Anthropology Assignment: Analyzing the Journey of Man Video

This assignment analyzes the 'Journey of Man' video, focusing on human migration and genetic history. The student answers three key questions: the reasons for lighter skin pigmentation in early Europeans, Spencer Wells' statement about Central Asia being the 'nursery' of mankind, and Wells' perspective on relationships and the concept of 'race' based on the migration patterns out of Africa. The answers delve into the role of melanin, the significance of genetic markers found in Central Asia, and the implications of shared ancestry on human relationships and outdated racial concepts. The assignment highlights the genetic connections among all humans, emphasizing a common African origin and the irrelevance of race based on the scientific understanding of human evolution and migration. The document uses the references provided to support the answers given.

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

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marker, all through from Norway to Spain and Ireland to Australia. This only meant that the
ancient European people did not make the journey from Africa through Middle East, rather, they
made the journey from Africa via central Asia. This happened forty thousand years ago. This
discovery led to a clear understanding of the journey made by ancient Europeans. Research was
done further and it was discovered that the ancient mark of the central Asian man was carried
and traced from Europe through Asia, Russia, North and South America. This therefore proves a
point in the question that if Africa is the cradle of mankind, (which means that a huge number of
some of the ancient fossils were found in Africa), then Central Asia is its nursery.
3. Near the end of the video wells says, “We can all trace our ancestry back to those
few people that left Africa 50,000 years ago.” What does Wells say about lessons
about relationships and old-fashioned concepts of ‘race’:
Lessons about relationships:
We are all Africans deep down in our genetical structure. We all share a common
ancestor, who left Africa two thousand generations ago. We are therefore brothers and sisters.
Old-fashioned concepts of Race:
Human beings around the globe are related in the sense that they harbour African
ancestry. Wells says under our skins, all of us are Africans basing our understanding on the
migration of the few people who left Africa to Europe, two thousand generations ago. Therefore,
the old-fashioned concepts of race are divisive in our societal set-ups, wrong and lack an
accurate scientific holding.

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References
Wells, S. (2017). The journey of man: A genetic odyssey (Vol. 51). Princeton University Press.
Wells, S. (2019). The Journey of Man - A Genetic Odyssey. Retrieved 1 October 2019, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_xTG6VXlIQ