The cradle of humanity

Xylocopa

Tales of a migrant worker in the global economy

Patrick D Hahn

Location: Cape Coast, Ghana
Birthday: June 07

Bio: All photos by the author are copyright of Patrick D Hahn. All rights reserved. To the best of my knowledge, all other photos and illustrations used here are in the public domain or are used with the permission of the copyright owner. If you believe a photo of yours has been used here without your permission, please email the author of this blog.

MY RECENT POSTS

Ya gotta die of something
May 30, 2012 06:10AM
The Gold Coast Regiment
May 12, 2012 03:51PM
"Our tragedies often start before we are born"
April 26, 2012 04:35AM
"A carrot growing out of my forehead"
April 18, 2012 04:40PM
Return to Molé National Park
March 19, 2012 03:34AM

MY RECENT COMMENTS

“Wow. More, please.”
May 29, 2012 11:32AM
“Oh, by the way, General Cunningham was an Irishman. I'm just sayin'...”
May 29, 2012 11:26AM
“"Duct tape doesn't really patch everything; it sort of helps things hang in…”
May 27, 2012 07:21AM
“The notion that we are fragile creatures kept alive only by dint of constant medi…”
May 27, 2012 06:36AM
“Robert Kennedy Junior had his marriage to his first wife anulled, AFTER they had…”
May 24, 2012 02:44PM

Patrick D Hahn's Links

The Psychopharmaceutical-Industrial Complex: Listening to Peter Kramer; Chantix: killing more than just your desire to smoke; Chantix: for people who are dying to quit smoking UPDATED; Chantix: is suicide an expected event?; Exploding the antidepressant myth; Throughput in the psychiatrist's office; A depressing proposal
The astonishing rise of mental illness in America: Part 6: Why psych meds are not "like insulin for diabetes" continued; Part 5: Why psych meds are not "like insulin for diabetes"; Part 4: A manufactured epidemic; Part 3: An invented disorder; Part 2; Part 1
Big fat lies: Part 11: News flash: exercise burns fat; Part 10: Chunky monkeys; Part 9; Part 8; Part 7; Part 6; Part 5; Part 4; Part 3; Part 2; Part 1
Is screening for cancer a giant con job?: Part 10; Part 9; Part 8; Part 7; Part 6; Part 5; Part 4; Part 3; Part 2; Part 1
The Gold Coast: The Gold Coast Regiment; Return to Molé National Park; In search of Aboatia Part 2 UPDATED; The flying fish of Nzema; The sea turtles of Nzema; In search of Aboatia Part 1; Taking a break from Open Salon; The crocodiles of Egyambra; The elephants of Molé National Park; The Castle of Saint George at Elmina
The Holy Ark of the Covenant in Ethiopia: Gondar; Harar; The Castle of Saint George at Elmina; Imrahana Christos; Laibela; Debra Zion; Tana Kirkos; The Church of Saint Mary at Axum
The Cradle of Humanity: Only in Ethiopia; Ethiopian cuisine; The Red Terror Museum in Addis Ababa; Axum; Trampled Rose: giving Ethiopian women a second chance; The diagnosis; The Land of Burnt Faces; The Cradle of Humanity
The Medical-Industrial Complex: Ya gotta die of something; The Vampire of the Caribbean; One of the deadliest prescription drugs ever; News flash: public playgrounds harbor germs; Are statin drugs the new thalidomide?; GlaxoSmithKline: making a killing; Kermit Gosnell update; A fat-headed idea; Doctor Kermit Gosnell's Little Shop of Horrors; In memory of David Reimer; The House of Frankenstein; Time to re-think our strategy in the War On Cancer; Trampled Rose: giving Ethiopian women a second chance; Man is more than a dildo; The diagnosis; I hope he fails; President Obama, healthcare reform, and Animal Farm; Animal experimentation and the shining city on the sea; The checkup; Health care, breast cancer, and "Benefits-eligible" employees; "Death panels," prostate cancer, and health care rationing; Letter from physicians to the American people and my reply; Pulling the plug on Grandma; They're as mad as heck and they're not gonna take it anymore; The most important thing to remember about health care; Review of "Our Daily Meds" by Melody Peterson; Time to pull the plug on employer-based health insurance; The health care industry tips its hand; Has medicine become the modern-day substitute for religion? Part 2; Should doctors kill? Part 3; Remembering Doctor Heller; Physician, heal thyself; Should doctors kill? Part 2 EDITOR'S PICK; On driving a spike through a child's eye sockets; Has medicine become the modern-day substitute for religion?; Free market versus "socialized medicine"= A false choice; Blaming the uninsured EDITOR'S PICK; A tepid defense of animal experimentation; Why do people say heart transplants "save lives?" UPDATED; The perils of genetic engineering; Should doctors kill?; Vassals of the Medical-Industrial Complex
The War On Drugs: Part 5: Jose Guerena shooting update; Part 4; Part 3; Part 2; Part 1
The Nutritional-Industrial Complex: Myplate: should the government be telling us what to eat?; Big surprise: Heart Attack Grill spokesman dies at 29; Eat your vegetables -- or else! UPDATED; Fresh takes up where Food Inc. leaves off; Food Inc. pulls back the veil; High-fructose corn syrup and highly misleading advertising; Michael Pollan's subversive proposal Part 2; Michael Pollan's subversive proposal: Eat food; War On Food EDITOR'S PICK
Personal reminiscences: Remembering Mom UPDATED FOR MOTHER'S DAY 2012; Bully for you; An extraordinary woman; The lizards of Echo Canyon Park; The greatest summertime song EVER; Thoughts on Valentine's Day; Goodbye to all that; Remembering Grampa; Remembering Uncle Walter; Remembering Doctor Heller
Personal essays: The Washouts; The Small Girl
Books of interest: How We Die by Sherwin B. Nuland, M.D.; The Origins of AIDS by Jacques Pepin, M.D.; Blood Feud: The Man Who Blew the Whistle on One of the Deadliest Prescription Drugs Ever; Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America by Robert Whitaker; The Emperor's New Drugs: Exploding the Antidepressant Myth by Irving Kirsch, Ph.D.; Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health by H. Gilbert Welch, M.P.H., M.D.; Buried Alive: The Terrifying History of Our Most Primal Fear by Jan Bondeson; Blaming the Brain: the Truth About Drugs and Mental Health by Elliot S. Valenstein Ph.D.; Our Daily Meds by Melody Peterson; In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan; Overdo$ed America by John Abramson, M.D.; The Truth About the Drug Companies by Marcia Angell, M.D.; Selling Sickness by Ray Moynihan and Alan Cassels; Uninsured in America by Susan Starr Sered, Ph.D., and Rushika Fenrandopulle, Ph.D.; Sick Girl by Amy Silverstein; Sick by Jonathan Cohn; Overtreated by Shannon Brownlee; Worried Sick by Nortin M. Hadler, M.D.; My Lobotomy by Howard Dully; Should I Be Tested for Cancer by H. Gilbert Welch, M.D., M.P.H.; The Lobotomist by Jack El-Hai; Medical Nemesis by Ivan Ilich; Confessions of a Medical Heretic by Robert S. Mendelsohn, M.D.

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DECEMBER 7, 2009 12:49AM

Rate: 14 Flag

View of Addis Ababa from Emperor Menelik II’s palace overlooking the city

Ethiopia is truly the cradle of humanity. The oldest fossil remains of our species, Homo sapiens, were found right here, as were the oldest undisputed stem-group human fossils, those of a tree-dwelling hominid called Ardipithecus kadabba.

Ethiopia is the most genetically diverse nation on the planet, as a short walk down any crowded street in Addis Ababa will attest. Genetic diversity declines in every direction radiating outward from Addis, supporting the view that this is where our species began before spreading out all over the planet.

The National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis presents a continuous parade of our ancestors, from Ardipithecus all the way to early Homo sapiens.

Ardipithecus kadabba

Fossil teeth and bone fragments of Ardipithecus kadabba, dated 5.6 mya. The name is derived from the Afar words Ardi = “ground” and kadabba = “big father,” so the name means, roughly, “Granddaddy of the ground apes.”

A. anamensis

Fossil teeth and bone fragments of Australopithecus anamensis, dated 4.2 mya

A. afarensis

Australopithecus afarensis skull, dated 3.6 mya

Lucy

Skeleton of an A. afarensis female, dubbed “Lucy” by her discoverers

A. afarensis child

Artist’s conception of how a three-year-old specimen of A. afarensis may have appeared in life

A. garhi

Australopithecus garhi skull, dated 2.5 mya

H. habilis

Homo habilis skull, dated 1.4 mya

H. erectus

Homo erectus skull, dated 1.0 mya

hand axes

Homo erectus hand axes, dated 1.0 mya

H. rhodesiensis

Homo rhodesiensis skull, dated 600,000 years ago

H. sapiens

Homo sapiens Idaltu skull dated 160,000 years ago

Artist’s conception of how Homo sapiens Idaltu may have appeared in life

Addis Ababa

Street scene in Addis Ababa

All photos by author

Author tags:

roadie, human evolution, addis ababa, ethiopia, africa, evolution, stem-group humans

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Comments

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The family photo album. monkey fingered.

Behind Blue Eyes

December 07, 2009 01:29 AM

Yes, you are back! Great photo essay.

BuffyW

December 07, 2009 01:47 AM

grt to see you back, Hahn and this was enlightening, I did not know...

Rolling

December 07, 2009 08:01 AM

rtd.

Rolling

December 07, 2009 08:03 AM

fantastic! How're you settling in? Can't wait to hear more.

skeletnwmn

December 07, 2009 08:20 AM

Fantastic photo essay. I'm happy to see you back. ~R~

Chuck A. Stetson

December 07, 2009 11:19 AM

I am so thrilled you're back. No matter how tabloid the cover and mentally ill the crowd, OS will always be a cool place because of people like you. I want to go to your link about genetic diversity but don't have time now--I've bookmarked it. I'm mulling over the counterintuitive nature of the claim; I would have thought that things would become more diverse as you radiate out from the beginning of the species. Huh. PS Have you read the new study about grandmothers--how they influence the survivorship of their grandchildren in proportion to their relatedness? It's kind of interesting. I'm a total amateur at this but find all things evolution fascinating.

Lainey

December 07, 2009 11:58 AM

Cool! Glad you're back..

Laura Deurmyer

December 07, 2009 12:29 PM

Wonderful pictures.

It brough to mind that when an Undergraduate student on my way to A Ford Foundation Fellowship in Anthropology, I fleshed on in clay right over some castings of skulls because I wanted to see how they may have looked, and as a result, the department Chair commissioned me to make painted portraits of the fleshed on skulls. I made several 15" x 20" and 20" x 30" color portraits in oil which they used for years in the classrooms for a couple of decades/ Don't know if they are still in use today, but I doubt it.