Welcome to my page on PaleoAnthropology! This site is dedicated to the branch of anthropology concerned with primitive humans and focuses mainly on the discoveries done in this controversial field of study and the timeline that has been built up of the origins of hominids 5 million years ago to the beginnings of early modern humans some 30,000 years ago.
The word Paleoanthropology is built up out of two separate words; "Anthropology" meaning:
the study of man, his origins, physical characteristics, institutions, religious beliefs and social relationshipsand "Paleontology" which means:
the study of fossils to determine the structure and evolution of extinct animals and plants and the age and conditions of deposition of the rock strata in which they are found.
Together these two words form an exciting, rapidly changing field of research which is one of the most hotly debated sciences. On this page, I have attempted to summarise the main important discoveries made so far and place them in this evolutionary timeline. Many opinions may differ from mine, ranging from the place of many hominids in the timeline I have adapted for this page, to the place of origin of many of these species, to their ancestral roots. However, I have tried to give an objective view of the whole subject matter and I hope you find this science as interesting as I do.
