The Rise of Humans

1
The Rise of Humans

• The Scientific Account
• of Human Origins
• from 4 Million B.C. to 8000 B.C.

2
Scientific search for human origins

• Two big questions Who are we?
• How did we originate?
• Many scientists believe that humans evolved from
  earlier hominid forms of life over several
  million years
• archaeologists excavate sites that provide
  physical evidence of early human life, including
  artifacts and fossils
• anthropologists study artifacts to determine
  culture the way people lived
• paleontologists study fossil remains to
  determine the physical characteristics of early
  humans and animals

3
The First Hominids

• In 1974, an American team discovered Lucy at
  Hadar in Ethiopia
• In 1978, Mary Leakey discovered evidence of early
  hominid life in Eastern Africa at Laetoli
• This was the first evidence of australopithecines,
  who emerged as early as 4 million B.C.
• Based on the following film clip
• What made australopithecines so unique?
• Why was the discovery of Lucy so significant?

Footprints at Laetoli
Lucys skeletal remains
4
PALEOLITHIC HOMINIDS

• THE OLD STONE AGE OR PALEOLITHIC AGE LASTED FROM
  ABOUT 2.5 MILLION B.C. TO 8000 B.C. AND WAS
  CHARACTERIZED BY THE FIRST USE OF STONE TOOLS

HOMO HABILIS (HANDY MAN), ALSO DISCOVERED BY
THE LEAKEYS IN EAST AFRICA, WAS THE FIRST HOMINID
TO USE STONE TOOLS FOR CUTTING MEAT BONES
(2.5-1.5 MILLION B.C.)
HOMO ERECTUS (UPRIGHT MAN) DEVELOPED MORE
SOPHISITICATED TOOLS, USED FIRE, AND MIGRATED OUT
OF AFRICA TO EUROPE AND ASIA (1.6 MILLION-30,000
B.C.)
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The out of africa theory

• The theory asserts that homo erectus and later
  hominids originated in africa and then migrated
  to other parts of the world supported by dating
  of artifacts and fossils at multiple excavation
  sites

Migration pattern of homo erectus (above) facial
reconstruction of homo erectus (above right)
homo erectus tools (right)
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The emergence of Homo sapienswise man

• Neanderthals emerged in Europe and Asia by
  200,000 B.C.
• Resourceful ice age hunters
• Wore clothing, used language, maintained
  religious rituals, and buried their dead
• Disappeared around 30,000 B.C.

• Cro-Magnons emerged around 40,000 years ago
• Superior hunters who may have used more
  sophisticated organization and language to drive
  the Neanderthals out
• Ancestors of modern humans

Cro-Magnon tools
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Neanderthals vs. Cro-Magnons