Dr. Henry Gilbert Speaks On "Out of Africa"

http://photos4.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/f/c/event_99480252.jpeg
This month East Bay Atheists features Anthropologist Dr. Henry Gilbert of CSU Hayward speaking on the origins of our species in Africa, and how they spread throughout the world. Professor Gilbert is actively engaged in research in Africa, along with teaching. Here is how he describes his talk:

“5,000 years ago a family of three foragers died in the Sahara of central Niger. What is today a parched desert was then a seasonally dry grassland, and they were buried on a mat of fresh flowers. This minor Sahara greening was only the latest of many, and climate change has intermittently opened and closed connections between Sub-Saharan Africa and Eurasia since significant glacial-interglacial cycles started 2.7 million years ago.

“Humans emerged in Africa. Almost everyone with their eyes open knows this, but far fewer understand the way that humans spread around the globe. Who were the first hominids out of Africa? How many dispersals were there? Where is your last common ancestor in Africa? Did you know that Homo erectus from China is NOT the ancestor of modern Chinese people? Did you know that the bow and arrow was invented in Africa about 70,000 years ago and spread to Eurasia only 30,000 years later?

“Join us for a discussion of the fossil, archaeological and genetic evidence for the spread of humans and prehumans around the globe.“

Afterwards we will go to dinner at King Dong Restaurant, 2429 Shattuck Ave. (near Haste) in Berkeley. Please join us.

This talk was flooded out a couple of months ago by a fire in the Berkeley library. In the meantime, Henry was in Africa and has returned.

If you would like to subscribe to our newsletter, click here (http://gamma.metasecure.net/mailman/listinfo/eastbayatheistsannouncements_eastbayatheists.org).

When: Saturday, June 16th, 1:30 - 3:30 PM

Location: Berkeley Main Library, 3rd Floor Meeting Room, 2090 Kittredge St., One Block From Downtown Berkeley BART

BART Access: From the downtown Berkeley BART Station, walk 1.5 blocks south on Shattuck Avenue, then turn right on Kittredge. The library is a half block down the street on the left.

Parking: The city parking lot at Allston & Harold Way, a short block from the library, is $5 for the entire day on Sunday. If you don’t mind walking, take University to MLK, turn right and then instead of proceeding left on Allston to the parking lot, turn right. In several blocks you will see parking on the side streets.

Information: Larry Hicok, Coordinator: 510-222-7580

Ski Grabowski, Treasurer: 510-652-8350

info@eastbayatheists.org