The key difference between early man and modern man is that the term early man refers to the prehistoric hominids who are the forefathers of the current figure of the human race while the modern man refers to a subspecies of Homo sapiens.
Early man and modern man are easily distinguishable from each other from their lifestyle preferences as the differences in lifestyle would provide a better platform to discuss rather than their anatomy and morphology. The question of defining an early man should be cleared out first as it either could be the first of man-like apes, known as Australopithecus afarensis, or the aboriginal people. Interestingly, recent fossil evidence reveals that the complexity of human evolution is very high and the present knowledge is far from the truth. Thus, instead of being lost in the history which is a few million years old and barely known, it would rather make more sense to discuss the recent early men, the aborigines. Indeed, the aboriginal men are in the same taxonomic group, Homo sapiens, as the modern man.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. Who is Early Man
3. Who is Modern Man
4. Similarities Between Early Man and Modern Man
5. Side by Side Comparison – Early Man vs Modern Man in Tabular Form
6. Summary
Who is Early Man?
Australian Aborigines, Red Indians, Sri Lankan Veddas, Japanese Ainu, Kung Bushmen of Africa, Mayans of Mexico, etc. were some of the dominant inhabitants of the Earth before the establishment of the modern man. They are culturally different among themselves, and the geographical boundaries such as oceans have been the main extraction. These early men lived with nature and, most importantly, they sustainably utilized the natural resources.
Indigenous people lived in tribes had family units while some were nomadic. These un-urbanised self and sustaining societies had very simple lifestyles with primary hunting methods and simply sheltered houses. They followed spiritual beliefs more often. Moreover, the development of technology was very low during the time they were thriving on the Earth, which was at least several thousand years ago from the present.
Figure 01: Early Man
Furthermore, the communication between distant places was primary as they frequently used loud sounds to signal others. Travelling and transportation took more time and effort to complete. At present, the indigenous people or true early man is declining in numbers. There are only about 5000 of them living in over 70 countries.
Who is Modern Man?
Modern man shares vast different cultures among continents as well as among countries. In addition, these cultural differences could extend even more within a country. With the globalization taking place, those cultural differences will become narrower. Physical barriers within modern men could not restrict them to isolate from others as the technologies improved the travel and transport over oceans and even through aerial routes.
Figure 02: Modern Man
Hence, the lifestyle of modern man is complex with increasing needs for several things such as food, shelter, power, money, attraction, etc. Hunting has become a least interested foraging method. Therefore, livestock management has become prominent for the need of proteins. One of the sounding characteristics of the modern man is the development of communication techniques. Through the internet, e-mailing, social networking, and telephones communication has developed. However, the modern man is still in the increasing mode in terms of population size; it was almost 6. 8 Billion by 2009.
What are the Similarities Between Early Man and Modern Man?
- Early man and modern man are two separate stages of human evolution.
- Hence, they share some physical and genetic similarities.
What is the Difference Between Early Man and Modern Man?
Early man and modern man are two stages of human evolution. Early man refers to the ancestors of the current figures of the human race while the modern man is a subspecies of Homo sapiens. Therefore, this is the key difference between early man and modern man. Early man used four limbs to move. Hence, they moved slowly. On the other hand, modern man uses two limbs. Hence, they move fast. So, this is another difference between early man and modern man. Also, the modern man is more advanced in communication than the early man.
Furthermore, the modern man uses complex languages to speak while the early man used voice and gestures to communicate. Thus, this is another difference between early man and modern man. Moreover, early man lived a simple lifestyle, and they were closer to nature and therefore, sustainably used natural resources. On the other hand, modern man has a complex lifestyle, and they use artificial things than natural things. Hence, this is another difference between early man and modern man.
The below infographic on the difference between early man and modern man provides more information on the differences between them.
Summary – Early Man vs Modern Man
Early man and modern man are two stages of human evolution. In summary, the difference between early man and modern man is that the early man emerged from ape-like ancestors while modern man emerged from Denisovan and Neanderthals. Moreover, early man lived a simple life while modern man has a complex lifestyle. However, modern man uses advanced communication methods than the early man. Early man used primitive communication methods. Furthermore, the early man moved slowly using four limbs while the modern man moves faster using only two limbs.