The problem of the origin of human races, their history has long interested people. Ordinary inhabitants were curious how one could explain such a difference in the appearance of individuals living in different parts of the world. Scientists, of course, tried to find a scientific explanation for this fact. The most popular hypotheses of the origin of human races will be discussed in this article.
What are races
First, let's define these units. Under the races of the species Homo Sapiens, it is customary to understand relatively isolated groups - its systematic divisions. Their representatives differ in a certain set of external signs, as well as in their habitat. Races are relatively stable over time, although in the context of globalization and the accompanying migration of the population, their characteristics may undergo certain changes. The origin and biology of the human races are such that genetically each of themcertain autosomal components are present. This is scientifically proven.
Human races: their relationship and origin. Main races
They are well known to everyone: they are Caucasoid, Negroid (Negro-Australoid, Equatorial) and Mongoloid. These are the so-called large, or basic races. However, the list is not exhaustive of them. In addition to them, there are also the so-called mixed races, in which there are signs of several main ones. They usually have several autosomal components characteristic of the main races.
The Caucasian race is characterized by relatively fair skin compared to the other two. However, for people living in the Middle East and Southern Europe, it is quite dark. Its representatives have straight or wavy hair, light or dark eyes. The incision of the eyes is horizontal, the hairline is often moderate. The nose protrudes noticeably, the forehead is straight or slightly sloping.
The Mongoloids have an oblique section of the eyes, the upper eyelid is noticeably developed. The inner corner of the eyes is covered with a characteristic fold - the epicanthus. Presumably, she helped protect the eyes of the steppes from dust. Skin color - from dark to light. Black hair, coarse, straight. The nose protrudes slightly, and the face looks flatter than that of Caucasians. The hairline of the Mongoloids is poorly developed.
Representatives of the Negroid race have lush curly hair, the darkest skin color among all major races, containing a large amount of eumelanin pigment. It is assumed that these featuresformed to protect from the scorching sun of the equatorial region. The noses of Negroids are most often wide and somewhat flattened. The lower part of the face is protruding.
All races, like all mankind, according to research, originate from the first man - great-Adam, who lived on the territory of the African continent 180-200 thousand years ago. The kinship and unity of the origin of the human races is thus obvious to scientists.
Intermediate races
Within the framework of the main ones, the so-called small races are distinguished. They are shown in the diagram below. Small races (they are also intermediate), or, as they are also called, anthropological types, have a number of similar features. On the diagram you can also see intermediate races that combine the features of several main ones: Ural, South Siberian, Ethiopian, South Indian, Polynesian and Ainu.
Time of occurrence of races
Scientists believe that races arose relatively recently. According to one theory, at first, about 80 thousand years ago, the Negroid and Caucasoid-Mongoloid branches separated. Later, after about 40 thousand years, the latter broke up into Caucasoid and Mongoloid. Their final differentiation into anthropological types (small races) and the distribution of the latter occurred later, already in the Neolithic era. Scientists who have studied the origin of man and human races at different times believe that their formation continued after settlement. Yes, typicalsigns of the inhabitants of the Australian mainland, belonging to the large equatorial race, formed much later. Researchers believe that at the time of settlement, they had racially neutral characteristics.
There is no common opinion about the origin of man and human races, how their resettlement took place. Therefore, below we will consider two theories concerning this problem: monocentric and polycentric.
Monocentric theory
According to her, races appeared in the process of resettlement of people from the area of their origin. At the same time, neoanthropes were likely to interbreed with paleanthropes (Neanderthals) in the process of replacing the latter. This process is quite late, it took place about 35-30 thousand years ago.
Polycentric theory
According to this theory of the origin of human races, human evolution occurred in parallel, in several so-called phyletic lines. They, according to the definition, represent a continuous succession of populations (species) replacing each other, each of which is a descendant of the previous one and at the same time an ancestor of the next unit. The polycentric theory says that the intermediate races had distinctive features already in antiquity. These groups formed on the border of the settlement of the main ones and continued to exist parallel to them.
Intermediate theories
They admit the divergence of phyletic groups at different stages of human evolution - paleoanthropes, neoanthropes. One of these theories, according to which the equatorial and Mongoloid-Caucasoidbranch, has been briefly described above.
Modern settlement
As for the settlement of representatives of large and small races, it changes significantly over time. So, the Indians - representatives of the American branch of the Mongoloid race, which some scientists even singled out as a separate, fourth ("red"), are now in the minority in their original territories. The same can be said about the small Australian race. Its representatives in Australia are significantly inferior in number not only to Caucasians, but also to numerous migrants and their descendants belonging to the Mongoloid races (mainly the Far East).
Caucasoids, with the beginning of the Age of Discoveries (mid-15th century), began to actively explore and populate new territories, and are currently found in all parts of the globe, on all continents. Representatives of all anthropological groups of the Caucasoid race are found on the territory of modern Europe, but the Central European type is still in the lead. In general, the racial composition of modern Europe due to migrations and interracial marriages, as well as in the USA, is extremely colorful and diverse.
Mongoloids are still leading in Asia, the equatorial race - in Africa, New Guinea, Melanesia.
Changes in races over time
Naturally, the minor races could undergo certain changes over time. At the same time, the question of how much their stability was affected by isolation remains open. So, for example, the appearance of the Australians who lived apart remained practically unchanged for several years.tens of millennia.
At the same time, the absence of significant changes is also characteristic of the Ethiopian and Far Eastern races. For at least five thousand years, the appearance of the inhabitants of Egypt has remained constant. Discussions about the racial origin of its inhabitants have been going on for many years. Supporters of the "black theory" are based on the study of Egyptian mummies, as well as surviving works of art, which showed that the inhabitants of Ancient Egypt had pronounced external signs of the equatorial race.
Supporters of the “white theory” are based on the appearance of modern Egyptians and believe that the representatives of the nation are the descendants of the ancient sevenist peoples who lived in this territory before the spread of the equatorial race.
However, some mixed races were formed much later. So, for example, the final formation of the South Siberian race took place in the XIV-XVI centuries, despite the Tatar-Mongol invasion and the archaeologically confirmed penetration of the Mongoloids into the areas inhabited by Caucasoids, as early as the VII-VI centuries. BC.
In our time, thanks to globalization and intensive migration, there is an active miscegenation, mixing both within the main races and between them. So, for example, in Singapore the number of such marriages today is more than 20%. As a result of mixing, people are born with various combinations of signs, including those that were previously extremelyrare. For example, the combination of light eye color and dark skin is no longer a rarity in Cape Verde.
In general, this process is positive, because through it various racial groups acquire useful dominant traits that were not previously characteristic of them, and avoid the accumulation of recessive ones, which entails various genetic disorders and diseases.
Instead of a conclusion
The article briefly talked about the human races, their origin. The unity and commonality of all representatives of Homo Sapiens have been confirmed by many years of research.
Obviously, the differences in the level of development of certain groups of people are caused primarily by the peculiarities of the conditions of their existence. Therefore, the racial theory, so popular in the past in Western countries, is morally obsolete. The intellectual and other abilities of representatives of different races are not affected by their origin, appearance and skin color. And thanks to globalization, when people of different races were placed in equal conditions due to resettlement, this point of view was confirmed.
