The experts are now explaining that Homo naledi almost certainly used fire to explore caves & cook food. This isn’t huge surprise, because how else could they have maneuvered through the pitch black darkness of an elaborate cave system?
Last August, Berger climbed down a narrow shaft and examined two underground chambers where H. naledi fossils had been found. He noticed stalactites and thin rock sheets that had partly grown over older ceiling surfaces. Those surfaces displayed blackened, burned areas and were also dotted by what appeared to be soot particles, Berger said.
Meanwhile, expedition codirector and Wits paleoanthropologist Keneiloe Molopyane led excavations of a nearby cave chamber. There, the researchers uncovered two small fireplaces containing charred bits of wood, and burned bones of antelopes and other animals. Remains of a fireplace and nearby burned animal bones were then discovered in a more remote cave chamber where H. naledi fossils have been found.
This is where the creationists are going to have to get creative in their excuses, because many of them (including Answers in Genesis) have declared that H. naledi was just an ape. Joel Duff explains the conundrum they face.
But don’t worry, they’ll just invent some improbable impossible ridiculous bullshit to justify whatever conclusion they want.
Ancient humans versus outdated thinking.
As for using fire maybe we ciopied some bird?
See 2 minutes 15 seconds mark or so here among other places.
^Or, er, 2 min 5 secs mark or earlier..
<
blockquote>This is where the creationists are going to have to get creative in their excuses…
Not really, they’ll just claim that those fires were created by H. sapiens; the spawn of Adam and Eve. The fact that those godless scientists found bones of this ape in that area doesn’t prove they made the fires.
I mean, “were you there” and saw one of these H. naledi rubbing two sticks together?
I remember seeing an article from Dumb Idiot Ham’s site years ago written by someone(A mailman to be exact!) with no experience in amber fossils whatsoever. In it he made an unfounded claim that the amber fossils containing feathered dinosaur fossils were nothing more than baby chicks – actual modern chickens that have perished in the non-existent Flood. It’s obvious he prefers to pretend that the real feathered dinosaur fossils found in amber are of a modern chicken lest his young earth fantasies completely fall apart, just like Dumb Idiot Ham preferring to pretend that the hominid fossils are just ape fossils so he can maintain the young earth lies he manufactures himself.
Was gonna say same thing but Akira beat me to it. 😄
The archeologists had a kegger, and this “study” is just a lame attempt to cover it up so their funding doesn’t get cancelled. Nothing to see here.
@ 4
If I recall correctly, Ham denies that any dinosaurs had feathers at all. That’s one those evil-utionists lies to get us to think that the modern bird “kind” somehow came from the dinosaur “kind.”
I wish the Black Monolith aliens could zap Ken Ham and his ilk with intelligence.
They’ll just say
Jesus built my hotrodSatan was their lighter. Because that species died out so clearly they were on the wrong path. Or the scientists brought torches and foolishly measured their own smoke. Haha, so obvious, very sad. Or something equally profound.They could also remind everyone how transphobe and homophobe their perfectly disgusting god is and imply that in addition to his other failings their deity is also a pyro.
8
Waste of energy. Besides, in 3001 the Monolith beings eventually decide that humanity was too dangerous to allow to exist. Introducing them to Christians might speed up that process.
That ancient soot was put there by the fires of hell to represent where you’ll be going for promoting godless evolution.
@ 7
And then he’ll make up some more lies by saying the feathered dinosaur fossils are either forgeries put together from separate fossils or just different bird “kinds.” You can’t deny how mentally ill Dumb Idiot Ham is when he makes up such crap like that.
The Naledi lived simple lives without hypocrisy and greed, so god rewarded them with the Rapture and took them to heaven. Ham and his ilk can only wish.
This looks like a good place to mention ChatGPT’s latest burst of creativity, since Ken Ham wouldn’t like this either!
Me: Pitch me a plot for a sitcom where Jesus Christ has the tv personality of Benny Hill.
ChatGPT: One possible plot for a sitcom where Jesus Christ has the TV personality of Benny Hill could be as follows:
The show follows Jesus Christ as he navigates everyday life in the modern world. Despite being the son of God, Jesus struggles to fit in and often finds himself in comical misadventures. In each episode, he encounters various characters and must use his wisdom and divine powers to help them overcome their problems.
However, Jesus’s attempts to assist others are often hindered by his penchant for physical comedy and slapstick humor, which causes chaos and hilarity wherever he goes. Whether he’s accidentally setting fire to a restaurant while trying to perform a miracle or getting into a pie-throwing fight with the devil, Jesus’s antics always leave those around him in stitches.
Throughout the series, Jesus learns valuable lessons about the human condition and the importance of humility, but his antics never cease to entertain. With a cast of quirky supporting characters and a mix of heartwarming moments and laugh-out-loud comedy, this sitcom is sure to be a hit with audiences of all ages.
One of the conundrums Ham/Hovind constantly faces is the constant discovery of new missing link/intermediate forms, which, you know, can’t exist. So the solution is simply to define them as one “kind” or the other. In this example human/ape. Problem solved. And the question of fire? I doubt this will even give them pause for thought – it must be either natural or a mistake or a fake, so what’s the problem?!
At first I thought this was about the reports from a few weeks ago about a cooking site 800,000 years old thought to be left by homo erectus. Gutsick Gibbon did a very interesting video about the study. She goes over the methods the researchers used. Very cool.
But H naledi is “just an ape”. As is H sapiens. Not that we should expect Ham to understand this.
When Linnaeus defined humans as “primates” there was a lot of criticism about him putting humans In the same framework as “soulless” animals. That was nearly 300 years ago.
The Hamster is literally stuck in the 18th century. He is not even a Lamarckian, which is pretty bad!
It’s funny how Biblical literalists forget that Cain went off to live in the Land of Nod. I guess those lands were full of people who evolved while Adam and Eve were in Eden.
OT
RIP Kirstie Ally.
TV: Cheers. Film: Lt. Saavik in Star Trek II; Wrath of Khan. I think she was also in The Midwich Cuckoos.
She was 71.
@birgerjohansson #8:
Some things are beyond current galactic technology. And in any case, the aliens are too busy moving the Milky Way out of the line of fire of the Andromeda galaxy.
Big Off Topic !
PZ had a link to a really cool animation showing Covid transcription and reproduction at a molecular level.
I can’t find it any more.
Can anyone help please?
@ ^ ajbjasus : Was it this one maybe? :
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2022/11/21/pretty-virus/
From the 21st Nov?
@ Howard Brazee :
Land of Nod? I guess God must’ve been asleep and missed that one!
@20. birgerjohansson : Kirstie Ally was Saavik? Did not realise that till now. Thanks.
StevoR @ 23
20-year old me had a minor crush on her, and I recall her as the exobiologist/MD in the version of The Midwich Cuckoos that had Christopher Reeve (his last role before the accident).
Her later life was unhappy, isolating herself with mental issues. I think there were some cultists taking advantage of her condition, too.
There are human footprints in southern Spain dated to ca 275 000 old.
Presumably the Hamster will argue they were prototypes from an earlier creation, or angels.
And 800,000 year-old human tracks on a beach near Norfolk, England.
Ham (anticipated response) : “those footprints were just nephilim… or demons”
The Raelians: “It was aliens”.
The Scientologs: “Xenu!”
Ham (anticipated response) : “those footprints were just nephilim… or demons”
The Raelians: “It was aliens”.
The Scientologs: “Xenu!”
Doublet alert!
(mimics voice of cybermen) Delete! Delete!
@23 Steve R.
That’s it. Thanks very much.