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THE ORIGINAL

Properly called 'The Road to Homo Sapiens' but now referred to as 'The March of Progress'

THE ARTIST

Rudolph Zallinger (1919-1995)

Deane G. Keller: Portrait of Rudolph Zallinger

Where it first appeared

The original image, entitled 'The Road to Homo Sapiens' was produced by Rudolph Zallinger (1919-1995) for the Time-Life book 'Early Man' (1965) written by the anthropologist F. Clark Howell (1925-2007). The present version usually has half-a-dozen or so individuals while the orginal had a total of 15.

The image was not meant to imply that one form actually evolved into the next in a linear fashion or to suggest that there was a predetermined end form (modern Man) into which our ancestors were destined to evolve. That evolution can give rise to a tree-like branching of forms, some of which become deadends, is missing.

Articles about the image:

• Evolution of an icon

• March of Progress Parodies

• March of Progress Parodies Images

• Iconic - Almost by accident

• This is not a narrative, or how images tell a story

My Pinterest board: Human Progress

(An extension of this site and repository for some images not found here.)