Radiometric dating is one of the most popular techniques used to establish the age of materials, like stones and bones in the fossil record. Reported dates often fall in the million or billions of years. However, questions surround the art of radiometric dating − for good reasons.
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) recently ran the story “1.8 million-year-old skull may revise understanding of human evolution.” Since the skull was unearthed in a medieval ninth century A.D. village in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia known as Dmanisi, the obvious question centers on the validity of the million-year radiometric dating of the skull found within the same geological stratum as the medieval ninth century A.D. village.
What’s driving the demand for millions of years of dating; is it science or is it a theory? Without question, the theory of evolution from a single cell to a sophisticated carnivore demands millions and billions of years − not thousands of years. This prerequisite was recognized by evolutionists even before Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species in 1859.
International teams of paleoanthropologists for more than two decades have been discovering human-like fossils from a medieval archaeological site in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia known as Dmanisi. A new human Georgian skull fuels the dilemma further. The first four human-like fossils were discovered in 1991 by David Lordkipanidze of the Georgian National Museum in Tbilisi.
Increased archaeological interest in this Georgian site began in 1936 following the discovery of ancient and medieval artifacts. The discovery of teeth from an extinct rhino in 1983, followed by the discovery of stone tools in 1984, led to an increased archaeological and paleontological interest in Dmanisi. Last week the discovery of a fifth Dmanisi skull reported in the journal Science fuels the escalating dilemma of the struggling human evolution industry.
Charles Darwin started the debate over where humans originated. In the 19th century, most evolution scientists believed humans originated in Asia – the out-of-Asia model. In the 6th edition of the Origin of Species (1872), while Darwin mentions “humans” ten times, he never discusses the origin of humans.
For the 1st edition of the Descent of Man (1871), Darwin studied African apes. In the section entitled “On the Birthplace and Antiquity of Man,” Darwin argued, “it is somewhat more probable that our early progenitors lived on the African continent than elsewhere.” Darwin started evolution’s out-of-Africa vs. out-of-Asia dilemma.
While Darwin’s Bulldog, Thomas Huxley (pictured right), supported the out-of-Africa theory, few others did. Most evolution scientists, at that time, believed humans originated in Asia. The out-of-Asia model, supported by many evolutionists, including Ernst Haeckel, Eugene Dubois, Henry Fairfield Osborn, and Roy Chapman Andrews, was the accepted theory.
“Human evolution is the lengthy process of change by which people originated from apelike ancestors,” explains the Smithsonian Institute exhibit (pictured left) entitled “Introduction to Human Evolution.” Continuing their explanation –
“Scientific evidence shows that the physical and behavioral traits shared by all people originated from apelike ancestors and evolved over a period of approximately six million years.”
The source of Smithsonian’s description is rooted in history. Although this was also Charles Darwin‘s central argument in The Descent of Man (1871), this explanation had emerged before the sixteenth century, long before Darwin, highlighting a critical issue.
Exploring human evolution via DNA was essential for twentieth-century evolution scientists. Charles Darwin, however, in The Origin of Species, never used the terms genetics, genetic, and genes until 1872, following the publication of the pea plantinheritance report of Gregor Mendel in 1866.
In his sixth edition, Darwin used the term “genetic” twice, but only to express a genealogical idea, not as a molecular term. In the words of American evolutionary biologist Richard Lewontin,
“Darwin knew nothing about genes.”
English geneticist William Bateson, in a personal letter to colleague Alan Sedgwick, is credited for coining the term “genetics” in 1905 – as a molecular term. Since then, “genetics” emerged as the cornerstone of molecular evolutionary biology. Along with searching the fossil record, molecular biologists have been exploring human evolution via the natural selection of DNA. Continue Reading
Darwin, Then and Now, the Most Amazing Story in the History of Science, is a chronicle of who Darwin was, how he developed his theory, specifically what he said, and what scientists have discovered since the publication of The Origin of Species in 1859.
The book traces the rise and fall of evolution's popularity as a scientifically valid theory. With over 1,000 references from Darwin and scientists, Darwin Then and Now retraces developments in the most amazing story in the history of science. DarwinThenandNow.com focuses on understanding the intersection of biological evolution and science.
Radiometric dating is one of the most popular techniques used to establish the age of materials, like stones and bones in the fossil record. Reported dates often fall in the million or billions of years. However, questions surround the art of radiometric dating − for good reasons. 
Charles Darwin started the debate over where humans originated. In the 19th century, most evolution scientists believed humans originated in Asia – the out-of-
“Human evolution is the lengthy process of change by which people originated from apelike ancestors,” explains the 
Exploring human evolution via DNA was essential for twentieth-century evolution scientists. 