Chapter 12
The Earliest Dispersal of the Genus
Homo: Homo erectus and
Contemporaries
Chapter Outline
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A New Kind of Hominid
The Morphology of Homo erectus
Who Were the Earliest African Immigrants?
Historical Overview of Homo erectus
Discoveries
Technological and Population Trends in Homo
erectus
Interpretations of Homo erectus: Continuing
Uncertainties
Homo erectus
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First hominid to expand into new regions
of the Old World.
Existed over 1 million years.
The behavioral capacities &
morphological changes.
Homo erectus
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African discoveries
established Homo
erectus by 1.8 m.y.a.
Some researchers see
anatomical differences:
 African fossils as
Homo ergaster.
H. erectus/ergaster
represents a different
grade of evolution than
their African
predecessors.
Morphology of Homo erectus
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Brain size is related to
overall body size.
Body size dramatically
increased.
Cranium had a distinctive
shape with a thick cranial
bone and large brow
ridges.
Shovel-shaped incisors
suggest an adaptation in
hunter-gatherers.
The Dmanisi Hominids
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Early 1990s discovery of the
Dmanisi.
The most informative
specimens are four wellpreserved .
Best-preserved hominids of
this age outside of Africa
Mixed pattern characteristics.
The Dmanisi Hominids
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The Dmanisi crania have some similarities to H.
erectus, while some characteristics are different
from other hominid finds outside of Africa.
 The most complete specimen has a less
robust and thinner browridge, a projecting
lower face, and a large upper canine.
 All three Dmanisi crania have small cranial
capacities.
 A number of stone tools, similar to early ones
from Africa, have been recovered at Dmanisi.
Questions Raised by the
Dmansi Discoveries
1.
2.
3.
Was Homo erectus the first hominid to leave
Africa—or was it an earlier form of Homo?
Did hominids require a large brain and
sophisticated stone tool culture to disperse out
of Africa?
Was the large, robust body build of H. erectus
a necessary adaptation for the initial
occupation of Eurasia?
Discoveries in Java
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Six sites in eastern Java have
yielded all the H. erectus fossils
found on this island.
Dates range from 1.8 m.y.a. to
1.6 m.y.a.
The Ngandong individuals date
from 50,000 to 25,000 y.a.
 If the Ngandong dates are
correct it would make Homo
erectus and Homo sapiens
contemporaries.
 In Java, no artifacts have been
found that can be associated
with Homo erectus.
Discoveries in Peking
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“Dragon bones” used as medicine and
aphrodisiacs were ancient bones.
40 male and female adults and children
have been found near Zhoukoudian.
 The site was occupied for 250,000
years.
 40% of the bones were from individuals
less than 14 years old, 2.6% were from
individuals between 50-60 years.
Chinese Tools From Middle
Pleistocene Sites
Discoveries in East Africa
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Louis Leakey unearthed a fossil skull
at Olduvai.
An almost complete skull was
discovered in east Turkana.
The most complete H. erectus
skeleton ever found was uncovered in
west Turkana.
In Ethiopia, an abundance of
Acheulian tools have been found as
well as a robust mandible dating to 1.3
m.y.a.
East African Homo erectus
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East African specimens have thinner
cranial bones than those found in Asia.
Some scientists argue that the African
and Asian erectus finds should be
classified as separate species.
The African and Asian populations are
separated by more than one million
years.
Technological
Trends
in Homo erectus
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Expansion of the brain enabled H. erectus to
develop sophisticated tools:
 Biface - stone that was worked on both sides
and used to cut, scrape, pound, and dig.
 Thousands of Acheulian hand axes have
been found with remains of large animals.
Homo erectus is seen as a potential hunter and
scavenger.
Small Tools of
the Acheulian Industry
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(a) Side scraper
(b) Point
(c) End scraper
(d) Burin
Trends in Homo erectus
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Homo erectus liked to travel.
Stone tools found on the island of Flores,
suggest that H. erectus constructed
ocean-going vessels.
Homo erectus embraced culture as a
strategy of adaptation.
Key Hominid Fossils
Asia
Site
Dates (y.a.)
Taxonomic
Designation
Java
(6 locales)
1,8000,000–
25,000
Homo erectus
China (6 locales;
most significant
is at
Zhoukoudian);
400,000+–
200,000?
Homo erectus
Key Hominid Fossils
Europe
Site
Dates (y.a.)
Taxonomic
Designation
Ceprano
900,000–
800,000
Homo erectus
780,000?
Quite likely not H.
erectus, referred to
by discoverers as
“Homo antecessor”
Gran Dolina
(Atapuerca,
Spain)
Dmanisi
(Republic of
Georgia)
1,800,0001,700,000
Homo erectus/
Homo ergaster
Key Hominid Fossils
Africa
Site
Dates (y.a.)
Taxonomic
Designation
Bouri(Ethiopia)
1,000,000
Homo erectus
1,600,000
Homo erectus, also
frequently referred to
Homo ergaster
1,800,000
Homo erectus, also
frequently referred to
Homo ergaster
Nariokotome
(West Turkana,
Kenya)
East
Turkana(Kenya)