Download Discovery of Early Humans in Africa

Chapter 1:i
Discovery of
Early Humans
in Africa
History - the story of mankind is divided into two time periods:
Circa 5,500
years ago
Pre-history
History
The period of
The period during
history before
which people left
people recorded written records of
events in writing.
their activities.
The historical period is further
sub-divided into periods:
Circa 5,500
years ago
Pre-history
Before Christ
History
0
Anno Domini
Anno Domini means
“In the year of the Lord”
Hominid
• member of the group that includes
human beings and earlier humanlike creatures
Anthropologists study primitive
cultures in an effort to understand
our ancestors.
The discipline of Anthropology
can be divided into two fields:
Physical
Compare bones and
other fossil remains
looking for changes
in such features as
the brain and posture.
Cultural
Study artifacts
and cultural
characteristics
of humans and
their ancestors.
Paleontologists
are scientists
who study
fossil remains.
Margaret Mead
pioneered many
of the techniques
now employed by
anthropologists
to study human
societies and
their technology.
Margaret Mead was honoured by
the United States Post Office with
a stamp for her pioneering work.
Archaeologists
are scientists
who study
earlier peoples
and cultures.
Artifacts are objects made or used by
humans, such as tools, . . .
ornaments,
Source: Biblical Archaeology Review, January/February 2000, p. 19.
and pottery.
Source: Biblical Archaeology Review, January/February 2000, p. 35.
Archaeologists often dig into midden
piles to learn about past cultures.
Distinctive designs
identify which canned
beverages the tab opened.
Tab quantities indicate
the popularity of each
beverage. The brief time
in which each tab design
was manufactured helps
date samples.
Radiocarbon Dating
• a modern scientific method for
telling the age of once-living
material by measuring the
amount of radioactive carbon
remaining in it
Japanese paleontologist Gen Suwa
found one of the oldest hominid teeth at
a site near Aramis, Ethiopia, in 1972.
Suwa and Tim D. White of
the University of California
eventually unearthed the
remains of 17 individuals
believed to have lived 4.4
million years ago.
Lucy’s was the most
nearly complete
skeleton of any erectwalking pre-human
found up that time.
As scientist unearth more clues,
newer evidence may require them
to reinterpret older evidence.
Howdy
Wanna
go
forcousin!
a walk?
Many scientists
believe that
Australopithecus
(“southern ape”)
was the first prehuman hominid.
[Image source: http://www.toyen.uio.no/human/afarensis.htm]
They lived in the
humid forests of
eastern and
southern Africa.
[Image source:
http://www.toyen.uio.no/human/australopithecus.htm]
Australopithecines were probably
nomads who fed on fruits, leaves,
and nuts, as well as fish caught in
streams and meat scavenged from
animals killed by predators.
[Image source: http://www.toyen.uio.no/human/australopithecus.htm]
Earth experienced four long periods of
cold climate known as Ice Ages where
glaciers spread out and covered large
portions of the earth.
Culture
the way of life of a given people at
a given time; it includes . . .
• knowledge
• language
• behaviour (dietary laws and dress)
• religious beliefs
• achievements in art and music
Technology is
the skills and
knowledge
used by people
to make tools
and do work.
[Image source: http://www.nativewayonline.com/knapsu_1.ht]
The period in history before the
advent of writing when people first
learned to fashion tools out of stone
is known as the Stone Age.
Circa 5,500
years ago
Pre-history
Stone Age
2.5 m.y.a
History
12,000 B.C.
8,000 B.C.
Paleolithic Mesolithic Neolithic
Old Stone Age
Middle
Stone Age
New Stone Age
Homo Habilis (“human of ability”) are
probably the oldest hominids known to
manufacture tools.
[Image source: http://www.toyen.uio.no/human/australopithecus.htm]
[Image source: http://ampere.scale.uiuc.edu/anth102/oldowan.html]
The Leakey Family
At first mostly
food gatherers,
Homo Erectus
(“human who
walks upright”)
eventually
learned how to
hunt animals.
Distribution of Homo erectus remains.
[Image source: http://www.scale.uiuc.edu/anth102/erectus_map_txt.html]
[Image source: http://ampere.scale.uiuc.edu/anth102/ach_handaxe.html]
Scientists disagree on when
prehistoric peoples left Africa and
moved to other parts of the world.
Language
(Source: Scientific American, March 1990, p. 111.)
made it
possible for
the older
generation
to pass its
culture on to
younger
generations.