Early Human Life

Taking Notes: Hominids walk upright, like humans or australopithecines.  

Australopithecines was a species of hominids from Southern and Eastern Africa   like Lucy, that were able to spot threatening animals and carry food and children.  This species had an opposable thumb. They came into existence around 4 million B.C. to 1 million B.C.

Homo Habilis was another species of hominids from East Africa, their name means "man of skill".  They used tools made of lava rocks, the tools are believed to have been used for meat cutting and breaking things open.  Their brains were 200 cm cubed bigger than the australopithecines'.  Homo Habilis came into existence around 2.5 million B.C. to 1.5 million B.C. 

Around 1.6 million B.C. to 30,000 B.C. came the Homo Erectus.  Their brains were 300 cm cubed bigger than the Homo Habilis' and they were also more adaptable.  They became skillful hunters and developed sophisticated technology for things like  digging, scraping, and cutting.  They were the first hominids to finally migrate from Africa into Asia,  India, China, Southeast Asia, and Europe. They also developed a spoken language.  

Neanderthals were around from 200,000- 30,000 B.C. in Europe and Southeast Asia.  Their brains were 450 cm cubed bigger than Homo Erectus'. They survived Ice Age winters by living in caves or temporary shelters made of wood and animal skins.  They made stone blades, scrapers, and other tools for cutting and skinning meat.  

The Cro-Magnon's were from Europe from about 40,000 B.C. to 8000 B.C..  Their remains are identical to modern humans and about 5 and a half feet tall.  

Analyzing Key Concepts: During the Old Stone Age was when species of hominids were figuring out how to live and survive and learning how the world works.  The New Stone Age is us humans putting all that work to use with our modern day economic system, farming, and working.  

Drawing Conclusions: The work of the anthropologists, archeologists, and paleontologists was really about learning our history and where we really came from and what makes our lives and main focuses the way they are.  The Leakey's discovered the first fossil.  Johnson discovered "Lucy" who was the first female skeletal fossil which was important because it led to the eventual discoveries of all the historical hominid species.  

1. Artifacts are human-made objects, such as tools and jewelry.

Anthropologists study culture, or a people’s unique way of life. Anthropologists examine the     artifacts at archaeological digs.

Humans and other creatures that walk upright, such as australopithecines, are called hominids.

The earlier and longer part of the Stone Age, called the Old Stone Age or Paleolithic Age, lasted from about 2.5 million to 8000 B.C. 

The old- est stone chopping tools date back to this era. The New Stone Age, or Neolithic Age, began about 8000 B.C. and ended as early as 3000 B.C. in some areas.

Homo erectus people used intelligence to develop technology—ways of applying knowledge, tools, and inventions to meet their needs.

Many scientists believe Homo erectus eventually developed into Homo sapiens— the species name for modern humans.

2. I think the Homo Erectus had the biggest advance because they went from just cutting and breaking stuff to finding more sophisticated ways for everything they did.

3. The bones give clues that hominids have been in existence for longer then we knew and expected and we've been growing for millions of years now. 

4. Major achievements during the Old Stone Age was hunting, making tools, and developing spoken language.  

5. Neanderthals and Cro-Magons were more sophisticated and maturely developed than the earlier species because they had more advanced technology, better hunting and a spoken language.