UNIT 3: KEY PLAYERS IN HUMAN

EVOLUTION
Australopithecus afarensis
Time: 3.9- 3 mya

Evidence: Lucy- skeleton

Key biological characteristics:
First bipedal ancestor
Sexually dimorphic- males were larger than
females
Key cultural characteristics:
Food gathering
Use of tools
Lifestyle
Abstract
thought
(language, art)

Mostly gathered and ate nuts, fruits and tubers. Possibly

scavenged meat or caught small prey.
Did not use tools.
Lived in groups in dry, open lands and in the wooded area of
Africa.
Didnt have articulated speech (i.e. they were mute).

Homo habilis
Time: 2.4- 1.5 mya

Evidence: Also called Handy man (due to being the

first to make and use tools)
Key biological characteristics:
More sophisticated brain with a bulge in the
Brocas area (speech area)
Key cultural characteristics:
Food gathering

Use of tools

Lifestyle
Abstract
thought
(language, art)
Shelter

Homo erectus

Successful hunters, killing a wide range of animals in a

cooperative manner (working as a group). Because they ate
meat, they had more protein consumption and therefore
better brain development.
First to use and make tools. They used simple stone tools
called Oldowan which consisted of round stones (cores) with
one end chipped (flakes). Used their hands and tools to
club, throw, butcher and dig.
Lived in groups.
First thought to have speech, but they had no voice box so
they communicated in grunts.
Made simple shelters.

Time: 1mya- 300,000 ya

Evidence: Also called upright man

Key biological characteristics:
Had a larger brain (brain size
continues to increase)
Reduced jaw, teeth and
zygomatic arch size (due to
softer food as a result of
cooking- jaws did not need to
be as large or as strong as
before).
Key cultural characteristics:
Food gathering
Use of tools
Lifestyle

Abstract
thought
(language, art)
Shelter
Fire

Dispersal

Increased hunting.
New tools called Acheulean- these were tear-drop shaped
stones. Also made double-edged hand axes and use
bamboo as material to create containers and rafts.
Due to increased brain development due to diet, Homo
erectus were more curious and this lead to them exploring
new areas to live, hunt and collect food. The population of
these hominins increased and some moved to new areas to
survive.
Due to larger brain, likely to have had more advanced
speech (but still not complete sounds).
Able to cooperate and teach (elders passed on abstract
thought to younger members).
Their shelters consisted of huts with wooden poles (more
sophisticated than Homo habilis.
First to use fire. Fire was used to cook food and this made it
softer and easier to digest. Therefore, their jaw, teeth and
zygomatic arch decreased in size.
Fire also allowed them to inhabit colder environments and
could extend the day length, therefore there was more time
for teaching, making shelter and tools etc.)
Fire also killed bacteria and parasites from food, therefore
survival rate increased.
First to leave Africa

Homo heidelbergensis
Time: 300,000 ya

Evidence: Also called archaic Homo sapiens. Fossils found

in Africa, Europe and Asia.
Key biological characteristics:
Increased body size due to protein-rich diet.

Key cultural characteristics:

Food gathering
Use of tools
Lifestyle
Abstract
thought
(language, art)
Shelter
Fire
Dispersal

Hunted large prey, which meant they had a protein-rich diet

and consequently this lead to increased body size.
They were also cannibals (ate members of their own).
Used Acheulean tools (similar to Homo erectus)

Built their own shelters (similar to Homo erectus- huts with

wooden poles)
Used fire (similar to Homo erectus)
They were the next species to disperse, dispersing
throughout the length and northern breadth of Africa and
beyond. Fossils have been found in Africa, Europe and Asia.
Adapted drawing of H. heidelbergensis
hunting large prey as a group.
Image retrieved from:

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/homo-heidelbergensis-hunting-science-photolibrary.html

Homo neanderthalensis
Time: 230,000 to 28,000 ya

Evidence: Also called Neanderthals

Key biological characteristics:
Thick heavy boned, with short limbs
(comparable to eskimos)
Key cultural characteristics:
Food gathering
Use of tools
Lifestyle
Abstract
thought
(language, art)
Shelter
Fire
Dispersal
Clothing

Used teamwork to stampeded herds over cliffs and into

bogs for easy capture of prey.
Were also cannibals (like Homo heidelbergensis)
Created fine tools consisting of flakes, scrapers and spears,
known as Mousterian tools. They also attached handles to
stone tools (better versatility and reach).

First to bury their dead- they often buried their dead with
tools, flowers and they were sometimes decorated with red
ochre. This showed that they believed in afterlife.
They had strong social bonds as they looked after the
elderly and the sick.
They were intelligent and were able to adapt to extremes of
weather. They lived in caves and built low stone walls at the
entrance to prevent things coming in.
They made large hearths with flat stones and used them
like hot plates to cook food using fire.

First to be clothed. They dressed in hides for clothing- this

provided protection against cold and allowed them to
survive more extreme weather conditions.

Despite seeming to do well, they all eventually died out 28,000 ya. This was an
evolutionary dead end for this species.

Homo sapiens
Time: 160,000 ya- present
Evidence: Also called Cromagnon man (refers to the
earliest Homo sapiens in
Europe)

Key biological
characteristics:
Brain slightly smaller
than Neanderthals but
still well developed.
Key cultural characteristics:
Food gathering

Skilled hunters- often followed migrating animals.

Use of tools

Lifestyle
Abstract
thought
(language, art)
Shelter
Fire
Dispersal
Clothing

Made bone and flint tools with fine points and blades. These
were referred to as Upper Palaeolithic tools.
Used spears and had spear throwers- avoided close contact
with big prey which could harm them.
Possibly used bows and arrows (same benefits as using
spears).
Also made fish hooks (for catching food in aquatic
environments) and needles (for sewing)

Had imagination
First to create art- Engraved and painted walls of caves and
carved statues
Could fully articulate words
Shelters involved greater construction.
Used fire to cook, keep warm, harden tips of wooden spears.
Dispersal across the world
Ability to make clothes suitable for different environments.

Hominins Summary Table:

Species listed in order from oldest, to most recent.

Species

Biped Use of
al
Tools

Speech Fir
e

Shelte Clothi
r
ng

Foodgathering

Dispersal

Australopithe
cus afarensis
Homo habilis

Yes

No

No

No

No

Africa

Yes

Oldawan

Grunts

No

Simple
shelters

No

Homo
erectus

Yes

Acheulean

Grunts

Yes

No

Homo
heidelbergen
sis

Yes

Acheulean

Yes

No

Hunted large
prey

Fossils found in
Africa, Asia and
Europe.

Homo
neanderthale
nsis

Yes

Mousterian

Weak
articulatio
n of
speech

Yes

Huts
with
wooden
poles
Huts
with
wooden
poles
Caves
with
stone
walls

Mostly gathered
tubers, fruit
Successful
hunters, killing a
wide range of
animals in a
cooperative
manner
Increased
hunting

Yes

Used teamwork
to stampede
herds over cliffs
or into bogs

Homo
sapiens

Yes

Upper
Paleolithic

Full
articulatio
n of
speech

Yes

Greater
complexi
ty
shelters

Yes

Skilled huntersfollowed
migratory
animals

Bones and tools

found from Western
Europe to Central,
Northern, and
Western Asia.
Dispersal across the
world

Africa

First to leave Africa.