I am putting together a table of the human fossils – what actual fossils there are (like a tooth here, a jawbone there), the evolutionary stance on the fossil, and the creationist response, and in some cases, the evolutionary counter-response.
This exercise is interesting because it shows (me) how much conjecture is involved, and how little actual evidence there is. I have to admit, this is merely an exercise in collecting discussions that already exist on the web, but collating it and putting it into one piece makes analysis a little easier, and makes the patterns more obvious.
Don't leave out the thousands of examples of some of the fossils. I suspect your task has already been done, mostly, by such groups as the Kenya National Museum. Have you searched for their lists?
Here's a site you should most definitely visit, for some of the seminal papers on the topic: http://www.nature.com/nature/ancestor/index.html
Here's another, with good graphics and links to hard academic sites: http://www.becominghuman.org/
Here's a good place for a layman to start: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/specimen.htm…
And this site deals with only the "type specimens," the ones that are solid enough to determine the species is a separate species: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/typespec.htm…
There are about 20 different species in the line from our last ancestor shared with chimpanzees, and modern humans. There are thousands of specimens, including what I found to be a surprising number of nearly-complete skeletons.
Good luck!
Here's another site with some great maps of the sites where human and hominid fossils have been found: http://www.handprint.com/LS/ANC/disp.html
There are more than 50 sites in Africa, and more than 50 in Europe. Then there's Asia. It's a most interesting map.
The evidence IS absolutely overwhelming ,a concilience of evidence exists in the public record in every field of relavent study, …yet the Christians still think there is something to discuss regarding this issue!
Frankly ,I don`t have the patience to go on with this issue . The FACT of evolution was established over 100 years ago,the Theory describing how it works and operates and the fossil record as well as real time experiment is something worth talking about!
Get Reading!
I agree Richard, the evidence is overwhelming – but not in favor of evolution. In fact, most scientific knowledge exists independent of evolution. I am always amazed at how convinced people are based on the sketchy record – but then again, when it comes to faith, people believe what they want to, and don't need much evidence.
I'm sorry you think evolution is a fact. Obviously, you, like many, confuse theory with fact. But I am not concerned – a house of cards so obviously weak will fall over time. It is inevitable in my mind.
I'll use this post to "Bump" the needle on Seeker's broken record. It's stuck!
I have to repeat myself, since I get the same objections over and over. However, nice links to human fossil stuff in here.
But again, to say that the evidence for evolution is overwhelming is an icredible statement of faith, hubris, or ignorance of science. There may be lots of data, but your assumptions color how you interpret it.
The case of Lucy alone should convince you that palaentologists see what they want to see in fossils, and take us along on their flights of evolutionary fancy (and a bumpy ride it is).
The case of Lucy? It convinces me that anti-science people will stoop to great laws in order to deny the facts. Such a stoop is the implied claim that paleontologists report anything other than what is observed in the bones.
Since paleontologists didn't expect to find Lucy at all, how can her bones demonstrate paleontologists are anything other than Boy Scouts about reporting their work?