Wednesday, March 19, 2008

cool tool - the journey of mankind


a really interesting timeline has been developed and shared over at the bradshaw foundation. the bradshaw foundation is primarily interested in the study of very early human art but also has an abiding interest in the broader picture of the early life of mankind. this is an incredible site that contains all sorts of images and text detailing discoveries made around the world, some of which you may be familiar with but many of which have remained out of the public eye.

this very cool tool details human migration patterns over the last 160,000 years. the map shows the interaction of migration and climate over this period. integrating genetic evidence with archaeological, climatological and fossil study, stephen oppenheimer has tracked the routes and timing of migration, placing it in context with various discoveries of ancient rock art around the world.

watching the journey of mankind unfold, i came across exciting details such as the mention of a green sahara region between 135, 000 and 115,000 years ago. 74,000 years ago, mt. toba on sumatra super-erupted causing an instant 1000 year ice-age, dropping the population of humans on earth to less than 10,000 adults!

at each stage of the presentation there are informative text links that open out some of the synopsis presented at each stage of man’s journey. the timeline ends around eight thousand years ago and to be really honest, i hope that they continue with this fantastic project to bring more detail to the existing timeline as well as a continuation through to more recent times.

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