Louise Leakey: Digging for humanity's origins

Prevoditelj: Zvonimir Mimica Recezent: Tilen Pigac - EFZG

Who are we?

Tko smo mi?

That is the big question.

To je veliko pitanje.

And essentially we are just an upright-walking, big-brained,

U biti mi smo samo uspravno-hodajući, velikoga mozga,

super-intelligent ape.

super-inteligentan čovjekoliki majmun.

This could be us.

Ovo bismo mogli biti mi.

We belong to the family called the Hominidae.

Pripadamo obitelji koja se zove Hominidi.

We are the species called Homo sapiens sapiens,

Mi smo vrsta koja se zove Homo sapiens sapiens,

and it's important to remember that,

i važno je to zapamtiti

in terms of our place in the world today

u smislu naše uloge u svijetu danas,

and our future on planet Earth.

i naše budućnosti na planeti Zemlji.

We are one species

Mi smo jedna vrsta

of about five and a half thousand mammalian species

od oko pet i pol tisuća vrsta sisavaca

that exist on planet Earth today.

koje postoje danas na planeti Zemlji.

And that's just a tiny fraction of all species

I to je samo mali fragment svih vrsta

that have ever lived on the planet in past times.

koje su ikad živjele na planeti u prošlim vremenima.

We're one species out of approximately,

Mi smo jedna vrsta od oko --

or let's say, at least 16 upright-walking apes

ili recimo od namanje 16 uspravno-hodajućih čovjekolikih majmuna

that have existed over the past six to eight million years.

koji su postojali tijekom prošlih šest do osam milijuna godina.

But as far as we know, we're the only upright-walking ape

Ali, koliko nam je poznato, mi smo jedini uspravno-hodajući čovjekoliki majmun

that exists on planet Earth today, except for the bonobos.

koji postoji na planeti Zemlji, s izuzetkom bonobo majmuna.

And it's important to remember that,

I važno je zapamtiti,

because the bonobos are so human,

obzirom da su bonobo majmuni toliko nalik čovjeku,

and they share 99 percent of their genes with us.

da dijele 99 posto svojih gena s nama,

And we share our origins with a handful of the living great apes.

i da mi dijelimo naše korijene s nekolicinom živućih velikih čovjekolikih majmuna.

It's important to remember that we evolved.

Važno je zapamtiti da smo evoluirali.

Now, I know that's a dirty word for some people,

I sad, znam da to zvuči prljavo nekim ljudima,

but we evolved from common ancestors

ali mi smo evoluirali od zajedničkih predaka

with the gorillas, the chimpanzee and also the bonobos.

zajedno s gorilama, čimpanzama, kao i s bonobo majmunima.

We have a common past, and we have a common future.

Imamo zajedničku prošlost, a imamo i zajedničku budućnost,

And it is important to remember that all of these great apes

i važno je zapamtiti da su svi ovi veliki čovjekoliki majmuni

have come on as long and as interesting evolutionary journey

došli s isto toliko dugog i toliko zanimljivog evolucijskog putovanja,

as we ourselves have today.

kao i mi danas.

And it's this journey that is of such interest to humanity,

I upravo je to putovanje od posebnog zanimanja za čovječanstvo,

and it's this journey that has been the focus

i to je putovanje bilo u žarištu zanimanja

of the past three generations of my family,

protekle tri generacije moje obitelji,

as we've been in East Africa looking for the fossil remains

obzirom da smo bili u istočnoj Africi tražeći fosilne ostatke

of our ancestors to try and piece together our evolutionary past.

naših predaka i pokušavajući, komad po komad, složiti našu evolucijsku prošlost.

And this is how we look for them.

Evo ovdje vidite kako ih tražimo.

A group of dedicated young men and women walk very slowly

Skupina požrtvovnih mladih muškaraca i žena hoda vrlo polako

out across vast areas of Africa,

golemim prostranstvima Afrike,

looking for small fragments of bone, fossil bone, that may be on the surface.

tražeći male fragmente kostiju, fosilnih kostiju, koji bi mogli biti na površini.

And that's an example of what we may do as we walk across

A ovdje je primjer onoga što bismo mogli raditi dok hodamo

the landscape in Northern Kenya, looking for fossils.

pejzažima Sjeverne Kenije, tražeći fosile.

I doubt many of you in the audience can see

Sumnjam da mnogi od vas u publici mogu vidjeti

the fossil that's in this picture,

fosil na ovoj slici,

but if you look very carefully, there is a jaw, a lower jaw,

ali ako gledate vrlo pažljivo, ovdje je čeljust -- donja čeljust --

of a 4.1-million-year-old upright-walking ape

uspravno-hodajućeg čovjekolikog majmuna starog 4,1 milijun godina

as it was found at Lake Turkana on the west side.

kako je pronađen kod jezera Turkana na zapadnoj obali.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

It's extremely time-consuming, labor-intensive

To uzima krajnje mnogo vremena, radno je intenzivno,

and it is something that is going to involve a lot more people,

a takvo je da će trebati uključivanje mnogo više ljudi

to begin to piece together our past.

za početak sastavljanja naše povijesti.

We still really haven't got a very complete picture of it.

Još uvijek zaista nemamo vrlo cjelovitu sliku svega toga.

When we find a fossil, we mark it.

Kad nađemo fosil, označimo ga.

Today, we've got great technology: we have GPS.

Danas imamo izvrsnu tehnologiju, imamo GPS.

We mark it with a GPS fix,

Označimo ga s GPS fix-om,

and we also take a digital photograph of the specimen,

a također napravimo i digitalnu fotografiju primjerka

so we could essentially put it back on the surface,

tako da ga, u osnovi, možemo vratiti natrag na površinu,

exactly where we found it.

točno na mjesto gdje smo ga našli,

And we can bring all this information into big GIS packages, today.

a možemo sve ove informacije pohraniti zajedno u današnje GPS pakete.

When we then find something very important,

Kad pronađemo nešto vrlo značajno,

like the bones of a human ancestor,

kao kosti ljudskog pretka,

we begin to excavate it extremely carefully and slowly,

započinjemo otkopavati krajnje pažljivo i polako,

using dental picks and fine paintbrushes.

koristeći čačkalice i fine kistove.

And all the sediment is then put through these screens,

A sav sediment stavlja se zatim u ova sita,

and where we go again through it very carefully,

i tu probiremo sve još jednom vrlo pažljivo,

looking for small bone fragments, and it's then washed.

tražeći male fragmente kostiju, a zatim se sve opere.

And these things are so exciting. They are so often the only,

Ove su stvari vrlo uzbudljive, one su tako često jedini,

or the very first time that anybody has ever seen the remains.

ili prvi put uopće, da je bilo tko vidio te ostatke.

And here's a very special moment, when my mother and myself

A ovdje je vrlo poseban trenutak u kojem smo moja majka i ja

were digging up some remains of human ancestors.

otkopavali neke ostatke ljudskih predaka,

And it is one of the most special things

i to je jedna od onih najposebnijih stvari

to ever do with your mother.

koje ikad možete raditi sa svojom majkom.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

Not many people can say that.

Ne može mnogo ljudi tako nešto reći.

But now, let me take you back to Africa, two million years ago.

I sad, dozvolite mi da vas vratim natrag u Afriku, prije dva milijuna godina.

I'd just like to point out, if you look at the map of Africa,

Samo bih željela nešto istaknuti, ako pogledate zemljovid Afrike,

it does actually look like a hominid skull in its shape.

ona zaista po svom obliku izgleda kao lubanja hominida.

Now we're going to go to the East African and the Rift Valley.

A sada ćemo otići u Istočno-afričku i Rift dolinu.

It essentially runs up from the Gulf of Aden,

U biti, ona se prostire od zaljeva Aden

or runs down to Lake Malawi.

pa sve dolje do jezera Malawi.

And the Rift Valley is a depression.

Dolina Rift je depresija.

It's a basin, and rivers flow down from the highlands into the basin,

To je porječje, a rijeke teku od brdskih predjela prema dolje i slijevaju se u porječje,

carrying sediment, preserving the bones of animals that lived there.

noseći sedimente, čuvajući kosti životinja koje su tamo živjele.

If you want to become a fossil, you actually need to die somewhere

Ako želite postati fosil, onda zapravo trebate umrijeti negdje

where your bones will be rapidly buried.

gdje će vaše kosti biti brzo zakopane.

You then hope that the earth moves in such a way

Zatim se nadate da će se zemlja pomicati na takav način

as to bring the bones back up to the surface.

da će dovesti kosti natrag na površinu.

And then you hope that one of us lot

I onda se nadate da će vas netko od naše ekipe

will walk around and find small pieces of you.

hodati okolo i naći male komadiće vas.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

OK, so it is absolutely surprising that we know as much

Dakle, zapravo je nadasve iznenađujuće da znamo toliko mnogo

as we do know today about our ancestors,

koliko danas znamo o našim precima,

because it's incredibly difficult,

jer je iznimno teško,

A, for these things to become -- to be -- preserved,

prvo, za ove stvari da postanu -- da ostanu sačuvane,

and secondly, for them to have been brought back up to the surface.

i drugo, da su donesene natrag na površinu.

And we really have only spent 50 years looking for these remains,

A zapravo smo potrošli samo 50 godina tražeći ove ostatke,

and begin to actually piece together our evolutionary story.

i započeli sastavljati, dio po dio, našu evolucijsku priču.

So, let's go to Lake Turkana, which is one such lake basin

Dakle, otiđimo do jezera Turkana, koje je jedno takvo porječje,

in the very north of our country, Kenya.

na krajnjem sjeveru naše zemlje, Kenije.

And if you look north here, there's a big river that flows into the lake

Ako pogledate ovdje na sjeveru, postoji velika rijeka koja otječe u jezero,

that's been carrying sediment and preserving the remains

koja je nosila sedimente i čuvala ostatke

of the animals that lived there.

životinja koje su ovdje živjele.

Fossil sites run up and down both lengths of that lake basin,

Nalazišta fosila prostiru se duž obje strane jezerskog porječja,

which represents some 20,000 square miles.

koje zauzima oko 20.000 kvadratnih milja.

That's a huge job that we've got on our hands.

To je golem posao koji je u našim rukama.

Two million years ago at Lake Turkana,

Prije dva milijuna godina kod jezera Turkana,

Homo erectus, one of our human ancestors,

Homo erectus, jedan od ljudskih predaka,

actually lived in this region.

je zapravo živio u ovom području.

You can see some of the major fossil sites that we've been working

Ovdje možete vidjeti neke od nalazišta fosila na kojima smo radili

in the north. But, essentially, two million years ago,

na sjeveru, ali u biti, prije dva milijuna godina

Homo erectus, up in the far right corner,

Homo erectus, gore sasvim u desnom kutu,

lived alongside three other species of human ancestor.

živio je istovremeno s druge tri vrste ljudskih predaka.

And here is a skull of a Homo erectus,

Ovo ovdje je lubanja Homo erectusa,

which I just pulled off the shelf there.

koju sam upravo skinula s ove police.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

But it is not to say that being a single species on planet Earth is the norm.

Ali, ne možemo reći da je biti jedinom vrstom na planeti Zemlji pravilo.

In fact, if you go back in time,

U stvari, ako se vratimo unatrag u prošlost,

it is the norm that there are multiple species of hominids

u pravilu postoje brojne vrste hominida

or of human ancestors that coexist at any one time.

ili ljudskih predaka koji su živjeli zajedno u isto vrijeme.

Where did these things come from?

Odakle su došle ove stvari?

That's what we're still trying to find answers to,

To je ono na što još uvijek želimo naći odgovor,

and it is important to realize that there is diversity

i važno je shvatiti da postoji raznolikost

in all different species, and our ancestors are no exception.

kod svih različitih vrsta, a naši preci nisu u tome izuzetak.

Here's some reconstructions of some of the fossils

Ovdje su neke rekonstrukcije nekih od fosila

that have been found from Lake Turkana.

koji su pronađeni kod jezera Turkana.

But I was very lucky to have been brought up in Kenya,

Ali, ja sam imala sreću što sam odgajana u Keniji,

essentially accompanying my parents to Lake Turkana

prvenstveno prateći svoje roditelje do jezera Turkana,

in search of human remains.

tragajući za ljudskim ostacima.

And we were able to dig up, when we got old enough,

I uspjeli smo otkopati, kad smo bili dovoljno odrasli,

fossils such as this, a slender-snouted crocodile.

fosile kao što je ovaj mršavi oklopljeni krokodil,

And we dug up giant tortoises, and elephants and things like that.

a otkopali smo i divovske kornjače, slonove i takve stvari.

But when I was 12, as I was in this picture,

Ali, kad sam imala 12 godina, kao na ovoj fotografiji,

a very exciting expedition was in place on the west side,

provodila se vrlo uzbudljiva ekspedicija na zapadnoj obali,

when they found essentially the skeleton of this Homo erectus.

u vrijeme kad je prvenstveno pronađen kostur ovog Homo erectusa.

I could relate to this Homo erectus skeleton very well,

Mogla sam se lako povezati s kosturom ovog Homo erectusa,

because I was the same age that he was when he died.

jer sam bila jednako toliko stara koliko i on kad je umro.

And I imagined him to be tall, dark-skinned.

I tada sam ga zamišljala kao visokog, tamne puti.

His brothers certainly were able to run long distances

Njegova su braća zasigurno mogla daleko trčati

chasing prey, probably sweating heavily as they did so.

hvatajući plijen i pritom se vjerojatno puno znojiti.

He was very able to use stones effectively as tools.

Bio je vrlo sposoban učinkovito koristiti kamenja kao oruđe.

And this individual himself, this one that I'm holding up here,

A ovaj individualac ovdje, ovaj kojeg držim ovdje gore,

actually had a bad back. He'd probably had an injury as a child.

zapravo je imao bolesna leđa -- vjerojatno je bio ozlijeđen kao dijete.

He had a scoliosis and therefore must have been looked after

Imao je skoliozu i stoga se sigurno o njemu trebala brinuti

quite carefully by other female, and probably much smaller,

vrlo pažljivo neka žena, kao i vjerojatno mnogo mlađi

members of his family group, to have got to where he did in life, age 12.

članovi njegove obiteljske skupine, kako bi dospio tamo gdje je u životu dospio, s 12 godina.

Unfortunately for him, he fell into a swamp

Nažalost po njega, upao je u močvaru

and couldn't get out.

i nije se mogao iz nje izvući.

Essentially, his bones were rapidly buried

U biti, njegove su kosti brzo zakopane

and beautifully preserved.

i izvrsno sačuvane.

And he remained there until 1.6 million years later,

I ostao je na tom mjestu do 1,6 milijuna godina kasnije

when this very famous fossil hunter, Kamoya Kimeu,

kad je ovaj vrlo čuveni lovac na fosile, Kamoya Kimeu,

walked along a small hillside

hodao uz mali brežuljak

and found that small piece of his skull lying on the surface

i našao taj mali komad njegove lubanje na površini,

amongst the pebbles, recognized it as being hominid.

među oblucima, te ga prepoznao kao hominida.

It's actually this little piece up here on the top.

Zapravo, to je ovaj mali komadić ovdje gore na vrhu.

Well, an excavation was begun immediately,

I tako, iskopavanje je započelo odmah,

and more and more little bits of skull

i sve se više i više malih komadića lubanje

started to be extracted from the sediment.

počelo izdvajati iz sedimenta.

And what was so fun about it was this:

I ono što je bilo zabavno u ovome --

the skull pieces got closer and closer to the roots of the tree,

komadići lubanje su se sve više i više približavali korijenu stabla,

and fairly recently the tree had grown up,

a stablo je relativno nedavno izraslo,

but it had found that the skull had captured nice water in the hillside,

ali je uvidjelo da mu je lubanja zagradila zgodan potočić na brežuljku,

and so it had decided to grow its roots in and around this,

tako da je odlučilo razviti svoje korijenje unutar i oko nje,

holding it in place and preventing it from washing away down the slope.

držeći je tako u mjestu i sprječavajući njeno ispiranje niz padinu.

We began to find limb bones; we found finger bones,

Počeli smo nalaziti kosti udova, našli smo kosti prstiju,

the bones of the pelvis, vertebrae, ribs, the collar bones,

kosti zdjelice, kralježnice, rebara, vratne kosti,

things that had never, ever been seen before in Homo erectus.

stvari koje nikad ranije do tada nisu viđene kod Homo erectusa.

It was truly exciting.

To je bilo istinski uzbudljivo.

He had a body very similar to our own,

Imao je tijelo vrlo slično našem

and he was on the threshold of becoming human.

i bio je na pragu postanka čovjekom.

Well, shortly afterwards, members of his species

I tako, kratko poslije toga, članovi njegove vrste

started to move northwards out of Africa,

počeli su se kretati prema sjeveru i van Afrike;

and you start to see fossils of Homo erectus

tako su se počeli viđati fosili Homo erectusa

in Georgia, China and also in parts of Indonesia.

u Gruziji, Kini, a također i u djelovima Indonezije.

So, Homo erectus was the first human ancestor to leave Africa

Dakle, Homo erectus je bio prvi predak čovjeka koji je napustio Afriku

and begin its spread across the globe.

i počeo se širiti diljem svijeta.

Some exciting finds, again, as I mentioned,

Ovo su neki zanimljivi pronalasci, ponavljam, kao što sam rekla,

from Dmanisi, in the Republic of Georgia.

iz Dmanisija u Republici Gruziji.

But also, surprising finds

Ali, ovo su također iznenađujući pronalasci,

recently announced from the Island of Flores in Indonesia,

nedavno objavljeni s otoka Floresa u Indoneziji,

where a group of these human ancestors have been isolated,

gdje je skupina ovih ljudskih predaka bila izolirana,

and have become dwarfed, and they're only about a meter in height.

i postala patuljasta; samo su oko jednog metra visoki.

But they lived only 18,000 years ago,

Živjeli su prije samo 18.000 godina,

and that is truly extraordinary to think about.

a to je nešto istinski izvanredno o čemu možemo razmišljati.

Just to put this in terms of generations,

Ukoliko to pretvorimo u mjerilo generacija,

because people do find it hard to think of time,

jer ljudima je teško predočiti pojam vremena,

Homo erectus left Africa 90,000 generations ago.

Homo erectus je napustio Afriku prije 90.000 generacija.

We evolved essentially from an African stock.

Mi smo prvenstveno evoluirali iz afričke loze.

Again, at about 200,000 years as a fully-fledged us.

I još jednom da kažem, formirali smo se prije 200.000 godina,

And we only left Africa about 70,000 years ago.

a Afriku smo napustili prije 70.000 godina.

And until 30,000 years ago, at least three upright-walking apes

A sve do prije 30.000 godina najmanje tri uspravno-hodajuća čovjekolika majmuna

shared the planet Earth.

zajednički su dijelili planet Zemlju.

The question now is, well, who are we?

I sad, došli smo do pitanja: "Tko smo mi?"

We're certainly a polluting, wasteful, aggressive species,

Mi smo zasigurno zagađivačka, rastrošna, agresivna vrsta,

with a few nice things thrown in, perhaps.

s nekoliko dobrih stvari koje bismo možda mogli tu nadodati.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

For the most part, we're not particularly pleasant at all.

Uglavnom, nismo uopće posebno ugodni.

We have a much larger brain than our ape ancestors.

Imamo mnogo veći mozak od naših predaka - čovjekolikih majmuna.

Is this a good evolutionary adaptation, or is it going to lead us

Je li ovo dobra evolucijska adaptacija, ili će nas odvesti do toga

to being the shortest-lived hominid species on planet Earth?

da ćemo postati najkraće-živućom vrstom hominida na planeti Zemlji?

And what is it that really makes us us?

A što je ono što nas čini - nas?

I think it's our collective intelligence.

Mislim da je to naša kolektivna inteligencija.

It's our ability to write things down,

Naša sposobnost da zapišemo stvari na papir,

our language and our consciousness.

naš jezik i naša savjest.

From very primitive beginnings, with a very crude tool kit of stones,

Od vrlo primitivnih početaka, s vrlo grubim alatima od kamena,

we now have a very advanced tool kit, and our tool use

sada posjedujemo vrlo napredne alate, a korištenje tih alata

has really reached unprecedented levels:

je zbilja doseglo rekordnu razinu.

we've got buggies to Mars; we've mapped the human genome;

Imamo bagije na Marsu, mapirali smo ljudski genom,

and recently even created synthetic life, thanks to Craig Venter.

a nedavno smo čak stvorili sintetički život, zahvaljujući Craigu Venteru.

And we've also managed to communicate with people

A uspjeli smo, također, komunicirati s ljudima

all over the world, from extraordinary places.

diljem svijeta, s najneobičnijih mjesta.

Even from within an excavation in northern Kenya,

Čak i s lokacija iskopavanja u sjevernoj Keniji,

we can talk to people about what we're doing.

možemo razgovarati s ljudima o onome što radimo.

As Al Gore so clearly has reminded us,

Kao što nas je Al Gore tako jasno podsjetio,

we have reached extraordinary numbers

dosegli smo ogroman broj

of people on this planet.

ljudi na ovoj planeti.

Human ancestors really only survive on planet Earth,

Ljudski preci, u biti, preživljavaju na planeti Zemlji,

if you look at the fossil record,

ako gledate na fosilne podatke,

for about, on average, a million years at a time.

u prosjeku oko milijun godina svaki.

We've only been around for the past 200,000 years as a species,

Kao vrsta postojimo tek posljednjih 200.000 godina,

yet we've reached a population of more than six and a half billion people.

a unatoč tome dosegli smo brojku višu od šest i pol milijardi ljudi.

And last year, our population grew by 80 million.

Samo protekle godine broj stanovnika narastao je za 80 milijuna.

I mean, these are extraordinary numbers.

Želim reći, ovo su zaista ogromni brojevi.

You can see here, again, taken from Al Gore's book.

Ovdje možete još jednom vidjeti, preuzeto iz knjige Ala Gorea --

But what's happened is our technology

ono što se dogodilo jest da je naša tehnologija

has removed the checks and balances on our population growth.

uklonila zapreke i uravnoteženost našeg populacijskog rasta.

We have to control our numbers, and I think this is as important

Moramo kontrolirati naše brojke, i mislim da je ovo jednako važno

as anything else that's being done in the world today.

kao i bilo što drugo što se radi danas u svijetu.

But we have to control our numbers,

Ali, moramo kontrolirati naše brojke,

because we can't really hold it together as a species.

jer ne možemo izdržati zajedno kao vrsta.

My father so appropriately put it,

Moj je otac to tako prikladno izrazio,

that "We are certainly the only animal that makes conscious choices

da smo mi zasigurno jedine životinje koje svjesno donose odluke

that are bad for our survival as a species."

koje su loše za preživljavanje nas kao vrste.

Can we hold it together?

Možemo li zajedno izdržati?

It's important to remember that we all evolved in Africa.

Važno je zapamtiti da smo evoluirali u Africi.

We all have an African origin.

Imamo afričke korijene.

We have a common past and we share a common future.

Imamo zajedničku prošlost i dijelimo zajedničku budućnost.

Evolutionarily speaking, we're just a blip.

Evolucijski govoreći, mi smo samo jedna mrljica.

We're sitting on the edge of a precipice,

Sjedimo na rubu ponora,

and we have the tools and the technology at our hands

i pri ruci imamo alate i tehnologiju

to communicate what needs to be done

s kojom možemo iskomunicirati što treba učiniti

to hold it together today.

kako bi se danas zajedno održali.

We could tell every single human being out there, if we really wanted to.

Mogli bismo to reći svakom pojedinom ljudskom biću tamo vani, ukoliko bismo to zaista željeli.

But will we do that, or will we just let nature take its course?

Ali, hoćemo li to učiniti ili ćemo samo prepustiti prirodi svoj tijek?

Well, to end on a very positive note,

Ipak, da završim s pozitivnom porukom.

I think evolutionarily speaking,

Mislim da, evolucijski govoreći,

this is probably a fairly good thing, in the end.

to je vjerojatno u konačnici i dobra stvar.

I'll leave it at that, thank you very much.

Zaključit ću s tim, hvala vam na pozornosti.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)