DAYBREAK, and a group of apes are dancing around a rectangular monolith so dark it seems to suck light in. Inspired by this mysterious object, one of them grabs a bone and begins to wield it as a tool - then as a weapon. The armed ape goes hunting, makes a kill and eats flesh for the first time. Next day, he drives a rival group of apes from a watering hole and murders their leader. This, according to Stanley Kubrick's sci-fi masterpiece 2001: A space odyssey, is the dawn of humankind.
If only it were that simple. Anyone trying to understand our origins soon realises that no one thing pushed our ape ancestors across the threshold of humanity. It is difficult to pin down what makes us human anyway. We walk upright on two legs, with disproportionately large brains held high, communicating in spoken languages, navigating the complexity of human social life, producing sophisticated tools and artefacts, and creating culture. The story of how we became human is woven from many strands. Read Complete Story...
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