Human Origins in Africa

Taking Notes and Analyzing Key Concepts

Australopithecines	-Discovered in 4 million B.C. -Ended in 1 million B.C. -Found in Southern and Eastern Africa	First stone tool makers possibly hunted for meat and lived in small groups. They made the tools and the later ages polished them. First humanlike creature to walk upright
Homo Habilis	-Appeared in East Africa -Discovered 2.5 million years ago -Discovered by archaeologists Louis and Mary Leakey.	May have made tools out of lava rock. Assumptions think they used those tools to cut meat and crack open bones.
Homo Erectus	-Also Appeared in East Africa -Found about 1.6 million years ago, while Homo Habilis left the scene - “Home erectus” means “upright man” -Believed to be more intelligent than Homo Habilis.	-They used intelligence to develop technology -Became skillful hunters -Invented more tools for digging and such -Were the first Hominids to migrate or move
Neanderthals	-Discovered 100,000 B.C. -Ended 30,000 B.C -Found in Europe and Southwest Asia	-First to have ritual burials -Held burials in caves often and had religious beliefs -Were able to hunt in subarctic regions of Europe
Cro-Magnons	-Discovered 40,000 B.C. -Ended 8000 B.C. -Fully modern Humans -Remains were identical to modern humans -Remains indicated that they were probably strong	-They Created Art -They created tools with specialized uses -They planned their hunts -Were the most advanced in spoken language
Paleolithic age	2.5 million B.C.	8000 B.C.	They were known for making the stone chopping tools back in their era
Neolithic age	8000 B.C.	3000 B.C.	They learned to polish stone tools made in the paleolithic age, make pottery, grow crops, and raise animals.

Drawing Conclusions

Anthropologists research, evaluate, and establish public policy concerning the origins of humans; their physical, social, and cultural development; and their behavior, as well as the cultures, organizations, and institutions they have created. All about researching humans and their public policies.

Archaeologists recover and examine materials in order to learn more about past cultures. They take materials and examine them to find more information on their past to have better understandings.

Paleontologists have many jobs some in a list are:

1)Determine location of fossils by analyzing data

2)Locating fossils be excavating sedimentary rock

3)Gather fossil information such as age and where it was found

And many more

A family of anthropologists. Louis Leakey and his wife, Mary, discovered fossils of human ancestors dating back over 3.75 million years. Their son, Richard Leakey, continued to make discoveries in other African areas.

Their Fossil Discoveries were so important because they were able to help lead them back to info on old tribes and humans. Louis Leakey radically changed the way we now view early humans. Leakey is considered to be a significant contributor to the understanding of our origins. He pushed back the known dates for the existence of various species, stimulated research in new fields like primatology, and generated interest and publicity for the study of human origins. He changed how we view ourselves.

Section 1 assignment:
1)Artifact-Artifacts are the concrete items cultures leave behind, such as Native American arrowheads, stone tools from early hominid groups, etc.
2)Culture-Culture is as important as your business strategy because it either strengthens or undermines your objectives.
3)Hominid-is now recognized to include all ancestors and living day species of gorillas, chimps and humans. To classify humans specifically (and all of our evolutionary ancestors) you would use the term hominin.
4)Paleolithic age-The Paleolithic Era is significant because people established the process of hunting-gathering
5)Neolithic age-the wide-scale transition of many human cultures during the Neolithic period from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to one of agriculture and settlement, making an increasingly larger population. So it moved from the ways in the paleolithic era, to now the Neolithic era ways.
6)Technology-the collection of tools that make it easier to use, create, manage and exchange information
7)Homo-Sapiens- Their intelligence, ability to learn and transmit teachings or their ability to generate art and culture

Section 1 assignment part 2
I think the Australopithecines were the most significant because they were thought to be the first humanlike creatures to walk upright. So this means that they had to pretty much start from nothing and figure out ways to advance their technology and ways to go in a positive direction. They were able to make the first stone tools, that all the groups after them were able to use, so they had to start everything that led to where we are today.

Main Ideas
3)What clues do bones and artifacts give about early peoples?
Discovered bones and artifacts can tell us a lot of information such as where those people lived, how and when they died, how long ago they were living their life, if it was male or female, if it was an adult or child, and what they looked like. It gives us a lot of their background information.
4)What were the major achievements in human history during the Old Stone Age?
The major achievements during the stone age was the invention of tools. They used tools to hunt for food. They learned how to make fire. This was the start of our technology today.
5)How did Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons differ from earlier peoples?
The Neanderthals skulls are shaped differently from the past because their brains are bigger. CroMags skulls are like our skulls today, we came from them. We were smarter than the Neanderthals and wiped them out.