Homo Sapiens: Evolution ∞ Relationship & Future?

CURRENT

by KIM DONGWAN Curator of the Archaeology and History Division, National Museum of Korea

Exhibition Info. May 18 – September 26, 2021. National Museum of Korea

As the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps across the world, interest in ourselves as human beings has reached a higher level than ever before. Humans, who began to walk across the plains seven million years ago, have evolved into almighty beings capable of manipulating genes, formerly believed to be the realm of God. However, the pandemic has shown us that we humans are still weak in the face of nature.

The special exhibition Homo Sapiens: Evolution ∞ Relationship & Future? gives an overview of the long journey of human evolution over seven million years. Featuring some 700 items and videos, including fossils and other archaeological materials, it shows from the evolutionary perspective the meaning of human existence and the relationships formed between humans and various other species during the process of evolution.

The exhibition is composed of four sections: “Prologue: Ways of Understanding Evolution,” “Part 1: Evolution,” “Part 2: Homo Sapiens— Wise Man,” and “Epilogue: The Future of Homo Sapiens.” The Prologue introduces the seminal book On the Origin of Species, which took the debate on the origins of humankind from the realm of religion to science, and looks at the case of the Piltdown Man from the early twentieth century in England, which proved to be the greatest hoax in the history of paleoanthropology. In addition, a video titled “Memories of Seven Million Years” is being screened, immersive content produced with up-to-date technologies such as 3D motion capture photography, highlighting themes such as walking upright, language and codes, tools, funerals, and hunting.

A display showing the whole human evolutionary process in Part 1

Part 1 of the exhibition, “Evolution,” explores the whole human evolutionary process from the Sahelanthropus tchadensis species to Homo sapiens. Samples made for research are displayed in a way that visitors can see them as closely as possible. Humans can be explained in terms of physical changes and cultural changes depending on fossil data and archaeological data. Based on the results of recent genetic research results, this section shows what kind of beings Homo sapiens are. It also features a three-dimensional chronological chart of the discoveries of famous human fossils, including the oldest human fossil Lucy, the Neanderthals from Shanidar Cave in Iraq, and the early modern humans called Cro-Magnons.

Part 2, titled “Homo Sapiens—Wise Man,” investigates the characteristics of modern humans called Homo sapiens under five themes: arts, funerals, tools, language and codes, and exploration. To enhance visitors’ understanding, in “Arts” section, prehistoric and ancient artworks include the murals of Lascaux and Chauvet caves in France, the sculptures Lion Man from Germany, Venus de Milo from Greece. The section focusing on “Tools” is a special exhibition space (12 meters long and 1.8 meters high) that gives an overall view of the Paleolithic technological transitions across the world and the distinctive features of Paleolithic tools on the Korean Peninsula. In “Language and Codes,” Stone Marked with a Scale from the Paleolithic site in Suyanggae, Danyang, Chungcheongbukdo, presumably dating to 40,000 years ago are exhibited.

Also featured in this part of the exhibition is an immersive presentation titled “A Journey Together,” which advocates the value of species diversity and symbiosis on Earth, where all species are woven together as if in a net. In this fantasy world created around a digital lake, the value of coexistence is brought to life through the lives of extinct animals such as mammoths, currently living anthropoids, Homo sapiens, and visitors to the museum, who form relationships as they interact.

The Epilogue raises questions about the direction the current 7.8 billionHomo sapiens on Earth should take after realizing their impact and position on the planet. Extinction events have occurred five times since the Earth was born, with 50 to 75 percent of all species disappearing each time. The mass extinctions so far have been caused by nature, but the sixth event may be caused by the greed of humans.

Using varied exhibits, videos, and other materials, this special exhibition conveys messages about humanity and the future of Homo sapiens. In the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic, human beings need to think and reflect on the future more than ever before, and we hope the exhibition will present an opportunity for doing so.

Huge screens featured prehistoric and ancient artworks

Cro-Magnon

Homo sapiens

Lucy

Australopithecus afarensis

Stone Marked with a Scale

L. 20.0 cm / From the Suyanggae site in Danyang

Korean Handaxes, representative handaxes discovered in East Asia

L. up to 21.5 cm / From the Jeongok-ri site in Yeoncheon and others

On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin

1872 / Sixth edition / L. 12.0 cm / National Library of Korea

A display focusing on “Tools” in Part 2

Immersive presentation titled “A Journey Together”