European origin of modern humans

The European hypothesis also known as the out of Europe theory, is a obsolete scientific theory which contended that modern humans first emerged in Europe.
Early History
Early searchers for the “Cradle of mankind” in Europe were carried out by French and German scientists. Johann Carl Fuhlrott had first described the Neanderthal man as an early human specimen along with the anatomist Hermann Schaffhausen, scientists of this era began to theorize that early man had an European origin. The European hypothesis has been linked to European nationalism and ethnocentrism as scientists from Europe from this time did not want their ancestors to of originated anywhere other than Europe.
The Cro-Magnon and the Grimaldi man were also found in Europe, it was believed by advocates of the European hypothesis that man originated in Europe and from there populated Asia and Africa. The European hypothesis was later taken up by British anthropologists of the early 20th century.
Richard Leakey in his book The Origin of Humankind descibes the “distain” of British anthropologists of the early 20th century for the Out of Africa theory and how they substantiated the claims of a European origin of humanity by citing the Piltdown man as evidence.
Piltdown man
The Piltdown man played a key part to the European hypothesis; many British anthropologists believed it was genuine. They believed it demonstrated the origin of humankind in Europe and that the Piltdown man had evolved into Neanderthals then into modern humans. They also welcomed the specimen as they believed it proved that Europeans were completely Indigenous to the British Empire. However Piltdown man was later exposed as a hoax.
George Grant MacCurdy an american anthropologist also argued for the European hypothesis, in his 1924 book Human Origins, he said “The beginnings of things human, so far as we have been able to discover them, have their fullest exemplification in Europe”.
British anthropologists Arthur Keith and Grafton Elliot Smith were both fixed on European origin of humankind and were in opposition to models of Asia and African origin. Europe as the cradle of humanity was argued by Smith in a number of his works. He identified a European Mediterranean race as the occupants as the original home of modern humans, his cradle was big as he claimed the Mediterranean race had occupied the Levant, Egypt and western Europe including the British isles, he especially linked the Mediterranean race to the civilization of Egypt, this later became known as his theory of diffusionism.
In 1925 Raymond Dart announced the discovery of Australopithecus africanus which he claimed was evidence for an early human ancestor in Africa, however the British anthropologists of the time, who firmly believed in the European hypothesis did not accept finds outside of their own soil, Arthur Keith for example described “Darts child” as a juvenile ape and nothing to do with human ancestry.
According to Grafton Elliot Smith “Man did not become truly erect until his brain had developed in a very particular way to make it possible for him to use his hands”, this line of reasoning reinforced the European origin of human which both Smith and Arthur Keith supported as the mostly large brained specimens such as the Cro-magnon had been found in Europe.
The Europe hypothesis fell into decline by European thinkers after the Piltdown man was discovered to be a hoax, it was revived by the American anthropologist Ales Hrdlicka.
Ales Hrdlicka and decline
Ales Hrdlicka (1869-1943) was interested in the origin of the human being, he was a critic of hominid evolution aswell as the Asia hypothesis, as he claimed there was little evidence to go on for those theories, he dismissed finds such as the Ramapithecus which were labeled as hominids by most scientists, he instead believed that they were nothing more than fossil apes, unrelated to human ancestry.
In a lecture on "The Origin of Man," delivered for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, at Cincinnati, Ohio. Hrdlicka said that the cradle of man is not in Central Asia but in Central Europe as Europe is the earliest known location where human skeletal remains have been found.
Hrdlicka was almost alone in his views, the European hypothesis fell into decline and is now considered an obsolete scientific theory which has been replaced by the multiregional hypothesis and the Out of Africa theory.

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