Aspects of Evolution and History

The following list provides some information about what may count as trustworthy assumptions / facts about the development of human foreskin and the practice of Human Genital Modification HGM. I took this information from a variety of sources (see upcoming literature list).

Incomplete staff with phallic morphology from Cueto de la Mina cave (Asturias). Paleolithic Age. Author: José-Manuel Benito / Public Domain / https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bastón_fálico_paleolítico.png

·       The evolution of foreskin happened around 100 million years ago in proto-mammalian species

·       In primates, the foreskin has been present in the genitalia of both sexes of mammals for at least 65 million years and likely has been present for over 100 million years of evolution, based on its commonality as an anatomical feature in mammals (Link: (http://www.intactwiki.org/wiki/Evolution_of_the_Foreskin)

·       Emergence of the archaic Homo Sapiens about 300,000 years ago, and the modern Homo sapiens around 160,000 years ago, most likely with complete foreskin

·       Cave Art indicates that Circumcision was practiced in Europe before or within the last Ice Age (115,000 to 11,700 years ago)

·       Male Genital Representation in Paleolithic Art: Erection and Circumcision Before History. Conclusions of the authors: The erection in Paleolithic art (38,000 to 11,000 BCE in Europe) is explicitly represented in almost all the figures defined as unequivocally male that have survived to the present and in many objects of portable art. Circumcision and/or foreskin retraction of the penis are present in most of the works. Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0090429509000831

·       Cave paintings by the Ang-Gnarra People in Australia (15,000 to 50,000 BCE) indicate that circumcision was already part of their culture. http://www.circlist.com/history/history.html

·       Nomadic tribes of the north-eastern African and Arabian Peninsula practiced circumcision around 6000 BCE (mostly likely as puberty rite).

·       Before 10,000 BCE, Australia, Middle East, Africa, South & Central America: Pre-Historic Sacrificial Rites removing the foreskin began at various places and times as a rite of passage from boyhood to manhood.

Neolithic cave paintings found in Tassil-n-Ajjer (Plateau of the Chasms) region of the Sahara. https://www.loc.gov/item/94043019/ Source: Library of Congress Country Study of Algeria. Public Domain

 

·       After 10,000 BC: in ancient Egypt, captured warriors (and their descendants) were often marked by circumcision. Egyptian mummies were found to be circumcised (1300 BC) and Egyptian wall paintings/ reliefs indicate that it was customary several thousand years earlier. The act, however, may have been firstly limited to members of the priesthood but then spread to nobility and elite warriors.


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