Early Man
This page is designed to supplement those concepts shared in class. You can use this page to complete class assignments and projects. There will be graphics and links to outside sites that have interesting information. Links to PDF pages of your homework will also be here and listed under a heading called "Assignment Links", which is clear to the bottom of the page. It is also intended that the page only be related to the title above so that items can be easily found, because we study early man, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Israel, Early Americans, India, China, Greece, and Rome. There is a lot of information on all of these topics, so it seems only logical to have a page for each ancient civilization which is linked from the social studies page. Happy investigating.
Early Humans' Migration to People the Earth
The above map shows the ideas of anthropologists about how humans migrated (moved around) to eventually populate the earth. Currently, the only place that early human remains have not been found is Antarctica. It is also the only place that does not have a permanent human population. Click here to be taken to a chart in Wikipedia that lists all the different early human remains that have been found. If you hover a pointer over the blue text a preview of the link pops up that tells more about the specimen (remains) or information or a map about where the specimen (remains) was found.
Human Evolution over Millions of Years
I realize that human evolution is a controversial (heavily debated or argued) topic due to the number of theories proposed by science, religion, and tradition. The above graphic is based in Darwin's Theory of Evolution. The process of adaptation takes a generous amount of time to unfold. While we may not be directly related to the species above, they were here on the planet at one time. The design of their brain and bodies did not make it to the species that dominates the planet today. However, it does show the various species similar to our own that came before us, but that did not make it to the design of the human that dominates the earth today. Which leads to the next question . . . Why didn't they make it? Well, science jumps to one conclusion really fast. Let's see if you can figure it out by looking at the next graphic.
Looking at the skulls, one thing that stands out right away is the overall size of the skull. However, look even more closely and three areas in particular come into focus. The length and design of the jaw, the brow ridges just above the eye sockets, and the size of the cavity where the brain is housed. Which of these characteristics do you think made the difference in which species is alive today?
Tools
The above pictured rocks are more than just a bunch of rocks. Scientists have discovered marks on them that indicate humans used them. Now, it might be hard to believe that people could just pick up a rock and then apply it to some use, but that is exactly what early humans did. While walking around gathering food or hunting, if an individual saw a stone with a shape that could be used for something, they would pick up the stone for use. Many stones were used for crushing items, scraping meat from hides, and in some cases cutting. The stones pictured above have been dated to 3.3 million years ago and are examples of some of the oldest known tools. Early humans advanced their technology when they discovered they could intentionally shape some rocks into even better tools.
In the tools above, you can see that many of them have been purposefully shaped. The process of doing this kind of rock shaping is known as knapping, because you knap little flakes off through the application of pressure. I have actually done this before and I can tell you from experience, it is a real skill (I made two arrowheads). It takes understanding of where to apply pressure, and a sense of how much of a flake you will remove with which tools. It also takes experience to avoid getting cut or stabbed by your own tool or flakes. I recognize several specific tools above which include arrow heads, spear heads, scraper, mortars, pestles, a bowl, and needles or hole punching tools. There might even be an axe head. The above tools are probably a combination of rock and bone tools. Another material that early tools were often made from were antlers, which are shed yearly by most deer species. Antlers were used to make handles, buttons, needles, and even weapons.
The ability to find and later make tools is one of the few things that put humans miles in front of the other animals on the planet. It shows the very important human trait of being able to innovate. What do I mean? I mean we learn about an item and then we begin to apply its use to other situations. Typically the process starts with, "I wonder if I can . . . " We have always been willing to experiment too. Adding more knowledge and experience to what we have already learned. The whole history of humankind is filled with innovations and it continues even today.
Fire
![Picture](/uploads/2/3/7/9/23791137/fire_orig.jpg)
Early man's discovery and use of fire cannot have its importance understated. These was an extremely important discovery and contributed to one species of human's existence so much, they are the longest lived primate on the planet. Which one? Homo Erectus was alive as a species for 1.3 million years. As far as I can figure out, they were on the planet for the longest period of time of any species. Our own species, Homo Sapien Sapien, has only been on the planet for about 10,000 years, so, we have some time to go yet. Anyway, back to fire. At first we were not able to produce fire. It used to be thought that someone accidentally dropped two stones that hit each other and sparked. I do not think that fire was discovered in that way. I think the first humans probably gathered coals from a wild fire that was close to burning out. There is evidence to suggest that nomadic (constantly moving) peoples would store an ember from a previous fire in a container they lined in such a way to keep the coal alive but also to keep it from burning the container. Then when they settled on a place to camp, they would use the coal to start the evening's fire(s). This made keeping the coal or ember alive a really important task, because losing the ember would leave a clan or tribe (small family group) without fire.
Later, methods of using friction to start a fire or causing rocks to spark were used to start fires. Now, providing these videos is not an invitation for you to use these methods to go and start a fire. It takes some experience and some awareness of the types of materials to use and some commonsense to responsibly generate and manage a fire. Doing this without experience will potentially get someone hurt or destroy property or both. DO NOT DO THIS AT HOME! This is here solely to demonstrate it can be done. See below.
Click here to see a fire generate by just rubbing sticks together.
Click here to see a really well done demonstration of a fire started with nothing but a piece of flint (common rock) and a steel striker.
Fire was a discovery that allowed for a lot of innovation to occur, and for some important things to be provided:
Later, methods of using friction to start a fire or causing rocks to spark were used to start fires. Now, providing these videos is not an invitation for you to use these methods to go and start a fire. It takes some experience and some awareness of the types of materials to use and some commonsense to responsibly generate and manage a fire. Doing this without experience will potentially get someone hurt or destroy property or both. DO NOT DO THIS AT HOME! This is here solely to demonstrate it can be done. See below.
Click here to see a fire generate by just rubbing sticks together.
Click here to see a really well done demonstration of a fire started with nothing but a piece of flint (common rock) and a steel striker.
Fire was a discovery that allowed for a lot of innovation to occur, and for some important things to be provided:
- ability to cook food making it last longer and taste better.
- light in the dark.
- heat when it is cold.
- protection against animals who knew fire was dangerous and life ending.
- smoking various items to make them more durable, like hides and fire hardened spear points.
- later, burning of vegetation for farming.
- used for hunting to scare game into going a certain direction.
- preserving food, for example jerky which lasted much longer than fresh or cooked for a meal. It was also easily transported because the moisture was removed.
Time Line Information
Early Man Species and Subspecies Names & Amount of Time on Planet
4.4 - 4.35 mil. Adipthecus ramidus 2.6 mil. Earliest evidence of stone tools
4.2 - 3.9 mil. Australopithecus anamensis 2.5 mil. Earliest use of ropes and string
3.9 - 3 mil. Australopithecus afarensis 1.4 mil Oldest use of knife
3.5 - 3 mil. Australopithecus bahrelghazali 1 mil Evidence of ability to control fire
3 - 2.3 mil. Australopithecus africanus 500 thou. First use of spearheads
2.6 - 1 mil. Australopithecus boisei 340 thou. First construction of a shelter
2 - 1.2 mil. Austrolopithecus robustus 170 tho. earliest use of clothing
100 thou. earliest burials of the dead
2.5 - 1.6 mil. Homo habilis &Homo rudolfensis 64 thou. earliest use of arrowheads & bow
1.8 mil. - 100,000 Homo erectus & Homo ergaster 50 thou. earliest use of axe
800,000 - 100,000 Archaic Homo sapiens & Homo heidelbergensis 26, 500 earliest cave paintings
230,000 - 25,800 Neandertals 23,000 oldest fishing hooks
100,000 to current day Homo sapiens sapiens 20,000 oldest fragments of pottery
12,000 oldest baskets
10,000 earliest use of seeds and sling with stones
8300 BC Oldest fishing net
5,500 oldest leather shoe
5,200 oldest wheel
125,000 Earliest evidence of MODERN man in Africa.
60,000 Earliest evidence of MODERN man in Australia.
39,000 Earliest evidence of MODERN man in Europe.
12,000 Earliest evidence of MODERN man in Americas.
4.4 - 4.35 mil. Adipthecus ramidus 2.6 mil. Earliest evidence of stone tools
4.2 - 3.9 mil. Australopithecus anamensis 2.5 mil. Earliest use of ropes and string
3.9 - 3 mil. Australopithecus afarensis 1.4 mil Oldest use of knife
3.5 - 3 mil. Australopithecus bahrelghazali 1 mil Evidence of ability to control fire
3 - 2.3 mil. Australopithecus africanus 500 thou. First use of spearheads
2.6 - 1 mil. Australopithecus boisei 340 thou. First construction of a shelter
2 - 1.2 mil. Austrolopithecus robustus 170 tho. earliest use of clothing
100 thou. earliest burials of the dead
2.5 - 1.6 mil. Homo habilis &Homo rudolfensis 64 thou. earliest use of arrowheads & bow
1.8 mil. - 100,000 Homo erectus & Homo ergaster 50 thou. earliest use of axe
800,000 - 100,000 Archaic Homo sapiens & Homo heidelbergensis 26, 500 earliest cave paintings
230,000 - 25,800 Neandertals 23,000 oldest fishing hooks
100,000 to current day Homo sapiens sapiens 20,000 oldest fragments of pottery
12,000 oldest baskets
10,000 earliest use of seeds and sling with stones
8300 BC Oldest fishing net
5,500 oldest leather shoe
5,200 oldest wheel
125,000 Earliest evidence of MODERN man in Africa.
60,000 Earliest evidence of MODERN man in Australia.
39,000 Earliest evidence of MODERN man in Europe.
12,000 Earliest evidence of MODERN man in Americas.
Assignment Links
Interactive Notebook Pages, The left-hand page is A and the right-hand page is B.
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