An Analysis of the "Eve Hypothesis" (Anthropology)

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An Analysis of the “Eve Hypothesis” Joshua Taylor Smith Waycross College ANTH 1102 July 22, 2012 Dr. Robert Lightfoot An Analysis of the “Eve Hypothesis” The “Eve” hypothesis, also called the out-of-Africa replacement hypothesis or “mitochondrial Eve” hypothesis (Templeton 2007), has its roots in a paper by Cann et al. in 1987 that suggests a common human ancestry by tracing the origins of mitochondrial DNA variants from 147 females to a common group localized in ancient Africa (Gitschier 2010). The theory posits that, by analyzing the resultant genetic diversity between geological groups using mtDNA, human lineage can be traced to its common ancestor, “Eve,” approximately 100,000 to 150,000 years ago. Since this theory’s proliferation, innumerable discussions have been published either supporting or refuting the validity of such a hypothesis, most commonly by contrasting the theory with the opposing multiregional hypothesis (Templeton 2007). Proposed Disagreements with the Eve Hypothesis According to Templeton (2007), one of the most flagrant problems with the out-of-Africa replacement hypothesis as presented by Cann et al. is its comparison to the multiregional hypothesis, which he states was improperly defined in Cann et al.’s publication. The “three-fold parallel evolution” that the Eve hypothesis seemingly falsified was not, in fact, the multiregional theory (Templeton 2007). The multiregional model, formulated by Weidenreich in 1946, was actually much more complicated and placed heavy emphasis upon gene flow. This model attempted to show differentiation between archeological finds using gene flow but did not include a “tree” to which the Eve hypothesis could be compared (Templeton 2007). Multiregional theory implied that the speciation of H. s. sapiens occurred in Eurasia, radiating from thence (Fonda 2001). The theory that Cann et al. actually
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