For most of the first half of the 19th century, the scientific community believed that, although geology had shown that the Earth and life were very old, human beings had appeared suddenly just a few thousand years before the present.
Durante a maior parte da primeira metade do século XIX, a comunidade científica cría que, aínda que a xeoloxía mostrara que a vida na Terra era moi antiga, os seres humanos apareceran repentinamente xusto hai uns poucos miles de anos.