LOOKING BACK AT HUMAN

BIOCULTURAL AND SOCIAL

EVOLUTION
Lesson 3 - UCSP
 HUMAN CAPACITY FOR
CULTURE
• Culture is the by-product of the attempt of humans to survive
their environment and to compensate for their biological
characteristics and limitations.
• Our evolution toward humanity as we know it has been a long
journey of survival against the elements of the environment and
against competing species.
• As our ancestors evolved biologically in response to their
environment, they have also developed cultural technologies that
aided them to efficiently obtain food and deter predators.
 HUMAN CAPACITY FOR
CULTURE
• Evolution is a natural process of biological changes occurring in a
population across successive generations (Banaag, 2012 p.31).
• It helps us identify and analyze man’s physiological development
and eventually the emergence of different society.
• Moreover, man’s progression and characteristics are essential in
understanding the capability for adaptation.
• Most scientists currently recognize some 15 to 20 different species
of early humans.
 Human Biocultural Evolution
Species Characteristics
Hominids • The development of the different
“Manlike Primates” species of primates which were able to
evolve in 40 million years ago.
• There have been various relics of
hominids which could be described as
manlike primates.
• Fully Bipedal
• They are Ramapithecus, Lucy and
Australopithecus.
 Human Biocultural Evolution
Species Characteristics
Homo Habilis • The apelike men who first to used
“Handy Man” stone tools as weapons and
protection of their enemies.
• They are recognized as the first
true human.
• It has the presence of long arms.
• Lived about 2.4 to 1.4 million years
ago.
 Human Biocultural Evolution
Species Characteristics
Homo Erectus • It was believed to be the first man like creature that
lived about 500,000 years ago in Asia, Africa and
“The Upright Man” Europe.
• This manlike specie could walk straight with almost
the same brain with modern man.
• He made refined stone stools for hunting and
weapons for protection of the enemies.
• The following are the major discovered fossils:
• a. Pithecanthropus Erectus “Java Man” –
Discovered by Eugene Dubois at Trinil, Java,
Indonesia in 1891.
• b. Sinanthropus Pekinensis “Peking Man” –
Discovered at Choukoutien village, Beijing,
China in 1929.
 Human Biocultural Evolution
Species Characteristics
Homo Sapiens • It was believed that this was the direct descendant of modern
man who lived about 250,000 years ago.
“The Thinking • They had similar physical descriptions with modern man.
Man” • They originated as the primitive men whose activities were
largely dependent on hunting, fishing and agriculture.
• They buried their dead, used had tools and had religion.
• The following are Homo Sapiens subspecies:
• a. Neanderthal Man – lived in cave and dependent in
hunting and fishing.
• b. Cro-Magnon Man – As a prehistoric man, they were
the first to produce art in cave paintings and crafting
decorated tools and accessories.
 Four Biological Capacity of Human to Develop Culture
The primary biological component of humans
that allowed for culture is the developed
brain. It has the necessary parts for
facilitating pertinent skills such as speaking,
touching, feeling, seeing, and smelling.
1. Our Thinking capacity Compared with other primates, humans have
a larger brain, weighing 1.4 kg. Due to the
size of brain and the complexity of its parts,
humans were able to create survival skills
that helped them adapt to their environment
and outlive their less adaptive biological
relatives.
 Four Biological Capacity of Human to Develop Culture
2. Our gripping The hand of human has digits (fingers) that are
capacity straight, as compared with the curved ones of the
other primates. Notice that the thumb of the human is
proportionately longer than those of other primates.
These characteristics of the human hand allowed for
two types of grip” power and precision.
a) Power grip enabled humans to wrap the thumb
and fingers on an object; it became the cornerstone of
our capacity to hold tool firmly for hunting and other
activities.
b) Precision grip enabled humans to hold and pick
objects steadily using fingers. This capacity was
crucial for tool-making activities.
 Four Biological Capacity of Human to Develop Culture
As the brain is the capacity source of humans’
capacity to comprehend sound and provide meaning
to it, the vocal tract acts as the mechanism by which
sounds are produced and reproduced to transmit
ideas and values.
Humans have longer vocal tract compared with
3. Our Speaking chimpanzee. A longer vocal tract means that there is
capacity a longer vibration surface, allowing human to
produce a wider array of sounds than chimpanzees.
The tongue of human is also more flexible than of a
chimpanzee, allowing for more control in making
sounds.
 Four Biological Capacity of Human to Develop Culture
Primates have two forms of locomotion:
bipedalism and quadropedalism. Bipedalism is the
capacity to walk and stand on two feet, whereas
quadropedalism uses all four limbs. Although apes
are semi-bipedal, humans are the only fully
bipedal primates.
4. Our walking/ Being bipedal, humans gained more capacity to
standing capacity move while carrying objects with their free hands.
It gave humans more capacity or productivity with
their hands like hunting and foraging.
 CULTURAL AND SOCIOPOLITICAL
DEVELOPMENT
• The physical as well as the mental development
of early human beings helped them understand
and adapt to their existing environment.

• Thus, their adjustment served as the onset of

their culture.
 CULTURAL AND SOCIOPOLITICAL
DEVELOPMENT
• Culture enables the members of society to develop
ways of coping with exigencies of nature as well as
ways of harnessing their environment (Panopio,
et.al 1994).
• The changes made by man through his interaction
with the environment establish the different
cultural evolution which determines man’s socio-
cultural development.
 THE LEGACY OF EARLY HUMANS
TO CONTEMPORARY POPULATION
• The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) is the primary transnational entity that manages and negotiates
matters relating to human heritage. It defined cultural heritage as follows:

 Cultural heritage is not limited to material manifestations, such as

monuments and objects that have been preserved over time. This notion
also encompasses living expressions and the traditions that countless
groups and communities worldwide have inherited from their ancestors
and transmit to their descendants, in most cases, orally (UNESCO, 2010)
 THE LEGACY OF EARLY HUMANS
TO CONTEMPORARY POPULATION
• This definition us with a two-part meaning of cultural heritage. On one end,
there is heritage being tangible in the form of structures, monuments,
historical sites, and other artifacts. On the other hand, there is heritage being
intangible in the form of literature, oral, traditions, concepts, and values.

• Tangible heritage could be divided into two categories: movable and immovable.
The primary difference in these categories is the size of the heritage. For example,
the Stonehenge is an immovable tangible heritage, whereas the sarcophagus of the
pharaoh Tutankhamun is a movable tangible heritage.
 THE LEGACY OF EARLY HUMANS
TO CONTEMPORARY POPULATION
• Movable tangible heritage pieces are often removed from the sites
where they were found and transferred to museums for safekeeping
and maintenance. Immovable tangible heritage pieces are often left
to the elements of nature (i.e., rain, wind, sand, sun), which makes
them vulnerable to decay and corrosion. This does not mean that
conservation efforts are not being made. However, due to the
constant exposure of these objects to these elements, conservation
becomes more challenging.