The structural features of the modern human skull differ significantly from the skulls of anthropomorphic monkeys and fossil hominids. In modern man, the size of the cerebral section of the skull prevails over the facial section.
One of the most important anthropometric indicators of the skull is the volume of its cerebral section. So, the average volume of the cerebral skull of gorillas is 500 cm3, in zinjanthropus - 530 cm3, in australopithecus -435-520 cm3, in a skilled person -657-680 cm3, in pithecanthropus - 900 cm3, in synanthropus - 915-1 225 cm3, in Neanderthals - 1325 cm3, Cro-Magnons - 1,400-1,500 cm3, modern humans - 1,400-1,600 cm3.
In humans, the upper part of the occipital scales grows significantly, and the large occipital foramen of the occipital bone moves forward and downward, which is one of the most important differences between the human skull and the monkey skulls.
The mastoid process in modern humans is well pronounced, but almost imperceptible in apes and very poorly developed in the fossil of human ancestors. The development of the mastoid process depends on the function of the sternocleidomastoid-like muscle to which it attaches.
Unlike the elderly faces of ancient hominids and great apes, the forehead of modern humans is convex, and the slope of the frontal scales of the frontal bone is small. The angle between the bregma, the glabella (which is the apex of this angle) and the INION of modern man is 56-61 °, in Pithecanthropus - 37-38 °, in Neanderthals - 44-53 °. The level of curvature of the base of the skull determines the angle connecting 3 points - the basion, a point at the posterior edge of the front of the perekresnoi sulcus and nasion. In modern humans, it is 131-135 °, in gorillas - 178 °, in chimpanzees - 159 °.
The relative mass of the lower jaw relative to the mass of the skull (without the lower jaw) in gorillas is 40-46%, in modern humans - 15%. In apes, the angle between the body of the lower jaw and its branch is approximately 90 °, on the fossil Heidelberg jaw it is 95 °, in Neanderthals it increases to 100 °, in modern humans - 110-130 °. The jaws of anthropomorphic monkeys, Pithecanthropus and Sinanthropus, unlike humans, protrude sharply forward.
The human skull is characterized by a chin protrusion, which is not found in Pithecanthropus, Sinanthropus and ancient hominids, however, the Neanderthals, whose skeletons were found in Palestine, have a chin protrusion, an even row of teeth, and there are no diastemas. Monkeys have large diastemas between the canines and incisors of the upper jaw, canines and small molars of the lower jaw. They are also found in Pithecanthropus, but absent in Sinanthropus.
A bony nose protrudes on the human skull, which is absent in anthropomorphic monkeys. In humans, unlike fossil hominids, the nasal skull is narrow. The honeycomb arch of the human upper icelepe differs from the honeycomb arch of fossil hominids in the greater roundness of the anterior section.
The shape and structure of the teeth of ancient people is similar to the teeth of anthropomorphic monkeys, however, these features are less pronounced in synanthropes. Skulls of Neanderthals are similar to those of ancient people. They have very powerful supraorbital ridges, a sloping forehead, a flattened vault, the angle of curvature of the base of the skull is much larger than that of modern humans, but Neanderthals, like modern humans, already have a protruding nose and a small zygomatic bone, their face protrudes slightly forward.
Great apes or hominoids is a superfamily to which the most highly developed representatives of the order of primates belong. It also includes a person and all his ancestors, but they are included in a separate family of hominids and will not be considered in detail in this article.
What makes ape different from humans? First of all, some features of the body structure:
The human spine has back and forth bends.
The face of the skull of the great ape is larger than the brain.
The relative and even absolute volume of the brain is much less than that of a person.
The area of the cerebral cortex is also smaller, in addition, the frontal and temporal lobes are less developed.
Great apes have no chin.
The rib cage is rounded, convex, while in humans it is flat.
The monkey's fangs are enlarged and protrude forward.
The pelvis is narrower than that of a human.
Since a person is erect, his sacrum is more powerful, since the center of gravity is transferred to him.
The monkey has a longer body and arms.
Legs, on the contrary, are shorter and weaker.
Monkeys have a flat grasping foot with a big toe opposed to the rest. In humans, it is curved, and the thumb is parallel to the others.
A person has practically no wool.
In addition, there are a number of differences in thinking and acting. A person can think abstractly and communicate through speech. He possesses consciousness, is capable of generalizing information and drawing up complex logical chains.
Signs of great apes:
a large, powerful body (much larger than that of other monkeys);
lack of a tail;
no cheek pouches
absence of sciatic calluses.
Also, hominoids are distinguished by their way of walking through trees. They do not run on them on four legs, like other representatives of the primate order, but grab branches with their hands.
The skeleton of great apes also has a specific structure. The skull is located in front of the spine. Moreover, it has an elongated front part.
The jaws are strong, powerful, massive, adapted for gnawing solid plant food. The arms are noticeably longer than the legs. The foot is grasping, with the thumb set aside (as on a human hand).
Great apes include, orangutans, gorillas and chimpanzees. The first ones are allocated into a separate family, and the remaining three are combined into one - pongids. Let's consider each of them in more detail.
The gibbon family consists of four genera. They all live in Asia: India, China, Indonesia, on the islands of Java and Kalimantan. Their color is usually gray, brown or black.
Their sizes are relatively small for great apes: the body length of the largest representatives reaches ninety centimeters, and their weight is thirteen kilograms.
The lifestyle is daytime. They live mainly in trees. On the ground they move uncertainly, mostly on their hind legs, only occasionally leaning on the front ones. However, they go down quite rarely. The basis of nutrition is plant food - fruits and leaves of fruit trees. They can also eat insects and bird eggs.
In the photo the great ape gibbon
Gorilla - very great ape... This is the largest member of the family. The growth of the male can reach two meters, and the weight is two hundred and fifty kilograms.
They are massive, muscular, incredibly strong and hardy monkeys. The coat is usually black; older males may have a silvery-gray back.
They live in African forests and mountains. They prefer to be on the ground, on which they walk, mainly on four legs, only occasionally rising to their feet. The diet is vegetable, including leaves, herbs, fruits and nuts.
Quite peaceful, they show aggression towards other animals only in self-defense. Intraspecific conflicts occur, for the most part, between adult males over females. However, they are usually solved by demonstrating threatening behavior, rarely even reaching fights, and even more so to murders.
In the photo, a gorilla monkey
Orangutans are the rarest modern great apes... Currently, they live mainly in Sumatra, although they used to be distributed almost throughout Asia.
These are the largest of the monkeys, living predominantly in trees. Their height can reach one and a half meters, and their weight can be one hundred kilograms. The coat is long, wavy, it can be of various shades of red.
They live almost entirely in trees, not even going down to get drunk. For this purpose, they usually use rainwater, which collects in the leaves.
For spending the night, they equip themselves with nests in the branches, and every day they build a new dwelling. They live alone, forming pairs only during the breeding season.
Both modern species, Sumatran and Klimantan, are on the verge of extinction.
Pictured orangutan monkey
Chimpanzees are the smartest primates, great apes... They are also the closest relatives of humans in the animal kingdom. There are two types of them: common and dwarf, also called. Even the usual size is not too large. The color of the coat is usually black.
Unlike other hominoids, with the exception of humans, chimpanzees are omnivores. In addition to plant food, they also consume animals, obtaining it by hunting. Aggressive enough. Conflicts often arise between individuals, leading to fights and death.
They live in groups, the number of which is, on average, ten to fifteen individuals. This is a real complex society with a clear structure and hierarchy. Common habitats are forests near water. The area is the western and central part of the African continent.
Pictured is a chimpanzee monkey
Ancestors of great apes very interesting and varied. In general, there are much more fossil species in this superfamily than living ones. The first of them appeared in Africa almost ten million years ago. Their further history is very closely connected with this continent.
It is believed that the line leading to humans split from the rest of the hominoids about five million years ago. One of the likely contenders for the role of the first ancestor of the genus Homo is considered Australopithecus - great ape living more than four million years ago.
These creatures contain both archaic signs and more progressive, already human ones. However, there are much more of the former, which does not allow the Australopithecus to be directly attributed to people. There is also an opinion that this is a secondary, dead-end branch of evolution, which did not lead to the emergence of more advanced forms of primates, including humans.
And here is the statement that another interesting ancestor of man, Sinanthropus - great ape, is already fundamentally wrong. However, the statement that he is the ancestor of man is not entirely correct, since this species already uniquely belongs to the genus of people.
They already had a developed speech, language and their own, albeit primitive, but culture. It is very likely that it was Sinanthropus who was the last ancestor of modern homo sapiens. However, it is not excluded that he, like Australopithecus, is the crown of a side branch of development.
There have always been. Ever since mankind took up shipping and went to sea, there were people who thought sea robbery was a good idea. The ancient Greek poet Homer mentions some "leistas" - robbers who hunted on the trade routes of the Mediterranean. Piracy became especially widespread in the era of the great geographical discoveries. Beginning in the late 15th century, when the Atlantic and Pacific oceans were covered by active trade routes, piracy became so widespread that entire pirate islands appeared.
Among the pirate captains there were many famous personalities whose names terrified merchants and sailors. Some of them inspired writers and artists with their biographies. The hero of the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson "Treasure Island" Captain John Flint is a character, at first glance, fictional. But his story is not so simple.
Captain "Walrus"
Toby Stevens as Flint
Flint himself does not appear in Stevenson's novel; by the time of the plot, he had already died. According to former members of his crew, the captain's reputation was appalling. "Blackbeard is a baby before Flint," asserted his former quartermaster John Silver.
John Flint did not cooperate with the authorities and did not buy letters of marque. His powerful fast ship "Walrus" terrified all merchants who tried to carry their cargo across the Atlantic. Flint kept the treasures obtained by robberies right on the ship. Stevenson described it this way in his novel: "... it was soaked through with blood, and there was so much gold on it that it almost sank."
At some point, Flint decided to bury his own on an unnamed island. There was so much gold that he needed the help of six sailors. Flint later killed all the assistants so that no one else knew exactly where the treasure was buried. The captain left the body of a pirate named Allardyce in a prominent place as a compass - the dead man's outstretched arms showed the way to the treasure.
For most of his life, the bookish Flint suffered from alcoholism and constantly drank rum. Although on the ship itself he maintained iron discipline. The captain died at an inn in Savannah, Georgia. Before he died, he asked his bodyguard: “Darby McGraw! Darby McGraw! Darby, give me some rum! .. "
The real Flint
One of the few images of Blackbeard
This is how Captain John Flint appears before us in Stevenson's novel. But he also had a real prototype, whose biography the writer used to create the character. It was the pirate Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard.
Edward Teach was born in Bristol in 1680. Little is known about his early years, but the information is contradictory. But judging by the fact that Teach was literate and generally educated enough, as for his time, he was not a poor man.
Little is known about his youth either. He allegedly served as a sailor on a privateer ship during the War of the Spanish Succession, where he earned his first reputation, still quite fine. In 1717, Teach joined the team of Benjamin Hornigold, a British privateer, who robbed the Spanish and French quite officially, by marque. However, soon Hornigold is outlawed and begins an independent pirate activity. Together with him, Edward Teach finally takes the criminal path.
Soon, thanks to charisma, courage and luck, Teach gets his own ship, Queen Anne's Revenge. But Hornighold at some point decides to surrender to the British authorities, since they just promised amnesty to all pirates who will repent of their crimes. Edward opposes such a step, gathers like-minded people and hangs a black flag on his ship. Thus ends the story of the sailor Edward Teach, and the story of the terrible pirate Blackbeard begins.
During his pirate life, Teach has done a lot of interesting and clever things. For example, he once blocked nine merchant ships in the port of Charles Town in South Carolina, robbing them to the skin, and leaving the most influential passengers as hostages. It is also known that Blackbeard was almost the first representative of organized crime who began to systematically bribe governors and officials so that the authorities did not interfere in his affairs.
Death of a pirate
Maynard and Teach duel
But no matter how long the string twists, the end will be all the same. By 1718, the British authorities were so tired of the "art" of Blackbeard that they put all their efforts into capturing him.
The military set up an ambush right in Teach's lair near Okrakok in North Carolina. The raid was commanded by Lieutenant Robert Maynard. The soldiers waited until most of the pirates came ashore and attacked Blackbeard's sloop. Teach had only 60 men left, that is, three times less than Maynard's soldiers. The captain himself, according to eyewitnesses, was drunk.
Blackbeard always believed that the best defense was an offense, so he decided to board one of Maynard's ships, which had the least number of people. But the lieutenant went for a trick, hiding most of the crew below deck. As soon as the pirates were on the ship, the British suddenly began to press them and throw them into the water.
Teach himself entered into a duel with Maynard. The lieutenant had no chance, he even once hit the pirate with a pistol, but this did not stop Blackbeard. Only after receiving 25 saber wounds, the legendary pirate captain collapsed dead. Maynard cut off his head and tied it to the bowsprit of his ship.
By the way, one of the few surviving pirates from Teach's team was the very Israel Hands who appears in Stevenson's Treasure Island. He escaped justice by making a deal with the investigation and handing over to the authorities all the corrupt officials who received money from Blackbeard.
Incarnation in the series
Formidable Flint in "Black Sails"
One of the brightest film images of Captain Flint came from the creators of the TV series "Black Sails". The biography of both the book captain and the real Edward Teach was heavily rewritten, making him a former English officer James McGraw, who, due to a series of various events, was forced to leave England and become pirates.
An interesting detail, the creators of the series decided to make Captain Flint bisexual. An original plot solution. However, we do not know anything about the real sexual predilections of Edward Teach.
Pirates are some of the most romantic literary characters. Historical realities are such that piracy has existed since the dawn of shipping. The lure of easy money guided the sailors and made them go for robbery. In ancient Greece, the term "leistas" was used to describe people who were involved in piracy.
In the era of the great geographical discoveries, the number of attacks on ships increased, as many new routes appeared. The mere mention of some of the bandits horrified travelers and merchants. The biography of such persons inspired artists, including the writer. The character of his work "Treasure Island" John Flint is a fictional character who had a real prototype.
History of creation
The excitement, adventure and romance of travel has enveloped piracy since the 16th century, with the rise of the British navy. The government resorted to the help of bandits, organizing control over the colonies and fighting rival countries: France, Holland and Spain. Pirate fleets were based on the islands of the Caribbean and gradually became a threat to states. Plots of political battles were known thanks to newspapers, gossip and tales, which means they became an attractive motive for boyish games.
Initially, Stevenson planned to name the novel "Sea Cook, or Treasure Island: A Story for Children." The writer created a color map of the island and unknowingly gave it a name. Inspiration brought new images to weave into the narrative. The novel was conceived as a game for teenagers in which everyone could realize The author read passages in the family and made corrections, focusing on the comments of the household.
The adventure theme fell in love with the children of that era. The heroes of the work are outstanding: John Silver, Captain Flint. The plot included interesting twists and turns, a description of travel, fights and intrigues. The author did not neglect the richness of the action, the pace of development of events and the change of locations. The unity of time, place and action gives a sense of reality.
Stevenson made the storyteller a boy who watched what was happening from the side and at the same time was a direct participant in the events. He led the story in the first person, conveying sincere emotions and vocal thoughts. The boy minimizes the use of adjectives in speech, talking about events, communication of characters and allowing him to fantasize about the landscapes and the environment surrounding the characters.
The prototype for the image of Captain Flint was a real historical person who first appeared in literature on the pages of M. Whitehead's Life of English Thieves and Pirates. Pierre Mac-Orlan mentions the pirate in the preface to his book A General History of Robberies and Murders Perpetrated by the Most Famous Pirates.
Researchers believe that Captain Flint was inspired by Edward Teach, nicknamed Blackbeard. His biography is fascinating. The pirate was born in Bristol in 1680. His youth is shrouded in mystery, but rumor has it that Teach was literate and educated, a testament to his noble birth.
According to legend, Teach served as a sailor on a ship during the war with Spain. In 1717, he joined the privateers who fought pirates, and then changed sides and embarked on a criminal path. Over time, he took possession of a ship called Queen Anne's Revenge, and a black flag appeared on the ship's mast. From that moment on, the sailors became aware of the name Blackbeard.
The pirate was dexterous and cunning. He robbed rich ships, outwitted travelers, bribed government officials. In 1718, the British fleet was sent to capture the pirate. In the duel, Teach lost and was killed. Curiously, Israel Hands is described in Stevenson's novel. This is a real character who was a pirate in the Blackbeard gang.
Image and plot
Captain Flint, the hero of the novel "Treasure Island", embarked on the path of robbery in his youth. The son of a convict who was serving a sentence in a Barbados penal servitude, he hardly saw his father. After the change of power, Flint's father received a piece of land on the island, got married and started a family. The captain was the third son and had attractive prospects.
He could become a planter or ship owner, but the war with Spain prevented him. Once the village was robbed and burned down by a Spanish privateer, who killed the entire Flint family. The teenager managed to wait out the siege, after which he became a buccaneer and fought against the Spaniards.
Like Silver, Flint used the terms of the amnesty to get the ship. His plans included the capture of a caravan ferrying silver, or the robbery of mainland settlements. He named the convict ship at his own disposal "Walrus". Despite his formidable reputation, Flint was peaceful: this manifested itself in sympathy for animals. On his ship, pets were not uncommon.
In the story, Captain Flint buried a treasure on an island located in the West Indies. Six pirates helped him and were killed to keep the secret from spreading. As a reminder of the place where the treasures were hidden, a corpse remained on the island, whose hands pointed to a hill called the Lonely Mountain. To measure the mountain on the map, Flint marked it with a dot. Later, the plan was received by the navigator of the ship Billy Bones, and after his death - Jim Hawkins.
Flint was not afraid of enemies, rivals, and treasure hunters. Only the name of Quartermaster John Silver haunted him. The latter's parrot was named Captain Flint.
The captain is not the main character of the novel; he is mentioned briefly in the narrative. In the film adaptation, the author's description is supplemented with a visual appearance.
Screen adaptations
The book "Treasure Island" has been filmed more than once and presented to the audience as an animated project. In 1934, American directors presented a film to the public, starring Wallace Beery and Otto Krueger.
In 1937, the novel was filmed in the Soviet Union. Osip Abdulov played Silver, and
Some were afraid of Pew, others of Billy Bons, and me ... hehe ... Flint himself was afraid of me!
Who was so scary?
The only person Flint feared was his quartermaster John Silver, who later even mocked his parrot "Captain Flint."
John Silver was the Quartermaster. And Flint himself was afraid of him. No wonder - Lanky John is an exceptional person. But what is the position of "Quartermaster"? The footnote to the Russian translation reads: "food manager". Which is not at all true.
In the original, Silver was not any quartermaster - he was a quartermaster, that is, a master of a quarter.
On ships, and not only pirate ships, but on English ships of the Renaissance in general, the master is the head of the deck. A deck or dock is a horizontal surface that is at least two-thirds of the length of the ship. Each deck has its own master. If there are cannons on the deck, the master is an arteler, if this is the lowest deck, then the hold-carrier, I do not know exactly how it was called by sound. By the way, it was the holdman who was engaged in food, he is closer.
The only deck for the order on which the master was not responsible, this is the upper deck, where the boatswain was in charge. This did not in any way prejudice the rights of the captain, who commanded the ship as a whole. The boatswain ensured only the proper performance by the part of the crew occupied on the bridge of their duties.
But there was another deck, often virtual, sometimes built temporarily - a quarterdeck, so named for not exceeding a quarter of the ship's length. The quarterdeck included the quarterdeck (a platform or deck in the aft part of a sailing ship, one level above the waist, where the captain was, in whose absence - watch and guard officers, as well as compasses were installed there) and a canopy temporarily erected over the bridge, usually assembled before the attack and more often on warships or pirate (a special case of warships) ships.
There, on the quarterdeck and quarterdeck, was the boarding team, the marines of the era, a team of desperate thugs with a high probability of death in the attack. The short boarding battles were won by the team that acted as a single organism, that is, it was assembled, prepared and organized by a skillful and strong leader - a quarterdeck master, or quartermaster. Thus, John Silver was not the head of Flint's revelry, but the chieftain of the Marine Corps.
Spoofing is his type of hobby, let's recall a similar character, professional amateur chef John Casey Ryback performed by Steven Seagal (The Capture films, etc.). Here everything immediately falls into place, Flint would have been a fool if he had not been afraid of such a person. I think so, any captain, unless he combined the duties of a quartermaster with his main (Blackbeard), was afraid of his chieftain. It was necessary to oppose something. Flint also contrasted. On pirate ships, only one person knew the science of navigation, the captain. At sea, the death of the captain meant the death of the team, only this kept Silver from attacking Flint. An interesting fact is that when the team was captured by pirates, they could leave life to anyone, but a person with knowledge of navigational affairs and navigation had no chance to survive. They killed so that there would be no temptation of rebellion and the removal of the captain.
