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Rating: 
Summary: Upgrading "Out of Africa" theory
Review: As a critic of Darwinian theory I always get frustrated by the presumption that current biology has a correct theory of the descent of humans. At one and the same time research is proceeding rapidly and the amount of new data appearing is amazing, as this highly readable book testifies. Challenging current orthodoxy the author proposes a new version of the single exodus theory, based on the tidal wave of new knowledge of mitochondrial dna. While assessing all the fine details of the author's account is not easy for a non-specialist, the overall thesis is highly cogent, interesting, a sort of must-read as the debate between the multi-regionalists and the "Out of Africa" proponents takes a quantum leap in favor of the latter.
Something doesn't add up in Darwinian theory, and I am always brain-fatigued by having to compensate for wrong thinking in action as one gets new data filtered through the Darwin mindset. That's not so hard in this case, but one is left wondering at the greater implications of these findings. We don't really see the evolution of man in his diasporas, instead a whole new set of humans keeps appearing ready to go from somewhere in Africa. What's really going on here? The evolution of man is still the mystery it always was, but this book manages to move the subject into some new terrain and is well worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: Awesome synthysis of DNA, archaelogy and palaeoclimatology into the most probable scenario. Literally a giant step for mankind!
Rating:
Summary: Tracing the beachcombers
Review: Calling Stephen Oppenheimer a "young turk" may be a bit thin. However, his iconoclastic assault on the dogma of human global diaspora is challenging. Without overstressing it, he uses the title to trash even older dogmas. To his credit, he refrains from personal assaults as he lays out the evidence genetics provides in tracing our prehistory. In all, he manages to show how a new science is providing answers to old questions. Where did modern humanity rise? How and when did it spread over the planet to occupy nearly every available niche? What kind of future does this imply for our species?None of these questions is easily resolved, as Oppenheimer stresses often. With earlier answers based on the imperfect fossil record, on which many fine careers have been built, offering new responses takes courage. In anthropology, the response had better have good evidence in support. His support is impressive, reaching back through time and space to our earliest origins in Africa. From there he demonstrates that our Eurocentric view of ourselves needs serious revision. Humanity reached Europe late in our migrations. European humanity didn't invent "art", agriculture didn't arise in the Fertile Crescent spreading to girdle the globe, and Native Americans likely settled the Western Hemisphere prior to the last great Ice Age. Oppenheimer relies on two newly-developed tools in his analysis: mitochondrial DNA and mutations in the Y chromosome. Mitochondrial DNA [mtDNA], the marker handed down from mother to daughter, has already pointed to a common ancestor to us all. Living in Africa about 150 thousand years ago, she's been [regrettably] dubbed the Mitochondrial Eve. The author deplores this appellation, but accepts its nearly universal usage. The Y chromosome, passed on to sons, is a firmer marker for location, if less precise in time. He uses both to trace a new migration route for humanity. The route is along the southern shoreline from Africa, across India's triangular coastline to Southeast Asia and Australia. He reminds us that the Australian Aborigines have the longest uninterrupted heritage of all humans. Yet, he notes, they are the same as the rest of us in all important features. The coastal route, guided by mountain ranges and ice incursions, resulted in some unexpected revelations about that European viewpoint. Instead of creeping around the eastern Mediterranean to populate Europe, these migrants, "beachcombers" in his word, entered from the Asian steppes to the east. Already inhabited by the Neandertals, this invasion ultimately displaced the indigenous population - a depressingly familiar story. Marshalling the research done over the past few years, including the genetics, the rise and fall of the seas due to ice trapping the water, and tying it to the available fossil evidence, Oppenheimer revises a century of theories. It's an exemplary summary of current research while pointing out the work remaining to be done. To many, the most interesting chapter is the contentious field of "the Peopling of the Americas". It is here that Oppenheimer introduces some of the disputants. The issue of who emigrated to the Western Hemisphere is tightly meshed with when it occurred. The "Clovis point" stone tools, long considered the benchmark in palaeoanthropology, is sharply challenged by both fossil and genetic evidence. The genetic picture is made up of four basic branches traceable, according to the author, to Japan and eastern China. These people, he stresses, didn't flow into North America from there, however. Instead, they took up residence in a "temporary continent" - Beringia - that formed when the ice lowered sea levels. Oppenheimer's knowledge of the research processes is clearly imparted to readers. He explains how the new science of phylogeography starts at a "twig of the molecular tree" and can trace back through time and place on a map. The map shows our wanderings, and he gives us the maps to illustrate them. He supplies diagrams of the molecular relationships acting as guides. To complete the picture, he also provides environmental charts showing how migrations were guided by changing climate. It's a vivid, complete picture, with few flaws or omissions. In fact, the only complaint i can offer about this book is the references, which are integrated in the Notes at the back of the book. To garner a list of his sources, you must read the Notes as closely as you do the main text. It's not a chore you should shun, but the cross-referencing is tedious. A tiny blemish, it detracts nothing from the book. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Rating:
Summary: Tracing the beachcombers
Review: Calling Stephen Oppenheimer a "young turk" may be a bit thin. However, his iconoclastic assault on the dogma of human global diaspora is challenging. Without overstressing it, he uses the title to trash even older dogmas. To his credit, he refrains from personal assaults as he lays out the evidence genetics provides in tracing our prehistory. In all, he manages to show how a new science is providing answers to old questions. Where did modern humanity rise? How and when did it spread over the planet to occupy nearly every available niche? What kind of future does this imply for our species? None of these questions is easily resolved, as Oppenheimer stresses often. With earlier answers based on the imperfect fossil record, on which many fine careers have been built, offering new responses takes courage. In anthropology, the response had better have good evidence in support. His support is impressive, reaching back through time and space to our earliest origins in Africa. From there he demonstrates that our Eurocentric view of ourselves needs serious revision. Humanity reached Europe late in our migrations. European humanity didn't invent "art", agriculture didn't arise in the Fertile Crescent spreading to girdle the globe, and Native Americans likely settled the Western Hemisphere prior to the last great Ice Age. Oppenheimer relies on two newly-developed tools in his analysis: mitochondrial DNA and mutations in the Y chromosome. Mitochondrial DNA [mtDNA], the marker handed down from mother to daughter, has already pointed to a common ancestor to us all. Living in Africa about 150 thousand years ago, she's been [regrettably] dubbed the Mitochondrial Eve. The author deplores this appellation, but accepts its nearly universal usage. The Y chromosome, passed on to sons, is a firmer marker for location, if less precise in time. He uses both to trace a new migration route for humanity. The route is along the southern shoreline from Africa, across India's triangular coastline to Southeast Asia and Australia. He reminds us that the Australian Aborigines have the longest uninterrupted heritage of all humans. Yet, he notes, they are the same as the rest of us in all important features. The coastal route, guided by mountain ranges and ice incursions, resulted in some unexpected revelations about that European viewpoint. Instead of creeping around the eastern Mediterranean to populate Europe, these migrants, "beachcombers" in his word, entered from the Asian steppes to the east. Already inhabited by the Neandertals, this invasion ultimately displaced the indigenous population - a depressingly familiar story. Marshalling the research done over the past few years, including the genetics, the rise and fall of the seas due to ice trapping the water, and tying it to the available fossil evidence, Oppenheimer revises a century of theories. It's an exemplary summary of current research while pointing out the work remaining to be done. To many, the most interesting chapter is the contentious field of "the Peopling of the Americas". It is here that Oppenheimer introduces some of the disputants. The issue of who emigrated to the Western Hemisphere is tightly meshed with when it occurred. The "Clovis point" stone tools, long considered the benchmark in palaeoanthropology, is sharply challenged by both fossil and genetic evidence. The genetic picture is made up of four basic branches traceable, according to the author, to Japan and eastern China. These people, he stresses, didn't flow into North America from there, however. Instead, they took up residence in a "temporary continent" - Beringia - that formed when the ice lowered sea levels. Oppenheimer's knowledge of the research processes is clearly imparted to readers. He explains how the new science of phylogeography starts at a "twig of the molecular tree" and can trace back through time and place on a map. The map shows our wanderings, and he gives us the maps to illustrate them. He supplies diagrams of the molecular relationships acting as guides. To complete the picture, he also provides environmental charts showing how migrations were guided by changing climate. It's a vivid, complete picture, with few flaws or omissions. In fact, the only complaint i can offer about this book is the references, which are integrated in the Notes at the back of the book. To garner a list of his sources, you must read the Notes as closely as you do the main text. It's not a chore you should shun, but the cross-referencing is tedious. A tiny blemish, it detracts nothing from the book. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Rating: 
Summary: Eve as gene flow
Review: I found reading The Real Eve a little difficult to stick to, getting lost occasionally among all the letters identifying this group and that group. Hanging in there, though, was worth it. Most of the literature I've read recently has accepted the theory that species H. sapiens and its immediate Homo ancestors originated in and spread from Africa. Although other scenarios have been proposed from time to time, the Mitochondrial Eve study topped off the debate so that it is now taken almost as a given. What was less contentious throughout most of the discussion is the route by which the various species of our dynasty took to arrive in Europe, which was usually through the Levant to Europe and Asia. In The Real Eve Dr. Oppenheimer gives very cogent reasons for believing otherwise. Following genetic studies conducted recently by a variety of researchers including himself, the author puts together for the reader an intriguing tale of a southern exodus across the Red Sea to Yemen and from there to coastal Asia, where the Beachcombers as he describes the culture, spread from India to the Americas and when climate permitted to the Levant and Europe. What makes his theory so forceful is the interwoven elements of genetics, archaeology, paleontology, geography and paleoclimatology with which he creates it. What I found most fascinating was Dr. Oppenheimer's critique of the American adversarial style of archaeological and anthropological studies. His description of an entrenched elder generation vigorously fending off the encroachment of an energetic younger generation that is trying to make a name for itself by overturning respected theories is not far off the mark. Reputation means academic power and control of grants and tenure. With cut backs in government finance of education and research, these plums are harder to come by than they were, and he-and it's usually been a "he" in these situations-who controls the department controls the future of the fledgling wannabes. I saw this type of professional skirmish in action myself while studying history some time ago. The reader can see it in action by simply following the course of the debate over the peopling of the Americas that has occurred in the literature of the past 50 years. Dr. Oppenheimer gives a blunt overview of it in his book. What is most admirable about the discussion-despite its confusion for the lay person-is the fact that the author tends to stick with genes rather than individuals. Other authors try to depict individuals like Oppenheimer's Nasreen or Cane as people to capture the reader's imagination. While this is entertaining, it also creates the false idea that "A" Nasreen lived and breathed when in fact a particular gene sequence rather than a person is what is being followed. Human beings are masses of genetic sequences which we reshuffle with each generation. I found myself getting caught up in this mystique of an individual Eve when I first started reading literature on the subject, and it took a while to get the concept clear of personalities. I think the sense of gene flow is more apparent in this work than in others I've read.
Rating:
Summary: Eve as gene flow
Review: I found reading The Real Eve a little difficult to stick to, getting lost occasionally among all the letters identifying this group and that group. Hanging in there, though, was worth it. Most of the literature I've read recently has accepted the theory that species H. sapiens and its immediate Homo ancestors originated in and spread from Africa. Although other scenarios have been proposed from time to time, the Mitochondrial Eve study topped off the debate so that it is now taken almost as a given. What was less contentious throughout most of the discussion is the route by which the various species of our dynasty took to arrive in Europe, which was usually through the Levant to Europe and Asia. In The Real Eve Dr. Oppenheimer gives very cogent reasons for believing otherwise. Following genetic studies conducted recently by a variety of researchers including himself, the author puts together for the reader an intriguing tale of a southern exodus across the Red Sea to Yemen and from there to coastal Asia, where the Beachcombers as he describes the culture, spread from India to the Americas and when climate permitted to the Levant and Europe. What makes his theory so forceful is the interwoven elements of genetics, archaeology, paleontology, geography and paleoclimatology with which he creates it. What I found most fascinating was Dr. Oppenheimer's critique of the American adversarial style of archaeological and anthropological studies. His description of an entrenched elder generation vigorously fending off the encroachment of an energetic younger generation that is trying to make a name for itself by overturning respected theories is not far off the mark. Reputation means academic power and control of grants and tenure. With cut backs in government finance of education and research, these plums are harder to come by than they were, and he-and it's usually been a "he" in these situations-who controls the department controls the future of the fledgling wannabes. I saw this type of professional skirmish in action myself while studying history some time ago. The reader can see it in action by simply following the course of the debate over the peopling of the Americas that has occurred in the literature of the past 50 years. Dr. Oppenheimer gives a blunt overview of it in his book. What is most admirable about the discussion-despite its confusion for the lay person-is the fact that the author tends to stick with genes rather than individuals. Other authors try to depict individuals like Oppenheimer's Nasreen or Cane as people to capture the reader's imagination. While this is entertaining, it also creates the false idea that "A" Nasreen lived and breathed when in fact a particular gene sequence rather than a person is what is being followed. Human beings are masses of genetic sequences which we reshuffle with each generation. I found myself getting caught up in this mystique of an individual Eve when I first started reading literature on the subject, and it took a while to get the concept clear of personalities. I think the sense of gene flow is more apparent in this work than in others I've read.
Rating:
Summary: From a "layman's" perspective
Review: I have read a few books on this subject and have been an anthropolgy/archaeology "hobbyist" for much of my life. I found this book quite enjoyable and informative.
The charts and photographs were extremely helpful, as well as the introduction and epilogue, which caught me up to the current theories of the day.
Some of the detailed discussions were a bit over my head and tended to slow the book down somewhat, but the end of chapter summaries were particularly helpful in this regard. I found Mr. Oppenheimer's writing to be good and it seemed like he was trying to be instructional and keep things moving. Overall he did an excellent job.
I would recommend this book to others with an interest in this topic. There will be some tougher parts to read, but challenging your mind and vocabulary is part of the fun of reading.
Rating:
Summary: DNA evidence points to an Indian homeland of IE languages
Review: In a trail blazing work prominent geneticist Stephan Oppenheimer has
convincingly argued that all the non African peoples of the world have
descended from the first Out of Africa Eve mtDNA strain known as L3
and the first Out of Africa Y chromosome line labeled as M168.
Moreover, South Asia and in particular India has been a major location
of flowering for L3 and M168 as they spread through out the rest of
the world about 90,000 years before present. The story according to
Oppenheimer (2003) is as follows. The African people carrying L3 and
M168 left that continent across south Red sea across the southern part
of the Arabian peninsula towards Pakistan and India. On the maternal
side the mtDNA strain L3 split into two daughters which Oppenheimer
labels Nasreen and Manju. While Manju was definitely born in India
the birthplace of Nasreen is uncertain tentatively placed by
Oppenheimer in southern Iran or Baluchistan. Manju and Rohani (should
be Rohini), Nasreen's most prolific daughter both born in India are
the progenitors of all non African peoples.
The story on the paternal side is a lot more complex. M168 had three
sons, of which Seth was the most important one. Seth had five sons
named by Oppenheimer as Jahangir, H, I, G and Krishnna. Krishnna born
in India turned out to be the most prolific of Seth's sons. Krishnna
through his son Ho, grandson Ruslan through Polo, and great grandson
M17 through Ruslan, played a major role in the peopling of South
Asian, East Asia, Central Asia, Oceania and West Eurasia (see
Appendix 2, p. 374-375 of Oppenheimer 2003). Oppenheimer (2003) has
this to say about M17 and his father Ruslan:
"For me and for Toomas Kivisild, South Asia is logically the ultimate
origin of M17 and his ancestors; and sure enough we find highest rates
and greatest diversity of the M17 line in Pakistan, India, and eastern
Iran, and low rates in the Caucasus. M17 is not only more diverse in
South Asia than in Central Asia but diversity *characterizes* its
presence in isolated tribal groups in the south, thus undermining any
theory of M17 as a marker of a `male Aryan Invasion of India', (p.
152)."
"Study of the geographical distribution and the diversity of genetic
branches and stems again suggests that Ruslan, along with his son M17,
arose early in South Asia, somewhere near India, and subsequently
spread not only south-east to Australia but also north, directly to
Central Asia, before splitting east and west into Europe and East Asia
(p. 153)."
Reference:
Oppenheimer, Stphen (2003), "The Real Eve: Modern Man's Journey ouf of
Africa," New York: Carroll and Graf Publishers.
Rating:
Summary: Smashing!
Review: In the tune of 'Black Spark White Fire' this book uses a cover of an African woman and the name 'the Real Eve' to sensationalize and 'multiculturalize' the scientific debate about the origins of man. Its not enough that in school history is being balkanized into little diverse gorups of multicultural hysteria, now the originas of man and the scientific community have to be racialized so that the new PC look of Jesus(as a black man) can fit the program of the leftist race baitors. This book uses a disgusting title and terrible cover to induce us to read about 'the real origin of mankind' a thesis that is neithber provable nor even dabatable with the evidence we have at hand. Oppenheimer tries to use new evidence to prove that their was one vast migration out of Africa that served as the basis for modern man and of course, modern mans racial characteristis. Very importnat to learn about race because its so central to scientific debate. Should we have affirmitve action for planets that are farthest from us in the solar system? Clearly science(a field of facts and figures) must be racialized and racial debate ignited so that we can prove we all once had African pigmintation in our skin, something that neither matters nor has any relevance on anything(including the bible). This book is a waste of time, totally unsatisfying and not academically important.
Rating:
Summary: Best popular book of its kind
Review: Oppenheimer's book is without doubt the best of the genre that has emerged that is reporting upon the results of the Human Genome Diversity Project. Focussing exclusively upon the male Y chromosome and the female Mitochondrial DNA, it enables us to trace not just our own parentage, but that of every human on Earth. Combining paleoclimatic data as well, Oppenheimer goes a step further than "The Seven Daughters of Eve" and "The Journeys of Man". Its only weakness is that Oppenheimer seems too hung-up on his Flood = Sunda Shelf = Austronesian thesis (but it doesn't protrude too much). He also is very critical (not completely justifiably) of the linguistic work of Greenberg and Ruhlen. For those of you wanting to "Know Thyself" this is definitely up there with Carvalli Sforza's The History and Geography of Human Genetics". Regards John
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