Early Humans

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Early Humans
Hominids are the family of mankind and his or
her relatives. Hominids are the early ancestors
of humans.
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Prehistory

• Prehistoric or Prehistory refers to the time
  before the advancement of writing.

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Fossils Artifacts
Scientists use many clues to help them put pieces
of the past together. One thing they must know
is the difference between a fossil and an
artifact.
Fossils are remains of living things (plants,
animals, people), not things that were made.
Artifacts are remains of things that were made,
not remains of living things.
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Radio Carbon 14 Dating

• Carbon-14 dating is a way of determining the age
  of certain archeological artifacts of a
  biological origin up to about 50,000 years old.
  It is used in dating things such as bone, cloth,
  wood and plant fibers that were created in the
  relatively recent past by human activities.

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65 Million Years Ago
No matter what you may have seen in the movies,
early man did not live during the same period in
history as dinosaurs!
Dinosaurs died out about 65 million years ago.
The first human like hominids did not appear
until around 3 million years ago.
Not that early man had it easy, but he did not
have to fight dinosaurs!
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3 Million Years Ago
3 million years ago, our planet was teeming with
life!
There were deer, giraffes, hyenas, sheep, goats,
horses, elephants, camels, beavers, cave lions,
ants, termites, woolly mammoths, saber-toothed
tigers, giant sharks, dogs with huge teeth, and
all kinds of birds and plants and fish.
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Very Early Humans
It was during this time that the higher primates,
including apes and early man, first appeared.
There was a difference between apes and man.
Early human-like hominids could stand upright.
Apes could not.
Their hands were different, too. Ape hands were
made for climbing and clinging. Mans hands were
jointed differently, which allowed them to make
and use tools.
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The First Humans
Theories on prehistory and early man constantly
change as new evidence comes to light.
- Louis Leakey, British
paleoanthropologist
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Very Early Humans
How do scientists know about an early man who
lived 3 million years ago?
Lucy told them!
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Early Discoveries
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Lucy
In 1974, a skeleton was found in Africa. The
bones were those of a female, about 20 years old
or so when she died. Scientists named her Lucy.
About 3 million years
ago, when Lucy was alive, she was about 4 feet
tall and weighed about 50 pounds. Scientists
suspect that she fell into a lake or river and
drowned.
Scientists are like detectives. They can tell a
great deal from a skeleton, whether it's one year
old or 3 million years old!
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Was the Great Rift Valley the Cradle of Man ????
Mary Leakey was the archeaologist who found
Lucy , a the nearly 40 complete skeleton of
an Australopithecus afarensis specimen discovered
in 1974 in Ethiopia. Lucy is believed have lived
3.2 million years ago. In 1994, a new hominid,
Ardi (Ardipithecus ramidus), was found, pushing
back the earliest known hominid date to 4.4
million years ago, although details of this
discovery were not published until October 2009.
Reconstruction of Lucy
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Move Over Lucy?Ardi is Earliest Known Hominid Now
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Some Hominids and Early Humans

• 1. Australopithicus (Southern Ape)
• 2. Homo Habilis (Handy Man)
• 3. Homo Erectus (Upright Man)
• 4. Homo Sapiens (Wise Man)
• Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis
• 5. Homo Sapiens Sapiens (Doubly Wise Man)
• -- Cromagnon Man and Early Modern Humans

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Australopithecines

• 1st to grow the opposable thumb

• First humanlike creature to walk upright

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Homo HabilisHandy Man or Man of Skill

• Traits
• 2.5-1.5 million BC
• Brain size 700 cubic cm
• Achievements
• Made tools from lava rock
• Use tools to cut meat and crack bones

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Handy Man
The Stone Age refers to the materials used to
make man-made tools. In the Stone Age, man made
tools out of stone. Handy Man was one of the
first hominids to use stone tools.
Hunters Gatherers The Old Stone Age people
were hunters/gatherers. We know this because
scientists have found fossils and artifacts,
which reveal traces of their life. These people
did not plant crops. They gathered wild fruits,
nuts, berries, and vegetables.
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Handy Man
These early human-like hominids were taller and
smarter than Lucys people, but they did not know
how to make fire.
When they broke camp, they probably tried to
bring fire with them by carrying lit branches to
use to start a new campfire.
If their branches went out, they did without fire
until they found something burning.
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Homo ErectusUpright Man

• Traits
• 1.6 - 30,000 million BC
• More intelligent and adaptable
• Brain size 1,000 Cubic cm
• Achievements
• Used intelligence to develop technology
• Used Fire

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Upright Man and Fire
Upright Man did know how to make fire.
That changed everything!
People began to cook their food, which helped to
reduce disease. People collected around the fire
each night, to share stories of the day's hunt
and activities, which helped to develop a spirit
of community.
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Upright Man, Tool-Making and Fire
These Stone Age people were about the same size
as modern humans. Their tool-making skills were
considerably improved. Their weapons included
stone axes and knives.
Because Upright Man could make fire, he was free
to move about in search of food. He did not have
to worry about freezing. He made warm clothes
from animal skins. At night, he built a campfire
to cook his food and to stay warm.
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Man Leaves Home
About one million years ago, Upright Man began to
slowly leave Africa. These early people began to
populate the world.
They did not need a boat. The Ice Age was here!
They traveled across giant walkways of frozen
ice, over what later would become vast rivers and
seas.
Scientists have found artifacts of their tools
and weapons, which help us to understand how they
lived, where they went, and how they got there.
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Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis--Neanderthal Man

• Traits
• 200,000 30,000 BC
• Brain size 1,450 cubic cm
• Powerfully built
• Heavy slanted eyebrows
• Achievements
• First to have ritual burials
• Tried to control and explain the world

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Neanderthals
Neanderthal man was named after the Neander
Valley (in Germany) in which the first
Neanderthal skeleton had been found.
At first, scientists announced that these early
men were dim-witted brutes, who walked with bent
knees, with their heads slung forward on their
big necks. Could these early people really be our
ancestors?
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Neanderthals

But scientists had made a mistake!
The bones were bent because they were part of the
skeleton of an old man suffering from arthritis!
Arthritis is a disease that bends and cripples
bones.
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Neanderthals
Still, Neanderthals were different from other
species of early humans. They were tall and
smart, and used caves as their homes. They were
great hunters.
Considering how smart they were, and how advanced
for their time, scientists are puzzled that the
Neanderthals were one of the early species of man
to die out. Many species of man died out in these
early days. But why the Neanderthals? It is a
history mystery.
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Homo Sapiens Sapiens (Wise Wise Man)

1. Cro-Magnon Man oldest known species of modern
   humans found in Europe
2. Modern Humans

Cro-Magnon Man
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Cro Magnons

• Traits
• Identical skeleton to modern humans
• Achievements
• Studied animals habits
• Planned their hunts
• Advanced skill in spoken language
• Created art
• Cave Paintings

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Cro-Magnon Man
Another group of early men stood out during this
period. Scientists nicknamed this group
Cro-Magnon man.
Cro-Magnon man lived in Europe.
This group did not live a life of constant
struggle for survival because they worked
together to provide food for their tribe.
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Cro-Magnon Man
These Stone Age people learned to cure and store
food for the long winter. They used traps, which
allowed them to catch food while they were busy
doing something else. Fisherman used nets woven
from vines and fishhooks.
Some groups built rafts and canoes to catch
bigger fish in deeper waters.
They made clothing and jewelry. They invented the
bow and arrow.
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Cave Paintings
Cro-Magnon man did something rather unusual. For
some reason, he drew paintings deep inside dark
caves, on cave walls.
His paintings were added to the paintings already
on the cave walls, left by other Cro-Magnon men.
Over time, a cavemight accumulate hundreds of
paintings. Colors used most often were brown,
yellow/tan, dark red, and coal black.
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Cave Paintings
Animals were well drawn and filled in with
natural colors to give them even more shape and
substance. They drew stick figures for hunters.
They drew stencils of hands.
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Cave Paintings
To reach the deepest part of the cave, where
other paintings could be found, Cro-Magnon man
had to crawl through the maze like tunnels of the
cave, holding a spoon-like oil lamp to light his
way, while carrying his carefully prepared
paints.

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A Mystery
It was quite dangerous. Cro-Magnon man had no
idea if he might run into a cave lion. He might
fall into a hole and die.
Why did he do it? Perhaps it was a coming of age
ceremony, or perhaps it served a religious
purpose. Maybe it was a sort of, I was here.
There are many history mysteries. This is one of
them.
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Lascaux France
The existence of cave paintings was discovered by
accident. Around 1940, during World War II, some
kids
were playing in a field in Lascaux, France. They
stumbled across a cave entrance. It had been
hidden by the tree roots. The walls were covered
with cave paintings!
Once people knew the paintings existed, they
looked for more such caves, and found them.
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How it all began

• Homo Sapiens (modern humans) appeared in Africa
  100,000 to 400,000 years ago.
• Then migrated to
• Europe
• Asia
• Australia
• The Americas

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How did they find their food?

• Early human societies met their needs by hunting
  animals and gathering other foods like edible
  plants.
• These hunters and gatherers were also known as
  nomads.

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Nomads

• Nomads People who depend on wild plants and
  animals to survive. They followed where the food
  supply went and gathered seeds and nuts.

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HUMAN LIFE IS SPLIT INTO 2 PERIODS

1. The Paleolithic Era (The Old Stone Age)
2. Neolithic Era (The New Stone Age)

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The Paleolithic Age

• Paleolithic --gt Old Stone Age

• 2,500,000 BCE 10,000 BCE

• Made tools

• hunting (men) gathering (women) ?
  small bands of 20-30 humans

• NOMADIC (moving from place to place)

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The Paleolithic Age

• Humans during this period found shelter in caves.

• Cave paintings left behind.

Purpose??
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Paleolithic Stage 1
4,000,000 BCE 1,000,000 BCE

• Hominids --gt any member of the family of
  two-legged primates that includes all humans.

• Australopithecines

• An Apposable Thumb

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Paleolithic Stage 1

• HOMO HABILIS ( Man of Skills or Handy
  Man )

• found in East Africa.

• created stone tools.

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Paleolithic Stage 2
1,600,000 BCE 30,000 BCE

• HOMO ERECTUS ( Upright Human Being )

• BIPEDALISM

• Larger and more varied tools --gt primitive
  technology

• First hominid to migrate and leave Africa for
  Europe and Asia.

• First to use fire ( 500,000 BCE )

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Differing Human Migration Theories
Are we all Africans under the skin????
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Paleolithic Stage 3
200,000 BCE 10,000 BCE
HOMO SAPIENS ( Wise Human Being )
Neanderthals( 200,000 BCE 30,000 BCE )
Cro-Magnons( 40,000 BCE 10,000 BCE )
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Paleolithic Stage 3
NEANDERTHALS

• Neander Valley, Germany (1856)

• First humans to bury their dead.

• Made clothes from animal skins.

• Lived in caves and tents.

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Paleolithic Stage 3
NEANDERTHALS
Early Hut/Tent
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Paleolithic Stage 3
CRO-MAGNONs

• Homo sapiens sapiens ( Wise, wise human )

• By 30,000 BCE they replaced Neanderthals.

WHY???
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Paleolithic Era Review

• Homo Sapiens during this period were
• Nomads wanderers
• Hunter-Gatherers
• Start to use Technology
• The first to make simple tools and weapons.
• Make cave art
• Master the use of Fire.
• Develop a language
• Living in clans

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Homo sapiens in Europe
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The Last Ice Age
70,000 BCE 10,000 BCE
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The Neolithic Age

• Neolithic ? New Stone Age

• 10,000 BCE 4,000 BCE

• Gradual shift from

Nomadic lifestyle ? settled, stationery lifestyle.
Hunting/Gathering ? agricultural production and
domestication of animals.
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Neolithic Era

• Homo Sapiens during this period
• Developed agriculture
• Domesticated animals
• Used advanced tools like spears
• Developed weaving skills

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The Agricultural Revolution

• The Neolithic Age is sometimes called the
  Agricultural Age
• Nomads turned to Farmers
• They learned to domesticate (tame) animals
• They learned to farm their food

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The Agricultural Revolution
Why do some archaeologists believe that women
were the first farmers?
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The Agricultural Revolution
Why do you think the development of agriculture
occurred around the same time in several
different places?
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The Agricultural Revolution

• 8,000 BCE 5,000 BCE

• Agriculture developed independently in
  different parts of the world.

• SLASH-AND-BURN Farming

Middle East India Central America
China Southeast Asia 8,000 BCE 7,000
BCE 6,500 BCE 6,000 BCE 5,000 BCE
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What did it all lead to?

• All of these developments led to the rise of
  settlements and agriculture.
• This advanced homo sapiens towards civilization.

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Early Settled Communities

• Growing crops on a regular basis made possible
  the support of larger populations.

• More permanent, settled communities emerged.

• 9,000 BCE ? Earliest Agricultural Settlement at
  JARMO ( northern Iraq ) ? wheat

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Early Settled Communities

• 8,000 BCE ? Largest Early Settlement at Çatal
  Hüyük ( Modern Turkey ) ? 6,000 inhabitants

• 12 cultivated crops

Obsidian a naturally occurring volcanic glass
that allowed humans to make sharper weapons

• Division of labor

• Engaged in trade

• Organized religion

• Small military

An obsidian dagger
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Early Settled Communities
Çatal Hüyük
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The Agricultural Revolution
What role did the food supply play in shaping the
nomadic life of hunter-gatherers and the settled
life of the farmers?
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What is the next step in the development
of human settlements??
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Why is the "Neolithic Revolution" a turning
point in human history??
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CITIES !
CIVILIZATIONS !!
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What are the characteristics of a civilization??
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Advanced Cities
Advanced Technology
CIVILIZATION
Specialized Workers
Record- Keeping
Complex Institutions
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Otzi the Iceman
-Remains found frozen in the Otztal Alps, Italy
in 1991 -Lived about 5,300 years ago -Oldest
Natural Mummy of a European Man from the Copper
Age
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Sorry, Fred and Wilma were not real!