cont...
Next stop features the modern Homo sapiens, dating from about
30,000 years ago, whose remains-the Cro-Magnon man-were
first found in Europe (although it is evident that, anatomically,
modern humans had evolved at an earlier date outside Europe).
They are your proverbial cavemen. A painting on an ivory
stalagmite shows they were artists, but painting was never just
a pastime for them. Cave art was a sacred act for the
Cro-Magnon. "Supernatural" beliefs told them of spirits within
the walls of the cave, so they painted animals and prayed to
them for good health or simply for a good hunting day.
(Incidentally, Cro-Magnons are named after a cave in France.)
There's the Neanderthal, dating 200,000 to 30,000 years ago, one
of the best-known variety of Homo sapiens. Still your proverbial
cavemen, Neanderthals are shown to have given their relatives
the dignity of a burial, one of their humanlike traits that reveal
they cared for their families.
The diorama also features a Neanderthal man dressed in
modern-day clothing and sure enough, he could easily blend
with the crowd in a mall! Although there has been a controversy
concerning the Neanderthals' status-if they were ancestors of
modern human beings or an evolutionary offshoot-it is likely
that modern Homo sapiens obtained some genes from them
through interbreeding.
Aside from these robotic characters, the exhibit displays
artifacts molded from real rare fossils, skulls and skeleton which,
according to Stephens, have been recreated down to the
miniscule detail that they looked exactly like the original. A
fossilized soft drink can and Styrofoam food tray are even
presented to show you a glimpse of what archeologists would
be discovering and studying millions of years from now!
Interactive challenges
The exhibit also has multimedia technology, a map and a row of
hands-on interactive challenges and games to keep the kids and
that little child in you interested. For instance, a standee similar
to that of a video game machine poses the question, "What do
we learn from a fossil?" A replica of the fossil is located below.
Just press it and up pops the answer on the screen, with
supporting illustration to make learning easier, faster and fun.
Or, try out Clues from the Past. A make-believe archeological
site, it prods you to find, say, an elephant tusk. Press the button
marked "elephant tusk" and a light pops up where it is located.
And don't squirm uncomfortably in your seat when you try out
Match Your Face. It's a mirror that lights up at a press of a
button, and when it does, you'll come face to face with an ape,
one of the early varieties of homo. It encourages you to
compare your features with his. You can even adjust the light so
you can better superimpose your face with his. But don't wail if
your features match his!
Don't be surprised, either, when you get a grip of the Strength
Comparison. It simply tells you how physically stronger the
peoples of the early world were compared to us. Or, why not do
the Handprint Comparison and discover how different-or
similar?-your hand is to a gorilla's?
Step in front of Charles Darwin's bust and you'll hear him talk,
replete with lip movement and eye expression, and humor, too:
"Hello to you, sir! Yes, you, sir. My name is Charles Darwin.
Have you read my book 'On the Origin of the Species'? No?…
science is full of nonsense… as you'll soon find out for
yourself."
And, for a look at what scientists might be studying when they
discover our fossils in June 21, 5,211,312, Advanced
Animations has installed a diorama with our species hilariously
called the homo coucho potatis! That's right, our species will
probably be named after our seemingly catatonic and sedentary
habit of gorging junk food while surfing channels.
The only diorama set up in a modern living room, a couple is
slumped on a couch, their eyes glued on a TV set-with bags of
potato chips and sodas to boot! And no, they're not watching
the latest episode of "Rosalinda," thank God. On their TV
screen is an interesting animation on how our species
evolved-from hunting apes to man's invention of the wheel,
from the Alexandria geometrician Euclid and his postulates to
the debating Greek philosophers, from the ancient civilization of
the Egyptians to the Roman government of Julius Caesar-all the
way to present-day technology.
The exhibit gives an idea how future scientists would probably
sum up our species: that we were mostly fat, from lack of
physical activity (pressing the remote control and popping
chips into your mouth hardly pass for physical activities, after
all-and scientists would be able to tell). And, our teeth, all intact,
would indicate we ate soft food, probably boiled or cut up into
small pieces. After further study, they would also discover we
had an unusually thin layer of tooth enamel. Baffled, they would
ask themselves: "Did they drink acids?" Of course, unless
you're a homo erectus, you know the answer to that. As the late
English biochemist, geneticist and writer J.B.S. Haldane once
said, "[Nature is] not only queerer than we suppose; it is
queerer than we can suppose." Indeed.
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