The Beginnings of Humanity
Jan 13, 2016
The Beginnings of Humanity
6 Million Years Ago - Ardipithecus
Located In East Africa
Climbed Trees (4 Limbs) and Walked (2 Limbs) in Woodlands
Ate ripe fruits and animals (thin enamel on teeth = soft foods)
4 Million Years Ago - Australopithecus
Located across Africa in Woodlands & Grasslands
Walked Only Shorter Arms Ate tougher foods
(thicker enamel on teeth)
Larger Brain* Dikika Baby, Age 3
2 Million Years Ago - Homo
Left Africa and traveled to Europe (Spain) and Asia (China/Java)
Developed Stone Tools Teeth and Jaws smaller Larger Brain Rituals Began
Conclusion
• How much have human developed over the past 6 million years?
• How different are 21st century humans from the earliest humans?
*Dresden, 1945 *Ghana
Sources
1. National Geographic, July 2010
2. Ardipithecus Skeleton (Slide 2) from Discover Magazine.com http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2009/10/01/ardipithecus-we-meet-at-last/
3. “Ardipithecus Ramidus Lights the Way,” National Geographic.com http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/human-evolution/human-ancestor
4. “Childhood Origins,” by Christopher P. Sloan, National Geographic, November 2006. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2006/11/dikika-baby/sloan-text
5. http://www.iupui.edu/~mstd/a103/Paleolithic%20Tool%20Types.htm