Human evolution Flashcards
Order of species (7)
Australopithecus afarensis, Australopithecus africanus, Paranthropus robustus, homo habilis, homo erectus, homo neanderthals, homo sapiens
Australopithecus afarensis
Present 4-3 million years ago, Longest-lived and best-known early human species, Found in Eastern Africa
Australopithecus afarensis adaptations
1-1.2 meters tall, Fully adapted to upright walking (bipedal), 25-30kg, Brain capacity of 400cc, Long, strong arms with curved fingers adapted for climbing trees, Small canine teeth like all other early humans, Body that stood on two legs and regularly walked upright, Apelike face proportions (flat nose, a projecting lower jaw) and a small brain (around 1/3 of a modern human brain
Australopithecus afarensis shelters
Lived/slept in trees and bushes, Nomadic with home bases
Australopithecus afarensis tools
Used materials at hand such as sticks and rocks, tools were unsophisticated with simple modifications, used found Oldowan tools
Australopithecus afarensis diet
Herbivores- feeding on seeds and grains, fruits, roots, tubers, All hominids had the same teeth arrangement of 2,1,2,3 so can’t be used to differentiate, Size of the teeth, especially molars, was used for grinding tubers
Australopithecus africanus
Present 3-2.5 million years ago, 1.3 meters tall, 30kg
Australopithecus africanus adaptations
Anatomically similar to A Afarensis with a combination of human-like and ape-like features, Rounder cranium housing a larger brain and smaller teeth, Long arms and large prognostic jaw, Pelvis, femur and foot bones indicate they walked bipedally but its shoulder and hand bones indicate they were also adapted for climbing, Less pronounced brow ridge, smaller canines and large molars
Australopithecus africanus shelter
Used nature around them for shelter such as trees, bushes and rocks, Nomadic with home bases
Australopithecus africanus diet
Similar diet to modern chimpanzees which consists of fruit, plants, nuts, seeds, roots, insects and eggs
Australopithecus africanus tools
Used found oldowan tools
Paranthropus robustus
Present 2-1.5 million years ago, 1.5 meters tall, 55kg
Paranthropus robustus adaptations
More massively built craniodentally and tended to contain gorilla-like sagittal crest on the cranium which anchored massive temporalis muscles of mastication, Brain capacity of 500-530cc, Sagittal chest, Massive lower jaw, Flatter face, Massive cheekbones (zygomatic arch)
Paranthropus robustus shelter
Used nature around them for shelter such as trees, bushes and rocks, Nomadic with home bases
Paranthropus robustus diet
Strong masticating features allowed individuals to crush and grind hard foods such as nuts, seeds, roots, and tubers in the back of the jaw, also ate fruit and insects
Paranthropus robustus tools
Used and possibly made a range of pebble tools (choppers, scrapers, flakes and chisels) called Oldowan tools
Homo habilis
Present 2.5-1.5 million years ago
Homo habilis adaptations
Bulge in speech producing part of the brain (Broca’s area) shows that rudimentary speech might have been used to work in teams
Homo habilis shelter
Usually on the move to find food meaning they didn’t stay in one place for very long, When they did need shelter, they used cliffs, hills and fallen trees, usually sticks being held up by rocks around the outside edges (wind brakes)
Homo habilis diet
Main diet was fruit, nuts, root eggs, small dead animals, bone marrow and fish, Scavenger/hunter- gatherer of plants, small dead animals and fish
Homo habilis tools
First to make tools (didn’t have any specific jobs, made for general tasks needed to sustain life)- Pebble tools (Oldowan tools)
Oldowan tools (pebble tools)
Crudely fashioned with few hammer blows/few flakes removed, Usually had a core with a cutting edge, Made from materials some distance away from the Homo Habilis home base suggesting they planned the manufacturing in advance, Used to exploit the environment, cut, chop and scrape plants and small animals
Homo erectus
Present 1.5 million-250,000 years ago
Homo erectus adaptations
Brain capacity of 850-1200cc, Oldest known early humans to have possessed moder human-like body proportions (relatively eleongated legs and shorter arms compared to the size of the torso), Had features considered adaptations to a life lived on the ground, indicating the loss of earlier tree-climbing adaptations, with the ability to walk and possibly run long distances, First hominin to have a straight shoulder line, First hominin who used bipedalism efficiently and didn’t climb and hang from branches, Has a shoulder with a wide range of motion meaning the hand could be positioned almost anywhwere around the body, Have forceful, accurate throwing that is powered not only by the shoulder muscles but by elestic energy stored in tendons and ligaments when the arm is drawn back ready to throw
Homo erectus shelter
Sometimes used caves as shelters, Built shelters out of tree branches using their chipping tools (poked branches into the ground in a rough circle, holding them in place by piling rocks against them), Didn’t live together in villages- nomandic and travelled a lot, Built wherever the good feeding grounds/food sources took them
Homo erectus diet
Eating meat and other types of proteins that could be quickly digested made it possible to absorb nutrients, making more energy available faster, Systematic hunting of large game was well organised indicating logical thought and the ability to communicate and work together, Fish bones found at sites indicate that this hominin fished
Homo erectus tools and culture
Made archeulean tools, Worked in teams using rudimental speech, Have the earliest evidence of campfires (kept away predators, gave warmth and light, extended activities limited by day light, cooking, hunting animals)
Archeulean tools
Consisted of the creation of large cutting tools like hand axes and cleavers, Increased reliance on a broader set of tools may have helped homo erectus survive during changing climates, Tear drop shaped and often referred to as hand axes, More sophisticated than Oldowan tools (more blows removed more flakes from the rock), Standard design with a slight bulge in the middle, Used for butchering animals and removing hides
Homo neanderthals
Present 200,000-35,000 years ago, Closest extinct human relative
Homo neanderthals adaptations
Large middle part of the face, angled cheek bones, huge nose for humidifying and warming cold, dry air, shorter and stockier bodies (adaptation to cold environment), more prominent occipital bun than homo erectus, Brains as large as us (homo sapiens) and often larger, proportional to their stronger bodies, Brain capacity of 1500 cc
Homo neanderthals shelter
Some used caves as shelters, others constructed shelters of wood supported by mammoth tusks and covered with skins
Homo neanderthals diet
Cold climates meant food availability was limited in winter forcing them to exploit other options like meat, Evidence that they were specialised hunters- sharp wooden spears and large numbers of big game animal remains have been uncovered (bones have a high frequency of fractures similar to rodeo riders who regularly interact with large, dangerous animals), Worked together in groups to co-operatively hunt large game meaning good communication and abstract thought was required, Hunted with thrusting spears that allowed them to kill large animals from a safe distance
Homo neanderthals tools and culture
Used the Mousterian stone tool industry (for hunting and sewing), First early humans to wear clothing, Buried their dead on their sides with knees up around their chest and occasionally marked their graves with offerings, such as flowers (first species to do this, suggests beginning of a religious ritual), Scrapers and awls have been discovered- scrapers were used to clean the animal hide, awl was used to poke holes in it allowing for the use of animal tissue to lace together a loose-fitting garment
Mousterian tools
Characterised by sophisticated flake tools that were detached from a prepared stone core allowing for flakes of predetermined shape to be removed and fashioned into tools from a single stone (first to show variety), Mousterian tools included fine points, sharp knives, scrapers, spear heads, Tools were made by striking the rock to make a core and then retouching on one surface (pressure flaking- pushing down on a rock with a bigger rock to make more precise flakes)
Homo sapiens
Present about 300,000 years ago to the present
Homo sapiens adaptations
Brain capacity of 1300 cc, high vaulted skull with a flat near vertical forehead (to house big brain), less (or no) heavy brow ridges and prognathism, less developed jaw with smaller teeth, defined chin
Homo sapiens shelter
Lived in shelters- settled down when producing/farming food forming villages > towns > cities
Homo sapiens diet
Ate a variety of animal and plant foods as they could control the growth and breeding of certain plants and animals through farming and herding animals
Homo sapiens tools and culture
Prehistoric Homo sapiens made and used stone tools as well as smaller, more complex and refined tools such as fishhooks and bow and arrows and sewing needles, Used paleolithic tools , Exchanged resources over wide areas and created art, music, personal adornment, rituals and a complex symbolic world, First appearance of cave painting murals and sculptures
Palaeolithic tools
Long thin flakes removed, Thin, E.g- drills, throwing sticks, needles, hammer stones and blades, Made of bone, ivory and antler, Types- Aurignacian, Solutrean, Magdalenian
Aurignacian tools
43,000-26,000 years ago, Long blade stones with flakes removed, Used antler and bone, Used to hunt
Solutrean tools
22,000-19,000 years ago, Made by pressure flaking on flint, Laurel and willow leaf shaped (surfboard looking), Ornamented
Magdalenian tools
18,000-12,000 years ago, Used bone and antler over stone, Made using a burin, E.g- needles, barbed spear points, spear throwers
