Archaeology

Early Conceptions of Time and Humanity's Existence

How old is the universe? When was the earth created? When did humans first walk on the earth? When was the first writing system created? How long did it take for humanity to develop from earlier primate species? When were the bow and arrow first utilized? When did writing first surface?

Today, archaeologists, in conjunction with scholars from multiple fields, have a variety of methodologies at their disposal to determine answers to these questions. However, with the field of archaeology not attaining any cohesive structure until the 19th century, individuals from other occupations provided the initial research that dictated our understanding of humanity through time, and their conceptualizations were often supported by unique sources. One of the more prominent such conceptualizations in history was based on the Judeo-Christian Bible.

An Irish clergyman, Archbishop James Ussher, looked to the Hebrew Bible for clarification of the earth's creation. Ussher's estimate, which he generated based on an interpretation of chapters in the Bible, indicated the earth came into existence circa 4004 BCE. In effect, humanity's developments and accomplishments, which include the spread of humanity throughout the world as well as humankind's domestication of animals, cultivation of plants, and generation of multiple writing and language [Page 40]systems, were achieved during a period of less than 6 millennia. Today, such a time interval is difficult to accept given our more thorough understanding of geological processes and our ability to date natural materials direcdy, but 400 years ago when Ussher unveiled his estimate, many accepted this as the age of the planet and the duration of humanity's appearance and development. Yet, like most theories, Ussher's estimate was challenged by new thoughts about time and the antiquity of both the planet and our species.

Ussher, one among many who looked to religious documentation and beliefs to date the earth and humanity, preceded other noted scholars who sought the planet's age, although the next wave of researchers looked elsewhere for answers. Of particular importance among them were the uniformi-tarianists. These scholars, including James Hutton and Charles Lyell, spent considerable amounts of time observing the geology of the earth and natural processes like erosion. Noticing the length of time needed for the natural landscape to change, whether through water action, wind damage, or other act of erosion, the uniformitarianists argued that it would have taken considerably longer than 6,000 years for the earth to form mountain ranges, lakes, rivers, and canyons. Such observations ultimately led to questions about humanity's development alongside the planet's landscape. Enter the evolutionists.

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