Bellringer
• What are the three main stages of human
development in prehistory?
• What are you and all humans today
known as?
• You may use your notes.
Chapter 2 – Hominids & Early
Humans
Social Studies 7
Fall 2013
Human Ancestors- Australopithecus
• Name means “Southern Ape”
• Appeared in Africa about 4-5
million years ago
• Stood upright and walked on two
legs
• Brain was about 1/3 the size of
modern humans.
• Another ancestor of humans is
called a “hominid.”
Homo habilis
• Name means “handy
man”
• Appeared in Africa
about 3 million years
ago
• It is believed that they
evolved from
Australopithecus.
• Used early stone tools
for chopping and
scraping
• Brain was about half the
size of modern humans
KNM ER 1813 is a relatively complete
cranium which dates to 1.9 million years
old, discovered at Koobi Fora, Kenya by
Ajit Sharma in 1973.
Homo erectus
• Name means “upright
man”
• Appeared in Africa
about 1.5 million years
ago
• Used early stone tools
like the hand ax
• Learned to control fire
• Migrated out of Africa
into Europe and Asia
Reconstruction of a specimen from
Tautavel, France
Homo sapiens
• Name means “wise man”
• Appeared in Africa about
200,000 years ago
• Migrated all over the world
• Learned to create fire and
use a wide variety of tools
• Developed language
• Oh yeah… you are one.
Tools
• Early humans
developed tools
• Used to process food
• Cutting, chopping,
scraping
• Used on roots,
bones, or meat
Later tools
• Over time, tools got
better
• Added wooden
handles
• Spears were
developed
• Allowed for hunters
to kill larger animals
from a distance
Skills of early humans
• HUNTING  done together to bring down
large animals
• GATHERING  plants, seeds, fruits, and nuts
• FIRE  to cook food, provide warmth
• TOOLS  used for hunting and preparing food
Language
• Makes hunting in
groups easier
• Forms relationships
• Resolves issues like
distributing food
• Art (cave paintings)
used as language?
• Tell about hunting or
create religion?
Hunter-gatherer societies
• MEN = Hunters. They traveled together in
packs. Sometimes chased large animals over
cliffs.
• WOMEN = Gatherers. Collected plants, fruits,
etc. to eat. Stayed near the camp and took
care of the children.
• PEOPLE = MOVED! They went wherever the
herds went so they could eat and survive!
Ice Ages
• Began about 1.6 million
years ago and ended
just about 100,000 years
ago
• Huge sheets of ice
covered much of the
earth’s land—sea levels
were lower.
• People had to MIGRATE
(move) to new places.
Pattern of Human Migration
•
•
•
•
Start in Africa
To Europe, Asia
To Australia
To North
America
• To South
America
Stone Ages
• Paleolithic Era (Old Stone Age)
• Mesolithic Era (Middle Stone Age)
• Neolithic Era (New Stone Age)
Three Stone Ages
• Paleolithic Era (Old Stone Age) = Early
humans… lasted until about 10,000 years ago.
• Hunter-gatherer societies
• Old stone tools
• Learned to attach wooden handles to tools
Three Stone Ages
• Mesolithic Era (Middle Stone Age) = 10,000 to
5,000 years ago in some places
• People found new uses for bone and stone as
tools
• Tools became smaller and more complex
(hooks, fishing spears, bow and arrows)
• Developed canoes from logs, made pottery,
“domesticated” animals (aka PETS)
Three Stone Ages
• Neolithic Era (New Stone Age) = Occurred in
parts of the world 10,000 (early in Southwest
Asia) to 5,000 years ago
• Polishing stones to make saws and drills
• Learned to make fire
• Ended when people began making tools out of
metal and were able to PRODUCE their own
food (Neolithic Revolution)
People Adapt
• Depended on wild plants that grew near
where they settled
• Learned they could plant seeds and grow the
food themselves
• A SHIFT…
• food gathering  food producing
• Domestication = making plants and animals
useful to humans
People Adapt
• Domestication leads to AGRICULTURE
• Farmers raised livestock for milk, meat, and
helping on the farm
• Since people didn’t have to live to hunt, they
could settle in one place.
• Stable food allowed for the population to
grow.
• Not everybody had to farm, so they came up
with new jobs and roles.
First real signs of Religion
• Built large Megaliths- huge stones used as
monuments or religious gatherings
• Believed that early people believed in gods &
goddesses associated with the four elementsair, water, fire, and earth- or with animals.
• Some historians believed that prehistoric
people prayed to their ancestors.