Ang Kape Ni LaTtEX

A few months ago I watched a program on the National Geographic Channel about the origins of man. In a study conducted by geneticist/anthropologist Spencer Wells, he was able to trace the tribe of the descendants of our earliest ancestors: a group of people who have absolutely not migrated for the past 60,000 years. He also found a man from Kazakhstan whose father from 2000 generations back is the ancestor of most of the people from Northern Asia and the Middle East. I was instantly hooked, and am a fan of Wells.

A few weeks back another feature on Wells’ research was shown, this time, on his search for the man who can be called the Scientific Adam: the ancestor of the current-day homo sapiens.

While most people would think that it’s highly unlikely to have one true Adam, it should be noted that at one point in the history of the human race our ancestors came to the brink of extinction, with no more than a few thousand men roaming the Earth. Wells surmises that it is the “clan” of Scientific Adam who was able to develop speech, and therefore pass on knowledge down the generations which allowed man to have greater chances of survival.

Another interesting facet is the employment of forensic science to try and approximate what Scientific Adam might have looked like. Using 3D modelling software, they created a composite between the average skull of modern man and a skull found around the time of Scientific Adam. The resulting image is the one seen above.

Furthermore, I deem Well’s research to be the greatest if not noblest of all scientific pursuits: that which unifies the scientific and Biblical hypotheses on the origins of man, and that which casts in stone the scientific bases of the equality of man. As a child I have found little sense in the song “Father Abraham” — clearly I cannot see myself as a descendant of a Canaanite. But Scientific Adam brings to a more sensible level.

Speaking of Canaanites, according to the show, Thomas Jefferson’s descendants all showed Canaanite sequences in their DNA. So if anyone could sincerely say that they are descendants of Abraham, it would be the descendants of Thomas Jefferson.

Read more on The Search for Adam, and find out about how we all are related to each other, really, regardless of skin color, culture, race, or religion.