Tuesday, Sep. 13, 2016

06:00 PM
US/Central

The human evolution section in the Morian Hall of Paleontology introduces the story of our own origins.

Backlit murals representing our family tree, replicas of ancestral hominid skulls, as well as four reconstructed faces help relate this 6-million year long story. The center piece of the display represents the final chapter in human dispersal around our planet: the successful colonization of the Americas by Paleoindians. Replicas of stone tools tell the story of our growing intellect. Three skeletons placed side by side illustrate the slow adaptation to upright walking, one of the traits that make us human, separating us from our non-human primate relatives. Once Homo sapiens sapiens, people like us, evolved, there is an explosion in creativity. Language flourished, as did art, and the stone tool inventory became increasingly sophisticated.

A brief excerpt of a documentary on French cave painting at the very end of the exhibit illustrates this creativity that is part of our own legacy.