OUT OF AFRICA 1 Flashcards
What genus of Homo were Java man & peking man?
Homo erectus
Where are Homo ergaster and erectus found?
ergaster: Africa
erectus: Asia
What was Turkana boy?
- Almost complete skeleton of Homo ergaster found in Lake turkana Africa.
- Also known as Nariokotome boy
- Showed an upright position
- Well adapted for bipedalaism
Sites out of Africa where Homo erectus has been found?
- Israel-Palestine 1.5 Ma
- Georgia 1.7 Ma
- Java 1.8 Ma
- China 0.75 Ma
- Europe 0.5 MA
How old are erectus and ergaster?
- Homo erectus 0.5-1.8 Ma
- Homo ergaster 1.5-1.9 Ma
Theories on ergaster and erectus?
- Did ergaster evolve in Africa and as they moved north evolved into erectus
- Did a small population branch off and leave Africa, forming erectus?
- Did they differentiate in Africa or Asia?
How long would the migration from Africa to East Asia have taken based on the natural rate of range extention?
- 25,000 years based on the glacial pace of population expansion of only 15 km per generation.
- 15 km is as ‘far as you can see’
What would the incentive for migrating out of Africa have been?
- Hunting
- Population pressures etc
What other species did H. ergaster co-exist with?
Multiple species of Australopithecines & erectus
What was H. ergaster/erectus like?
- More robust than modern humans
- Heavily muscled
- Fairly long lives (est. 52 yrs)
- Sexual dimorphism decreases rapidly
- Generally thought they couldn’t speak
- Brain capacity increases (Still nowhere near sapiens)
H. ergaster/erectus was a new grade of hominin: What made this so?
- The first indication of extended childhood
- Systematic tool making
- The first use of fire
- First appearance of systematic hunting
- First appearance of genuine home bases
- First migratiob of hominins beyond Africa
How do we know erectus/ergaster had extended childhood?
- Larger brain - needs energy
- Childbirth is harder due to larger head etc, birth earlier and care for young
- Evidence for living in groups of males and females with young
- Some say they would have been monogamous due to reduction in sexual dimorphism
Evidence for systematic tool making?
- Flint axe heads: arculian
- Seems arculian technology evolved with ergaster/erectus
- Found at many ergaster/erectus sites
Where do you find arculian tools?
- Found in Africa 2.0 Ma
- Middle east 1.5 Ma
- Europe 0.9 Ma
- Non found in Dmanisi.
- Movius line: type of tools split between east and west (not as much flint in the east)
Evidence for the first use of fire?
Not loads of evidence for fire in early homo
Some evidence around 1.0 Ma
Found in caves in Africa
