I think we're at cross purposes. I don't believe in the Biblical Adam and Eve. In the context of incest, this was my way of raising the point that it is likely if not definate that incest occured at the start of the human civilization whether you bellieve in the bible account, or in evolution. I got bogged down with the details, and I've been reading much more on the subject all day, some of which is contradictory (I just found one page that reckoned all ginger haired people decended from Neanderthal Man!) Anyway, a very simple point I was trying to make made a lot more complicated.
I was too far out... and not waving but drowning - Stevie Smith
also to MrMoe Some of what I just read today was saying that our ancestor "Eve" was black, and that the divergence of races can happen over relatively very few generations.
I was too far out... and not waving but drowning - Stevie Smith
No, no, no, no. Scientists talk about the "mitochondial Eve" and also has a "Adam" figure (I can't remember exactly which genetic component he is named after),
That's "Y-chromosome Adam", less useful than "mitochondrial Eve" because the Y-chromosome doesn't contain much genetic material.
These are widely misunderstood concepts largely due to the use of the names Adam and Eve. Basically, the evidence coming from these studies shows that our most recent female ancestor on the purely maternal line lived about 150,000 to 250,000 years ago. Our most recent male ancestor on the purely paternal line lived, I think more recently, but I'd have to check that. The important thing is that these people were nothing like the mythical Adam and Eve, they were nothing special at the time, it's only in retrospect that their roles become significant. The fact that they existed is indisputable; the studies just went some way to determining when and where. Incidentally, for them to have lived only 6,000 years would require a rate of evolution at least 25 times faster than that currently accepted by scientists. Not sure of any books that deal in depth with the subject. River Out of Eden by Richard Dawkins has a chapter on the subject though
-- Those who can induce you to believe absurdities can induce you to commit attrocities - Voltaire
