# Human Origins May Trace to Self-Domestication by Richard Wrangham > “The origin of Homo sapiens, in other words, can be traced to self-domestication — and therefore to the sophistication of language that made capital punishment possible for the first time in any mammal more than 300,000 years ago.” > **— Richard Wrangham**, *Harvard Gazette interview, January 28, 2019* ## Sources and Context - **Original or near-original source and full passage:** [Harvard Gazette interview, January 28, 2019](https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/01/author-examines-the-strange-relationship-between-good-and-evil/) — Wrangham presents this execution account as a theory of human self-domestication, not as a settled sole cause of our origins. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] - **Article:** [[articles/Walking the Beautiful Path Through the Greatest Transformation in Human History|Walking the Beautiful Path Through the Greatest Transformation in Human History]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Human Animality|Human Animality]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Human Self-Domestication|Human Self-Domestication]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “The origin of Homo sapiens, in other words, can be traced to self-domestication — and therefore to the sophistication of language that made capital punishment possible for the first time in any mammal more than 300,000 years ago.” — Richard Wrangham, Harvard Gazette interview, January 28, 2019 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-richard-wrangham-human-origins-may-trace-to-self-domestication ```