Journey of Man: Video Analysis and Answers to Questions

Running Head: JOURNEY OF MAN
The journey of man
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

JOURNEY OF MAN
2
The ASSIGNMENT requires you to watch a video (Journey of Man) and answer 3
questions about the video. The video is about 2 hours long but very interesting!
Download this Word file, type your answers (using 12-point font, single spaced)
under the questions, save the file, and submit. (To Submit – go back to the Course
page – Click ASSIGNMENT Unit 2 module...upload the file with your answers,
submit.)
Type your name here:
Video: Journey of Man QUESTIONS
Questions:
1. Why were the early Europeans lightly-pigmented? (i.e. Whiter skinned than their
African relatives?
There exists a proteinous pigment in the skin called melanin. This pigment is
responsible for the darkening of the skin. Exposure to sunlight for long periods of time
causes the skin to produce more melanin. The core reason why the early Europeans had
lighter skin pigmentation than their African relatives is that their skin produced less
melanin. This is because they lived in cooler temperatures where there was very little
sunlight. Additionally, their skins were always dressed up, to protect themselves from
extreme cold in the winter, limiting frequent slight exposure to sunlight. They also
involved in their daily activities while indoors.
On the other hand, their African relatives had a darker skin pigmentation since
they lived in the hot equatorial temperature, where there is high extent of sunlight. This
could only mean that their skins produced more melanin, that made them darker. Their
bodies were almost never covered due to sweating in the high temperatures as well as
their culturally acceptable norm. This played a role in ensuring that most of their skin was
exposed to sunlight. Moreover, they were involved in very engaging occupational
activities, which involved staying in the open where direct sunrays scorched their skins.
Some of the activities they engaged in were hunting, gathering and farming.
This factor explains why the early men from Europe possessed lighter skin
pigmentation than their African counterparts.
2. Why does Spencer Wells say that “If Africa is the cradle of mankind, then Central
Asia is its nursery”?
Blood samples of two thousand people was sought from the land of
Kyrgyzstan, which is an isolated land. After analysis, a major discovery that the blood
contained the mark of an ancient central Asian. Most people in the west of Europe possessed this