| The peoples of Africa may be classified according to several criteria, probably the oldest of which is race. Africa is occupied by members of the Negroid race, the most numerous; then by members of the Caucasoid race, mainly in northern and southern Africa; the Mongoloid race (in Madagascar); and by the so-called Bushmanoid and Pygmoid races or subraces. Previous work in this field has shown the difficulties and contradictions that result from using the concept of "race," and it is clear that this criterion does not contribute to an understanding of the cultures and identities of African societies.
Most attempts at physical or racial classification refer back to earlier efforts to understand the origins and development of humans in various parts of Africa. Paleontological search for the origins of humankind in Africa has a long history, over the course of which it has become virtually certain that the first humans originated in Africa. Paleontologists have discovered skeletal remains (often the merest fragments) of ever-earlier apes and hominids. Remains of various types of apes date back to about 25 million years ago, mainly in southemr and eastern Africa, where the limestone deposits are ideal sites for preservation of this material. A primate in the hominid line of descent, known as Ramapithecus, has been found in eastern Africa dating back perhaps 14 million years, and even earlier types are being discovered in Ethiopia. Toolmaking species of hominids have been found in South Africa and at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania that date back about 5 million years. One of these, a slender form, has been named Australopithecus africanus; the other, a larger and later form, is called Australopithecus robustus (a variant species from Olduvai is known as Zinjanthropus). The more modem types, Homo habilis and Homo erectus, developed in East Africa by about a million years ago, by which time the Australopithecus types had become extinct. Neanderthal forms in northeastern Africa evolved about 60,000 years ago. Many other modem forms that developed since then have been found, merging into modem hominids. About 35,000 years ago, the African Middle Stone Age marked the spread of modem humans throughout Africa. |
