ, but
lowering reproduction, aggression
and sexual activity.
Based on his theory of evolution, Charles Darwin thought Africa was “the cradle of mankind.�
He did not have any fossils from Africa to support his theory but he concluded that humans came from
Africa based on watching the chimpanzee and the gorilla. If the African apes were our closest living
relatives, it made sense that humans first evolved on the only continent where all three species lived.
Evidence from genetics, the fossil record, and archaeology have since all proved Darwin correct.
The human line began with the African fossil species called Australopithecus. Later human ancestors
Homo erectus and then Homo sapiens also appeared first in Africa.
Homo sapiens were fully human. They were in Africa less than 200,000 years ago. Moving to the
Middle East about 100,000 years ago, they then spread out across the world. They replaced the
Neanderthal and Homo erectus groups they met either by fighting or competing for food.
When modern humans left Africa they began to develop the racial traits we see today by adapting
to the new regions and climates. The first split in the human line took place about 100,000 years ago
between groups that remained in Africa (ancestors to modern Blacks) and those who left Africa. Then
about 40,000 years ago the group that left Africa divided once again, into the ancestors of today’s Whites
and Orientals.
This history of moving first out of Africa into Europe and then later into East Asia explains why
Whites fall in between Orientals and Blacks on the life history variables. The split between Africans and
non-Africans happened first, almost twice as early as the split between Orientals and Whites.
The Out of Africa theory explains the good fit between the r-K life history traits and race
differences. It is hard to survive in Africa. Africa has unpredictable droughts and deadly diseases that
spread quickly. More Africans than Asians or Europeans die young -- often from tropical disease. In these
African conditions, parental care is a less certain way of making sure a child will survive. A better
strategy is simply to have more children. This tilts their life history toward the r-end of the r-K scale. A
more r-strategy means not only more offspring and less parental care. It also means less culture is passed
from parent to child, and this tends to reduce the intellectual demands needed to function in the culture.
And the process continues from one generation to the next.
In contrast, the humans migrating to Eurasia faced entirely new problems -- gathering and storing
food, providing shelter, making clothes, and raising children during the long winters. These tasks were
more mentally demanding. They called for larger brains and slower growth rates. They permitted lower
levels of sex hormones, resulting in less sexual potency and aggression and more family stability and
longevity. Leaving the tropics for the northern continents meant leaving the r-strategy for the K-strategy -
- and all that went with it.
40
The Evidence
How can we know if the Out of Africa theory is true? To answer that question, we have to look at
the evidence from genetics, paleontology, and archaeology.
The History and Geography of Human Genes (1994) by Luigi Cavalli-Sforza and his colleagues
looks at thousands of genetic DNA comparisons of the races. Geneticists count the number of gene
mutations in each group to measure which groups are most closely related and when the groups split from
one another. These DNA studies support the Out of Africa theory that the split between Africans and all
other groups was the first to take place.
Fossils of prehistoric humans tell us that early steps in our evolution took place in Africa. Homo
sapiens lived in Africa between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago, but they only reached the Middle East
about 100,000 years ago. Earlier hominids such as the Neanderthals were very different from modern
humans. They had faces that jut further forward and they had larger front teeth than any living Europeans,
Africans, or East Asians. Neanderthals had denser bones, thicker skulls, and more pronounced brow
ridges than any modern humans. By comparison, all living humans are alike, despite our race differences.
Archaeology tells us the same story. The crude, Early Stone Age culture (termed Lower
Paleolithic) of Homo erectus, existed more than one million years before Homo sapiens appeared. The
Early Stone Age tool kit had hand-axes, choppers, and cleavers, all very similar in shape. However, the
Middle Stone Age tool kit of the Neanderthals (termed Middle Paleolithic) included more advanced stone
tools and the use of bone.
When modern humans first appeared on the scene 100,000 years ago, things started to change in
major ways. The Late Stone Age tool kit (termed Upper Paleolithic) was highly specialized. It consisted
of thinner blades struck off of stone cores to make knives, spear barbs, scrapers and cutters. Standardized
bone and antler tools appeared in the tool kit for the first time, including needles for sewing fur clothes.
The Late Stone Age tool kit contained tools made of several parts tied or glued together. Spear points
were set in shafts and ax heads in handles. Rope was used to make nets to trap foxes, rabbits, and other
small animals. Advanced weapons like barbed harpoons, darts, spear-throwers, and bows and arrows gave
Late Stone Age people the ability to kill animals from a safe distance.
Survival in Northeast Asia about 40,000 years ago also required warm clothing. Archeologists
have found needles, cave paintings of parkas, and grave ornaments marking the outlines of shirts and
trousers. We know that warm furs were worn. Fox and wolf skeletons missing their paws tell us that these
animals were skinned to make fur clothes. Houses were dug into the ground to provide insulation. These
large dwellings were marked by post holes and had walls made from mammoth bones. Fireplaces and
stone lamps were used to light the long Arctic winter night.
Geography and Race
Africa is warmer than the northern continents, but it is a less stable habitat. Droughts, storms, and
diseases from viruses, bacteria, and parasites cause high death rates, even today. Without modern medical
care, insuring survival in Africa means having many young (r-strategy). In the more stable environments
of Europe and Asia, survival is insured from having fewer young, but caring for them very well (Kstrategy).
The environment of Eurasia produced physical differences between the races. Northern Europe’s
cloudiness meant less sunshine. This decreased the intake of vitamin D, so lighter skin and hair were
needed to let more sunlight get in. As a result, Europeans born with lighter skin and hair were healthier.
They had more chance of having children who would survive and reproduce.
East Asia was even colder than North Europe, but with less cloud cover and more sunlight. There
a thicker layer of fat helped to insulate against the cold. This gives many Orientals a so-called “yellow�
complexion because it reduces the visibility of red blood vessels close to the skin. Meanwhile in Africa
melanin gives the skin a black color to protect it from the scorching rays of the sun.
41
Climate differences also influenced mental abilities. In Africa, food and warmth were available
all year round. To survive the cold winters, the populations migrating northwards had to become more
inventive. They had to find new sources of food and methods for storing it. They needed to make clothing
and shelters to protect against the elements. Without them the people would have died. Both parents had
to provide more care to help their young survive in the harsher climates.
Whites and Orientals in Eurasia had to find food and keep warm in the colder climates. In the
tropics, plant foods were plentiful all year round. In Europe and Asia they were seasonal and could not be
found during many winter and spring months.
To survive the long winters, the ancestors of today's Whites and Orientals made complex tools
and weapons to fish and hunt animals. They made spearheads that could kill big game from a greater
distance and knives for cutting and skinning. Fires, clothes and shelters were made for warmth. Bone
needles were used to sew animal skins together and shelters were made from large bones and skins.
Making special tools, fires, clothing and shelters called for higher intelligence. Moving “Out of
Africa� meant moving into a K-type life-history strategy. That meant higher IQ, larger brains, slower
growth, and lower hormone levels. It also meant lower levels of sexuality, aggression, and impulsive
behavior. More family stability, advanced planning, self-control, rule-following, and longevity were
needed.
Conclusion
Fossil records, archaeology, and genetic DNA studies of the living races support Charles
Darwin’s insight that we evolved in Africa. Humans then spread to the Middle East, Europe, Asia,
Australia, and then to the Americas. As humans left Africa, their bodies, brains and behavior changed. To
deal with the colder winters and scarcer food supply of Europe and Northeast Asia, the Oriental and
White races moved away from an r-strategy toward the K-strategy. This meant more parenting and social
organization, which required a larger brain size and a higher IQ.
Additional Readings
Cavalli-Sforza, L. L., Menozzi, P., & Piazza, A. (1994). The History and Geography of Human Genes.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Stringer, C. & McKie, R. (1996). African Exodus. London: Cape.
http://www.harbornet.com/folks/theedric ... n/Race.htm
7
Out of Africa
The latest theory of human origins -- Out-of-
Africa -- provides the final piece to the
puzzle. It explains why r-K theory accounts
for race differences in body, brain, and
behavior. As races moved out of Africa they
evolved away from r-type behaviors and
toward K-type. Moving out of Africa meant
increasing brain size and IQ, but
lowering reproduction, aggression
and sexual activity.
Based on his theory of evolution, Charles Darwin thought Africa was “the cradle of mankind.�
He did not have any fossils from Africa to support his theory but he concluded that humans came from
Africa based on watching the chimpanzee and the gorilla. If the African apes were our closest living
relatives, it made sense that humans first evolved on the only continent where all three species lived.
Evidence from genetics, the fossil record, and archaeology have since all proved Darwin correct.
The human line began with the African fossil species called Australopithecus. Later human ancestors
Homo erectus and then Homo sapiens also appeared first in Africa.
Homo sapiens were fully human. They were in Africa less than 200,000 years ago. Moving to the
Middle East about 100,000 years ago, they then spread out across the world. They replaced the
Neanderthal and Homo erectus groups they met either by fighting or competing for food.
When modern humans left Africa they began to develop the racial traits we see today by adapting
to the new regions and climates. The first split in the human line took place about 100,000 years ago
between groups that remained in Africa (ancestors to modern Blacks) and those who left Africa. Then
about 40,000 years ago the group that left Africa divided once again, into the ancestors of today’s Whites
and Orientals.
This history of moving first out of Africa into Europe and then later into East Asia explains why
Whites fall in between Orientals and Blacks on the life history variables. The split between Africans and
non-Africans happened first, almost twice as early as the split between Orientals and Whites.
The Out of Africa theory explains the good fit between the r-K life history traits and race
differences. It is hard to survive in Africa. Africa has unpredictable droughts and deadly diseases that
spread quickly. More Africans than Asians or Europeans die young -- often from tropical disease. In these
African conditions, parental care is a less certain way of making sure a child will survive. A better
strategy is simply to have more children. This tilts their life history toward the r-end of the r-K scale. A
more r-strategy means not only more offspring and less parental care. It also means less culture is passed
from parent to child, and this tends to reduce the intellectual demands needed to function in the culture.
And the process continues from one generation to the next.
In contrast, the humans migrating to Eurasia faced entirely new problems -- gathering and storing
food, providing shelter, making clothes, and raising children during the long winters. These tasks were
more mentally demanding. They called for larger brains and slower growth rates. They permitted lower
levels of sex hormones, resulting in less sexual potency and aggression and more family stability and
longevity. Leaving the tropics for the northern continents meant leaving the r-strategy for the K-strategy -
- and all that went with it.
40
The Evidence
How can we know if the Out of Africa theory is true? To answer that question, we have to look at
the evidence from genetics, paleontology, and archaeology.
The History and Geography of Human Genes (1994) by Luigi Cavalli-Sforza and his colleagues
looks at thousands of genetic DNA comparisons of the races. Geneticists count the number of gene
mutations in each group to measure which groups are most closely related and when the groups split from
one another. These DNA studies support the Out of Africa theory that the split between Africans and all
other groups was the first to take place.
Fossils of prehistoric humans tell us that early steps in our evolution took place in Africa. Homo
sapiens lived in Africa between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago, but they only reached the Middle East
about 100,000 years ago. Earlier hominids such as the Neanderthals were very different from modern
humans. They had faces that jut further forward and they had larger front teeth than any living Europeans,
Africans, or East Asians. Neanderthals had denser bones, thicker skulls, and more pronounced brow
ridges than any modern humans. By comparison, all living humans are alike, despite our race differences.
Archaeology tells us the same story. The crude, Early Stone Age culture (termed Lower
Paleolithic) of Homo erectus, existed more than one million years before Homo sapiens appeared. The
Early Stone Age tool kit had hand-axes, choppers, and cleavers, all very similar in shape. However, the
Middle Stone Age tool kit of the Neanderthals (termed Middle Paleolithic) included more advanced stone
tools and the use of bone.
When modern humans first appeared on the scene 100,000 years ago, things started to change in
major ways. The Late Stone Age tool kit (termed Upper Paleolithic) was highly specialized. It consisted
of thinner blades struck off of stone cores to make knives, spear barbs, scrapers and cutters. Standardized
bone and antler tools appeared in the tool kit for the first time, including needles for sewing fur clothes.
The Late Stone Age tool kit contained tools made of several parts tied or glued together. Spear points
were set in shafts and ax heads in handles. Rope was used to make nets to trap foxes, rabbits, and other
small animals. Advanced weapons like barbed harpoons, darts, spear-throwers, and bows and arrows gave
Late Stone Age people the ability to kill animals from a safe distance.
Survival in Northeast Asia about 40,000 years ago also required warm clothing. Archeologists
have found needles, cave paintings of parkas, and grave ornaments marking the outlines of shirts and
trousers. We know that warm furs were worn. Fox and wolf skeletons missing their paws tell us that these
animals were skinned to make fur clothes. Houses were dug into the ground to provide insulation. These
large dwellings were marked by post holes and had walls made from mammoth bones. Fireplaces and
stone lamps were used to light the long Arctic winter night.
Geography and Race
Africa is warmer than the northern continents, but it is a less stable habitat. Droughts, storms, and
diseases from viruses, bacteria, and parasites cause high death rates, even today. Without modern medical
care, insuring survival in Africa means having many young (r-strategy). In the more stable environments
of Europe and Asia, survival is insured from having fewer young, but caring for them very well (Kstrategy).
The environment of Eurasia produced physical differences between the races. Northern Europe’s
cloudiness meant less sunshine. This decreased the intake of vitamin D, so lighter skin and hair were
needed to let more sunlight get in. As a result, Europeans born with lighter skin and hair were healthier.
They had more chance of having children who would survive and reproduce.
East Asia was even colder than North Europe, but with less cloud cover and more sunlight. There
a thicker layer of fat helped to insulate against the cold. This gives many Orientals a so-called “yellow�
complexion because it reduces the visibility of red blood vessels close to the skin. Meanwhile in Africa
melanin gives the skin a black color to protect it from the scorching rays of the sun.
41
Climate differences also influenced mental abilities. In Africa, food and warmth were available
all year round. To survive the cold winters, the populations migrating northwards had to become more
inventive. They had to find new sources of food and methods for storing it. They needed to make clothing
and shelters to protect against the elements. Without them the people would have died. Both parents had
to provide more care to help their young survive in the harsher climates.
Whites and Orientals in Eurasia had to find food and keep warm in the colder climates. In the
tropics, plant foods were plentiful all year round. In Europe and Asia they were seasonal and could not be
found during many winter and spring months.
To survive the long winters, the ancestors of today's Whites and Orientals made complex tools
and weapons to fish and hunt animals. They made spearheads that could kill big game from a greater
distance and knives for cutting and skinning. Fires, clothes and shelters were made for warmth. Bone
needles were used to sew animal skins together and shelters were made from large bones and skins.
Making special tools, fires, clothing and shelters called for higher intelligence. Moving “Out of
Africa� meant moving into a K-type life-history strategy. That meant higher IQ, larger brains, slower
growth, and lower hormone levels. It also meant lower levels of sexuality, aggression, and impulsive
behavior. More family stability, advanced planning, self-control, rule-following, and longevity were
needed.
Conclusion
Fossil records, archaeology, and genetic DNA studies of the living races support Charles
Darwin’s insight that we evolved in Africa. Humans then spread to the Middle East, Europe, Asia,
Australia, and then to the Americas. As humans left Africa, their bodies, brains and behavior changed. To
deal with the colder winters and scarcer food supply of Europe and Northeast Asia, the Oriental and
White races moved away from an r-strategy toward the K-strategy. This meant more parenting and social
organization, which required a larger brain size and a higher IQ.
Additional Readings
Cavalli-Sforza, L. L., Menozzi, P., & Piazza, A. (1994). The History and Geography of Human Genes.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Stringer, C. & McKie, R. (1996). African Exodus. London: Cape.