Paper 63: The First Human Family

Andon and Fonta, the first human beings, were in some respects the most remarkable pair of humans who ever lived on Urantia. They were in every way superior to their immediate descendants and radically different from all of their ancestors. Andon and Fonta's decision to flee from the primate tribes implied a high quality of mind. They knew they were more than mere animals; they possessed personality and the presence of indwelling Thought Adjusters.

Before they fled, Andon and Fonta prepared a treetop retreat half a day's journey away. They retained the primate fear of being on the ground after dark, but knowing that they were less likely to be pursued during the night, they set out on their own before nightfall.

On the northward journey, Andon and Fonta gathered a supply of flint stones for future uses. By accident Andon discovered their sparking quality. After many failed attempts they learned to create fire by using bird's nests as kindling. Andon and Fonta realized that their discovery would make it possible for them to defy climate and live away from the warm regions. Two years after they left home, Fonta gave birth to their first child, Sontad.

Andon and Fonta had nineteen children and lived to know almost fifty grandchildren and several great grandchildren. Their extended family lived in four rock shelters connected by hallways excavated with flint tools. They avoided separation, seeming to realize that they were an isolated and unique group. The family hunted in groups and never strayed far from home. Andon and Fonta lived to be forty-two years old; their family group held together for twenty generations.

Early Andonites resembled the present‑day Eskimo. They were the first creatures to use animal skins to protect themselves from cold weather. They developed social groups and divisions of labor. They were less sensitive to pain than modern-day humans. They were very loyal to their families. Many of the most noble human traits were foreshadowed in these primitive people.

As time passed the Andonites grew in numbers. Tribal wars erupted. Serious losses were sustained among the best specimens of the more advanced groups; some of the most valuable human strains were forever lost to the world.

The Andonites spread northward until the third glacier advance stopped them. They established more than one thousand settlements along the rivers leading to the warm waters of the North Sea. Andonites were clever in disguising their homes and showed great skill in building stone sleeping chambers. They were fearless hunters, living almost exclusively on meat, wild berries, and fruits. They became skilled in fashioning flint tools. In some ways, the early Andonites showed a degree of intelligence that their retrogressing descendants did not attain again for half a million years.

Andonites developed a fear of the elements: thunder, lightning, rain, snow, hail and ice. Since they largely subsisted on animals, they evolved a form of animal worship. Andonite worship ceremonies eventually included the use of sacrifices.

After ten thousand years of Andonite retrogression, Onagar, a great mastermind and spiritual guide, assumed leadership of the tribes. Onagar established peace and led the tribesmen to worship the "Breath Giver." From his headquarters at a settlement near the present-day Caspian Sea, he sent out the world's first missionaries. The tribal government that Onagar instituted was extremely efficient. Although Andon, Fonta, and many of their immediate descendants had received Thought Adjusters, it was not until the time of Onagar that large numbers of Adjusters and guardian angels came to this planet.