Saturday October 20, 2001

Ten million years ago, the climate was changing on the continent of Africa. So the vegetation and wildlife was changing to adapt to the climate. Trees were growing and new species were evolving so that they could spend more time hunting than being in trees. The members of this new species were called Hominids.

Our understanding of the fossil record shows that distinctively human traits appeared neither recently nor all at once. Rather, they evolved over a period of roughly 5 million years. By 4 million years ago, humans were habitually bipedal (walking on two legs) yet had brains roughly a third of the size of a modern human's (about the size of a modern ape's brain). By 2.5 million years ago the manufacture of stone tools was common. Large increases in brain size occurred even later. Complex behaviours such as adaptation to a wide range of environments and cultural diversification emerged only within the last 100,000 years.

a. When and where did they live?

The Australopithecus lived from 5 to 2 million years ago, in the Pliocene Epoch. They lived in East and South Africa.

b. Who discovered them?

One type of Australopithecus, the Australopithecus Africanus, was discovered and studied by Raymond Dart in 1925. These species lived in South Africa 3.3 to 2.5 million years ago.

c. Shelters, food and tools

The Australopithecus lived in natural shelters like caves. They ate animals, birds? eggs, insects, and plants like berries, leaves, fruits and roots.

The Australopithecus used branches and stones to kill their prey. They didn?t have any clothes yet.

d. Characteristics

These ape-like humans had larger brains then the apes. Their height was 120 cm to 170 cm for the men. They walked upright like a human. The spinal column, like a man?s, perpendicularly met the skull, which means that the head was balanced on top of the backbone. Their pelvis, like a human?s, was short and broad which made the Australopithecus. The foot of an Australopithecus was more like a human?s: the toe aligned with the others.

Their brain where from 28 to 3 cubic inches in volume that was less then half the size of a modern human brain.

Although they?re jaw was shaped like a modern human, it was far more powerful and held larger teeth.

e. Their culture

The Australopithecus but they had a nomadic lifestyle and they were gatherers. They didn?t develop any cultural habits.

a. When and where did they live?

They lived between 1 and 2 million years ago. They lived during the Pleistocene epoch when the Mammoths, wooly rhinos and other giant mammals lived but died at the end of the period.

b. Who discovered them?

Mary and Louis Leaky, both archeologists, discovered them.

c. Shelters, food and tools

They made simple huts made from branches and held in place by stones. Their huts protected them from the wind and wild animals. Meat was eaten raw since fire was not yet discovered. They got their food by hunting small animals, foraging plants, and by taking birds? eggs.

The Homo Habilis were the first to make tools, thus beginning in the Old Stone Age or the Paleolithic Age. They made tools from different rocks types. Flint was discovered to be the most suitable rock for making tools because it is easily chipped from the edges. It is easy to control the shape of the Flint because flakes came off when it was struck. They did not use weapons to hunt but they crept and pounced on their prey. When the prey was down, they would kill it with stones or branches. They didn?t have any clothes back then.

d. Characteristics

The Homo habilis was only 1.4 m tall. Their legs and feet where fully adapted for walking upright. They had more rounded skull then the Australopithecus. Their brain was 40 to 49 cubic inches but it was still half the size of a human?s. The Homo Habilis were able to use their culture and adapt to their environment.

They were also able to remember important information, plan ahead, and work out abstract problems in order to make tools and organize huts.

It is believed that they weren?t capable of speech. Therefore, they might?ve used simple sounds to communicate.

e. Their culture

The Homo Habilis didn?t develop culture then but they were gatherers and hunters and had a nomadic lifestyle.

a. When and where did they live?

The Homo Erectus lived from 1.5 million 250, 000 years ago to. They lived during the Ice Age. Like the previous hominids, they lived during the Pleistocene epoch.

b. Who discovered them?

They were discovered in 1990, in Indonesia, by Eugene Dubois, a Dutch anatomist and medical doctor.

c. Shelters, food and tools

They lived in groups of 20 to 30 individuals. The Homo Erectus hut was divided in 5 parts: eating area, food preparation area, sleeping area, Hearth, and tool area.

One of their campsites was found in Nice, a French city along the south cost. This site was named Terra Amata. Terra Amata was rich of resources and also a good place to hunt and gather food. The camp was located near the shore of the Mediterranean Sea near a fresh-water spring and river. Since the Homo Erectus didn?t have a method to transport water, they had to stay near a river.

Their huts were large enough (9m by 5m) to sleep 20 people. The hut was made out of branches with 2 poles holding the roof. The water from the river helped them to hunt since animals came to drink. They hunted large animals such as Elephants and Rhinos.

d. What tools did they use?

They were able to make and use fire. At first, they couldn?t make fire but got it in natural ways, like thunder. Fire helped them survive through the Ice Age. After a while, they learned how to make fire by striking stones together or by rubbing sticks dried together. They used the fire for warmth and light. It also helped them to keep the wild animals away and to harden the top of their wooden spears.

e. Characteristics

The Homo Erectus, some of them, may have been as tall and heavy as modern humans. The Homo Erectus were the first humans that stood upright without scooping. That?s how it got its name. Homo Erectus were capable of simple sounds to communicate.

The size of their teeth was smaller then those of Homo Habilis but larger than those of a modern human. They had clothes made out of animal hide. They only tided the animal hide. around there waste.

f. Their culture

The Homo Erectus specie was the first to have traditions. They had parties with other clans. A party place was found at Terra Amata, in the city of Nice, France. They were also hunters, gatherers and they had a nomadic lifestyle.

a. When and where did they live?

The Neanderthals lived from 100, 000 to 40, 000 years ago. They were the first to live through the Ice Age. They too, lived during the Pleistone epoch.

b. Who discovered them?

This species was discovered in 1864 in a cave near Dusseldorf, Germany. They were discovered in many place in Europe and Asia.

c. Shelters, food and tools

The homo sapiens lived in Africa, Asia and Europe. They made animal skin huts to live in or they used caves for shelter. They did not divide their house in different sections (i.e. they didn?t have a sleeping section, an eating section, etc.). They ate large animals and plants.

They used fire for cooking, hunting, defending themselves and making better tool.

d. Characteristics

The Neanderthals were better suited to live in warm periods. They were brutish and unintelligent. They were short and stocky. They also had large muscles. They had lower and flatter heads at the top then modern humans. The Neanderthal got their name because they were first discovered in Germany in the valley called Neander. Even though the capacity of their brain was as large as a modern human brain, they couldn?t make all the sounds we can make today. The Neanderthals didn?t have long life spans. They never passed the age of 40. It has not been proved if they died because of misnutrition or from decease.

They were the first people to have clothes. They were made out of animal hide.

e. Their culture

They were the first to ?berry? the dead. They also care for the old and the sick. They had a form of religion and celebrated some ceremonies. They had a nomadic lifestyle.

They had a social life. They weren?t able to plan ahead and making full use of the resources around them.

They were hunters, gatherers and had a nomadic lifestyle.

a. When and where did they live?

They lived from 40 to 10 thousand years ago all around the world except for Antarctica. They lived at the end of the Ice Age.

b. Shelters, food and tools

They lived in Europe, Africa, Asia, North America and South America. They lived in tents and other man-made shelters. They lived in groups of several families.

They ate large mammals (like wooly rhinoceros, mammoths and sabertooth). The hunting was usually done by men. Gathering other types of food was a job done by the women and children. Some of the plants that the Cro-Magnons ate in that time are still popular today. The women and children might have forgaged for: wild carrots, beets, onions, turnips, cabbage, celery, fruits, and berries.

c. What tools did they use?

They used spears, harpoons, animal traps and bow and arrow. They invented hafts and handles for their knives. And also invented more sophisticated tools for their spears. They also invented the atlatl, which was put on spears to add distance to it. They also used sinew to secure shelters, to braid into rope They had fire and they used it for cooking, light, heat, defending them selves and hunting.

They were the first to sew animal skins to make clothe. They had shirts and dresses and they had jewelry made out of stones, shells, fish bones, or bits of egg shells.

d. Characteristics

They were capable of clear speech because they were the first ones whom had a correct position for the larynx. That permitted them do develop the communicating skill so they could better organized. They had the same body and skull. The brain case was rounder and more pointed chins. Their foreheads were flatter. They took advantage to lower sea levels and land connections to migrate.

e. Culture

They painted animals on cave walls and they sculpted animals and pregnant women. They also had manhood retuals. They had not yet learned to domesticate animals so they were hunters and gatherers.

They were very resourceful and left nothing to waste. The animal hides were used to make clothes, robes, shelters and bedding.

a. When and where did they live?

They lived from 10, 000 years ago to the present. They lived all around the world.

c. Shelters, food and tools

They live in house, huts, or tents. They made houses out of bricks and mud. They built longer long-lasting houses. Shrines were built for religious purposes and Granaries were built to store food.

They domesticated plants and animals and they stored surplus food. They began settling down in one place. When they settled, they began to learn about the environment. They also studied the animals they hunted like wild sheep and goats. They might?ve protected these animals by chasing away the predators.

d. What tools did they use?

They were the first to discover metal and use it. They used fire to heat them selves, for light, and to heat pottery in ovens. They made pots, baskets and were the first people to paint people. Homo Sapiens sapiens were the first to make boats, bow and arrows, and larger dams.

e. Characteristics

They are capable of speech and they developed language. They also had written language. They looked the same as modern humans.

f. Their culture

They were the first people who settled in one place and started farming. They had organised religion and had a form of government. The form of government helped organise the communities and from laws.

They had a highly developed culture that included music, art, law, religion and architecture. They were the first ones to represent people in paintings.

The Internet
Booklets from school
The Children?s Atlas of Ancient Civilizations by Antony Mason