Forbidden Archeology_ The Full Unabridged Edition - Michael A. Cremo [140]
The above-mentioned Siberian and Indian discoveries, at 1.5–2.5 million years old, do not agree very well with the standard view that Homo erectus was the first representative of the Homo line to emigrate from Africa, doing so about a million years ago. But, as previously mentioned, they might agree with the view that creatures like Homo habilis migrated from Africa about 2 million years ago. One prominent scientist expressing this view is John Gowlett of Oxford. Gowlett wrote (1984 p. 59): “Although it is sometimes suggested that human occupation of the East only started with the migration of Homo [erectus] from Africa at the beginning of the Pleistocene, this seems unlikely. Some of the very first fossil hominid remains ever found are those of Homo erectus from Java, which can hardly have been the first stop on a migration route. In addition to these historic finds made by Eugene Dubois in 1891 near the Solo River, other more primitive specimens have since been discovered in the older Djetis beds.” The Djetis beds were given a potassium-argon date of 1.9 million years (Jacob 1972; Gowlett 1984, p. 59). But subsequent tests (Bartstra 1978; Nilsson 1983, p. 329) gave the Djetis beds a far younger date of less than 1 million years. In Chapter 7, we shall see that the Java Homo erectus discoveries are, however, all highly questionable, because they are practically all surface discoveries. This means that the stratigraphic context, and consequently the dates, are not firmly established.
In any case, Gowlett (1984, p. 58) proposed: “Human evolution is likely to have taken place across a continuous band of the tropics and subtropics. . . . our only certain evidence comes from a thin scattering of archaeological sites and human remains. These testify directly to the early occupation of large areas, including southern Africa and the Far East, from 2 or 3 million years ago.” Gowlett did not offer very much further in the way of detail, but from the whole of his discussion it would appear he was suggesting that Homo habilis and perhaps even the australopithecines were spread widely throughout this region 2–3 million years ago. In this case, why did Gowlett not mention the Eolithic implements of England, also 2–3 million years old? It would seem they would have lent support to his hypothesis.
There come to mind at least three reasons why Gowlett did not mention the English eoliths in connection with his hypotheses about human evolution: (1) he was aware of the discoveries of Harrison, Moir, and others, but accepted the verdict of Barnes and others that they were products of natural forces; (2) he was aware of the Early Pleistocene and Late Pliocene eoliths of England but hesitated to mention them because of their embarrassing connection with older eoliths from the Early Pliocene, Miocene, and earlier periods; (3) he was unaware of the discoveries.
Many modern students of paleoanthropology are in fact completely unaware of reports of crude stone tool industries from the Tertiary and early Quaternary.
Why? The eolith evidence was buried decades ago by skeptical scientists, at a time when it did not fit in so well with then current theories of human evolution. During the 1930s, the oldest human ancestors completely accepted by science were the Java Homo erectus and Peking Homo erectus, which dated back to the Middle Pleistocene, about a half million years ago. This did not leave any place for a toolmaking being in England during the Early Pleistocene, 1–2 million years ago or Late Pliocene, 2–3 million years ago. Now, the understanding of human evolution has changed, and there are some versions with which the English eolith evidence seems somewhat compatible. But hardly any scientists are now familiar with the discoveries of Harrison or Moir. So here is a good argument for not burying controversial evidence so deeply that it is hardly remembered—it may become relevant in light of future