Chapter 6. Sapiens, but not our relative This lemur really gave the impression of a small man with a dog's head. B. Euvelmans Sapiens, but not homo? It is believed that there were no human ancestors in America. There were no apes there. Ancestors of a special group

MAN IS REASONABLE(Homo sapiens) is a modern type of man.

The course of evolution from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens, i.e. to the modern human stage is as difficult to document satisfactorily as the original branching stage of the hominid lineage. However, in this case, the matter is complicated by the presence of several contenders for such an intermediate position.

According to a number of anthropologists, the step that led directly to Homo sapiens was the Neanderthal (Homo neanderthalensis or Homo sapiens neanderthalensis). Neanderthals appeared no later than 150 thousand years ago, and different types flourished until the period of c. 40–35 thousand years ago, marked by the undoubted presence of well-formed H. sapiens (Homo sapiens sapiens). This era corresponded to the onset of the Wurm glaciation in Europe, i.e. ice age, closest to modern times. Other scientists do not connect the origin of modern humans with Neanderthals, pointing out, in particular, that the morphological structure of the latter’s face and skull was too primitive to have time to evolve to the forms of Homo sapiens.

Neanderthaloids are usually imagined as stocky, hairy, beast-like people with bent legs, with a protruding head on a short neck, giving the impression that they had not yet fully achieved upright walking. Paintings and reconstructions in clay usually emphasize their hairiness and unjustified primitiveness. This image of the Neanderthal is a big distortion. First, we don't know whether Neanderthals were hairy or not. Secondly, they were all completely upright. As for evidence of an inclined position of the body, it was probably obtained from the study of individuals suffering from arthritis.

One of the most surprising features of the entire Neanderthal series of finds is that the least modern of them were the most recent in appearance. This is the so-called the classic Neanderthal type, the skull of which is characterized by a low forehead, a heavy brow, a receding chin, a protruding mouth area, and a long, low cranium. However, their brain volume was larger than that of modern humans. They certainly had a culture: there is evidence of funerary cults and possibly animal cults, since animal bones are found along with the fossil remains of classical Neanderthals.

At one time it was believed that Neanderthals of the classical type lived only in the southern and Western Europe, and their origin is associated with the advance of the glacier, which placed them in conditions of genetic isolation and climatic selection. However, apparently similar forms were later found in some regions of Africa and the Middle East and possibly in Indonesia. Such a widespread distribution of the classical Neanderthal makes it necessary to abandon this theory.

Does not currently exist material evidence any gradual morphological transformation of the classical type of Neanderthal into the modern type of man, with the exception of the finds made in the Skhul cave in Israel. The skulls discovered in this cave differ significantly from each other, some of them have features that place them in an intermediate position between the two. human types. According to some experts, this is evidence of the evolutionary change from Neanderthal to modern humans, while others believe that this phenomenon- result mixed marriages between representatives of two types of people, thereby suggesting that Homo sapiens evolved independently. This explanation is supported by evidence that as early as 200–300 thousand years ago, i.e. before the appearance of the classical Neanderthal, there was a type of person most likely related to early Homo sapiens, and not to the “progressive” Neanderthal. It's about about well-known finds - fragments of a skull found in Swansky (England), and a more complete skull from Steinheim (Germany).

The controversy regarding the “Neanderthal stage” in human evolution is partly due to the fact that two circumstances are not always taken into account. First, it is possible for the more primitive types of any evolving organism to exist in a relatively unchanged form at the same time that other branches of the same species undergo various evolutionary modifications. Secondly, migrations associated with shifts in climatic zones are possible. Such shifts were repeated in the Pleistocene as glaciers advanced and retreated, and humans could follow shifts in the climate zone. Thus, when considering long periods of time, it must be taken into account that the populations occupying a given area at a particular time are not necessarily the descendants of populations that lived there for a longer period. early period. It is possible that early Homo sapiens could migrate from the regions where they appeared, and then return to their original places after many thousands of years, having undergone evolutionary changes. When fully formed Homo sapiens appeared in Europe 35–40 thousand years ago, more warm period the last glaciation, he undoubtedly displaced the classical Neanderthal, who occupied the same region for 100 thousand years. Now it is impossible to accurately determine whether the Neanderthal population moved north, following the retreat of its usual climatic zone, or mixed with Homo sapiens invading its territory.

Homosapiens- a species that includes four subspecies - Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Anatoly DEREVYANKO

Photo by ITAR-TASS

Until recently, it was believed that modern humans originated in Africa about 200 thousand years ago.

“Modern biological type” means us in this case. That is, we, modern people, homo sapiens (more precisely, Homosapienssapiens) we are direct descendants of certain creatures that appeared exactly there and exactly then. Previously, they were called Cro-Magnons, but today this designation is considered obsolete.

About 80 thousand years ago, this “modern man” began his victorious march across the planet. Victorious in literally: it is believed that on that campaign he ousted others from life human forms– for example, the famous Neanderthals.

But recently evidence has emerged that this is not entirely true...

The following circumstances led to this conclusion.

Several years ago, an expedition of Russian archaeologists and specialists from other sciences, working under the leadership of the director of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician Anatoly Derevyanko, discovered the remains of ancient man.

Culturally, he fully corresponded to the level of contemporary sapiens: the tools of labor were at the same technological level, and the love of jewelry indicated a fairly high stage of social development for those times. But biologically...

It turned out that the DNA structure of the found remains differs from the genetic code of living people. But this was not what caused the main sensation. It turned out that this - by all, we repeat, technological and cultural characteristics - intelligent person turned out to be ... an “alien.” According to genetic data, he moved away from our common ancestral line no less than 800 thousand years ago! Yes, even Neanderthals are closer to us!

“We are apparently talking about a new species of human that was previously unknown to world science,” said Svante Pääbo, legendary in professional circles, director of the department of evolutionary genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Well, he knows better: he was the one who carried out the DNA analysis of the unexpected find.

So what happens? While we humans were climbing the evolutionary ladder, a certain competitive “humanity” was climbing up in parallel with us?

Yes, says Academician Derevyanko. Moreover: in his opinion, such centers where different groups people strived for the title of Homo sapiens in parallel and independently of each other, there may be at least... four!

He told ITAR-TASS about the main provisions of the new concept, already sometimes called the “new revolution in anthropology”.

Before moving on to the essence of the matter, let's start with the “pre-revolutionary situation”. Before current events, what was the picture of human evolution?

We can confidently say that humanity originated in Africa. The first traces of creatures that learned to make tools have been discovered today in the area of ​​the East African Rift, stretching in the meridional direction from the Dead Sea basin through the Red Sea and further across the territory of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania.

The spread of the first people to Eurasia and their settlement of vast territories in Asia and Europe occurred in the mode of gradual development of the most favorable conditions for living ecological niches and then advance to adjacent areas. Scientists attribute the beginning of the process of human penetration into Eurasia to a wide chronological range from 2 to 1 million years ago.

The largest population of ancient Homo that emerged from Africa was associated with the species Homo ergaster-erectus and the so-called Oldowan industry. In this context, industry means a certain technology, a culture of stone processing. Oldowan or Oldowan - the most primitive of them, when a stone, most often a pebble, which is why this culture is also called pebble, was split in half to get a sharp edge without additional processing.

About 450–350 thousand years ago, the second global migration flow began to move to the east of Eurasia from the Middle East. It is associated with the spread of the Late Acheulian industry, in which people made macroliths - stone axes and flakes.

During its advancement, the new human population in many territories met the population of the first migration wave, and therefore there is a mixture of two industries - pebble and late Acheulean.

But here’s what’s interesting: judging by the nature of the finds, the second wave reached only India and Mongolia. She didn't go any further. In any case, the overall difference between the industry of East and Southeast Asia and the industry of the rest of Eurasia is noticeable. This means, in turn, that since the first appearance of the oldest human populations in East and Southeast Asia 1.8–1.3 million years ago, there has been a continuous and independent development of both the physical type of man and his culture. And this alone contradicts the theory of the monocentric origin of modern man.

- But you just said that man was born in Africa?..

It is very important to emphasize, and it was not by chance that I did this: we are talking about a person of a modern anatomical type. According to the monocentric hypothesis, it formed 200–150 thousand years ago in Africa, and 80–60 thousand years ago it began to spread to Eurasia and Australia.

However, this hypothesis leaves many problems unresolved.

For example, the researchers are primarily faced with the question: why, if a person of the modern physical type arose at least 150 thousand years ago, then the Upper Paleolithic culture, which is associated with Homo sapiens, appeared only 50–40 thousand years ago?

Or: if the Upper Paleolithic culture spread to other continents with modern man, then why did its products appear almost simultaneously in regions of Eurasia that were very distant from each other? And besides, significantly differing from each other in basic technical and typological characteristics?

And further. According to archaeological data, a person of a modern physical type settled in Australia 50, and maybe 60 thousand years ago, while in the territories adjacent to East Africa on the African continent itself he appeared... later! In South Africa, judging by anthropological finds, about 40 thousand years ago, in Central and Western Africa, apparently, about 30 thousand years ago, and only in Northern Africa, about 50 thousand years ago. How can we explain the fact that modern man first penetrated into Australia, and only then settled across the African continent?

And how, from the point of view of monocentrism, can we explain the fact that Homo sapiens was able to cover a gigantic distance (more than 10 thousand km) in 5–10 thousand years without leaving any traces along the path of its movement? Indeed, in South, Southeast and East Asia 80–30 thousand years ago, in the event of the replacement of the autochthonous population by newcomers, a complete change of industry should have occurred, but this is not at all visible in East Asia. Moreover, between the regions with the Upper Paleolithic industry there were territories where the Middle Paleolithic culture continued to exist.

Did you swim on something, as some suggest? But in Southern and Eastern Africa, at the sites of the final middle and early stages of the Upper Paleolithic, no means of swimming were found. Moreover, in these industries there are no tools for processing wood, and without them it is impossible to build boats and other similar means, on which you could go to Australia.

What about genetic data? They show that all modern people are descendants of one “father” who lived precisely in Africa and just about 80 thousand years ago...

Well, in fact, monocentrists, based on a study of DNA variability in modern people, suggest that it was in the period 80 - 60 thousand years ago that a demographic explosion occurred in Africa, and as a result of a sharp increase in population and a lack of food resources, a migration wave spilled into Eurasia .

But with all due respect to the data of genetic research, it is impossible to believe in the infallibility of these conclusions without having any convincing archaeological and anthropological evidence to support them. And yet there are none!

Look here. It must be borne in mind that with the average life expectancy at that time being about 25 years, offspring in most cases were left without parents at an immature age. With high postnatal and child mortality, as well as mortality among adolescents due to the early loss of parents, there is no reason to talk about a demographic explosion.

But even if we agree that 80 - 60 thousand years ago in East Africa there was a rapid population growth, which determined the need to search for new food resources and, accordingly, the settlement of new territories, the question arises: why migration flows were initially directed far to the east , all the way to Australia?

In short, the extensive archaeological material from the studied Paleolithic sites of South, Southeast and East Asia in the range of 60–30 thousand years ago does not allow us to trace the wave of migration of anatomically modern people from Africa. In these territories there is not only no change in culture, which should have happened if the autochthonous population was replaced by newcomers, but also clearly expressed innovations indicating acculturation. Such authoritative researchers as F.J. Habgood and N.R. Franklin draws a clear conclusion: the indigenous people of Australia never had the full African “package” of innovations, since they were not from Africa.

Or let's take China. Extensive archaeological material from hundreds of studied Paleolithic monuments in East and Southeast Asia indicates the continuity of industrial development in this territory over the last million years. Perhaps, as a result of paleoecological disasters (cold snap, etc.), the range of ancient human populations in the Chinese-Malayan zone narrowed, but archanthropes never left it. Here, both man himself and his culture developed evolutionarily, without any significant outside influences. There is no similarity with African industries in the chronological interval of 70–30 thousand years ago in Southeast and East Asia. According to the extensive archaeological material available, no migration of people from the west to the territory of China can be traced in the chronological interval of 120–30 thousand years ago.

But over the past 50 years, numerous finds have been discovered in China that make it possible to trace the continuity not only between the ancient anthropological type and modern Chinese populations, but also between Homo erectus and Homo sapiens. In addition, they have a mosaic of morphological characteristics. This indicates a gradual transition from one species to another and indicates that human evolution in China is characterized by continuity and hybridization or interspecific crossing.

In other words, the evolutionary development of Asian Homo erectus took place in East and Southeast Asia for more than 1 million years. This does not exclude the arrival of small populations from neighboring regions and the possibility of gene exchange, especially in areas bordering neighboring populations. But taking into account the closeness of the Paleolithic industries of East and Southeast Asia and their difference from the industries of the adjacent western regions, it can be argued that at the end of the Middle - beginning of the Upper Pleistocene, a person of the modern physical type Homo sapiens orientalensis was formed on the basis of the autochthonous erectoid form of Homo in East and Southeast Asia, along with Africa.

That is, it turns out that the path to sapiens was traversed by different descendants of erectus, independent of each other? From one cutting did different shoots develop, which then intertwined again into one trunk? How can this be?

To understand this process, let's look at the history of the Neanderthals. Moreover, over 150 years of research, hundreds of different sites, settlements, and burials of this species have been studied.

Neanderthals settled mainly in Europe. Their morphological type was adapted to the harsh climatic conditions of northern latitudes. In addition, their Paleolithic locations have also been discovered in the Middle East, Western and Central Asia, and southern Siberia.

They were short, stocky people with great physical strength. Their brain volume was 1400 cubic centimeters and was not inferior to the average brain volume of modern people. Many archaeologists paid attention to the great efficiency of the Neanderthal industry at the final stage of the Middle Paleolithic and the presence in them of many elements of behavior characteristic of a person of a modern anatomical type. There is much evidence of the deliberate burial of their relatives by Neanderthals. They used tools similar to those that developed in parallel in Africa and the East. They also exhibited many other elements of modern human behavior. It is no coincidence that this species – or subspecies – is also considered “intelligent” today: Homo sapiens neanderthalensis.

But it originated between 250 and 300 thousand years ago! That is, it also developed in parallel, not under the influence of “African” man, who can be designated as Homo sapiens africaniensis . And we are left with only one solution: to consider the transition from the Middle to Upper Paleolithic in Western and Central Europe as an autochthonous phenomenon.

- Yes, but there are no Neanderthals today! Just as there is no Chinese Homosapiensorientalensis…

Yes, according to many researchers, Neanderthals were subsequently replaced in Europe by humans of a modern anatomical type who came out of Africa. But others believe that perhaps the fate of Neanderthals was not so sad. One of the leading anthropologists, Erik Trinkaus, having compared Neanderthals and modern humans using 75 traits, came to the conclusion that about a quarter of the traits are characteristic of both Neanderthals and modern humans, the same amount are characteristic of Neanderthals only, and approximately half are characteristic of modern humans.

In addition, genetic research suggests that up to 4 percent of the genome of modern non-Africans is derived from Neanderthals. The famous researcher Richard Greene and his co-authors, including geneticists, anthropologists and archaeologists, made a very important remark: “... Neanderthals are equally closely related to the Chinese, Papuans and French.” He notes that the results of studying the Neanderthal genome may not be compatible with the hypothesis of the origin of modern humans from a small African population, which then displaced all other forms of Homo and spread across the planet.

At the current level of research, there is no doubt that in the border areas inhabited by Neanderthals and modern humans, or in the territories of their cross settlement, processes not only of cultural diffusion, but also hybridization and assimilation took place. Homo sapiens neanderthalensis undoubtedly contributed to the morphology and genome of modern humans.

Now is the time to remember your sensational discovery in the Denisovskaya Cave in Altai, where another species or subspecies of ancient man was discovered. And also - the tools are quite sapiens, but in terms of genetics - they are not of African origin, and there are more differences with Homo sapiens than with Neanderthals. Although he is not a Neanderthal either...

As a result of field research in Altai over the last quarter of a century, over 70 cultural horizons belonging to the Early, Middle and Upper Paleolithic have been identified at nine cave sites and more than 10 open sites. The chronological range of 100–30 thousand years ago includes about 60 cultural horizons, to varying degrees saturated with archaeological and paleontological material.

Based on extensive materials obtained as a result of field and laboratory studies, we can rightfully assert that the development of human culture in this territory occurred as a result of the evolutionary development of the Middle Paleolithic industry without any noticeable influences associated with the infiltration of populations with a different culture.

- So no one came and made innovations?

Judge for yourself. In Denisova Cave, 14 cultural-containing layers have been identified, in some of them several habitat horizons have been traced. The most ancient finds, apparently dating back to the Late Acheulean time - the Early Middle Paleolithic, were recorded in the 22nd layer - 282 ± 56 thousand years ago. Next is the gap. The following culture-containing horizons from the 20th to the 12th belong to the Middle Paleolithic, and the 11th and 9th layers are Upper Paleolithic. Please note: there is no gap here.

In all Middle Paleolithic horizons, the continuous evolution of the stone industry can be traced. Especially important have materials from cultural horizons 18–12, which belong to the chronological interval of 90–50 thousand years ago. But what is especially important: these are things, in general, of the same level that a person of our biological type had. A clear confirmation of the “modern” behavior of the population of the Altai Mountains 50–40 thousand years ago is the bone industry (needles, awls, bases for composite tools) and non-utilitarian items made of bone, stone, shells (beads, pendants, etc.). An unexpected find was a fragment of a stone bracelet, the design of which used several techniques: grinding, polishing, sawing and drilling.

About 45 thousand years ago, a Mousterian-type industry appeared in Altai. This is the culture of the Neanderthals. That is, some group of them got here and settled for a while. Apparently, this small population was forced out of Central Asia (for example, Uzbekistan, Teshik-Tash cave) by a person of a modern physical type.

It did not exist for long in Altai. Its fate is unknown: either it was assimilated by the autochthonous population, or it died out.

As a result, we see: all the archaeological material accumulated as a result of almost 30 years of field research of multilayer cave sites and open sites in Altai convincingly testifies to the autochthonous, independent formation here 50-45 thousand years ago of the Upper Paleolithic industry - one of the brightest and expressive in Eurasia. This means that the formation of the Upper Paleolithic culture, characteristic of modern humans, occurs in Altai as a result of the evolutionary development of the autochthonous Middle Paleolithic industry.

At the same time, genetically they are not “our” people, right? A study conducted by the famous Svante Pääbo showed that we are even less related to them than to Neanderthals...

We didn't expect this ourselves! After all, judging by the stone and bone industry, the presence of a large number of non-utilitarian items, methods and techniques of life support, the presence of items obtained through exchange over many hundreds of kilometers, people living in Altai had modern human behavior. And we, archaeologists, were sure that genetically this population belonged to people of a modern anatomical type.

However, the results of deciphering human nuclear DNA, made from the phalanx of a finger from Denisova Cave at the same Institute of Population Genetics, turned out to be unexpected for everyone. The Denisovan genome deviated from the reference human genome 804 thousand years ago! And they separated from the Neanderthals 640 thousand years ago.

- But there were no Neanderthals then?

Yes, and this means that the common ancestral population of Denisovans and Neanderthals left Africa more than 800 thousand years ago. And it settled, apparently, in the Middle East. And about 600 thousand years ago, another part of the population migrated from the Middle East. At the same time, the ancestors of modern man remained in Africa and developed there in their own way.
But on the other hand, Denisovans left 4–6 percent of their genetic material in the genomes of modern Melanesians. Like Neanderthals - in Europeans. So, although they did not survive to our time in their guise, they cannot be attributed to a dead-end branch in human evolution. They are in us!

Thus, in general, human evolution can be represented as follows.

At the heart of the entire chain leading to the emergence of a modern anatomical type of man in Africa and Eurasia is the ancestral basis of Homo erectus sensu lato. Apparently, the entire evolution of the sapiens line of human development is connected with this polytypic species.

The second migration wave of erectoid forms came to Central Asia, Southern Siberia and Altai about 300 thousand years ago, probably from the Middle East. From this chronological point, we trace in Denisova Cave and other locations in caves and open-air sites in Altai the continuous convergent development of stone industries, and, consequently, of the physical type of man himself.

The industry here was in no way primitive or archaic compared to the rest of Eurasia and Africa. It was focused on the environmental conditions of this particular region. In the Chinese-Malay zone, there was an evolutionary development of both industry and the anatomical type of man himself based on erectoid forms. This allows us to distinguish the modern type of man, formed in this territory, into the subspecies Homo sapiens orientalensis.

In the same way, Homo sapiens altaiensis and its material and spiritual culture developed convergently in Southern Siberia.

In turn, Homo sapiens neanderthalensis developed autochthonously in Europe. Here, however, the case is less pure, since modern people came here from Africa. There is some debate about the form of the relationship between these two subspecies, but genetics in any case shows that part of the Neanderthal genome is present in modern humans.

Thus, there is only one conclusion left to draw: Homo sapiens is a species that includes four subspecies. These are Homo sapiens africaniensis (Africa), Homo sapiens orientalensis (Southeast and East Asia), Homo sapiens Neanderthalensis (Europe) and Homo sapiens altaiensis (North and Central Asia). All archaeological, anthropological and genetic studies, from our point of view, indicate exactly this!

Alexander Tsyganov (ITAR-TASS, Moscow)

Subsections

The question of how old the human race is: seven thousand, two hundred thousand, two million or a billion is still open. There are several versions. Let's look at the main ones.

Young “homo sapiens” (200-340 thousand years old)

If we talk about the species homo sapiens, that is, “reasonable man,” he is relatively young. Official science gives it about 200 thousand years. This conclusion was made based on a study of mitochondrial DNA and famous skulls from Ethiopia. The latter were found in 1997 during excavations near the Ethiopian village of Herto. These were the remains of a man and a child, whose age was at least 160 thousand years. Today, these are the most ancient representatives of Homo sapiens known to us. Scientists have dubbed them homo sapiens idaltu, or "oldest intelligent man."

Around the same time, maybe a little earlier (200 thousand years ago), the ancestor of all modern people, “mitrogondrial Eve,” lived in the same place in Africa. Every living person has its mitochondria (a set of genes transmitted only through the female line). However, this does not mean that she was the first woman on earth. It’s just that in the course of evolution, it was her descendants who were most fortunate. By the way, “Adam,” whose Y chromosome is present in every man today, is comparatively younger than “Eve.” It is believed that he lived about 140 thousand years ago.

However, all this data is inaccurate and inconclusive. Science is based only on what it has, and more ancient representatives of homo sapiens have not yet been found. But Adam's age has recently been revised, which could add another 140 thousand years to the age of humanity. A recent study of the genes of one African-American man, Albert Perry, and 11 other villagers in Cameroon showed that they had a more “ancient” Y chromosome, which was once passed on to his descendants by a man who lived approximately 340 thousand years ago.

"Homo" – 2.5 million years

“Homo sapiens” is a young species, but the genus “Homo” itself, from which it comes, is much older. Not to mention their predecessors - Australopithecus, who were the first to stand on both legs and begin to use fire. But if the latter still had too many common features with monkeys, then the most ancient representatives of the genus “Homo” - homo habilis (handy man) were already similar to people.

Its representative, or rather its skull, was found in 1960 in the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania along with the bones of a saber-toothed tiger. Perhaps he fell victim to a predator. It was later established that the remains belonged to a teenager who lived about 2.5 million years ago. Its brain was more massive than that of typical australopithecines, its pelvis allowed it to move calmly on two legs, and its legs themselves were only suitable for walking upright.

Subsequently, the sensational find was supplemented by no less sensational discovery– homo habilis himself made tools for labor and hunting, carefully selecting materials for them, going to great distances from sites for them. This was found out due to the fact that all his weapons were made of quartz, which was not found near the places of residence of the first person. It was homo habilis who created the first - Olduvai archaeological culture, with which the Paleolithic or Stone Age began.

Scientific creationism (from 7500 years ago)

As you know, the theory of evolution is not considered fully proven. Its main competitor was and remains creationism, according to which both all life on Earth and the world as a whole were created By a higher mind, Creator or God. There is also scientific creationism, whose followers point to scientific confirmation of what is said in the Book of Genesis. They reject the long chain of evolution, arguing that there were no transitional links, all living forms on earth were created complete. And they lived for a long time together: people, dinosaurs, mammals. Until the flood, traces of which, according to them, we still find today - this is the great canyon in America, dinosaur bones and other fossils.

Creationists do not have a consensus on the age of humanity and the world, although they all rely on the first three chapters of the first Book of Genesis on this issue. So-called “young earth creationism” takes them literally, insisting that the entire world was created by God in 6 days, about 7,500 years ago. Followers of “Old Earth Creationism” believe that God’s activity cannot be measured by human standards. One “day” of creation may not mean a day, millions or even billions of years. Thus, it is almost impossible to determine the real age of the earth and humanity in particular. Relatively speaking, this is the period from 4.6 billion years (when, according to the scientific version, planet earth was born) to 7500 years ago.