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The Evolution of Homo Sapiens: Chapter 1: Before History

The document summarizes the evolution of early humans from Australopithecus to Homo sapiens. Australopithecus lived from 5-1 million years ago in Africa and could walk on two legs. Homo erectus emerged around 1.5 million years ago in Africa and could control fire and develop basic language. Homo sapiens appeared around 250,000 years ago and had spread worldwide by 15,000 years ago, becoming skilled hunters. Most early humans lived as hunter-gatherers during the Paleolithic period until around 12,000 years ago when the discovery of agriculture allowed the rise of settled villages and changed humans from gatherers to producers, setting the stage for civilization.

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30 views

The Evolution of Homo Sapiens: Chapter 1: Before History

The document summarizes the evolution of early humans from Australopithecus to Homo sapiens. Australopithecus lived from 5-1 million years ago in Africa and could walk on two legs. Homo erectus emerged around 1.5 million years ago in Africa and could control fire and develop basic language. Homo sapiens appeared around 250,000 years ago and had spread worldwide by 15,000 years ago, becoming skilled hunters. Most early humans lived as hunter-gatherers during the Paleolithic period until around 12,000 years ago when the discovery of agriculture allowed the rise of settled villages and changed humans from gatherers to producers, setting the stage for civilization.

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guitaristddj
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Chapter 1: Before History

The Evolution of Homo Sapiens



The oldest known ancestor of humans is Australopithecus, whose remains have
been found in the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. Australopithecus ("the southern
ape") lived from around five million down to around one million years ago. By
walking on their hind legs they freed their hands up to produce simple tools.
Australopithecus traveled distances up to fifteen kilometers and produced tools
such as choppers and scrapers.

Eventually Australopithecus gave way to the more advanced Homo erectus
("upright-walking human"), the first of the hominids - creatures belonging to the
genus Homo. They existed from roughly 1.5 million years ago down to around
200,000 years ago. Homo erectus produced more sophisticated tools such as
cleavers and hand axes, and learned how to control fire. Their greatest skill,
however, was the development of language skills.

In the long term Homo erectus was replaced by a more intelligent human species:
Homo sapiens ("consciously thinking human"). With a brain almost as large as
modern man, and with a well-developed frontal region, Homo sapiens possessed
the intelligence to have a profound influence on the world around them. Homo
sapiens first appeared roughly 250,000 years ago and spread to most of the
habitable world by around 15,000 year ago. They produced knives, spears, bows
and arrows and made themselves such successful hunters that they helped to drive
species such as mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses and giant kangaroos into
extinction.

Paleolithic Society

Most of human existence falls into the period known as the Paleolithic Age ("old
stone age"). This period, ranging from the first appearance of the hominids down
to around 12,000 years ago, is characterized by the existence of humans as
hunters and gatherers. Because of their nomadic lifestyle, Paleolithic groups never
reached beyond thirty to fifty members. Archaeologists and anthropologists
believe that there was very little social inequality or gender distinction during this
period. The most sophisticated people during this time were the Neanderthal
(100,000 - 35,000 years ago) and the Cro-Magnon (40,000 years ago). Elaborate
Neanderthal burial sites like the one at Shanidar cave in Iraq seem to indicate that
humans during this period may have wanted to honor their dead; they may also
have been preparing them for an existence after death. Cro-Magnon, classified as
Homo sapiens sapiens, were the first human beings of the modern type. The
existence of "Venus figurines" and the elaborate cave paintings at Lascaux in
France and Altamira in Spain tell us much about their view of the world.

The Neolithic Era and the Transition to Agriculture

Despite the sophistication of the Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon, the Paleolithic
Age people were still limited by their hunting and gathering existence. The
discovery of agriculture (and to a lesser extent the domestication of animals)
around 12,000 years ago helped give rise to the Neolithic Age ("new stone age").
This fundamental discovery changed humans from "food gatherers" to "food
producers" and helped set the stage for the rise of civilization. Neolithic villages
such as Jericho and Catal Huyuk display an accelerated pace of development,
with the rise of such prehistoric craft industries as pottery, metallurgy, and textile
production. The eventual rise of true cities, larger and more complex and
influential than Neolithic villages, took early humans to the dawn of civilization.

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