10. Accepting the theory of continental drift (late 1900's)
The theory that the planet's
continents are in motion was first proposed in 1912, but it was not
fully accepted until the late 1900's. The concept in time became linked
with the theory of plate tectonics. In addition to providing, for the
first time, an understanding of why earthquakes and volcanoes are distributed
the way they are, the theory explains some of the environmental changes
that occurred over the past 20 million years. Some anthropologists believe
the collision of the African continent with Eurasia, which took place
at that time, produced profound environmental changes in east Africa
and south Africa and may have led to the appearance of the human line.
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Alan E. Mann
is a Professor of Anthropology at the University
of Pennsylvania. His Top 10 list reviews the 1900's in a general
historical light and shows how the major events affected the work
and chief concerns of anthropologists. He generally calls attention
to broad movements rather than single momentous events. He points
to the rapid population growth during the 1900's and reveals why
some anthropologists link this trend to the end of human evolution.
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